Thursday 29 July 2010

Bristol Harbourside Cider


This weekend's Harbour Festival has plenty to offer - including easy access to some of the world's finest cider. Come to think of it, the cider is there all the time, and you could take a very pleasant boat tour that combines great views, an opportunity to test your sea legs and car-free drinking...

Make your way to Temple Meads station and go round the back to the ferry terminal. From there you can take a boat to the Centre and trot across Queen Square to The Apple, the now-legendary bar-on-a-boat moored on Welsh Back. A swift half there, then back to the Centre and off again to the ss Great Britain.

The essential trick here is to walk past the entrance of the museum, up Gas Ferry Road to the alleyway on the right opposite Aardman's offices. Dodge down said alley, past the back of David Abel's shipyard and across the road to The Orchard, a fine local boozer with the most challenging list of farmhouse ciders in town.

If that doesn't finish you off, sail away again to the Nova Scotia, hard up against Cumberland Basin... You can sit on the quayside and enjoy a pint of Thatchers, and a very reasonably-priced one at that, then take a ferry home again...

There's more on Bristol Cider in The Naked Guide to Cider, out in September from Tangent Books...

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