Cherry Blossom, Old Orchards & Rare Fruit

[Joonsy]

It is lovely to see the return of the cherry blossom out in the springtime again, the area around here in the Wyre Forest once had the largest cherry production in the country outside of Kent. The area has many old fruit trees and remnants of old neglected orchards left lying abandoned and they have a particular beauty and feel all of their own, as does the dismantled railway running through the forest that once took the cherries to market. There has been a growing interest to rejuvenate some of these old orchards and hopefully save some of the rare fruit trees, the ‘Doddin’ and the ‘Worcester Black Pear’ which is depicted on the county’s coat of arms and flew on the banners of the Worcester Bowmen at the battle of Agincourt, being just two varieties that fell from use. An orchard has been planted as a ‘’gene-bank’’ for many of the rarer fruit trees to try to ensure they survive. The cherry growing industry was once so important to the area that there was a ‘’Cherry Fair’’ held every year to celebrate it but the industry went into decline after the late 1950s. The blossom will never be as large a spectacle as it once was in the area but is still lovely to see. Should anyone have an interest in old orchards and rare fruit here is a couple of links that you may (or may not) like to see.

http://www.worcestershireorchards.co.uk/10.html
http://www.forestry.gov.uk/newsrele.nsf/WebPressReleases/43035E9AE864B221802577EE00576788
http://www.worcestershireorchards.co.uk/13.html

 

[Toddy]

Lovely to see

Isn't it a shame that we didn't value our own home grown fruits enough ? and now we're stuck with tasteless imported stuff in supermarkets

The Clyde Valley (up the river, not down) used to be like that too. Tomatoes and salad crops that were 'real', in season, full of flavour, and then the soft fruits and finally the plums. Glorious rich, juice running, taste filled plums
Now the trees that are left are mostly overgrown and unpruned, and the valley's full of garden centres.

atb,
M

 

[Joonsy]

Lovely to see

Isn't it a shame that we didn't value our own home grown fruits enough ? and now we're stuck with tasteless imported stuff in supermarkets

The Clyde Valley (up the river, not down) used to be like that too. Tomatoes and salad crops that were 'real', in season, full of flavour, and then the soft fruits and finally the plums. Glorious rich, juice running, taste filled plums
Now the trees that are left are mostly overgrown and unpruned, and the valley's full of garden centres.

atb,
M

thanks for reply, yes it seems that some people only begin to value things, if at all, when they slip into near extinction, those supermarket offerings are also artificially ripenend but placed on the shelves under-ripe to get a better shelf-life at expense of taste, definition of 'quality' by a supermarket is ''all the same identical size''. I love juicy plums, Victoria plums used to be grown a lot here and i have a vic plum tree in my garden and sometimes make some jam from them, i read in a book that raspberries used to be grown a lot in Scoltland.