British apple revival
Hundreds of local orchards help bring back ‘lost’ varieties
FROM Bramley to Cox to Worcester Pearmain, apples are one of the few fruits that actually grow well in Britain’s cloudy climes.
But many traditional varieties had been feared lost, as vast swathes of our orchards have been wiped out since the Second World War.
Now, though, hundreds of forgotten types are being rediscovered thanks to the efforts of community projects and apple enthusiasts – causing a boom in British apples.
Many local orchards have been cropping up across the country and have found a niche in growing heritage varieties. Enthusiasts have also been tracking down types that were thought to have been lost forever, using old books and modern DNA testing.
Steve Oram, apple diversity officer at the People’s Trust for Endangered Species, said: ‘We are adding new orchards to the register all the time. Some are in allotments, others in schools and housing developments. After the post-war years of neglect and destruc- tion, when 90 per cent of the UK’s orchards were lost and supermarkets sold only a few varieties and imported 70 to 80 per cent of their apples, it is very exciting.’
James Simpson, of trade body English Apples and Pears, added: ‘We are seeing a lot of small community orchards being planted with 100-odd trees. These are supplying the growing heritage apple markets.’
Apple enthusiasts, including a charity called the Marcher Apple Network, are helping to track down, test and revive lost varieties. In one case, bright yellow apples on an old tree in a neglected orchard in Shropshire were identified as Bringewood Pippin, first bred in the early 19th century. It is one of more than 60 lost varieties found near the Welsh border.
Local orchardist Tom Adams said: ‘It was probably 100 years old and the only one of its kind left. It was a lost variety. Its DNA was tested and it was shown to be unique.’
Speaking to the Observer, Mr Oram said of the enthusiasts: ‘They are finding, protecting and naming hundreds of apple varieties. There are possibly thousands more varieties waiting to be discovered.
‘Many were never recorded by the authorities or commercial growers but were grown by farm- ers, smallholders and households.’ Some rediscovered varieties had no name, so are being named after the person who found them, the place they were located, or what they look like.
New names include Halfpenny Green B, Link Wonder, Nancy Crow and Burr Knot. Sue Clif- ford, who founded charity Common Ground in 1983 to campaign to save orchards, welcomed the boom, adding: ‘It is astonishing how people have picked up the idea of planting small orchards. Community orchards are becoming very important places.’
‘Thousands more to be discovered’