Weston's Scrumpy House, Ledbury

The Scrumpy House is more of a restaurant than a bar. But the food did look and smell very tempting. It's a fairly modern looking place from the outside and has a bit of a canteen feel inside. There were 3 ciders on handpull for our visit - Family Reserve, Old Rosie & Rosie's Pig Rhubarb. I did note that they served real ale in bottles. As a keen cider drinker, this was my first ever visit to Weston's. Whilst we didn't do the tour, the shop also has some good deals, which cannot be had online. So, we did walk away with 12 bottles for £20. If I return, I will have to try the tour.

Situated within the grounds of the Weston Cider Mill, the Scrumpy House is essentially the on-site bar, tea room and restaurant. Whilst there is a fee to visit the Mill and do the tour (£7.50 – recommended!), the bar is accessable to non-visitors although the opening hours are generally limited to that of the Mill with Friday and Saturday evenings designated for diners so do check if you are going for a specific visit outside of normal hours. The building was formerly a cowshed and is situated on the right as you pass through the main entrance. Despite being quite narrow, the interior is fairly roomy and airy thanks to its glazed frontage and vaulted ceiling. The furnishings and fittings are quite modern but the place is given a bit of vintage charm by some old signage and adverts. I would imagine it can get quite busy at peak times in the summer but there is plenty of seating outside in the attractive courtyard garden with its pond, old apple presses and grindstones. Not surprisingly it showcases Weston’s products with Old Rosie, Wyld Wood and Country Perry available on hand pull for my visit plus a selection of draught ciders including Stowford Press. Unfortunately I didn’t really notice the food side of things beyond the snacky element. Much of the daytime trade will of course be derived from the tourists and daytrippers so it does have more of a tea room feel than a bar with cream cakes and scones probably as much as a lure to some as the ciders so, as pleasant as the place is, it’s really best in its tourist attraction guise than as being a particular drinking destination but it does what it does perfectly adequately.

Official page of the Scrumpy House - www.westons-cider.co.uk

Official page of the Scrumpy House - www.westons-cider.co.uk