Cider orchard

In the winter of 2024, we received ten apple trees as part of Thatcher’s Community Orchard Project. The project shares their passion for apple trees, building communities and constant effort in supporting the environment and ecosystem around us today and for the future.

Amongst the ten trees, we have five different varieties of apples, each with their own special purpose:

• Bramley – one of the best loved apples for home cooking.
• Cox – this popular eating apple has a sweet aromatic flavour, and it makes a superb single variety cider.
• Katy - a juicy, red skinned eating apple. Thatcher’s use it for their Katy Single Variety cider.
• Scrumptious – this beautiful bright red skinned eating apple has a complexity of flavours.
• Red Windsor – a deep red eating apple oozing with superb flavour.

Traditional orchards can be a haven for wildlife and an important contributor to the local ecosystem.

Because orchards are mosaics of trees, grasses, shrubs and wildflowers, they support a wide range of wildlife. As fruit trees age quickly, they create the perfect habitats for invertebrates and birds, such as the lesser spotted woodpecker and the rare noble chafer beetle. Orchards also lend themselves to certain mosses, as well as plants like mistletoe.

Nestled within our site, the orchard will not only provide a source of delicious and diverse apple varieties, but also be used as an educational tool to promote orchard care, apple processing and traditional cider-making techniques.

Born and bred in the south west, we’d love to hold our own annual Wassail, a celebration traditionally done to bless orchards to ensure a good harvest. A procession to the orchard, announcement of the Wassail king or queen, folk singing, cider drinking, morris dancing and general merriment sounds a great way to connect the local community with rural tradition and promote small-scale farming!

We’ll get the local community involved in the planting and maintenance of the trees and will share our harvest; pressing the apples to make cider, apple juice and apple cider vinegar. We can dry excess apples, preserving them to enjoy during the hungry gap, and use the waste from apple pressing to add to compost.