It’s that time of year again; dark nights, frosty mornings and wassailing is upon us. Our orchards are yet again filled with myth and magic as we continue a centuries old tradition that brings good luck for the harvest and the year ahead.

We’ve been producing cider since 1904, yet the wassail tradition has continued as far back as the fourth century. This celebration is a great way to come together as a community and spread joy in the darker months.

Eleanor Thatcher, our fifth generation cidermaker, reflects from her experiences at the wassail “I remember being the wassail queen when I was only 7 years old, being a family business it’s great to see the wassail traditions still alive after all these years.”

The night was filled with singing, dancing, banging sticks and hanging toast, all to scare away the bad spirits and bring in the good ones. The ceremony is believed to encourage a beautiful harvest, just like the vintage one we enjoyed in 2025!

Wassail (waes hail) translates into modern English as ‘good health’ and was often followed by a call of ‘drinc hail’ meaning ‘drink well’. So, we wish all of you ‘waes hail’ and invite you to join us in a cider toast.