A new orchard centre in Gloucestershire is attracting world-wide interest from enthusiasts keen to start producing their own cider.

Students from as far afield as Australia and India have travelled to the centre in Hartpury to master the skills of making cider and perry on week-long courses.

And supporters of the centre say the interest is proof of the need to ensure traditional orcharding skills are preserved.

The purpose-built Orchard Centre and surrounding orchards are being developed thanks to almost £100,000 from Gloucestershire Rural Renaissance, which helped draw in a further £234,000 from the Heritage Lottery Fund and £50,000 from the Gloucestershire Environmental Trust.

It is part of the Collection of Historic Orcharding Trees (COHORT) project – an initiative run by the Hartpury Historic Land and Buildings Trust, aiming to preserve the county's orcharding heritage.

Jim Chapman, who has spent more than 10 years creating an orchard of more than 100 different varieties of perry pear in Hartpury, said officials were delighted with the response to the courses.

"We appear to have already gained an international reputation as a training centre of quality – even though our official opening isn't until May," he said.

Students learn about the heritage, process, equipment and the selection of fruit as well as practical experience in fruit milling, pressing and the preparation of the juice for fermentation.

"Provided they can resist the temptation to sample prematurely, each student should have a gallon of their own cider and the knowledge and ability to use their local fruit in the future," said Jim.

However, there is a dearth of Gloucestershire students on the week-long courses for specialists.

"Sadly, the tradition of every Severn Vale and Forest of Dean farm having an orchard to make its own cider and perry has long passed," said Jim.

Bookings are now being taken for courses. Details can be found at www.tasteand explore.co.uk/cider-perry- centre.shtml