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Report - - Merrydown Cider Factory, Horam - Oct '10 | Industrial Sites | 28DaysLater.co.uk

Report - Merrydown Cider Factory, Horam - Oct '10

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mookster

grumpy sod
Regular User
*pic heavy*

This was the second site of the day with Treadstone after Lillesden School (my pics will be tagged onto his report when he puts it up), after a discussion over lunch as to where to head next. After consulting the satnav we discovered this to be close by. So off we headed!

First a bit of history from here:

More than 50 years of brewing history comes to an end this week when a cider company finally severs its connection with Sussex.

About two thirds of the workforce at Merrydown's plant in Horam, near Heathfield, will walk out for the final time early on Friday following the company's decision earlier this year [2004] to shut the site.

Production will stop for good, although the company will keep a small presence of office staff at the site until the end of February.

Merrydown, which makes the Shloer soft fruit and Merrydown cider brands, has had a connection with the small East Sussex village since 1946.

The company was founded by friends Jack Ward and Ian Howie as an attempt to bring cider-making back home to England.

The first batch of Merrydown Vintage Cider was fermented from 450 gallons of apple juice and within a year the scale of production had outgrown Mr Ward's garage at his home in Rotherfield and the partners bought Horam Manor, with seven acres of land.

Merrydown decided to close the plant because further investment could not be justified because of the small manufacturing capacity.

The company will now move its offices to Reigate, Surrey, where the Shloer team is based. Production will be moved to a number of sub-contractors.

It's stripped, very stripped, but still has enough to keep an explorer amused for a couple of hours, the light was really nice. Plus the access is a laugh!

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So many unopened test bottles of Shloer!

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Sorry for the amount of pics, I tried cutting it down but I couldn't! A few more pics(!) can be found here Merrydown Cider Factory

cheers for looking!
 
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