The first brew I ever made was using pears - Conference variety - and my future brother in law had to have a lie down on the wall outside the back door after sampling it.

There was a crab apple tree behind my house in the English midlands, I could easily pick enough in one go for several gallons of wine. That was good too.

It always seems such a shame that most years there are tons of good brewing stuff left to rot on the ground.

I always associated the word scrumping with a rugby (football) scrum - and the creeping along behind whatever cover there was to visit the tree unseen, bent over in the same way.

Anne Croucher