Category: News

The Conversation – We promised to come back to you with the conclusions of an exciting session we held with Herefordshire Food Alliance and Sustainable Ledbury in June as part of the National Food Conversation and Ledbury’s Great Big Green Week.

A well filled Burgage Hall enjoyed a hearty snack of 100% Herefordshire soup, local cheeses, bread and chutneys put us in the mood.  We then got stuck in to conversation about our food system. A video set the scene and we then heard from two local producers about where they are in the ‘food system’.

What do people want? Well, after looking at many things working, and not working about food right now it was pretty hard to whittle down the very many thoughts in the room but a few themes seemed to run across all the tables and chats.

• Policy change – regulating ultra processed foods, and supporting both independent and local food production. But a clear call for policy to be co-created by ALL of us!
• Education – for everyone, really, but some talk of schools and also examples of where this is going well locally.
• Change in supermarket practices – people shared stories of farmers being let down on crops, and prices they’re paid being too low – with a suggestion that changing their practices is something that customers do have some control over.Thanks to everyone who contributed to the conversation – we all learned something from the evening.  Special thanks to Herefordshire Food Alliance for moderating the evening.
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We talked in June about how our food is grown and the fertility of the soil.

We are taking this theme further with a showing of the film “Six Inches of Soil” on the evening of 27^th January at the Burgage Hall, Church Lane, Ledbury with partners Herefordshire Food Alliance and Sustainable Ledbury.

This film tells story of remarkable farmers, communities, small businesses, chefs and entrepreneurs who are leading the way using ‘regenerative’ farming techniques that work in harmony with, rather than against nature.  It focuses on local food systems and shorter supply chains.

There will be plenty of opportunity to follow up on the themes of the film with questions and discussion.

There’s more about this film at https://www.sixinchesofsoil.org/story-of-the-film.

Further details of this evening event will be posted nearer the event.

And also for your diary…

The Ledbury Big Breakfast will take place in and around Ledbury over the weekend Friday 31^st January, Saturday 1^st and Sunday 2^nd February.  Full details of participants and their offerings will be available here from mid-January.                        

Find out more about the National Food Conversation at https://thefoodconversation.uk/

Early morning rain disappeared in time for everyone to sample this year’s Ledbury Celebration last Sunday (7th July), Ledbury’s celebration of local food and drink with music, poetry and our historic heritage on the last day of the Ledbury Poetry Festival.  Only a short shower intervened.

Held in historic St Katherine’s, Ledbury, including the new St Katherine’s Square area, the event featured 17 local food and drink producers selling both street-food to enjoy on the spot and specialities to take home. 

The entertainment “menu” included poets Freddie Barker, Emma Clowsley and Johnny Fluffypunk.  The Poetry Busker spent the afternoon creating poems on demand on his 1930’s typewriter.

The music “courses” featured Four Crying Out Loud – Ledbury’s own fisherman’s quartet, The Hey Yahs Acoustic trio reviving old classics, Marie McMally enchanting with her sax, and The Banderos rocking the Blues as the start act of Ledbury Fringe week.

The Town Mayor of Ledbury, Councillor Stephen Chowns visited the event, meeting those taking part. 

For youngsters Kid’s Kitchen was on hand encouraging an interest in cooking and for Ledbury residents with good memories Ledbury Carnival mounted an exhibition of “50 years of Carnival” – a reminder for this year’s Carnival on Monday 26^th August.

A raffle of prizes generously donated by local businesses raised over £60 for Ledbury Food Bank.

The day was brought to a colourful close by Ledbury Border Morris who demonstrated five traditional dances – in the sun!

This event was a partnership between Ledbury Food Group, Ledbury Poetry, and Ledbury Town Council.

Ledbury Food Group thanks everyone who made this year’s event a success – stallholders, volunteers, organising team, performers, funders and most importantly all those who came to the event.

We welcome feed-back and ideas for this event for the future – contact us at ask@ledburyfoodgroup.org or phone 01531 633637

This event is organised by Ledbury Food Group, Ledbury Poetry and Ledbury Town Council with help from Ledbury Fringe.  It has received £1,500 from the UK Government through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund.  We are also grateful for financial help from Ledbury Town Council and the Herefordshire Community Foundation.

Four Crying Out Loud start the fun

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Cider presses are gearing up for action in this corner of Herefordshire, and Big Apple venues are standing by to welcome visitors to the Marcle Ridge on  Saturday 14th and Sunday 15th October. 

The apple harvest will be in full swing – no matter which way you turn in Much Marcle, apples are everywhere!  Not to mention pears – perry pears of course. 

Nine familiar Big Apple venues, including Woodredding, Lyne Down, Pope’s Perry, Hellens, Gregg’s Pit and Awnells Farm, alongside regular attractions at Westons Cider, are waiting to welcome visitors to enjoy the orchards, see, hear and smell cider being made and taste many different varieties of apples, local ciders, perries and apple juices.  And don’t miss apple teas at the Memorial Hall! 

This year’s highlights include:

• The ever popular ‘high-altitude’ tutored cider tastings on the Marcle Ridge
• Giving a hand to press perry pears from the ancient avenue at Hellens Manor
• Wheeling along with the Big Apple Bike Ride.
• The National Fruit Show Education Team making their first visit, tickling taste buds with an apple challenge at Hellens.
• Practical sessions on tool sharpening, the chance to buy refurbished garden tools and a talk from agronomist Matt Greep on apple pests and diseases – a ‘must’ for those who like to do things for themselves
• Bill Laws sharing some of the pomological secrets behind his forthcoming book about the Herefordshire Pomona.
• Tasty food offers and musical interludes including Uke Can’t Be Serious and Leominster Morris will be found in and around the orchards.

Full details of venues and special events, and advance booking where required, can be found at https://www.bigapple.org.uk/harvestime/

The Big Apple is delighted to be working alongside others this year to place apples right at the heart of Herefordshire under the umbrella of Hereford AppleFest.

Sustainable Ledbury has been involved in setting up a fruit gleaning project with Herefordshire Food Alliance.  The aim is to make use of fruit which is not harvested for various reasons.  There are two locations for the project, one Ledbury based and one Hereford based.  Details are as follows.

1st October – Ledbury picking day 11am – 3pm. Sites in and around Ledbury to be confirmed.

6th October – Hereford Picking day, Lower House Farm, Herefordshire Wildlife Trust reserve near Cock of Tupsley, HR1 1UT. 11am – 3pm

8th October – Ledbury preserving and community cooking day, preserving the harvest for Ledbury Food Bank at Pot and Page community hub, New Street 11am – 3pm

14th October – Hereford preserving and community cooking day at the Living Room, 10 Commercial Road, HR1 2BB 11am – 3pm

Lunch will be provided on each day.  Please bring your own mug for soup on the picking days as there won’t be kitchen facilities available! 

Transport to venues:

Transport will be provided from Ledbury to go to the picking locations away from the town.

Lower House Farm Orchard, Hereford is accessible by public transport with the 420, 469 and 476 from Hereford bus station stopping at the Cock of Tupsley pub, a 10 minute walk from the orchard. There is also a car park for those coming by car. The Hereford community bus may be available for those without transport and to bring the apples back to the Living Room in the afternoon.

The preserving and cooking days are in central town or city locations and they encourage the use of public transport where possible.  However there are large car parks nearby if coming by car.

Please contact Ruth Pullan 07951 399176 or ruthpullan@hotmail.co.uk to register as a volunteer. The organisers need to know numbers so they can make arrangements for refreshments on each day and to have enough equipment available.

If you have spare fruit, particularly near Ledbury, then this could be picked on the 1st October if a large quantity, or you can  bring smaller amounts to Pot and Page on the 8^th October.

These promise to be fun events which will also help the community. The produce from the Ledbury is destined to go to the Ledbury Food Bank. Thanks to a grant obtained by HFA, they have a new freezer.

If you know of anyone who might be interested, please share this information with them.

The Ledbury Celebration on Sunday 9th July celebrates the local food and drink of Herefordshire and its neighbouring counties with an added menu of music, poetry and our historic heritage.

This year’s event brings an outdoor market to historic St Katherine’s, Ledbury next to the 15th century Master’s House and just off the High Street. The event runs from 11am to 4pm with entertainment from midday.

Local produce will be on sale either to eat and drink “on the go” or to take home to savour in slower time.

Producers and street-food specialist this year include:

• Afghan Pizzas
• Great Bear Escapes
• Happy Dumpling
• Hilltop Farm
• Kitchen Flowers
• Kontext Koffee
• Little Bento Box
• Little Marcle Organic Produce
• Miniyaki’s Japanese Street Food
• Molton Bene Pizza
• Mr Gyros
• Myrtle’s Kitchen
• Orchard Grove Preserves
• Seb’s Cider
• Skittery’s Apple Juice
• Vincenta’s Empanadas
• Wykeham Gardens

And we hope more!

In addition you will find:

• Sustainable Ledbury – find out about avoiding food waste
• Our own stand – ask us about local food
• Our local Police Support Officer

Buy some food, find a seat and enjoy a special afternoon of entertainment

 Ledbury Poetry has lined up special “al fresco” poetic performances during the event featuring:

• At 12.45pm – Young local poets take the stand. Encouraged by Ledbury Poetry’s Learning and Inspiration for Young People programme, they will challenge and delight.
• At 1.45pm – Emma Clowsley presents poems exclusively written for the Ledbury Celebration. Emma is based in Ledbury. Her debut pamphlet “Don’t forget your Toothbrush” has just been published.
• At 2.45pm – Chloê Jacquet Chloë is a multicultural, multifaceted, multi-slam winning poet based in Gloucestershire,  with a preference for straight talking and a penchant for rhymes and opinions

And

• Through the afternoon – Beth Calverley, will be present with her magical Poetry Machine. This is your chance to experience poetry, created in response to your thoughts, feelings, ideas, and discoveries. Book your slot with Beth!

And a feast of musical entertainment…

• At 12pm – Four Crying Out Loud – Ledbury’s own “fishermens” quartet (but far from the sea!) with shanties, sing-alongs and lively folk
• At 1pm – George Montague, described as a “charismatic and talented pianist and songwriter… daft, charming, original” Worth hearing!
• At 2pm – The Hey Yahs Trio with an acoustic set of harmony vocals and guitar covers – “music to lunch by“
• At 3pm – The Rohan five-piece will cover Traditional Folk, Blue Grass and contemporary in their unique way

And to end a special day…

• At 3.40pm – Ledbury Border Morris will close the event with their unique blend of border county traditional dances

And you can visit Ledbury’s heritage sites – the Church, The Heritage Centre and the Town itself, or book in for a session of poetry at Ledbury Poetry Festival on the last day of the festival. – Programme at https://ledburypoetry.org.uk/home/whats-on/

Can you help us at this event?

We always need help to prepare the site for the event and to take things down when it ends. We also need help with stewarding during the event.  If you can help please ring Griff at 01531 633637 or email ledburycelebration@gmail.com.  You will be valued!

This event is organised by Ledbury Food Group in partnership with Ledbury Poetry and Ledbury Town Council.

Ledbury Poetry is supported by: