Apples galore!

I visited a wonderful nursery, Bernwode Fruit Trees at Ludgershall near Waddesden, today. I was collecting 22 special apple, pear and plum trees that will be planted as part of an orchard restoration next to the nature reserve. All the trees are old fruit varieties associated with villages and farms in our area of Buckinghamshire. In many cases, they have been propogated from single old surviving trees by Derek and Judy who run the nursery. The photograph shows just a small part of an amazing display of fruit from their trees that they've set up in their barn for visitors. On the right you can see one of the varieties we are planting, Buckinghamshire Sheep's Nose, an old cider/culinary apple discovered in Amersham. It is just above apples from Sir Isaac Newton's Tree, also called 'Gravity Tree', from Woolsthorpe in Lincolnshire, which is associated in folklore with the story of Newton's great moment of discovery - just one of many 100s of important old trees conserved by this nursery.