Cider house rules again

An old name in Nelson brewing is back and reviving an even older name in cider making.

The engine is rumbling again in a Stoke factory, waiting for the green light to revive a product that was first made there around 70 years ago.

The plant on Main Road Stoke was the home of the Rochdale Cider Factory, famous since the late 1930s for finding a way to squeeze every last drop from the region's apple crop and turn it into cider.

It was to become even more famous when the McCashin family took over the Rochdale mantle when they bought the site in 1980. They continued to brew cider, but really made their name when, in 1981, they brewed the first Mac's beer using locally grown hops.

In 1999 the Mac's brand was sold to giant brewery Lion and a year later Mac's HQ in Stoke was leased to the heavyweight, with the family moving out of the picture.

But in April this year the McCashins returned to the site, on a mission led by founder Terry McCashin's son Dean and his wife Emma, to revive a range of products under a new brand, focusing on cider under the Rochdale name.

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