Orchards, Trees & Orchard ProduceWorcestershire information
Orchards, Trees & Orchard Produce
Worcestershire information
Pershore College hold courses on apple pressing, cider making, and orcharding. Contact +44(0)1386 551200 or look at their web-site.
Worcestershire Orchard Workers – 1998 saw the setting up of the
Worcestershire Traditional Orchards Forum to encourage the conservation and enhancement of traditional orchards within Worcestershire. Contact: Wade Muggleton, Countryside Officer at Worcestershire County Council on +44(0)1905 766493 or wmuggleton [at] worcestershire. gov. uk
Worcestershire Wildlife Trust is also working to save old orchards as habitats for wild life. Contact +44(0)1905 754919.
The Traditional Orchards HAP Group, Rob Williams, Block B Government Buildings, Whittington Road, Worcester WR5 2LQ +44(0)1905 362981. rob.williams [at] naturalengland.org.uk
Picture: Cropthorne orchard with the River Avon in the background.
Orchards and Community Orchards to visit
Aconbury Orchard, Worcester. An old pear orchard, once part of a farm, was taken over by Worcester City Council in 1992 and stands in public open space. It contains several old perry pear trees that may be 100 years old, several old apple trees. 18 young perry pears have been planted. Colin Harris of the Warndon Villages Wildwatch Volunteers kept a diary of birds seen at Aconbury Orchard in the late 1990s, recording 29 species including Green Woodpecker, Fieldfare Redwing. All three species are 'associated species' of traditional orchards within the Worcestershire Biodiversity Action Plan. The orchard is managed by Worcestershire Orchard Workers, set up in 1998, under the guidance of the County Council Countryside Officer, Wade Muggleton. As well as work days the orchard is featured in Nature Rambles led by the Countryside Rangers. Contact: Wade Muggleton of Worcester Orchard Workers and Worcestershire County Council on +44(0)1905 766493 or wmuggleton[at]worcestershire.gov.uk
Cleeve Prior Community Orchard, Evesham Road, Cleeve Prior, Evesham WR11 8JX. An 3.4ha mixed bush orchard, thought to have been planted in around 1931 was adopted as a Community Orchard in 1998 by Cleeve Prior Heritage Trust. Trees include mostly plums plus apples pears damsons, cherries and walnuts. Plum varieties already existing there include Victoria, Laxton, Myroban and Bell de Louvain. New trees have been planted of traditional and local varieties of plums, cider apples and perry pears. The orchard is next to Field Barn Environmental Centre, also owned by the Trust. There is full public access to half the area and access to the rest on open days. The grass is mown and usually removed after July to improve its value to wildlife. Pyramidal, Spotted and Bee Orchards, Adders Tongue Fern and other wildflowers are flourishing and there is a good variety of lichens. The orchard is generally managed for the benefit of wild life, under Countryside Stewardship, by volunteers and occasionally contractors. There are seven ponds, remnants of a fish farm, that attract amphibians including Great Crested Newts, Smooth Newts, plus many kinds of dragonflies and butterflies. There are Noble Chafer beetles, an endangered species, many invertebrates, pipistrelle bats, big-eared bats, turtle doves, herons, kingfishers and many other birds. The fruit is available for local people to pick, some is left for wild life, and a Plum Picnic is held in August. A local cider uses some of the apple harvest and gives juice and cider to the Heritage Trust in return. Wassailing is held on Twelfth Night, Action earth Days from January-June, and Well Dressing is celebrated next to the orchard in July. The Community Orchard is on a circular village walk, which also passes through the Millennium Green, Wood on your Doorstep, Community Wildlife Garden and Local Nature Reserve. Contact: Don Warren, +44(0)1789 778570.
Cotteridge Community Orchard, Cotteridge Park, Franklin Road, Birmingham B30. A piece of land that was once British Rail allotments but after being sold privately became neglected and used as a dump was bought by the local community for a community orchard and for insurance and continuity reasons deeded to Birmingham City Council as part of its parks portfolio. £4,000 was raised by the community and £3,000 donated by West Midlands Co-operative Society. Working parties cleared the land and 26 half standard apple trees were planted in the Autumn and Winter of 2006/7. Advice was given by Frank P Matthews Nursery in Tenbury Wells who also supplied the trees. Management is the responsibility of Birmingham Trees for Life and Friends of Cotteridge Park. The Friends Group was established in 1997 in response to the threat of decommissioning the park by Birmingham City Council. After a campaign to save the park the Council decided against decommissioning. Contact: Emma Woolf, Chair of the Friends of Cotteridge Park, 44 Franklin Road, Cotteridge, Birmingham B30 2HG, +44(0)121 451 2336, info[at]cotteridgepark.org.uk or see www.cotteridgepark.com
Hampton Community Orchard, off Peewit Road, Hampton, Evesham. A 1 ha plum orchard of standard trees thought to date from the 1920s. Since 2000 the orchard has been leased under the Evesham Custom by Vale Landscape Heritage Trust. Some trees found to have silver leaf are being removed, but in general there is minimal pruning. Old trees that are not infected are left for wild life such as the Noble Chafer. Habitat piles of healthy prunings are left. A hedgerow has been planted along one boundary and grass is cut after orchids and other wildflowers have set seed. There are butterfly orchids and pyramidal orchids and wild life includes turtle doves, noble chafer beetles, brown hares, pipistrelle bats and Grizzled Skipper butterflies. Plum varieties include Victoria, Heron, Marjorie Seedling, Pershore Yellow Egg and Purple Pershore. The fruit is harvested by volunteers and some is sold at Pershore Plum Day. The Vale Landscape Heritage Trust also own 6 acres of plum orchard in Cleeve Prior, and purchasing further 70 acres of plum orchard. Contact: Andy Davies, Vale Landscape Heritage Trust, Field Barn, Evesham Road, Cleeve Prior, Worcestershire, +44(0)1789 778582, valetrust[at]tiscali.co.uk or see myweb.tiscali.co.uk/valetrust
The Lenches Heritage Orchard, Atch Lench (on the road between Harvington and Atch Lench, one mile from Harvington on the right). An old plum orchard bought by 1999 at auction by a syndicate of local families. Twenty-two people raised the money to buy the orchard to save it from change of use to arable by a local farmer. They are owners and Trustees and have set up the Lenches Heritage Orchard Trust, a non-charitable trust. The orchard is thought to be 40 years old at least and is of plums, damsons, damazenes and greengages surrounded by a mixed hedgerow including more damsons, blackberries, Guelder Rose and other hedgerow trees. Plum varieties include: Yellow Egg, Pershore Purple, Heron, Victoria, Marjorie Seedlings, Czar and Bell Sorano. All are standard and widely spaces, plus some new trees have been planted. Pruning mowing and general maintenance is carried out and the orchard is occasionally sprayed. Some nestboxes have been erected, and access is open to deer, badgers, foxes, pheasants and partridges. Some dead wood and old trees are left in situ for wild life. There are cowslips, campion, oxeye daisies, knapweed and primroses but wild flowers are not flourishing which the group put down to the soil condition. The fruit is sold from a roadside stall and honesty box, but the majority is not bought and can be left to rot. Local people can help themselves to fruit from the orchard, which has open access. The aim of the group was to save the orchard for the community so they are satisfied that that achievement and do not worry that it is not a commercial concern, although they would be interested in finding a market for the fruit. Contact: Jan Harrison, Willow Cottage, Atch Lench, Evesham, Worcestershire WR11 4SW, +44(0)1386 870847, jan[at]atchlench.wanadoo.co.uk
Old Hornhill Orchard, Worcester Wood Country Park, Wildwood Drive, Worcester WR5 2LG. An old remnant standard orchard, planted on remnant ridge and furrow that was abandoned in the 1950s and became part of Worcester Woods Country Park in 1981. Restoration began in 2005 with the help of Worcester Orchard Workers under the guidance of Rory Mcclure then Wade Muggleton of the County Council Countryside Service. The orchard is thought to date form the 1880s and is planted on ancient meadow. There are 4 apple trees of Tom Putt, Warner’s King, mere de Menage and possibly Maidstone Favourite, 1 Conference pear, 3 cherry and 20 or so damson remaining as many trees have been lost. Twelve apples of local varieties have been planted since 2005 including Hanwell Souring, May Queen, Gladstone, Lord Hindlip, Worcester Pearmain, Pitmaston Pineapple, Catshead and Green Purnell apples, Judge Amphlett pear and Seabright cherries. There are hopes to increase the number of Worcestershire varieties to create a county collection. Volunteers harvest some of the fruit, some is used for Apple Day in the Country Park and much is left for wild life. As the trees are very tall the volunteers now use long handled pickers. The trees are being pruned and encroaching scrub cleared. There are plans to graze the orchard from 2007. Piles of deadwood have been created for invertebrates and bird boxes erected. The boundary hedge was layed by volunteers in 2005. There is the footprint of a demolished farm building in the orchard. There is full public access. Contact: Wade Muggleton,Worcester Woods Country Park, Wildwood Drive, Worcester WR5 2LG, wmuggleton[at]worcestershire.gov.uk
Ombersley Community Orchard (left), behind Crown and Sandys Hotel, Ombersley (Grid ref: SO8465 6345). A new standard orchard of 0.8ha planted between 1998-2001 in a former grazing field with 64 fruit trees of apple, pear, plum, damson, cherry, walnut and mulberry. The land is owned by Ombersley Conservation Trust and currently maintained by Ombersley and Doverdaze Parish Council. The orchard is grazed by sheep. Each tree was sponsored by a family in the parish. There are fifty different varieties, many of which are known to have been grown in the area including the local apple, Chatley Kernel. Also Worcestershire apples, Worcester Pearmain, Madresfield Court, Pitmaston Russet Nonpareil, Devonshire Quarrenden, and Black Worcester and Judge Amphlett pears. The fruit is picked by local people on an ad hoc basis. The orchard is used in Winter for pruning demonstrations by the Worcestershire Orchard Workers. There is access through a kissing gate from a long distance path, the Wychavon Way. Contact: Peter Weeks, 07850 154751, bigfarmer2000[at]btinternet.com
Vale of Evesham Spring Blossom Trail and Cycle Route has been devised by Wychavon District Council. Signposts take you along the A44, A46, A4538 and B4088 around Pershore and Evesham. Blossom time is between March and May. Plums and damsons come out first in March followed by pears in April and then the apple. Leaflets (left) are available from Evesham, Pershore, Broadway and Droitwich Spa TICs. Ring Angela Tidmarsh +44(0)1386 565373. Contact Dudleys Coaches about Weekly Coach Tours around the Blossom Trail, +44(0)1386 792206.
Regional perry pear varieties have been planted at the Three Counties Showground in Malvern. Enthusiasts have scoured the counties of Gloucestershire, Herefordshire and Worcester for the 120 perry pear varieties that have been recorded. 59 varieties have been planted so far - the aim is to have three trees of every variety. The Three Counties Agricultural Society have produced a map showing where the trees have been planted and listing the varieties. Please ring them for an appointment if you would like to visit the National Collection, +44(0)1684 584900.
Parishes which still have fruit trees in the hedgerows include: Astley and Dunley, Beckford, Crowle, Grimley, Stanford with Orelton, Stoke Bliss and Upton Snodsbury.
A number of orchards were planted by lockkeepers on lock islands along the River Severn in Worcestershire. British Waterways has been researching the orchards, getting the varieties identified and are managing the orchards for wild life. Contact British Waterways at Gloucester Docks on +44(0)1452 318000, email enquiries.southwest [at] britishwaterways.co.uk or see their web-site.
Pershore Plum Day (left) has taken place on August Bank holiday since 1996 and has become a mecca for plum lovers- there are many varieties of plums for sale, plus jams, chutneys, wines and juices and a plum identification service - each variety of plum stone has a distinct pattern of groove. Contact Pershore Visitor Information Centre on 01386 556591
Lower Smite Farm, Lower Smite Farm, Smite Hill, Hindlip, Worcester WR3 8SZ. An orchard planted at Worcestershire Wildlife Trust HQ in February 2006 as part of their restoration of the 160 acres of farmland bought in 2003. Local people were invited to dedicate a fruit tree to a special person or to commemorate and event and to plant it themselves. A book recording the donated trees and dedications is kept at the Trust. Local varieties were chosen including Pershore Plum, Lord Hindlip, King Charles Pearmain and Pitmaston Pineapple apples, and Worcester Black and also Judge Amphlett and Pitmaston Duchess pears. The orchard is accessible in daylight hours. Contact: Worcestershire Wildlife Trust on +44(0)1905 754919, enquiries[at]worcestershirewildlifetrust.org or see www.worcswildlifetrust.co.uk
Where to buy apples and orchard produce
Apple Tree Cider, The Apple Tree (pub), 54 Lowesmoor, Worcester WR1 2SE, 44(0)1905 613132.
Ashdown Cider, Worcester Road, Boraston +44(0)1584 819632. On the Shropshire/Worcestershire border. Cider made from mainly cider apples sourced from orchards in Worcestershire and Herefordshire, and is sold from the farm gate. The farm can be located off the A456.
Barkers Real Cider & Perry, Greenstreet Farm, Hallow WR2 6PY, +44(0)1905 640697.
Barnfield Cider Mill, Broadway Road, Broadway sell apple juice, cider and perry, made with local varieties, +44(0)1386 85314.
Broomfields Farm Shop, Holt Heath, Worcester sell 15 varieties of apples. +44(0)1905 620233.
Visit the Cider House / Monkey House at Woodmancote on the A4104. CAMRA's Good Cider Guide says "Bulmers Woodmancote is made exclusively for the Monkey House, and is poured from the cask into a jug, before being dispensed into the customer's glass".
Clive’s Fruit Farm, Willingsworth Farmhouse, Upton upon Severn . Around 16 varieties of apple, 6 of pear plus damsons. Ready picked or PYO. Apple juice, pear juice, cider and perry are also made, and sold in the farm Shop along with preserves, local cheeses and vegetables. They also attend farmers’ markets in the area. Call +44(0)1684 592664, e-mail clivesfruitfarm [at] ivillage.co.uk or see their web-site.
Grafton Field Cider, Grafton Field, Bockleton, nr Tenbury Wells WR15 8PT, +44(0)1568 750638.
Local food information from Heart of England Fine Foods. Contact +44(0)1746 785185 or look at their web-site.
Malvern Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) have produced a guide to orchard produce in the area. Contact Amanda McCleary at MH AONB, Worcestershire County Council +44(0) 1905 766491.
Mill Orchards, Stourport Road, Great Witley. Around 15 varieties of apple plus pear and plum and single variety apple juices. NO farm shop - apples are sold at Knightwick Farmers Market and juice at Great Witley Post Office and other outlets. Call +44(0)1299 896222 or see their web-site.
Norbury’s Norrest Farm & Cider Company, Holywell Farm Buildings, Storridge, nr Malvern WR13 5HD, +44(0)1886 832206. Produce Black Bull Cider, single variety apple and pear juices plus a huge range of preserves made from their own orchard fruits and nuts including spiced apple chutney, Bramley apple butter, Early Prolific plum jam, Worcestershire Yellow Egg Plum Jam, quince jelly, and pickled walnuts from the farm's own walnut orchard.
Prior’s Tipple cider made by Englefield Organic Growers of Reading is sold locally including at The Retreat pub in Reading (which also holds a cider and beer festival), where it is known as Pokey, after the description on the label "quite pokey". The cider is actually made from apples from Englefield’s orchards in Cleeve Prior, Worcestershire.
Teme Valley Fruit, Sutton House Farm, Sutton, Tenbury Wells WR15 8RJ. Cox's Orange Pippin apple juice pressed and bottled. Available locally. Contact Carol Field, +44(0)1584 810424.
Tipsage Farm, Newnham Bridge, Tenbury Wells WR15 8NU. Traditionally made fruit gins made with fresh damsons, cherries, raspberries, and blackcurrents much of which is from their own fruit trees and bushes. Wooden gift boxes and mail order available. Contact Colin & Phyllis Hingston, +44(0)1584 781289.
Walsgrove Farm, Egdon, Spetchley WR7 4QL. Seasonal selection of around 40 varieties of apples, plus 17 of plums, available from farm shop; they also offer presentation boxes. Call +44(0)1905 345371, or look at their web-site.
Pershore Plum & Almond Tart and other recipes from The Pershore Plum Festival Recipe Book (left)
Trees For Life (formerly Frank P Matthews Ltd), Berrington Court, Tenbury Wells, WR15 8TH, hundreds of varieties of apple & extensive range of graft wood available. Also pears, cherries, hazelnuts, gages, medlar, damsons, plums,m quince, walnuts, mulberry. Minimum order of £50. Orders below £300 to be collected. Call +44(0)1584 810214 or see the Trees For Life web-site. NB. Not to be confused with the Scottish charity Trees For Life who are working to restore the Caledonian Forest.
Walcot Organic Nursery, Lower Walcot Farm, Walcot Lane, Drakes Broughton, Pershore, +44(0) 1386 553697 or email enquiries[at]walcotnursery.co.uk. An organic tree nursery selling a wide range of fruit trees on all kinds of rootstocks, plus trained trees. Also lots of varieties of apple, plum and perry pear from the Three Counties Collection for Gloucestershire, Worcestershire and Herefordshire, mostly grown on the vigorous M25 rootstock to provide standard trees for traditional orchards. They also offer a reasonably priced grafting service. Trees are available to order by post or telephone and will be delivered nationally. The nursery can be visited, by appointment only. Call or write to request a catalogue or see their web-site.
