The 17th century cider mill at Fair Oak Farm in Bacton had not been used for a hundred years.
But with the help of skilful craftsmen and kind neighbours, a little detective work and several huge strokes of luck, it was brought back to life.
When Pye, the Gypsy Cob stallion from Llanigon, arrived in 2014 and began to work the mill Hilary Engel and her colleagues realized this was now the only horse-drawn mill in the country.
In her talk, Horse-Powered in Herefordshire, Hilary tells the story of the ups and downs of producing cider in a seventeenth-century mill in the twenty-first century. There are happy days with willing helpers in sunny orchards; the satisfaction of filling a barrel; the spring-time delights of tasting the year’s new cider; even occasional celebrity and prizes. Most exciting of all is the moment when Featherstone, the young Gypsy Cob raised at Fair Oak, happily takes on the role of working the mill. But there have been harder days as well, coping with baffling bureaucracy and pouring rain.
Above all the story is one of fellowship: a pride in reviving an old craft, of doing physical work well, producing an excellent result, and sharing the pleasure with visitors, old and young.

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