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The Taunton Cider Company was a cider producer, based in Norton Fitzwarren, north west of the county town of Taunton, Somerset, England. The company is best known for being the developer and producer of Blackthorn Cider, now produced by Gaymer Cider Company, a subsidiary of C&C Group plc of Ireland.
In 1805, a local farmers co-operative had formed to produce cider at Norton Fitzwarren. By the early 1900s, the Reverend Cornish had started producing cider from these locally produced apples and pulp at the Heathfield Rectory. In 1911 the priest and the co-operative set-up the "Taunton Cider Company" in Norton Fitzwarren, to commercially produce his cider. [1]
After World War I, producing only non-sparkling cider in traditional wooden barrels, the methodology only allowed the products to be distributed around the wider Taunton area, and hence the company choose only to supply public houses. [1] Becoming a private limited company in April 1921, the structure of the company changed again after the UK Government introduced the Purchase Tax on cider in 1923, [1] but the company managed to continue to produce their basic recipe. After World War II, in the 1950s the introducing of pasteurisation gave the cider a much longer shelf life, allowing the drink to be marketed nationally. Mastering this process allowed the company to purchase local competitors Quantock Vale, Ashford Vale, Bruttons and Horrells.
By the 1980s, the company was the UK's second largest cider maker after Hereford-based H. P. Bulmer, employing 550 people at its Norton Fitzwarren site, which produced 30 million gallons of cider per annum. [2] The main brand was Blackthorn Cider and various derivatives (Original, Dry, Sweet, Special Vat, Cool), as well as: Diamond White; Red Rock; and the draught-only Taunton Original. Autumn Gold was the sweet derivative which was available on draught, in cans and bottles throughout the country. The company also marketed and distributed Miller Genuine Draft lager in the United Kingdom in a joint agreement with the Miller Brewing Company.
In 1995 the company was bought by drinks company Matthew Clark plc for £256 million, which itself is now part of the Gaymers Cider Company.
In 2016 it was reported that the company had been revived, now based in Churchstanton. [3]
In 2017 the company moved back in to central Taunton.
The reformed company received a number of accolades in 2017 including a diploma in the British Bottlers Institute annual awards, a bronze in both the British Cider Championships [4] and International Cider Awards, and Highly Commended in the Taste of the West Awards. [5] It has also been shortlisted in the Beer and Cider Marketing Awards for Best Launch [6] and the Somerset Business Awards for Best New Business.
The West Somerset Railway (WSR) is a 22.75-mile (36.6 km) heritage railway line in Somerset, England. The freehold of the line and stations is owned by Somerset Council. The railway is leased to and operated by West Somerset Railway plc, which is supported and minority-owned by the West Somerset Railway Association (WSRA) charitable trust and the West Somerset Railway Heritage Trust (WSRHT). WSR operates services using both heritage steam and diesel trains.
Sloe gin is a British red liqueur made with gin and blackthorn fruits (sloes), which are the drupe fruit of the Prunus spinosa tree, which is a relative of the plum. As an alcoholic drink, sloe gin contains between 15 per cent and 30 per cent alcohol by volume (ABV); however, European Union regulations established 25 per cent ABV as the minimal alcoholic content for the blackthorn beverage to be a sloe gin. Historically, despite being a liqueur based upon gin, the EU included the colloquial name sloe gin to the legal definitions; thus, sloe gin is the only alcoholic beverage that legally uses the term gin without appending the liqueur suffix.
C&C Group plc is an Irish manufacturer, marketer and distributor of alcoholic drinks, particularly cider, and soft drinks. It has production facilities across Ireland, Great Britain and the United States, and its products are sold around the world. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index.
Blackthorn Cider is a cider produced by Gaymer Cider Company, a subsidiary of C&C Group. Previously it was known as Blackthorn Dry or Dry Blackthorn. It is sold in a variety of forms, commonly being served draught in pubs or being sold in 440 ml cans or two-litre bottles in shops or supermarkets.
Norton Fitzwarren is a village, electoral ward, and civil parish in Somerset, England, situated 2 miles (3.2 km) north west of Taunton. The village has a population of 3,046.
Krönleins Brewery is a Swedish brewery founded in 1836 by Anders Julius Appeltofft in Halmstad, Sweden.
Brothers Cider is a brand of fruit cider originating in Somerset in South West England. Originally available at music festivals, it is now sold in pubs, bars, and stores across the United Kingdom and internationally in countries such as Thailand, Singapore, and China.
The Gaymer Cider Company produced and marketed cider. It has been owned by C&C Group since 2010. However, the Gaymer brand is no longer used and the business has been consolidated into the parent company.
Bishops Lydeard railway station is a heritage railway station in the village of Bishops Lydeard, Somerset, England. It is the southern terminus for regular trains on the West Somerset Railway.
Norton Fitzwarren railway station is an untimetabled station on the West Somerset Railway in Somerset, England. It was built in 2009 about 1⁄4 mile (0.4 km) north of the site of the old station that served the village of Norton Fitzwarren from 1873 until 1961. There were fatal railway accidents in the vicinity in 1890, 1940 and 1978.
Sharp's Brewery is a British brewery founded in 1994 in St Minver Lowlands, Rock, Cornwall, by Bill Sharp. Since 2011, the brewery has been owned by Molson Coors. It is best known for its flagship ale Doom Bar, named after the notoriously perilous Doom Bar sandbank in north Cornwall.
Somerset is a county in the south west of England. It is a rural county and transport infrastructure has been significant in industrial development. There is some heavy industry particularly related to the defence technologies and the county has several centres for stone quarrying, although the coalfield is now closed.
Two Dogs was a ready-to-drink beverage that was first introduced in Australia in 1993 and went on to become available throughout the world. It was a lemon flavoured alcoholic beverage that is widely considered to have been the "world’s first brewed alcoholic lemonade", paving the way for similar products such as Hooper's Hooch and Mike's Hard Lemonade.
Guinness is a stout that originated in the brewery of Arthur Guinness at St. James's Gate, Dublin, Ireland, in the 18th century. It is now owned by the British-based multinational alcoholic beverage maker Diageo. It is one of the most successful alcohol brands worldwide, brewed in almost 50 countries, and available in over 120. Sales in 2011 amounted to 850,000,000 litres. In spite of declining consumption since 2001, it is the best-selling alcoholic drink in Ireland where Guinness & Co. Brewery makes almost €2 billion worth of beer annually.
Cider is an alcoholic beverage made from the fermented juice of apples. Cider is widely available in the United Kingdom and Ireland. The UK has the world's highest per capita consumption, as well as the largest cider-producing companies. Ciders from the South West of England are generally higher in alcoholic content. Cider is also popular in many Commonwealth countries, such as India, South Africa, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and New England. As well as the UK and its former colonies, cider is popular in Portugal, France, Friuli, and northern Spain. Germany also has its own types of cider with Rhineland-Palatinate and Hesse producing a particularly tart version known as Apfelwein. In the U.S. and Canada, varieties of alcoholic cider are often called hard cider to distinguish it from non-alcoholic apple cider or "sweet cider", also made from apples. In Canada, cider cannot contain less than 2.5% or over 13% absolute alcohol by volume.
Somersby is a brand of 4.5% abv cider by Danish brewing company Carlsberg Group. Developed in 2008, it was originally developed for the Danish market, but today has been launched in more than 46 markets, including all of Europe, Israel, Nepal, Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Thailand, South Korea, Canada, Sweden, Sri Lanka, South Africa, the United States and Laos. Of the world's ten biggest cider brands, Somersby was the one that grew most in 2012.
Norton Manor Camp, or RM Norton Manor, is a Royal Marines base located near Norton Fitzwarren, 2 miles (3.2 km) north west of Taunton, Somerset, in England. It is home to 40 Commando.
Francis Edwin Showering, was an English brewer. His family company, Showerings, invented Babycham, a light, sparkling perry, launched in 1953 and originally marketed as "genuine champagne perry". In 1957, it became the first alcoholic product to be advertised on UK television.
Diamond White is a brand of white cider produced in Shepton Mallet, Somerset, England by Brookfield Drinks, who bought the brand from the Gaymer Cider Company in 2013. Like White Star, it is a cider with an alcohol content of 7.5%. It was launched by the Taunton Cider Company of Shepton Mallet, now part of Matthew Clark, in 1986, and is one of the company's major brands of cider. In 2015, Brookfield relaunched Diamond White with new branding, and launched Diamond Black, an 8% amber cider.
Cider in the United Kingdom is widely available at pubs, off licences, and shops. It has been made in regions of the country where cider apples were grown since Roman times; in those regions it is intertwined with local culture, particularly in the West Country.