Cider inside yer

SIR – I am sure that craft ciders are a delight for today’s aficionados (Letters, August 15) – but I would like to make a plea for the connoisseurs of times past.

In the Sixties a redoubtable landlady, known as Rosie to her customers at the Ring O’ Bells in the parish of Widcombe, was known to say that if you could see the fingers of your own hand holding a glass of her scrumpy then it wasn’t really scrumpy.

After a few pints, men couldn’t see much at all – which was why she used to watch them home in case they fell into the river. This could have been a humanitarian gesture on her part, or it could have been motivated by a desire to ensure that the scrumpy drinkers were present at her bar the next day. Christopher Bird

Frome, Somerset