When apples are in season our traditionally designed mill, built in 2001, operates to crush the fruit and process the juice for the making of cider, which has long been one of the favorite regional drinks in Somerset, England.

  Apples are let into the trough of the crusher (pictured above right) and the heavy stone wheel is pushed around the circle by a donkey or person until the apples are mashed and ready to be taken inside to the press (above, left).  Here a heavy beam, operated by a large wooden screw assembly, presses the juice out of the pulp, into buckets in which the juice is transferred to large barrels where it is left to ferment into hard cider.  Cider made at the mill is for demonstration, not for sale, but you can order real Somerset cider with your meal at the Bors Hede Restaurant.