Festival Saturday

Friday at the Welland Valley Beer Festival is predominantly 'locals night', where villagers and those from slightly further afield get to preview some of the ales and ciders ahead of the big day on Saturday. The delightful vintage bus service on Saturday helps to bring folk into the valley from near and far, and the good reputation this event has gained in previous years meant that this year was busier then ever.

We started the Saturday of the festival with a quick cider delivery to the Red Lion in Middleton, which had taken a bit of a hammering the night before. At 10.30am the pub was already full to the gunnel's, with the first buses of the day from Market Harborough, and a coach party from the Alexandra Arms in Kettering combining to create the sort of crush at the bar rarely seen these days, more's the pity! A swift half of something beery with brother Paul and sister-in-law Sue, before we headed up the valley on a red double-decker, barely squeezing under the railway arch into Gretton. The Welland Valley Olympic Drinking Team were already in rude voice down below. I think they disembarked to terrorize the gentle folk of Gretton, whereas we chugged on to Seaton to meet up with 'two-glugs' Tom, and brother Nigel, both drinking pints, both totally out of their depth.

The George & Dragon at Seaton has a very fine view of the Welland Valley Viaduct on a clear day. Unfortunately this wasn't a fine day, but the magnificent spans of the viaduct still looked impressive even through the drizzly mist hanging over the valley. We had a few beers in the garden before catching the bus back to Harringworth for the White Swan, a good pub on any day of the week, but certainly one of the best of the festival. The ales and ciders were set up in the garden/car park, as was a whole host of slightly soggy traditional pub games. A giant Jenga game ensued whilst Nigel & Tom battled it out on the Connect Four. Ray & Gail threw balls down the skittle chute to varying effect. Nice work White Swan people.

The next stop was the beery highlight of Gretton. Three pubs all overflowing with beers, ciders and thirsty customers. The Hatton Arms furnished us with a few juicy cuts from a pig which had been specially fattened for the event, and a chance to compare and contrast a couple of East Midlands ciders. We then headed up the hill to the Talbot's very well organised beer tent, and finally the very, very busy Blue Bell. By the time we rolled back down to the Hatton, things had got very busy here too. It was time to jump on a bus and get closer to home.

Whilst Karen called it a day, and most of the others headed off to Ashley for buses back to Market Harborough, Ray, Gail and I went for a final flurry at the Royal George in Cottingham. The weather had improved by now and after a beer on the decking we followed the Jurrasaic Way to the Red Lion for another final flurry. Excellent Corby band Skibereen were just striking up in the bar, so the final drink became a final few before we finally headed home in the fading light. A great end to a fine day out.

We finished the festival on Sunday with visits to the George at Ashley and Sondes Arms, Rockingham, before a final few in our local the Red Lion. The Castle Inn at Cladecott was the only pub we didn't get to.

This year's festival was notable for two things. Firstly, the bus service seemed to cope better than last year, all praise for which must go to the drivers and owners of the vehicles, and festival organiser Karl Tecklenberg for working out such a good timetable. Secondly, the pubs were at times struggling to deal with the shear number of people enjoying the festival on the Saturday. It would be nice to think that a few of these folk enjoyed their visit to the pub so much, they might like to do it again a few times this Summer, and thereby help out the beleaguered licensees of these fine village locals.

Footnote: Due to my almost complete inability to take photos of this year's event, I've had to cobble together a range of pics from more than one year. The Viaduct pic was obviously taken on a rare bright day in the valley, the picture of the festival bar at the Hatton (featuring a rare sober-ish image of Welland Valley Drinking Team member 'Gattlin' Gun' Rob) comes from the 2007 event, and the bus, which is the one we came back on, is from 2006.

Aphid Attack

Here's a gruesome picture to finish the day with, I hope it doesn't give anyone nightmares.

What with one thing and another I've not been keeping as close a watch on the orchard as I perhaps should have, but lucky for me 'Eagle-eye Ray' of the Hucknall Cider Co had a stroll around the trees this weekend and spotted some nasty goings on.

Common green Aphids had infested most of the cider apple trees, sucking greedily at the soft new growth, and making a curly mess of the new leaves. I've spent an hour blasting the critters off with a spray bottle of water, and squishing the more tenacious blighters between finger and thumb. This is a relatively easy method of control for a small garden orchard like ours, but I was hoping the huge quantities of Harlequin Ladybirds throughout the garden would render even this task unnecessary. I think I need to make the orchard more attractive to lacewing, Earwigs etc. The Harlequins appear to have out-competed the native ladybirds in this garden, but sadly don't seem too keen to move into the orchard and do what all decent ladybirds are supposed to do.

Of more concern was one tree with a bad infestation of the dreaded Rosy Apple Aphid (pictured above). This is potentially more damaging than other Aphids because not only does it lead to serious curling of the leaves, but can also result in small, misshapen fruit and premature leaf loss if left uncontrolled. This called for a targeted spray from a soapy insecticide, a drastic measure in an otherwise organic system, but this will hopefully nip this problem in the bud so to speak.

To finish on a happier note, here's a picture of a cider apple fruitlet, which even at this early stage has developed a very attractive deep red colouring. Here's hoping that the aphids leave this particular rosy apple well alone.

Friday Night is Cider Night

The 6th Welland Valley Beer Festival rumbled through the valley this weekend, leaving in its wake a trail of empty barrels, full-on hangovers, and a faint whiff of diesel from the fabulous vintage buses which ferried us about on Saturday. A grand day out, featuring 11 pubs, over 130 real ales and ciders, and the backdrop of the Welland Valley itself.

We visited almost all of the pubs throughout the weekend, starting on Friday evening with a short trip to the Hatton Arms, Gretton to deliver a box of Torkard Cider from Ray & Gail of the Hucknall Cider Co. We followed this with our traditional 'roll down the hill' from the Royal George, Cottingham to the Red Lion Middleton, this year via the Spread Eagle, a newcomer to the festival.

The George had their range of ales set up in the bar on a stillage which appeared to be made mostly from straw. Ciders on offer included Biddenden Bushells, a pale, strong cider made from culinary and dessert apples in Kent. We managed to catch a little of the late evening sun on the decking overlooking the village before taking the short stroll to the Spread Eagle.

This was our first of many encounters with the strong stomached men of the Welland Valley Olympic Drinking Team, a high-spirited bunch who were attempting to drink the festival dry long before Saturday opening! I enjoyed a Malvern Hills Perry from Welsh producer Gwynt-Y-Ddraig before moving on to the Red Lion in Middleton.

I was pleased to see that the Red Lion's mighty 'pyramid of beer' was still standing in the corner of the bar, a diabolical construction of ratchet straps and upturned barrels the ancient Egyptians would have been proud of. We worked our way through the small but perfectly formed selection of ciders and perry, including our own Welland Valley Special cider, cool and fruity from the fridge. Shortly before we called it a day we were joined for a chat by fellow East Midlands cidermaker Malcolm Grant and his partner Eve, of Eve's Cider. A terrific photo opportunity of the three cidermakers present that evening was duly missed, and off to bed we went via a glass of the excellent Ralph's Perry we'd brought back from the Three Counties Show.

Tomorrow was going to be a big day, and I didn't fancy starting it with a hangover...

Welland Valley - On the Buses

The programmes have now arrived, they are available at all of the participating pubs at the bargain price of £1. I don't propose to list the beers or ciders, but I will mention that the cider & perry list is incomplete. Unfortunately the e-mail I sent to the organiser over a month ago listing the ciders and perrys which we were supplying was obviously not received! For the record there will also be a Broome Farm Dabinett/Michelin Cider, and Ayleton Red Perry, as well as Torkard 57 Cider from the Hucknall Cider Co.

One thing I will add to the blog is the bus timetable. Without wishing to undermine sales of the programme, I feel that the bus information is something that really should be made available more widely before the festival so that people can better plan their day out. There are a number of places this could be posted, most notably the Northampton CAMRA website.

Welland Valley Beer Festival - Update

Programmes have not arrived in Middleton yet, but here's a small bit of news for the beer drinkers.

The new licensee at the Sondes Arms, Rockingham has upped the game at this year's festival. Previously the Sondes have sold their festival ales through the somewhat limited range of handpumps in the bars, but this year the beers will be split between the bar and a separate stillage which means the full range of ales will be available at all times. In addition to the list shown, the Sondes will also have our Rockingham Forest Cider, and also cider from Thatchers of Somerset. The Sondes Arms is worth a visit, if only to enjoy the lovely orchard garden at the rear where you can admire the old apple trees, some of which contributed fruit to this year's Welland Valley Special Cider.

Our local the Red Lion, Middleton have also posted up their beer list for the festival, and as you can see there will also be Rockingham Forest Cider, our festival special, and a Broome Farm Perry.