Champion cider maker Albert Rixen was given a memorable send-off when his coffin arrived at Minchinhampton Church, on the back of a traction engine.
A Minchinhampton legend, Albert,70, was a familiar face across the West Country and further afield, touring rural events with his vintage 19th Century mobile cider press built by Workman and Sons of Slimbridge, which he had restored himself. He was particularly fond of the Great Dorset Steam Fair, friends from which supplied the traction engine. Later on, Albert’s coffin left on the back of a Massey Ferguson tractor, a nod to the amount of time he spent on one as a young man.
Born and raised in Minchinhampton, Albert had been a keen amateur cider maker for many years and in 2018 won the ‘best in show’ at the Royal Three Counties Show for his ‘bottled conditioned’ cider, fighting off competition from 165 other entries from across the world. In 2021 he won a gold medal in the ‘Farmhouse Cider’ class at the Royal Bath and West Show.
Albert was also was a long-serving member of the Royal Society of St George.
The funeral was conducted by Michael Gamble Funeral Directors.
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Donations in Albert’s memory to the Great Western Air Ambulance Charity may be sent c/o. Michael Gamble Funeral Directors. Station House, Station Road, Stroud. GL5 3AR or made online at Michael Gamble Funeral Directors | Stroud and Stonehouse
