On 8th October 1884, members of Hereford’s Woolhope Club reported from a Congress of the Pomological Societies of France in Rouen that they had selected eight of the best cider apple varieties from Norman orchards to bring back to plant in Herefordshire. A French apple called Michelin went on to become the backbone of UK cider. Michelin’s history, and its legacy through new cider apples bred from it, is a manifestation of shared devotion of cider apple experts in France and in England.
This story includes images of models of apples crafted by Somerset artist Lottie Sweeney for Apples & People, watercolours from the Herefordshire Pomona and Bulmer’s Pomona, a 1944 painting by Evelyn Mary Dunbar of Land Girls from the collection of Manchester Art Gallery, paintings by Somerset cider apple expert Liz Copas, an 1898 photograph of Henri Michelin, and one of the medals awarded to the Woolhope Club at the Rouen Congress.
The story is accompanied by a journal article ‘M.Legrand – Incubator and creator of the Michelin’ kindly written for Apples & People by Pascal Levaillant and Marie-Thérèse Mériot in Normandy. This describes more about how the Michelin apple emerged in France, the history of apple growing in Yvetot, and the legacy of Legrand’s nurseries.
