Picking up where things left off

How a Devon farm came back to growing cider apples — slowly, properly, and with the same trees that have suited this ground for generations.

East Devon, the Otter Valley

Bowhayes sits a few miles inland from Sidmouth, on the kind of red-soil ground that has suited cider apples in this part of Devon for centuries. Just up the road, Whimple was once home to Whiteway's, and the surrounding farmland has been planted with orchards for generations. The Whimple Wassail still carries on each winter — part ritual, part excuse to stand in a cold field with a drink.

Look at the old Ordnance Survey maps of this corner of the county and the same pattern repeats across every farm: a cluster of buildings, a few fields, and an orchard. Cider wasn't a sideline — it was part of how a farm worked.

Dabinett, Browns, Michelin

We grow three traditional bittersweet varieties — Dabinett for body and tannin, Browns for character, and Michelin for steadiness and yield. South West cider apples bred over generations to thrive in this climate and give cider its proper bitter-sweet character.

Much of that tradition was nearly lost in the twentieth century as orchards were grubbed up. Bringing trees back to ground that once held them feels less like starting something new and more like picking up where things left off.

More on what makes good cider.

Doing the same things properly for a long time

Good orchards are built slowly. Mostly by doing the same things properly for a long time — pruning in winter, watching the weather in spring, mowing the rows in summer, getting the fruit in cleanly in autumn.

The cider follows a simple pattern: harvest, press, ferment, wait. No concentrate, no additions — just apples and time. Small batches, because scale isn't the point.

The seasonal rhythm is documented as it happens in the orchard journal.

A new traditional orchard, winter 2026–27

Planting is scheduled for November 2026 through to February 2027 — when the trees are dormant and conditions suit. The new traditional orchard will include Twenty Pip, Major, Tom Legg and Kingston Black, keeping South West cider apple growing alive.

Trees planted now are for the next generation as much as this one. The groundwork is there. The rest follows when it's ready.

One enterprise on a wider farm

Bowhayes Orchards sits within Bowhayes Farm — a working family of enterprises rooted in the East Devon landscape, sharing the same long-term view.

More on the varieties in traditional cider apples, and on the working year in orchard seasons in Devon.

Worth a visit during blossom or harvest — see the visiting page for current dates.