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Community Orchards.
It is believed that the
planting of our Orchards can be traced back to Roman times and they have
been a feature of the English way of life ever since. Traditionally,
they were mostly planted with Apple Trees, but also Pears, Cherries,
Medlars and even Nuts. The Apples were used to make Cider on Farms that
often formed part of Farm Workers wages. With the health risks attached
to drinking water in the Middle Ages especially, drinking Cider while
working was important to slake the workers thirst. Other drinks were
made with the fruit though, including Perry that was made with Pears and
this is now often called Pear Cider as the use of the Term “Perry,” went
out of favour when production declined last century.
In more recent times, as we went through the 20th Century, many Orchards
were grubbed up when Farms were mechanised, hedges ripped up and cheap
imports started to come into the country. However, attitudes have been
changing for some years now and the importance of Orchards is starting
to be recognised. Not only are they important to Wildlife and
BioDiversity, but they have a Social impact on communities. Also of
course people are realising the importance of saving many of the old,
traditional varieties of Fruit that may be important in future breeding
projects to develop new varieties with disease and weather resistance.
The Government officially recognised these aspects of Orchards in 2007
and traditional orchards were designated as a priority habitat in the UK
Biodiversity Action Plan. They went on to issue an official guide on how
to set up, establish and run community Orchards in 2011 and these
actions have led to many Village Orchards being planted around the
Country.
Both the Parish where I used to live, some 20 odd years ago, (Colwich,)
and the Village where I have lived ever since, (Hixon,) have each,
fairly recently, started to establish their own Community Orchards, but
the first Community Orchard in the area that I am aware of was planted
at the Staffordshire Wildlife’s Headquarters near Rugeley nearly 20
years ago.
The Wildlife Centre is actually within the Hamlet of Wolseley Bridge in
Colwich, where I used to live with my mother and she used to love
walking round the centre, when she was able. We knew of the Orchard and
at the time you could pay for a tree and have it planted with a
dedication to someone. The trees were chosen by the centre themselves as
they wanted to plant local heritage Varieties that were slowly being
lost to the nation. So, a couple of years after my father died in 2001
we had a tree planted in his memory. Then when my mother died some 4
years ago we had the memorial plaque amended and updated. I think that
the Centre had to abandon the scheme though, because it proved too
popular and they ran out of space, although the area has been maintained
and is still a popular feature of the centre. Indeed for several years
running they held a Wassailing Festival which is traditionally held on
the Twelfth Night of Christmas to please the Spirits in the hopes of
getting a good harvest of Apples in the coming season. The practice can
be traced back to the 1400’s and involves singing, dancing - often
Morris Dancing and drinking Ale or Cider mixed with Spices and Honey. It
can be quite an event with a Wassailing Queen being crowned, Cider being
poured on the tree roots and offerings placed in their branches.
More recently, there have been a couple more local schemes set up
including the one in the Spring of 2020 when Hixon Parish Council
planted 36 young fruit trees at the Village playing Fields. It was a
very dry Spring, so they had to give them lots of water to get them
settled in and they only lost one which was duly replaced. Wildflower
seeds were then sown between the trees to encourage pollinating insects.
The Pear, Plum and Apple trees are now starting to get established and
fruit, and, as it is intended to be a community orchard, the fruit will
be free for anyone to pick as long as people take only their fair share
and don’t selfishly strip the trees.
The other local Community Orchard Scheme that I know of is in Great
Haywood which is within Colwich Parish and is situated off Cliff Road in
Great Haywood. The Orchard was laid out on some waste land that hadn’t
been used for over 50 years and was first planted to commemorate the
Sapphire Jubilee in 2017. So, it has been growing for a little longer
than the one at Hixon, but the trees used were not as mature when
planted. Some were donated by the residents of Cliff road itself and
some from people in the adjoining Lichfield Drive, but also a number
were donated by local Plant retailers Roseacre Nursery. The mixture of
types and varieties are more diverse than those in Hixon, consisting of
over 18 varieties of fruit trees and the Haywood Orchard now provides a
lovely and welcoming amenity for local residents making a bright green
feature out of what was an eyesore.
Looking at the Internet it seems that a lot more Villages are planting
mini Orchards of one sort or another. Perhaps in future years we will go
back to olden times when every village had its own orchards.
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