CAMRA awards ‘key player’ in Britain’s cider community

Elizabeth Pimblett (pictured), Director of the Museum of Cider in Hereford and co-founder of Cider Women, has been named by the Campaign for Real Ale as this year’s prestigious Pomona Award winner for her commitment and dedication to the cider community. 

Named after the Goddess of fruit trees, gardens, and orchards, the Pomona Award is presented by CAMRA to a person, group, organisation, idea or concept that has made an outstanding achievement, commitment, or contribution to the promotion of real cider or perry. The award will be presented on Saturday October 14 at 2pm, at the Big Apple Association’s annual celebration of cider and perry, held at Hellens Manor House, Much Marcle, Herefordshire.  

Those who nominated Elizabeth described her as a ‘key player’ in Britain’s cider community, representing the UK internationally and shining a light on its historical and cultural importance. 

Elizabeth has had a leading role at the Museum for Cider for the past seven years. As a social historian, she was instantly intrigued and inspired by a set of air twisted 18th century cider glasses at the museum.   

Elizabeth said: “I instantly felt a passion for cider and wanted to explore it further and be part of its revival; we are now seeing a renaissance of this fantastic drink. It is a wonderfully inclusive field with fantastic interplay across the world, showcasing specialisms and a vast range of interesting people and products.

“Herefordshire records show a female cider maker active in the 1790s, for instance, and I wanted to celebrate this; to increase representation and help women step out of the shadows and develop in confidence. After all, women have been involved in cider production and in consuming it probably since cider began.”

Elizabeth was one of the founding members and original co-chair of Cider Women. A group celebrating women involved in all aspects of cider, spanning production, sales, education and advocacy.   

On receiving the award, Elizabeth said: “Recording the history of cider while sharing and educating people is a huge passion for me. It really is such an honour to receive this award and it still hasn’t sunk in that I have been recognised for work in this field. The people I have worked alongside have been a huge inspiration and to promote our new wave of cider makers has been such a wonderful experience.

Elizabeth also paid tribute to Susanna Forbes and Gabe Cook – both former winners of CAMRA Awards – for their support. Citing that they were both an ‘inspiration’ on her cider journey, being generous with their time, knowledge and helping her to build lifelong connections.   

Andrea Briers, who oversees CAMRA’s Pomona Award said: “Elizabeth is a true champion of cider and perry and I am delighted to give the Pomona Award to her.  

“Elizabeth has shown unwavering dedication to researching and educating about the fascinating role of cider across the centuries. This has led to vital learning about its beginnings, including its rich social historical importance, while she has been at the heart of the new wave of cider producers. 

“She has also played a key role in promoting the role of women across the industry through creating, driving and celebrating Cider Women. Her passion for cider and perry makes Elizabeth a worthy winner, while she continues with her remarkable work.”

To find out more about the award, and CAMRA’s other celebrations during its Cider and Perry Month, visit https://camra.org.uk/what-we-do/cider-and-perry-months/  

For more information, contact press@camra.org.uk  

Photo by Susanna Forbes, co-founder of Little Pomona

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Notes for editors: 

• Hereford Cider Museum Trust is an Independent Charitable Trust and was founded in 1973 to preserve the history of cider making worldwide. 
• The extensive collection includes cider mills, presses, bottles, old photographs, watercolours, advertising memorabilia and a rare collection of English lead crystal cider flutes. 
• It is housed in the original 1888 Bulmer’s factory, and it tells the story of cidermaking across Britain, although local social history of course features very strongly. 
• The museum continues to collect artefacts associated with the history of cider making and has achieved Accreditation status (awarded by the Arts Council, England) for its standards of care applied to the collection.