‘Save first Bramley tree’

UNIVERSITY experts are trying to save the dying tree that produced the world’s first Bramley apples.

The tree, which grew from a pip planted in 1809, has an incurable honey fungus infection. Nottingham Trent University hopes to buy two cottages in Southwell, Notts, in whose gardens it sits. Staff will try to prolong the 208-year-old tree’s life and plant grafts from it at the nearby Brackenhurst Lane campus.

Prof Robert Mortimer said: ”The Bramley is the nation’s favourite cooking apple and the original tree is one of the most significant.

“We would like to try to preserve this tree for as long as possible.”