A n Essex country pub has become the 1000th in the country to be recognised in CAMRA's Cider Pub Accreditation Scheme.

The Three Elms in Chignal St James near Chelmsford has been recognised for its excellent range of real ciders, reflecting a growing demand from customers.

The accolade comes as CAMRA (the Campaign for Real Ale) launches its National Cider and Perry Month in October and marks a remarkable turnaround at the Three Elms since Pete Thomas and Gill Miller took it over at the tail end of last year.

When the couple moved in the pub had no central heating, was damp and rather run down with the couple having to sleep on the floor in December and January while they did the place up.

A few months later and the pub's fortunes have had a dramatic reversal as it's now renowned as a great place for real ale and cider and building a reputation for its food.

After a successful beer festival in August, Gill and Pete are now delighted with the CAMRA cider accreditation.

"We like to be known as the 'cider providers' now," says Gill. "It was pretty dire when we go here, but we've really turned it round now. We're trying to make this a destination pub. People come here specially for the cider so they want a good selection."

They've certainly got that with the Three Elms offering up to 25 ciders at any time as well as a selection of ales.

What made Pete and Gill want to specialise in cider?

"When we had a bar in The Strand, we noticed that the students who would come in had switched from drinking lager to real ale and cider," explains Gill. "So we thought if the youngsters are doing it, it must be a trend.

"We started off with five real ciders but now we've got a much bigger selection. There are lots of producers in Essex and Suffolk, it's a real growing trend. We also have quite a few from Westons. We don't have the trendy bottled stuff, it's all kept in boxes and small barrels."

The success of CAMRA's Cider Pub Accreditation Scheme in the two years since it was launched has seen pubs throughout the country recognised, showing the increasing interest in real cider.

Find out more about the Three Elms at www.the-three-elms.com and about National Cider and Perry Month, including local events, at www.camra.org.uk