Things you didn't know about... Herefordshire

The world's biggest cider mill, Bulmers in Hereford, was built in 1887. Bulmers presses around 80,000 tonnes of cider apples from Herefordshire's 10,000 acres of orchards each year to produce 65 per cent of the five million hectolitres of cider consumed each year in Britain. Herefordshire Council's logo features a green apple.

The county in the West Midlands, which borders Wales, Shropshire, Worcestershire and Gloucestershire, is predominantly rural and one of the least densely populated in England.

The hardiness of Hereford cattle, including the Hereford Bull, has made it a popular breed throughout the world. Its ability to thrive in both harsher climates than its native Hereford and in more temperate areas has made the breed commonplace in Australia, US, Argentina and Uruguay. Hereford is the most common breed of cattle in New Zealand.

Hereford came into existence in the eighth century and became the Saxon capital of West Mercia. Both county town and cathedral city, Hereford is the largest settlement in Herefordshire, with a population of 50,000. And Hereford was home to the SAS for many years—the regiment moved to nearby Credenhill in the 1990s.

In 1972 Hereford United beat Newcastle United 2-1 in an FA Cup third round replay, while they were still playing in the Southern league. Hereford's scorer of the 30-yard screamer and 85th-minute equaliser, part-time carpenter Ronnie Radford, also had a hand in the extra-time winning goal. It's considered one of the biggest shocks in FA Cup history.

Ledbury in Herefordshire holds an annual poetry festival, was home to the poet Elizabeth Barrett Browning, and was also the birthplace of poet laureate John Masefield.

Kington Golf Club in Herefordshire is the highest golf club in England.

Nell Gwyn, long-time mistress of King Charles II, hails from Hereford.

It is said that father of fantasy literature and author of Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit, J.R.R Tolkien, took inspiration from his walks on the Malvern Hills—an area of outstanding natural beauty spanning Worcestershire, Herefordshire and Gloucestershire.