A couple of weekends ago, Luke Orla and I went to Apple Affair at West Dean Gardens in Singleton, which we felt might be the last of the family days out of this summer, and indeed it was. It was a glorious early October day, with the sun shining, and all was merry. Luke got his special apples (once eaten, the seeds will be saved and planted), though alas the beer ran out (they never have enough), and I got to wander around and take some pictures. Orla got her face painted, some treats, a parasol and much bouncing and jumping.
Sadly, not many of my films came out well enough to post I think, despite using both my Canon and my Flip Ultra. Filming still takes a lot of getting used to, and one of my problems is I tend to pan too fast. But, some of my shots came out quite well. Here are a few of my favourites and the rest can be found on Flickr…
If you stop by, please leave a comment, it’s nice to meet people…
We have the national fruit collection about 20min from us- Brogdale Farm, which has the national apple and pear archives. They have historic plums and nuts too. If you’re in the area I recommend a visit, even if it’s only to see their apple fed organic pigs. They sell a small selection of their fruit but also have a festival where you can sample all of the apples and pears. I ditched my granny smiths very soon after. I just couldn’t believe the variety of colours, shapes and tastes. I grew up amongst the Kent orchards and witnessed their removal as a child. Generations of orchards ripped out forever. Heritage lost forever. But you can still find local apple specimens growing in the hedgerows of these ancient fields where a seed has escaped and made a tree as a reminder of what was there before. The orchards are slowly returning though. I’d love to buy and replant one. I know they’re just apples but there’s something so magical and British about them. They’re symbolic, like oak trees.
Yaaay…there you are Lianne. I was worried about you as you had dissapeared from FB. However, I do know you are on maternity now.
Yes, apples. The Apple Affair at West Dean is a pretty big deal, and has become and international event. Some of the apples from the festival come from trees that are ancient apparently, some of them from trees introduced by the Romans. Our trees are still too small to produce much fruit and because of the lack of rain early this year, they had no blossom at all.
Where we live there used to be hundreds of glass nurseries that serviced the big houses and hotels in London in days gone by, and orchards. Many of them are now in ruins. Occasionally we come across an orchard that has gone wild, but as you say, many are now being reclaimed which is good, and the old varieties are coming back. The walled gardens of West Dean (which used to service the house) are filled with the most amazing and rare apple and pear trees that grow inside cages, I must take some pictures sometime to show you. I think they have a policy also of conservation.
I just looked up Brogdale Farm, and don’t think it prohibitively far away. I will show the site to Luke, and maybe in the Spring when the blossom is out we will take a trip over there, so thank you for showing that to me.
I agree about the symbolism of apples, and oak, I also feel that way about Hawthorn trees and have always loved their delicate blossom. 🙂