A New Website - Apples and People
We've recently learnt of a new digital resource - Apples and People - which essentially covers what is says on the tin... Recommended.
Apples and People is a digital response to a time of great uncertainty, bringing the amazing global story of the apple to all. Symbolising global connectedness, individual achievement, happenchance, and people and nature working closely together, the apple we eat today offers us hope as well as nourishment.
Based upon a newly commissioned map of the apple world that traces a network of stories about the apple from the ancient world to the present day, apples and people highlights just how significant the fruit is to people, and how vital people have been in selecting the rich variety of apples that are enjoyed around the world today. These stories will be released throughout 2021 and 2022 on key dates in the apple’s own calendar.
Herefordshire grows more apples than anywhere else in the UK, and the UK plays an important part in the global story of the apple. The exhibition programme is a partnership between the Brightspace Foundation, the Hereford Cider Museum and the National Trust in Herefordshire. It is being helped by a panel of some of the world’s leading apple experts – from USA, China, New Zealand, Italy and across the UK.
Funding has been received from the John Ellerman Foundation, Howard Bulmer Charitable Trust, Hereford Cider Museum Trust, East Malling Trust, Hereford City Council, Friends of Herefordshire Museums and Arts, the Becket Bulmer Fund managed by Herefordshire Community Foundation, the Worshipful Company of Fruiterers, individual donors, Heineken and Thatchers Cider.
This online digital engagement preludes a programme of exhibitions at four sites in Herefordshire, UK, to bring together visual art & culture, sound, community engagement, science, and the natural environment to explore the fascinating history of this symbolic fruit. It will be a resource for all those interested in the history and future of the apple as well as its culinary uses – with suggested reading and links to other information and networks.
Click on the button below to go to the Apples and People website.
New Willow Structure at Colwall CE Primary School
It's said that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery and we were very pleased to learn that a new woven willow structure has recently been created in the playground at Colwall CE Primary School.
This was the inspiration and work of one of the allotment plotholders from Colwall Village Garden - Juliet and her family - and is an approximate copy of our willow worm, which features in the communal area of our main site.
The new willow structure looks to be a very tidy piece of work and we hope that the schoolchildren at the primary school enjoy this as much as young people do when visiting and playing in the willow worm at Colwall Village Garden.
If You Go Down To The Woods Today...
Okay, so there's a little poetic licence in the title for this news item. It's actually the southern boundary of our land to Colwall Village Garden which, strictly speaking, adjoins a plantation.
Andrew and Martin (pictured left to right), alongside several of our other keen volunteers have been busy this winter doing some hedgelaying. This is part of our planned maintenance work for the hedgerows that have been planted on our site since we purchased it over 10 years ago.
This particular hedge has established exceptionally well and winter is the time to lay the hedge so that it can regenerate and regrow. We hope to complete about one third of this southern boundary this season. Next year we will move to the next third, before completing the work the following year. Then we'll move onto another hedge to the east boundary. That way we create a succession of habitats, at different stages of growth, for the benefit of the wildlife that visits and lives on our site.
As another benefit some of our orchard trees were starting to get over-shaded by some of the more vigorous trees within the hedge line so they will benefit from higher light levels.
It has also been great fun to do and it's remarkable how therapeutic it is to work on a relatively simple, yet engaging task.
It has to also be said, the results look fantastic - so thanks to Lindsay, Martin and Andrew who've led on this activity. Next year we hope to use the hedge as a teaching resource and we intend to do some training sessions for others in this skilled and entertaining activity.
Lugg's Mill Orchard - A New Interpretation Panel
Part of the way of trying to deal with the mental challenges of the current lockdown is to find small steps forward every day. That's how it has been with the creation of our interpretation panel at Lugg's Mill. It has been on our 'to do' list for some time and the design of the panel, the production of the artwork and the commissioning of the construction of the lectern that houses the panel all takes time.
We were pleased to get this job finished recently, and the new panel, in a style that matches our existing one at Colwall Village Garden, looks great at the main entrance to Lugg's Mill Orchard by Old Church Road.
As ever, various thanks are now called for. We are grateful to those who contributed to the design process including Wendy and Andy from Colwall Orchard Group, professional help from Orphans Press Ltd from Leominster, and for the production of the panel and lectern - Shelley Signs Ltd of Harlescott, Shrewsbury.
Thanks too to Andy, Wendy and Lindsay for getting the lectern installed in the ground on an incredibly blowy day!
For funding we were fortunate enough for this to be a joint venture between Colwall Orchard Group, private funding, Colwall Parish Council and Malvern Hills AONB. Our heartfelt thanks go to all involved.
This is a great result, that provides a friendly and welcoming initial introduction that encourages visitors to explore the lovely Lugg's Mill Orchard site. Enjoy!
PARTnership with the downs light railway trust (DLRT)
Our New Partnership with DLRT Gets Up Some Steam...
Colwall is a lovely place to live and is a great place to explore with some wonderful hidden gems for all to discover. One such treasure is the Downs Light Railway an integral part of the The Downs, a local preparatory school, and a part of Malvern College. This miniature steam railway is in an area of the school grounds and is an important part of the school teaching resources run independently by a charity - the Downs Light Railway Trust (DLRT).
The railway is almost one hundred years old and Colwall Orchard Trust was delighted to have been approached recently by the DLRT with a proposal for a mutually beneficial partnering arrangement.
We will be working with the DLRT, and the Downs school community, to re-establish a traditional orchard that's located in the school grounds; to plant new trees and prune existing ones; to hold an autumn orchard-themed event to harvest fruit from the orchard, transport it using the railway to a pop-up fruit juicing and bottling plant, before using the railway to deliver bottles of fruit juice to a pop up sales venue.
These activities are directly in line with COT's objectives to restore, promote and celebrate traditional orchards.
We are very enthusiastic about the opportunities and benefits that such a joint venture will provide for COT's membership, the DLRT, the Downs School and the local community so it's all aboard for an exciting journey in the coming months...
More details of the DLRT via their website at https://dlrtrust.co.uk/ .
DLRT Funding Appeal
To get this project underway the DLRT have setup an on-line crowdfunding appeal.
You can find out more detail, pledge funding, and watch an excellent 3 minute introductory video using the button below.
Tree Sponsorship Generosity
Sometimes we receive messages from our members or the general public that simply make us stand back and say 'Wow!' That was the case recently from a very generous local family who approached us with a request for some tree sponsorship plaques to be erected on our trees at Lugg's Mill Orchard.
We use our tree sponsorship scheme to raise funds to be re-invested into our work to restore, promote and celebrate traditional orchards. We charge £75 for this service and we commission and install a tree sponsorship plaque which is displayed on the chosen tree. The messages vary and can simply record the sponsoring of a tree by an individual, or may commemorate a member of the family or a beloved pet.
We are used to getting requests from people for one or two plaques but in this recent instance we had a request from six plaques in one go.
That was exceptionally helpful to us in a year when our income has been compromised by the pandemic and we are having to raise funds from as many different activities and income generating sources.
A Wintry Scene
Winter has definitely arrived in our area of Herefordshire and doesn't it look lovely? There's something quite exciting about being amongst the first people to traverse an area of freshly fallen snow so we made a determined effort to leave the house early and visit our local traditional orchard this morning.
The snow accentuates the shape of these lovely veteran trees which have previously been pruned into excellent shape and form for fruiting during their commercially productive years.
Now they are in decline but they've provided birds with apples for food this autumn and the lime green of the mistletoe provides a splash of colour in what is otherwise predominantly a scene of black and white. We heard the sound of woodpeckers drumming on nearby trees simultaneously from three different directions whilst in this orchard. That was a contrast to the silence elsewhere.
This all sparked memories and conversations with others about how lucky we are to live in such a beautiful environment and how deeply the drifting snow was gathered in the local lanes a couple of years ago! So there's much to be positive about during the depths of winter.
Our Volunteer Satisfaction Survey 2020
As a charity, run entirely by volunteers, our most valuable asset is without doubt...our volunteers!
Every year we receive a fantastic amount of volunteer input adding up to several thousand hours of time. This contributes a significant equivalent cash value, in labour cost terms, from our volunteers and helpers across an exceptionally broad spectrum of activities.
These include governance to include finance, communications, strategy, and health and safety; through to practical work including orchard work, tree and hedgerow management, buildings maintenance, mowing and strimming, jam and juice making and sheep husbandry! Wow, that's quite a list!
In September last year we undertook a short and simple on-line survey of some of our regular volunteers using Survey Monkey, to which we received replies from over a dozen respondents.
QUESTIONNAIRE QUESTIONS AND RESPONSES
Q1 – How appreciated do you feel by COG?
A. All respondents picked the most favourable two of five categories - ‘Extremely’46%, ‘Very’ 54%.
Q2 – Overall, are you satisfied or dissatisfied with your practical volunteer experience with COG?
A. All respondents picked the most favourable two of five categories - ‘Very satisfied’ 85%, ‘Satisfied’ 15%.
Q3 – How likely are you to continue volunteering with COG in the future?
A. All respondents picked the most favourable two of five categories - ‘Extremely likely’ 83%, ‘Very likely’ 17%.
Q4 – What do you enjoy most about practical volunteering with COG. Please describe up to 3 items.
A. A very diverse set of answers but standout words/phrases included ‘Meeting people’, ‘Exercise’, ‘Achievement’, ‘Community’, ‘Being in the great outdoors’, ‘Learning’.
Q5. What, if anything do you dislike about volunteering with COG. Please describe up to three items.
A. Most people said ‘Nothing’.
Q6. Do you feel that you are given sufficient training and instruction to undertake practical work tasks?
A. All respondents picked the most favourable of three responses ‘Yes, I feel that I receive sufficient training and instruction’ 100%.
Q7. Do you feel that you are given sufficient tools, equipment and PPE to undertake practical work tasks?
A. All respondents picked the most favourable of three responses ‘Yes, I feel that I receive sufficient tools, equipment and PPE’ 100%.
Q8. What are your favourite practical volunteering tasks? Please tick up to five items.
A. From a mixed selection of our activities the most popular ones included helping out at events, meadows creation and maintenance, preparation for events, tree planting, and fruit tree pruning. The least popular were mowing and strimming.
Q9. How could we make the practical volunteering sessions better?
A. There was a significant statistical bias towards responses advocating the re-introduction of cake into the proceedings(!) - sadly something that's currently on hold due to Covid. Other standout responses made reference to the benefit of having prior knowledge as to what was going to happen at a work party, plus one comment was
‘ Maybe have occasional theory/classroom sessions related to various activities’.
Q10. We regularly hold practical volunteer sessions every Friday morning and on the third Sunday of each month. Are there other times when you would prefer us to hold these regular practical volunteer sessions? Please specify.
A. All those who commented (5 respondents) wished to continue with the Friday mornings as being the most suitable.
Thanks to everyone who took part. The responses have been enlightening and we will act upon them in the future, and we also hope to repeat the exercise in a year or two.
Wassail 2021 Is Cancelled
It's with a heavy heart that we are unable to host the Colwall Orchard Group annual Wassail this year.
The ceremony to wake up the orchard trees and to help to encourage the annual fruit crop has fallen foul of Covid and the current national lockdown.
For several years now this has been OUR BIG ANNUAL EVENT and is an important part of the local social calendar.
Not to be deterred we hope to be back again with this fun family celebration next year with all of the familiar features including the torchlit procession through the orchard, the Wassail ceremony round the apple tree and then plenty of food and drink, with singing round the bonfire.
Our Wassail in 2020 was, as ever, very well supported and we have gathered together some fabulous photos from attendees now pulled together into a five minute video with a backing track by local folk rock band The Roving Crows.
View our Video of the 2020 Wassail
Why not spend five minutes looking at our video of the January 2020 Wassail?
If you don't know anything about wassailing it's a good introduction. If you were there, see whether you can spot yourself in the images.
Tree Planting In Stamps Orchard
As part of our Traditional Orchards for the Future Initiative (TOFI) project we've been planting trees recently. This is our joint project run in conjunction with our partners at Malvern Hills AONB, and local landowners, with the intention of adding to and gapping up existing traditional orchards.
Pictured above are volunteers Chris, Irene and Andy planting new perry pear trees in Stamps Orchard, Colwall. The perry pear tree variety pictured is Stony Way (syn. Stoneyway, Stonyway) and is believed to have originated at a property called Stony Way near The Winnings at Colwall. According to Charles Martell's book the Pears of Gloucestershire and Perry Pears of the Three Counties this variety is 'critically rare' so we are delighted to have been able to get recently grafted stock from Lodge Farm Trees, and to see this tree planted locally again.
In all 10 trees went into Stamps Orchard this week including two of the Stony Way, three Worcester Black pears and five Shropshire Prune damsons.
We were also very grateful for help from the owners of Stamps Orchard to get this to happen, and from the team at Malvern Hills AONB who provided the funding.
Over the coming weeks we will continue the TOFI project elsewhere and hope to get close to 70 new fruit and nut trees planted in traditional orchards locally during the winter season.
Mistletoe Fair Musings...
At the risk of becoming boring we just have to say a massive THANK YOU to everyone who helped and supported us once again at the annual Mistletoe Fair, held outside our local shop - Provisions of Colwall - on Saturday 5th December.
With the rain still present at 7am we had feared the worst, but the skies cleared and we were blessed with favourable weather.
Our contactless card reader bore testament to a remarkably steady stream of customers over a four hour period. From the plethora of produce adorning our stall early on we ended the morning with only apple juice for sale. Our stocks of honey, jam, jelly and chutney were totally cleared out. Alongside our on-line shop sales this has been a vital source of revenue for us since several of our other income-generating events were cancelled.
Thank you to our regular customers who support us with incredible loyalty each year, and it was also great to meet and greet new people too.
We are very grateful to Stewart, Pam and their team for letting us setup outside their shop.
Surplus mistletoe was taken to Peter at Peter's Fruit and Veg where proceeds will go to another charity making this very much a joint community effort for Colwall.
You can also find our locally harvested mistletoe at Coddington Xmas Trees where, once again, mistletoe sales there benefit charitable causes.
MISTLETOE HARVEST 2020
Mistletoe harvesting
Mistletoe harvesting
Mistletoe harvesting
Our volunteers Andrew and Jilly were out this week in a local, privately owned orchard harvesting mistletoe from veteran fruit trees.
We are fortunate to live in an area well-known for its mistletoe, but left unchecked it damages trees and may cause them to be more susceptible to storm damage.
Some skilful work liberating the mistletoe fro
Our volunteers Andrew and Jilly were out this week in a local, privately owned orchard harvesting mistletoe from veteran fruit trees.
We are fortunate to live in an area well-known for its mistletoe, but left unchecked it damages trees and may cause them to be more susceptible to storm damage.
Some skilful work liberating the mistletoe from the trees with loppers and pole saws is part of the annual orchard management regime.
Easy pickings
Mistletoe harvesting
Mistletoe harvesting
Jilly is carrying a single bunch of mistletoe and demonstrates how large and bulky individual bunches can be.
The mistletoe is present all year round but in the winter, with no leaves in the tree, its size and extent becomes more visible.
Thanks to Freda, the orchard owner, for permission to do some harvesting from her land this year.
Bumper crop
Mistletoe harvesting
Bumper crop
Andrew loads up the mistletoe onto the Malvern Hills Car Club pickup.
We will be selling mistletoe, alongside our jams, juice, chutney, jelly and honey at our annual Mistletoe Fair.
This is being held - 9am to 1pm - outside Colwall Provisions (Walwyn Road, Colwall) on Saturday 5th December. Please come along if you can.
Can't make it? You
Andrew loads up the mistletoe onto the Malvern Hills Car Club pickup.
We will be selling mistletoe, alongside our jams, juice, chutney, jelly and honey at our annual Mistletoe Fair.
This is being held - 9am to 1pm - outside Colwall Provisions (Walwyn Road, Colwall) on Saturday 5th December. Please come along if you can.
Can't make it? You can buy most of our produce on line via our Shop on this website.
The new bridge at Lugg's Mill Orchard IS OPEN!
We're delighted to report that after many dozens of hours of hard work by Laurence (pictured - foreground) and Deb (pictured -in yellow coat), but also involving input from many of our other volunteers, that the new bridge at Lugg's Mill Orchard is OPEN FOR USE.
This now allows a circular pedestrian route around Lugg's Mill orchard and provides the second of two crossing points over the stream that divides the site. You are welcome to use the bridge as part of your visit to Lugg's Mill orchard in Old Church Road, Colwall.
It has been a major piece of work for us as a voluntary organisation, and we are very grateful to everyone who kindly donated money towards the cost of materials through our online crowd-funding appeal.
We celebrated the opening of the bridge with a low key, and socially distanced ceremony, with a short vote of thanks by Lindsay, our Chair, and a presentation to Deb (project manager) of a framed photo montage to record the bridge building works.
Urban Orchards
One of our members has just brought this piece in the Guardian newspaper to our attention.
It's a reminder of how orchards are as beneficial to people and nature whether they are in London, or Ledbury, so we shouldn't think that fruit trees and orchards are only relevant in rural areas.
You can see the article at https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/oct/23/how-an-orchard-renaissance-could-bring-nature-back-to-uk-cities
Apple juicing with Colwall C of E Primary School
We are very grateful to receive this account from Colwall C of E Primary School of their recent visit to us to do an apple juicing session.
This is definitely one of our favourite annual activities of the year and it's fabulous to have the children, their teachers and adult helpers coming to Colwall Village Garden and getting hands-on with the process of juicing apples.
With thanks to everyone at the school, especially to teachers Caroline and Tracey. We look forward to repeating this again next year.
On The Radio!
Our media campaign to celebrate Apple Week took an unexpected turn recently as BBC Hereford and Worcester radio contacted us to do a feature celebrating Apple Day (21st October).
Rising to the challenge our Secretary, Wendy, did an early evening chat with Kate Justice which was live on air just after 7pm on Wednesday 21st October.
You can listen to the interview with BBC Hereford and Worcester using the Download button below. The discussion ranged around the origins of Apple Day, our themes for Apple Week and the state of this year's apple harvest.
More on Apple Week at our events page at https://colwallorchardgroup.org/events
An Orchard Visitor
It's not just birds and people who are making the most of this year's bumper crop of apples. Here in Colwall there's a significant population of muntjac deer who are also enjoying the autumn bounty.
These shy and elusive creatures are usually only seen rarely at dawn or dusk, or make their presence known by the characteristic barking sound that they make whilst hidden away in quiet corners of large gardens or secluded woodland. However, the temptation of sweet, abundant food has made them considerably bolder.
Twice within the past few days we've encountered muntjac during the daytime in one of our favourite traditional orchards - Stamps Orchard on the public footpath between Mathon Road and Old Church Road in Colwall. On the first occasion there was just a solitary deer, but on the second the word had got round, and it was a pair making a visit...
This is just another timely reminder of the wildlife value of traditional orchards, and how they continue to add interest and variety to our own daily experiences.