00:00So we're here in Much Wenlock, Wenlock Pottery, and introduce yourselves. Go on, sir, you're the master potter.
00:06Thank you. Well, I don't know. Anyway, I'm Mike Fletcher, Wenlock Pottery, for 46 years.
00:1246 years, been wheeling away.
00:14Making pots.
00:15And who've we got with you?
00:17So I'm Angus Robinson, so I'm a cider maker for Robinson Cider, and I'm sixth generation.
00:21So I was going to say, it's not just a coincidence, you are Robinson, as in the Robinson Cider.
00:26Yes.
00:26And a lot of people, like when I saw this, might recognise this.
00:31So, you make this for Robintons.
00:34I have, for a good many years now.
00:36Yeah, and I've been informed, Little Bird tells me, you're the last person in the country to be making these kind of flagons.
00:43Sadly to say, yes.
00:44Crazy, isn't it?
00:46It is a dying art.
00:47I mean, you know, we filmed this a couple of days after they've announced Moorcroft are shutting down, and, you know.
00:53It's a lot of, we're losing a lot of tradition here.
00:56Yeah, yeah.
00:57So how long have Robinson's been employing the services of this man, then, roughly?
01:01So we've been doing it for over 10 years now.
01:04Yeah.
01:04Easily, 10 years.
01:05I've been working with my dad.
01:06Yeah, yeah.
01:08Now we're working together as well.
01:10Exactly.
01:10We're just doing something together, making little, can I say that, little tasters.
01:17Yeah.
01:17And that, for Robinson's Cider, little tiny taster mugs, like you can say, really.
01:25Yeah, so people can taste the cider in the pubs.
01:27Oh, wow, okay.
01:28Is that like, almost like the little paddle boards kind of thing, where you have the little...
01:31Well, in fact, I think we made it for you earlier.
01:34Yeah.
01:34Oh, these are, okay.
01:36Wow.
01:37Okay.
01:37Look at those, cute little things.
01:40Lovely.
01:40So they will be...
01:42They'll end up looking like that.
01:43Oh, that's awesome.
01:45Cool.
01:45Will they be branded up as well?
01:46They'll be branded up as well.
01:47Yes, nice, nice.
01:49So, it's such a special trade, and the fact we've got you making the last ones in the country,
01:56and you're in Shropshire, originally a black country man.
01:59I am originally a black country man.
02:01So, working across Express and Star and Shropshire, we'll claim you as both.
02:04Thank you very much.
02:05So, it's quite fortunate, isn't it?
02:09I mean, I guess if this man wasn't doing what he was doing, the options...
02:14Well, it's going abroad, isn't it?
02:15Trying to find some bit of tap from abroad.
02:18That's what I was doing, so...
02:19Yeah, and the last thing you'd want when you've got, like, you know, Robinson's Cider made in
02:24Tenbury's to be putting it in jugs made in China or something, you know what I mean?
02:28Yeah, yeah.
02:29Yeah.
02:30You can find them, but they're just not the same.
02:31They're not the same.
02:32Yeah.
02:32Obviously talked about that.
02:34This could be commercially made, and that.
02:37A lot of people are getting these made in plastic now.
02:40Yeah.
02:41Yeah.
02:41Not the same.
02:42No, definitely not the same.
02:43Definitely.
02:44It's got all this amazing kind of character and detail on them.
02:46Yeah.
02:47Yeah.
02:48Yeah, he has the little logo on there, doesn't he?
02:50The WP.
02:51So this will be used, it's almost like a decorative bar feature in pubs.
02:56Exactly, yeah.
02:57So we put these on the bar, and there's a tap and bracket that comes off the bottom, and
03:00it's the tap that we used to serve the cider from, so...
03:01Fantastic.
03:03People actually love them.
03:04So how long's Robinson's Cider been going?
03:06So I'm sixth generation, so it's around about 200 years.
03:10That's crazy, isn't it?
03:11Yeah.
03:11Yeah, yeah.
03:12And how many different types of cider do you do, then?
03:15We do one main one in pubs, which is Robinson's Flagon, and then we've got two bottled ciders.
03:19We're actually about to bring out a non-alcoholic cider for the first time.
03:23Wow, okay, interesting.
03:24And people can find Robinson's Cider all across Shropshire, Black Country, yeah?
03:29Yes, yep, Shropshire, Black Country, West Midlands, Herefordshire, and down to Black Gloucestershire.
03:34Awesome.
03:35And you're just across the border from Shropshire, aren't you?
03:37Yes, so we're just south of Ludlow, just inside the Herefordshire border, but loads
03:42of pubs in and around Herefordshire, so Shropshire.
03:45So I'm going to ask you a question now.
03:47I'm going to see if you wince or agree.
03:49It's a hot summer's day, you get a pint of cider, you ask the bar mate to chuck a few
03:54ice cubes in there.
03:55Is that allowed?
03:56Oh no, what have I done?
03:57What have I done?
03:59I've never said that, I promise, I guess.
04:02That's a no-no, yeah?
04:04That's what I thought, guys.
04:05That's what I thought.
04:07They're used to there, aren't they?
04:08Yeah, yeah.
04:09Well, thank you guys, and thank you Wenlock Pottery for doing what you do, and Robinsons,
04:14keep them drinks a-coming.
04:16Cheers, buddy.
04:16What I will do now, I'll throw a flagon to show you.
04:20Oh, cool, great stuff.
04:22Oh.
04:25That reminds me of when I used to get to my nan's and I was naughty.
04:30You've got time for me to do that.
04:31Yeah, yeah.
04:31So how many of these do you make for Robinsons in a year, would you say?
04:38Probably about two.
04:39Yeah.
04:39Yeah?
04:391850.
04:40Yeah, yeah.
04:40These.
04:41These.
04:56That looks like that takes a bit of muscle to get in there and get it, you know what I
05:00mean?
05:01Lovely tactile material to work with, yeah?
05:09Oh, that's gorgeous.
05:17I'll do that.
05:21Am I the only one that's craving a pint of cider now?
05:28Look at that, guys.
05:31Look at this.
05:34So, do you supply flagons for other people as well, then?
05:38I do.
05:39I do, yes.
05:39Holt Norton Brewery.
05:41Yeah.
05:41Western Sider.
05:43Yeah.
05:43And it started many years ago, I understand, with Hobsons, Hobsons Brewery.
05:50Yeah.
05:51Well, well, no.
05:51So, back in the day, you were making a lot of lamps for people like Argos and that, but
05:59obviously, you have to diversify, isn't it?
06:02That's the word.
06:03I tell you what, it takes a few years to be able to do that in that speed.
06:13Look at that.
06:14Two years.
06:15Yeah.
06:16Look at that.
06:17Guys, believe me, as someone who has had a go once on a parting wheel, he's making this
06:23look a lot easier than it actually is.
06:2646 years, he's been doing it, so that's what you get.
06:43And what a thrill when you go into a pub and see a Robinson's wagon behind a bar, do you
06:48know what I mean?
06:51Look at that.
06:52Hey?
06:52Easy.
06:53No worries.
06:5429 more to go.
06:56Look at that, beautiful.
06:58So, what happens to this now, then?
07:00What's the next stage for that?
07:01Well, the next stage would be to put a stamp on it, and this is...
07:06Oh, is...
07:06Oh, oh, okay.
07:08It's a rubber stamp, it is.
07:09No way.
07:09Okay.
07:10The traditional, very old stamp.
07:12So, where was that stamp made?
07:13I'm curious now.
07:14This was...
07:14I don't know.
07:17Black country.
07:18Somewhere in the black country.
07:19Somewhere in the black country, yeah.
07:20Somewhere in the black country.
07:21Cool.
07:22So, what we would do, we'd put a finger in there, like,
07:25so...
07:26Yeah.
07:27Ah, go on then.
07:29Let's have a look.
07:30A little of the magic happens.
07:35Cool.
07:36Nice.
07:39Ta-da!
07:40That's beautiful.
07:42There you go.
07:42And that is the shrinkage.
07:54That is the shrinkage between that and that.
07:57What, you mean that one will end up that size?
08:00Yes.
08:00Wow.
08:01Yes.
08:02Interesting.
08:02What, when it'll come out the kiln and literally it's...
08:05No, in several weeks' time, because it'll take several weeks to get through the process.
08:09Yeah.
08:10That'll be that.
08:11That's crazy.
08:13And I guess you learn that the hard way as a butter, don't you?
08:15Yeah, this is the size I want it.
08:16And then you pull it out of the kiln and you're like, hang on.
08:19Right, well, lovely to meet you, gents.
08:21And long may both of your trades continue.
08:24Thank you very much.
08:25Thank you very much.
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