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1 Kent Orchards for Everyone - Discovering the heritage of Kent’s Orchards www.kentorchards.org.uk October 2019

Kent Orchards cHRONICLE

From Orchards to more Orchards - Kent’s heritage revealed

INS IDE THIS I SSUEHeritage Names - Harrys and Osiers - Orchard Memories - Shrubsole & CulpepperGrant’s Sweet Cordial - Basket Makers - Cherry Sales - Faversham Fruit BeltVictorian Fruit Congress - Bunyard and Ermen - Potter and The National Fruit Collectionsand much, much more . . .

New BooksThe Tradescants’ Orchard

Barrie Juniper and Hanneke Grootenboer

- The mystery of a seventeenth century painted fruit book.

Cherry IngramNaoke Abe

- The English man who saved Japan’s Blossoms.

The Book of Pears Joan Morgan

- The definitive history and guide to over 500 varieties.

Sittingbourne 1910 celebrates with memories of good and bad weather,

cracked cherries, ladders falling and children scrumping. With accidents, broken staves, biveys and songs round the camp fires. It is now onto the plums and then the pears and apples till autumn appears and spreads its Jack Frost fingers to hail those vibrant colours of oranges, reds and yellows.

Did the Romans do it?

‘It was suggested by Whitaker that the apple was brought to Britain by the first colonies of the natives and by the Haedui, (who were Gallic people) of Somersetshire, hence Glastonbury was distinguished by the arrival of the apple orchard, previously to the arrival of the Romans. Before the third century, this fruit had spread over the whole island and so widely that according to Solinus, there were large plantations in the “Ultima Thule”.’ John Claudius Loudon wrote in the Arboretum et fruticetum britannicum.

2000 BCE

Barrie Juniper now reveals the solution to a long-standing puzzle. Where did the apple come from, and why is the familiar large, sweet, cultivated apple so different from all other wild apple species with their bitter, cherry-sized fruits? Was it brought in by the Romans or by the first colonies of the natives? We now know apples came from the fruit forests in the Tian Shan Mountains near Almaty in Kazackhstan transported initially by bears in their droppings. Over

thousands of years a trade route developed called the silk route and slowly over time fruit trees grew on route. Finally reaching the Caucauses and Eastern Europe, orchard fruit as we know it had arrived. If you go down to the Tian Shan woods today you will be in for a big surprise, a remarkable sight. In these amazing fruit forests the apple is the predominant species. It’s totally chaotic because everything is intertwined; they’re difficult to walk through. Some of the fruit taste disgusting while others are delicious. However, this is the heritage of our modern fruit industry, all the way from Asia.

King embroiled in cash for honours!

James I’s reign was faced with growing financial pressures due to creeping inflation but also to the profligacy and financial incompetence of his court. Finally, James ruled without parliament until 1621, employing officials who were astute at raising and saving money for the crown, and sold baronetcies and other dignities, many created for the purpose, as an alternative source of income. This was so with the Shrubsole family, wealthy cherry farmers from Hartlip near Stockbury in Kent. They were awarded a crest with three cherry trees and a cherry branch in return for financial funds to support the King’s income. The Shrubsoles lived at Paradise Farm in Hartlip but probably originated from Graveney and Boughton-under-Blean where there were many cherry orchards, the first to ripen in Kent. There are still many traditional cherry orchards to be found in this area.

Sittingbourne 1910 celebrates the end of the cherry picking season

Yesteryear was but a different story, hardship hits our King and local farmers are

asked to help. New varieties are being imported and the best ground is sort, but be it a good story, a new tasty liqueur is offered from our very own fruit. Everybody has a home orchard and those with land plant fruit trees for crops destined to the new London markets. New rootstocks are the future with our very first collection of fruit varieties, Kew is hooked and takes the lead. New fruit breeders are our orchard’s success for the future.

Kent Orchards for Everyone - Discovering the heritage of Kent’s Orchards www.kentorchards.org.uk October 2019 2

Yes to Imports! Now our legacy.

‘The parish of Teynham, with thirty others lying on each side of the great road from Rainham to Blean-wood’ was in Henry VIII’s time the cherry-garden and apple-orchard of Kent, and such it undoubtedly continued till within memory.

1533 Teynham, was the mother orchard from whence the other plantations grew: for Richard Harrys (Harris), head fruiterer to King Henry VIII having observed that those plants, which had been brought over by our Norman ancestors, but had lost their native excellence by length of time, for which he saw no reason since the soil and climate were similar to the

Osiers Farm

continent bringing of those new varieties of perfection and try a plantation of them here. In 1533 he obtained one hundred and five acres of rich land, then called the Brennet, an area stretching from Osiers Farm to New Gardens where it is thought he lived. With great care, good choice, and no small labour and cost, brought plants from beyond the seas across Europe, he furnished this

Cherry orchard in blossom in Teynham

ground with them in rows, in the most beautiful order. These fruits consisted of the sweet cherry, from hence usually called the Kentish Cherry, the Temperate Pippin, hence the name the Kentish Pippin and the Golden Renate. Golden Renate has now been identified as the parent to Blenheim Orange. From Henry VIII’s reign to today, orchards have been the main feature of this area. New gardens can be seen on the 1797 map below with

New Garden and Teynham 1797

orchards around Teynham. South of Teynham orchards stretch as far as the eye can see towards Lynsted.

Stitch in Time

According to Hasted, in ‘The History and Topographical Survey of the County of Kent’, ‘There is belonging to Hollingbourne church, a most superb altar cloth, and a pulpit-cloth and cushion, of purple velvet, ornamented with different figures of fruits and pomegranates and grapes, wrought in gold, the needlework of the daughters of Sir John Colepeper, afterwards created Lord Colepeper, who employed themselves for almost the space of twelve years in the working of them, during their father’s absence abroad with King Charles II in the 1600s.’

Hasted’s son was ‘Vicar of Hollingbourne’ and may have had some evidence, which has now been lost. Sir John’s second wife Judith was the daughter of Lady Elizabeth and Sir Thomas of Greenway Court and had three daughters. The plants portrayed on the needlework are reminiscent of those depicted rather stiffly in the woodcuts of Gerard’s late 16th century herbal. These needlework hangings have been described as the Fruits of the Tree of Life. The fruits which are sewn with great artistic skill appear to be three pomegranates, three plums or damsons, two cherries, three grapes (green and purple), three gourds, three nuts (hazel), two pears, three apples, crabs or quinces, one hop, three mulberries, two oak acorns and two uncertain. The mulberry is said to have been introduced into England in 1596. The pomegranate was a badge of the Tudors. The needlework is special since it shows Jacobean fruits in colours and stitches of the finest workmanship. They are sewn in tent stitch using silks with some metal embellishment. Hasted thought designs were probably taken from illustrations in a herbal and drawn on to the linen.

Pruning and Grafting

The tools for pruning and grafting have changed very little over hundreds of years. Below is an example of tools used in the early 1600’s.

Fruit trees were originally grown on their own roots and these determined the size of the tree, often very tall and as shown in the artist’s impression long pruners and long ladders were needed. Today many

of the same tools are used in grafting and pruning with the same methods being practised.

Image by S R Badmin courtesy of John Badmin In a book written by George Bunyard in 1911 the tools in the advertisement right were being used for pruning at the Kent Institute of Horticulture at Borden in Kent during the mid 1900s.

A D V E R T I S M E N T

Since then dwarfing rootstocks have been developed and the need for such long pruners and ladders has gone.

Pruning and grafting tools used in the early 1600s

Pruning in an orchard at Borden, Kent mid 1900s


Memories of a dynasty of Kent basketmakers

Sittingbourne was able to boast it had a basket maker in the centre of the fruit and hop growing area. Kibsey baskets were essential to the cherry trade with hooks to attach them to the long, long ladders. Below are memories of local people who knew the basket makers and their families.

Daniel - ‘My great, great, great, great grandfather was JOHN PACKER born Sandwich, Kent c.1805. Basket maker. His son was MATTHEW PACKER born London, Middlesex c.1831 Basket maker turned costermonger. His son was THOMAS JOHN PACKER born Spitalfields 1853 - marble polisher.’

Lynn - ‘Yes, those PACKER’s are familiar to me. Your John is in my tree, he was my 1st cousin 3 times removed! His parents were William Daniel PACKER and Sophia EMMERSON. I have his birth date as 18 Oct 1804 in Sandwich.The Faversham and Sittingbourne PACKERS are my direct line.John PACKER bap.1755 in Ash, next to Sandwich was a basket maker(The 1790 Poll Book of Kent (Faversham) mentioned John Packer was a house and land owner.) His son, also John PACKER b. in Faversham in 1785, moved to Sittingbourne and opened basket works. First in Crown Quay Lane, then in Bell Lane, Sittingbourne, Kent in 1812. He was my 4 x great grandfather. John’s son Charles Arthur continued the business and then

passed it on to his son.

Herbert who together with his brothers Charles and Frank set up a Basket making business in Bell Road Sittingbourne, Numbers 19/21. It was called Packer Bros. Eventually Herbert took it over and at his death his son George ran it though he was not a basket maker. After George died the business was sold; later it was sold again and the building demolished to make way for a car park.

George was my grandfather, my Mother’s Dad. I have photographs of the shop. I look forward to hearing from others connected to the basket making PACKERS.’

Rita - ‘My great grandfather, Walter Edward Packer b. 11.10.1867 in Camberwell, London, was a basket maker as was his father Thomas Edward Packer, b. 28.10.1841 St John, Surrey, as was his father Edward Packer b. 10.12.1820 in Faversham, Kent, as was his father Elijah Packer b. approx. 1801, not sure whether in Kent or London but married Mary Ann Waddell on 8.1.1820 in Chatham, Kent.

Walter married Ada Bunclark on 26.9.1897 and their eldest child, Lillian May b. 2.2.1898 is my grandmother. I would love to hear if there is any connection.’

John - I remember that shop from many years ago.

Rodney - I too remember this shop if memory serves correctly it was next door to Featherstones in Bell Road & the coal yard entrance was between them, lovely days. Anthony - Remember so well, good days.

Jill - I can remember that shop and nearby Featherstone store.

John - Yes me also, my mother used to shop there. Had the fly cash pots overhead.

Debi - What year would this have been?

Colin - Sorry Debi I don’t know! I left town in 1967!

Samantha - This is amazing , thanks for sharing.

Warwick - Yes it was Packer’s then it became Tommy Hugh’s green grocery before they pulled it down, the two houses next door are still there,

Malcolm - Used to do our shopping there in the pre-Sainsbury days. Lovely people - always gave the kids a sweet.

Thelma - The one next door was pulled down but the two which were council houses still stand.

Lynn - The one next door, the cottage as we knew it, also belonged to the Packer brothers. It and the shop were passed on to my grandad and it was he who sold them both as he was not continuing the tradition of being a basket maker. I can remember as a little girl going into the back room of the shop and it was very dark in there. Sitting on the floor was a weaver. He was blind and did everything from touch. Still have that picture in my mind from over 60 years ago.

Lynne - ‘This was my great grandfather’s shop that many of you in my age group and older will remember. In doorway on the left is Frank Packer 1860-1929, his brother is on the right, Herbert Packer 1870-1943, my great grandfather. Standing near the horse is the other Packer brother, Charles 1856-1920.’

1755

‘I have hot Codlings - Hot Codlings’

Cries of the apple seller. Codlings were an old English name for a culinary or cooking apples. These apples are large and green skinned with white juicy flesh and when cooked the flesh quickly turns light and fluffy. They are often baked in pastry.

'Pears for Pies! Come feast your eyes! Ripe pears, of every size, who’ll buy - cries’?

Fruit from Kent was shipped up to London via boat often on the River Medway and then up the River Thames. These words are the cries of the pear sellers in the streets and markets.


Farleigh Damson

In May 1871 in the ‘Journal of Horticulture and Cottage Gardener’, there is an account recording that Mr. Roach Smith of Temple Place/Farm, Strood

by Rochester was given some history of the Kentish Damson or as it was known then as the Cluster. The account by Mr Robson, the tenant of the market garden, belonging to Mr Smith and sited behind his house, found this damson many years ago growing in his garden. Mr Smith was persuaded to plant some of his land with these damson trees which produced enormously and only failed about once in seven years. Its habit was different from that of the old damson and when Mr Rivers of Sawbridgeworth was visiting one day when the trees were in full bearing, he was immediately drawn to them and said, ‘There is a fortune in this damson’.

H. V

Taylor - The Plums of England

Mr Robson gave some suckers to a Mr James Crittenden of East Farleigh, Maidstone, Kent and he multiplied it up. Due to its heavy cropping it became widely planted in England and quickly became known as Crittenden’s. With a history of different names and misspellings it was later known as the Strood Damson. Today it has been recorded with various synonyms, ‘Crittenden’s Prolific’, ‘Crittenden’s’, ‘Strood Cluster’, ‘Damson Prolific’, ‘Farleigh Prolific’, ‘Prolific Damson’ and ‘Farleigh Damson’. Hogg regards this fruit, ‘as the best of all Damsons, it is an immense bearer and forms handsome pyramids’.

Farleigh’s Damson seems to be the most common name today. However, it should be called Herbert’s Damson as he was its original possessor.

Thomas Grant maker of Kent’s best cherry brandy

Grant’s a company specialising in liqueurs was started in 1774. In 1847 Thomas Grant of Sutton Valence took over the business totally from his partners, Coleman and Potter when they retired, later he handed it over to his son Thomas Grant Jnr.

Thomas Grant senior was introduced to a small quantity of Morello cherries as a present from a local fruit grower; this species of cherry was comparatively scarce, for they appeared to be somewhat difficult to grow and not very prolific bearers, but Mr Grant was at once struck with the richness of colouring and their very distinctive flavour. It would be the perfect product for a

Grant’s Cherry Brandy label

very fine quality cherry brandy, this resulted in his well-known delicious liqueur Grant’s Morella Cherry Brandy.

1774 Grant’s Cherry Brandy was initially prepared at the Lime Kiln Street, Dover. For a number of years the cliff face hanging over the area was unstable. Experts predicted an approximate date in 1853 when it would fall which allowed Thomas Grant time to evacuate some of the contents of his distillery, including liquid stocks of the cherry brandy. 100,000 tons of chalk fell and destroyed the distillery machinery and most of the building. This catastrophe meant that Grant had to completely re-equip and find new premises which he opened in Maidstone and Lenham, a site purchased from the Earl of Romney. Grant’s Cherry

Brandy Works, Lenham 1892 had a central high flat topped, red-bricked building and tall chimney, adjoining some lower, smaller, pointed roof building enclosed by fencing in a semi-rural scene.

Grant’s sourced their cherries used for the cherry brandy from the area between Ashford and Maidstone through the valley between the North Downs and the Greensand Ridge, where the soil is ideal for the local strain of Morello cherry. Grant purchased orchards in Lenham with as it is said 20,000 cherry trees in 1892 which were said to be ‘now in their prime and serve to furnish a very considerable proportion of the fruit used in the production of the famous cordial’. He also bought in Morello cherries grown especially for him by fruit farmers in the Lenham, Lenham Heath and Charing Heath areas.

Mr Grant also had to turn inventor as he realised it would be time consuming for labour to be

employed in separating the stones from the cherries in order to follow his recipe for cherry brandy. Grant’s Morella Cherry Brandy has a peculiarly agreeable nutty flavour; this is obtained by the kernels being added to the compound and imparting to it the taste which is such a distinctive feature. Kentish Morello’s

The method of manufacture of Grant’s Cherry Brandy began with the filled sieve or bushel basket, the equivalent to 56lbs, of Morello cherries arriving at the distillery. Some of the fruit were from wild hedgerow cherry trees which helped with its distinctive flavour. The fruit was emptied from the sieves into a crushing machine and that prepared the cherries for pressing. During this process the stones were also broken down and the kernels inside help to impart the distinctive flavour. The pulped cherries next passed into cherry presses where the juice was expressed, they were then passed through the press for a second time not to waste any juice. The juice was collected in wooden vessels and poured into oak casks where it was stored for several years.

Once the cherry juice had been kept sufficiently long in storage and was ready for use, it was then blended with a top quality brandy, in certain proportions, the blending always being personally supervised by one of the Grant family, usually one of the directors and done in accordance with a secret formula. When completed, the blended mixture of Kent Morella cherry juice and brandy was run off into a large vat and stirred by hand for eight hours, using a long wooden pole with a perforated paddle at one end. This process being known as rousing, ensuring the mix was done more thoroughly than was thought would have been achieved by mechanical means. From this process the cherry brandy was run into other oak vats to gradually mature, ready eventually for bottling and labelling.

There were two brands of Grant’s Morella Cherry Brandy. One bore Queen Victoria’s face on the label (sweet), perhaps she had been a customer and approved of it and the other, ‘Sportsman’s Cherry Brandy’ (dry) which bore a hunting scene on the label.

In 1935 E Leslie Grant, the great, great, grandson of the founder formed Thomas Grant and Sons into a limited company but after he died in 1960 the company no longer continued as a family business however, it is still available today.


Apple Congress held at Chiswick 1883 - ‘most wonderful exhibition of Apples ever seen’

It was recorded that, ‘At a meeting of fruit growers, held in South Kensington in conjunction with the Fruit Committee at the Royal Horticultural Society, on the 11th September it was decided to hold a conference of apples, in the Great Conservatory of the Society at Chiswick, from 4th to 18th October next. The

unusually abundant crop of this year affords a favourable opportunity for examining the numerous varieties cultivated throughout the country, to correct their nomenclature, and to compare their merits. For this purpose, the council of the RHS have given the use of their Great Conservatory; and the collection of Apples grown in the Garden, which contains many typical varieties, will be available for comparison. This conference will not take the form of an ordinary exhibition, as there will be no competition and no prizes; the sole objective being to seize so favourable an opportunity of gaining information, and making the meeting instructive and educational. All fruit growers are invited to send, and the more widely the collections are procured; the greater will be the interest the Exhibition will create.’

And this is what happened! Notice of intention to exhibit would be given to Mr Barron with the number of samples or the amount of space required. A committee was appointed with wellknown members such as Bunyard, Hogg, Killick and Rivers. In total there were 236 exhibitors and 10,150 separate lots of apples to

Apple exhibition - Great Conservatory exhibit. The greatest number were received from Kent approximately 918 specimens. As specimens were sent they were examined giving the grower the opportunity of checking or verifying their nomenclature against other fruit with the same name. It could be that the fruit was the same as another fruit but with a different name, this name is known as a synonym. The number of different apples exhibited including synonyms was 2,020 and the number of varieties described as distinct was 1,545. This was noted in a report as ‘the most important and most wonderful exhibition of Apples ever seen’. This exhibition was so popular, the Royal Horticultural Society had to extend the exhibition for a further week.

Report from the Apple Congress

‘The exhibition has been visited each day by about five hundred persons from all parts of the country. To judge from the numbers of different kinds represented in this show, it would seem that the most popular of all apples is the Blenheim Pippin, of which 166 dishes are staged. Next in order come the well-known Dumelow’s Seedling, or Wellington, 132 dishes. There are over one hundred dishes each of the following: Cox’s Orange Pippin, Ribston Pippin, and Warner’s King. The list of those which more than fifty dishes are shown may be considered to comprise of the best apples known for general purposes. Amongst them occur the wellknown Hawthornden, Stirling Castle, King of the Pippins, Lord Suffield, Keswich Codlin and Golden Pippin. With a thousand varieties to choose from a planter may for a moment be perplexed, but it is a great gain to practical pomology to discover that the Congress has reduced the list of the very best varieties to the modest number of twenty four.’

‘The artist in residence however, in his playful treatment of the exhibition from a jocular point of view, has chosen for delineation some of the minor features and incidents of the Apple Congress, which may be amusing to the general reader.’

This is what was reported in the London Illustrated News 20th October, 1883. The 21st October, has now been adopted as Apple Day, created by Common Ground in 1990, with huge celebrations around the country exhibiting numerous varieties of apple. The greatest being at the National Fruit

Collections at Brogdale, Faversham, Kent where often approximately 600 different varieties of apple can be viewed in dishes and numerous can be tasted. The collection contains over 2200 different apple varieties with two trees per variety growing.


George Bunyard, the Robert Hogg of Kent’s fruit trees

‘The hard and later-ripening varieties of apples lend themselves well for storing. In many market gardens neither sufficient care nor attention is given to picking the fruit carefully, and storing it properly; the result is a considerable loss on the crop, when a profit might have been the result.’

George Bunyard the doyenne of fruit breeding in Kent was born in 1841 in Maidstone, he worked with his father, Thomas selling seeds from his nursery. Bunyard’s Nursery was founded in 1796, had been set on its feet during the 1880s and 1890s by George, who established its reputation for fruit. In 1869 they moved to Allington and on 8 hectares of land became premier plant breeders in the UK. Many of our best known varieties were introduced by Bunyard such as Gascoyne’s Scarlet, Lady Sudely and Allington Pippin. At the time of George Bunyard’s death the nurseries which were now known as Royal

Geroge Bunyard

Nurseries had expanded to 67 hectares.

Bunyard’s fruit store

One of Bunyard’s recognised inventions was the Bunyard Fruit Store which at one time was to be found in many large gardens since they all had their own orchards attached to the landscaped garden. However, very few of these fruit stores survive today.

Bunyard’s fruit store

1900 Commercially in the late 1800s and early 1900s the fruit was stored in the oast houses following harvesting of the hops. All of the floors were utilised even the upper floor since it was cool and dark but frost free. It has been demonstrated over and over again that British apples, properly cared for, will keep well until the April and May following the season of picking. But this desirable result in the early 1900s could not be achieved by picking the fruit roughly and throwing it in heaps onto a barn or shed floor covered with a thin layer of straw. The bruises which were caused by rough handling would soon cause decay to set in, and one bad apple would infect others if not removed.

Bunyard’s fruit store was designed to overcome these problems for the market grower and create a much better atmosphere for the storage of apples. The fruit was also less likely to be bruised and so decay and infect neighbouring fruit.

reed was not available.

The interior view of the same fruit room is 30 foot long, 12 feet wide, and will hold 300 bushells of apples. At the time it cost about £30, which would have been spread over twenty or thirty years - not an expensive item even from a market gardener’s point of view. Many market growers would have had a cool sheds or barns that could be readily converted into fruit rooms, and the cost would probably be repaid by the first or second season. The image below shows shelves, 3 feet to 4 feet

Inside the apple store

wide, down each side which are divided from the central range by a pathway. Wooden battens, about 3 inches wide are used for the shelf base and about 1/2 inch of space is left between them to permit free circulation of air. The fruits are placed in a single layer on the shelves, which are between 12 inches to 18 inches apart. These are supported at intervals by strong upright posts and horizontal struts. The floor is generally cemented over, so that too much moisture shall not ascend from the soil. Each layer is labelled with the fruit variety.

The advantage to the market grower of having a good fruit room available is that at times of glut he can hold over his stock and then place it on the market when better prices are ruling.

THE GARDENERS’ CHRONICLE. October 24 1885Mr. Bunyard’s Fruit-room.— Mr. Bunyard, of Maidstone, writes about this illustration: ‘ ... it was made of matchboard and quartering, a cheap affair, and yet keeps fruit as long as possible. It is topped with reeds from the Medway marshes. The boards and slabs at the sides are painted, and the base of the reeds was creosoted, and we expect it to stand for twenty years. The old man who thatched it told me that the ‘reed’ was practically indestructible if laid properly, and that he had used over again materials from an old barn that had stood for eighty years.’

A fruit room is built so as to secure an equable temperature always, from 45° to 50° F. The walls are usually built of match boarding with a layer of reeds 7 to 8 in. thick outside. The reeds are kept in place by horizontal strips of wood securely nailed to the uprights. The roof is thickly thatched which helps keep the temperature constant and a ventilator covered with wire netting is placed at each end at the apex of the gable over the doorway.

The image below shows an exterior view of a Bunyard’s fruit room still in existence. It is thatched with 18 inches of reed and side walls of reed, straw does not last as long, but was used in areas where

Gascoyne receives award

Mr Gascoyne of Bapchild Court, Sittingbourne raised Gascoyne’s Scarlet apple. In 1871 it was introduced by George Bunyard and Co. of Maidstone, Kent. This apple received the Royal Horticulture Society’s First Class Certificate in 1887. The apple is very juicy with an aromatic flesh and sharp flavour when first harvested.

Its flavour becomes mellow and sweeter with age. The juice takes on

a pink blush when

extracted. Gascoyne’s Scarlet painted

by Rosie Sanders

Gascoyne’s of Bapchild Court reminds the local community of happy days working there.

Sally’s mum worked for Clive Gascoyne for many years. Gill remembers both Miss Sage and Mrs Parker who also worked for the Gascoynes.


A basket full of fruitful memories

Barbara - ‘My Dad was Station Master at Teynham, but, had a passion for the fruit orchards. He was a frustrated farmer !! He had an orchard at Lynsted, one in Teynham, spending all his spare time in them. Sadly, when EU decreed all apples should be measured using cardboard cut outs, it put an end to sending to the London markets. He then gave most

of the fruit away to local people..

One orchard was on the corner of Lynsted Lane and the road on the junction by the large house where Yerbury lived, to Bogle. The other, at Teynham, up from Barrow Green, turn left to go to Conyer and it was just over the bridge, on the left. No orchard now! We used to walk along the railway line to climb up the bank to it Dad’s name was Ken Gambrell. I lived in the station when there were orchards right up Station Road and down Frognal Lane. Very dark at night when I walked home from work! The fruit was a mix of apples, cherries, pears, damsons.

This is opposite my Dad’s old orchard. It was owned by Charles French in 1900s and there are cottages

further down called Spring Grove Cottages leading to Osiers Farm.’

Linda - ‘And my mother also did field work later on in life too and worked in cold store after retirement and in between in school kitchens as well as fruit picking during school holidays she’s now nearly 97.’

Margaret - ‘Scrumping round 40 corners in Lynsted.’

Linda - ‘Did a lot of scrumping, our cottage was surrounded by orchards.’

Janice - ‘I lived on Mr Arthur Pilchers farm at Tonge, my parents worked for him, he also had farm at Lynsted Lane as well such happy memories going to work with them in school holidays. My dad used to move the ladders. I used to play with Susan Cooksley and Valerie Stickles making houses with the bushel and half bushel boxes.’

Sue - ‘Used to go fruit picking with my mum, Aunty and Nan. They worked for Pilchers at Tonge near Sittingbourne. This would have been in the 1950s and 60s. They picked cherries, apples and plums. I remember my mum’s ladder slipping out of one of the big cherry trees. She was lucky she

wasn’t hurt. My brother and I spent some fantastic summers in the orchards with all the other kids. Putting apples on a stick and roasting them on the methylated spirit fire. Building camps from fruit boxes and grass. Happy days.’

Sue - ‘Yes Janice my Aunty Pam did. My Nan in Oak Road and at that time we lived in Harold Road. Another memory was my brother Dave, starting Jack’s tractor with a screw driver! He was probably about 4. That caused a bit of excitement!’

1950Janice - ‘That was Jack Bruce. My dad used to pull your Auntie Pam’s leg. Lovely lady. My dad’s name was Horace and mum Ivy.’

Linda - ‘My mother made lifelong friends of people she met in the orchards. She used to work for Bouchards up Nouds Lane. Sadly, they are not around anymore, she has out lived them. I grew up calling a few friends aunties as they always looked out for me and remembered birthdays, Christmases and Easter that’s what it used to be like back in those days.’

Pippa - ‘Was it Rex Boucher?’

Linda - ‘Yes she also worked in his big house as well. I have memories of being up there as a child playing with Hugh around the big house and stables.’

Sylvi - ‘Remember hop picking with my mum in the 50s, vegetable soup out of a flask and soggy tomato sandwiches for lunch, my dad used to cycle out to Newnham with me on the front seat. l stuck my foot in the front wheel and we both fell off, dad broke his arm. I worked for Mr Vane at Grove Hurst farm in the 60s for a while, loved it.’

Eileen - ‘Wonderful days, born in Oak Road, Murston, remembering the sight, in spring, of the cherry orchards on East Hall Farm. As a child going to the orchards with my mother, being laid to rest under the trees with dappled sunlight shining through the leaves. Waking up to the smell of the kettle singing on the fire at dinner time. Making cherry chain necklaces and earrings and having our fill of the sweet lush fruit. Later as we grew up, we also enjoyed picking them, the feeling of being on top of the world when at the top of the ladder particularly on a very windy day. The ladies invariably had their baskets hanging by a hook on the ladder, whilst the men had theirs on their belt round the waist. We would have a double ended hook to pull in the laden boughs of cherries which were out of reach.’

Tracey - ‘My great granddad, Robert Day was apparently champion cherry picker. He worked near Wormshill.’

Cherry pickers in a Rodmersham orchard 1905


1950Ivan - ‘We lived at Munsgore Farm, Borden back in the 50/60s. My late parents Norman and Hazel worked for the Whitehead family who also had the milk dairy. We would help our mum pick the fruit and loved it. My father was the foreman on the farm and milkman as kids we would go out on the milk rounds and help him. Happy memories.’

David - ‘In Iwade there were lots of cherries years ago, I was only 16 and went ladder moving for the women, the ladders were 65 stave ladders and very heavy to balance. The biggest trees were Gauchers, there was also Early Rivers, Bradbourne Blacks, Frogmores, Naps, etc. I was very shy and the women soon cottoned on to that and spent all day taking the mick and telling naughty stories making me go so red, (there were no toilets), the worst lot were the Chatham gang! I hated it. I liked being given the gun and cartridges to keep the starlings off best.

This photo below was taken in Iwade, about 1954/55, I think with the women holding their Kibsey’s. My Gran, Polly Higgins is the lady in the middle with

the hat, standing on the ladder. The man next to her is her son John. Now it’s all Solar Panels now where that orchard was!’

Dick - ‘I was raised on a farm. Both my dad and grandad had cherry orchards, I loved the first week in June when most farmers entered their crops into the auctions, normally at Boughton village hall. Then the fun started, bird minding, up to 500 cartridges a day, then the picking, packing, ladder moving, some ladders, 65 rungs. Some of the old varieties I remember, Rivers, Bradbourne Blacks, Gauchers, Naps, Noir de Gubens, Nobles, and many more I can’t remember, memories!’

Pippa - ‘Did you go to the Boughton fruit sales?’

Dick - ‘I did, a mixed community of traveling families, farmers, Londoners, etc, and next day, tents and caravans where moving in all over Kent. I can remember well over a hundred lots up for auction, you couldn’t find 10 orchards now!’

John - ‘I used to love cherry bangers.’

David - ‘We used to have a wooden clapper as well to walk around making a noise to keep the birds off.’

John - ‘There used to be some lovely cherries at Honeyball House and the orchard next to it in Teynham.’

John - ‘No - they had no bar codes on them then! There were Ambers, Rivers, Damsons and Greengages in the ‘modern’ orchard next to the old house.’

Lorraine - ‘I took my first steps out in the fields in summer of 63! (I was 11 months old).’

Derek - ‘My Mum, Doris, worked for years hop, apple and cherry picking. In the orchards she was

Cherry blossom near Sittingbourne

one of a few women who’d pick the tops of the trees as she didn’t fear heights.’

Pippa - ‘How high did she climb? How many staves?’

Anne - ‘My dad was foreman for Alec Greenlees Woodgate Farm, Oad Street. my grand parents lived on the farm, then it was taken over by Derek Kemsley.’

Derek - ‘It’s been sixty odd years but I think 60 staves. Does that sound right? Could have been 42!’

Janet - ‘My Mum worked for Gordon and Derek Kemsley for 25 years. I remember Reg Friar senior and Reg Friar junior.’

Christine - ‘My mum worked for Burleys Farm for many years. All that is left is the farmhouse. Oh, I would love to eat some “naps” - white cherriesHappy days at the farm. My late husband Ernie Ansley also worked at the farm and he lived at Key Street for many years.’

Glyn - ‘My wife’s parents, lived in Broom Road, backing on to the orchards, so that was their view out the back, until the houses were built. Ruined everything.’

Philip - ‘I worked for a couple of seasons picking cherries as a young teen nearly 50 years ago. I was small for my age, the ladders seemed enormous. I struggled to move them, and once at the top I felt that I could touch the heavens. Wonderful memories!’

Yvonne - ‘I did too, Philip, also small in stature. I didn’t like the tops, left them to my sister Maureen.’

Wendy - ‘Scrumping apples from the orchards!’

Lisa - ‘Going fruit picking with my mum- she used to pick fruit for the Ledgers in Borden.’

Wendy - ‘I did some fruit picking after leaving school to earn some extra money. Great suntan and toned legs and all the strawberries you could eat. Haha.’

Wendy - ‘Being able to go out all day, up the park, in the orchards and down in chalk pits without a care in the world. We could leave our bikes outside the sweet shop without anyone nicking them too!’

Jackie - ‘Scrumping down the orchard near the church and marshes, running away ‘cos the farmer was coming on he’s old tractor. Very happy memories.’

Matt - ‘The toffee apple man! I’d forgotten about him, on his bike with a wooden box on the front selling those amazing toffee apples. It was the only time I ate fruit!’

Adrian - ‘We used to live in the middle of the town Railway Terrace and out the back we had a orchard.’

Straight Down Memory Lane

Eileen - ‘Those were halcyon days, of laughter, freedom- with a few grumbles if we had to wait awhile for the ladder mover. Another memory, as kids - SCRUMPING - how daring we felt sneaking into the orchards and filling our pockets, praying we wouldn’t get caught and then away to the hollow to camps that we’d made. I can well remember one evening, with our gang, the boys up the trees and me, being the only girl member (tomboy) keeping ‘cavey’ (lookout) in a loud whisper calling - someone’s coming, throwing myself on the ground only to find that cows had been in the orchard and yes, I had found a cow pat (poo)!!!!

Cherry orchard near Sittingbourne

The memories go on, and I often wonder where the “gang” are. I am 80 now, having left Sittingbourne in 1955 but it was and still is my home town. I still have a lot of family in and around the area and miss not being able to visit as much as I would like to. We did enjoy a lovely Boxing Day visit, meeting for most delicious dinner at my nephew’s pub, The Tudor Rose in Chestnut Street, and can’t wait to visit his other one, The Dover Castle in Teynham.’

Picking cherries


The National Fruit Trials - Memories of the Great Father’s Son, Andrew Potter

Wisley was first established in 1904 and in 1934 the RHS moved it from Wisley village to Battleston Hill. John Potter was top horticultural student with Bunyard as his mentor and in 1936 was made manager of the fruit trials and collections at Wisley. In 1948 the National Agricultural Advisory Service took over the responsibility of the fruit trials at Wisley. Wisley was sited in a frost pocket and with the guidance of

John ‘known as Jock’ Potter the Ministry of Agriculture decided that the fruit collections and trials need to be moved and sited closer to the main area of fruit production, the Garden of England.

Hugh Curling, a farming neighbour to Brogdale, Elworthy’s, a fruit farmer at Plumford, another neighbour and the Neame’s also farmers bid for the purchase of the land at Brogdale but failed since in 1952 the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food made a compulsory purchase order for the site at Brogdale, Faversham. This site was to become home of the National Fruit Trials and subsequently, the National Fruit Collections.

1954 John Potter

In 1954 Jock Potter set up the National Fruit Trials and collections at Brogdale and planting had started in earnest with consecutive plantings each year until all the of the varieties were moved from Wisley by 1960. At that time he was a judge for the RHS and was awarded the OBE to accompany his other awards, the ‘Veitch Medal’ and ‘Gold medal’ as well as the’ Victoria Member of Honour’. In 1956 -58 the office and research staff were recruited following the moves of Hugh Ermen, John Bultitude and Muriel Smith from Wisley.

Jock Potter had a ‘great, great affection for the place, a true regard for everybody who worked there and it was bought on his say so’ noted by Andrew Potter, his son. Jock Potter also thought that ‘Muriel Smith’s classification was the most brilliant work of art’, Muriel compiled the National Apple Register of the United Kingdom in 1971. Andrew Potter noted that the National Fruit collections were ‘the best record anywhere in the world’. In fact they are the largest living gene bank on one site in the world. In 1972 Jock Potter retired from the

Muriel Smith

directorship of the National Fruit Trials, a person whose name will be synonymous with the establishment of the largest international living reference library of fruit, the father of today’s National Fruit Collections.

Frances - ‘So enjoyed picking the cherries too, such happy times.’ Richard - ‘Remember them well, with those ladders. Much fun though.’

George - ‘Takes me back to Provender.’

Dave - ‘Lived just along the road from this field scrumping at every opportunity.’

Barbara - ‘That could be my Dad’s orchard in Lynsted Lane, very similar.’

Pat - ‘Remember fruit picking with my mum up College Road.’

Matt - ‘My dear old dad picked cherries for years with his mate, Reg Fryer. They picked for the Kemsley brothers (I think that was their name). Dad died in 2013 but I have many fond memories as a kid with dad in the orchards.’

Mike - ‘Oh those cherries, yum.’

Iris - ‘I can remember going cherry and pear picking with my nan up Grovehurst Road past the railway when I was little, happy days, all the best from South Australia. ‘

Iris - ‘I lived at 2 Blue Houses, Grovehurst Road. l went to Kemsley school many moons ago.’

Julie - ‘My Grandad, Harry Ransom, worked for the Doubleday family for many years who lived in the big house on Stockers Hill. I used to love going to the orchards that surrounded their house, good memories.’

Lesley - ‘This brings back lots of memories, my dad had a cherry orchard in Bredgar. Lots of happy innocent times there and on the farm in Teynham.’

Gloria - ‘I can remember walking through the orchards on our way to school back in the 50s.’

Mike - ‘Was awesome, this brings back memories.’

Frances - ‘Lovely photo and I can still remember the blossom route tour signs.’

John - ‘It’s 6am in my favourite cafe drinking coffee and thinking what do I post today. School summer holidays were always hot out on our homemade soapbox. Cherry picking in Tunstall. Roller skating. Helping dad on his allotment.’

Alan - ‘Out of the garden gate, spend all day wrecking Gascoynes or Doubledays haystacks.Scrumping cherries, plums, greengages, damsons, pears, strawberries, and loads of different apples. Never got scurvy!’

Michael - ‘General routing about many miles, scrumping, yes, homemade go carts, making up bikes from the ones we found on the dump at Borden. Spent hours there, we could have all been called Stig of the Dump.’

Barry - ‘My mum was out in the fields fruit picking.We were just left to ourselves.’

Linda - ‘Always up the country on our bikes, scrumping and jumping on the Haystacks. You

don’t see them now.’

Gordon - ‘There were so many of us scrumping, it’s a wonder the farmers had any left.’

Barry - ‘Once I was at the gate of the orchard next to the top of the Half Mile Path in Highsted Road with Keith Wildey just about to go in for some scrumping when the farmer fired a shotgun over our heads!’

Alan - ‘Was wrecking Doubledays haystack when one of the foremen shot in the air from 200 yards away we all ran into a strawberry field and crawled on our hands and knees to get away. He was probably pissing himself laughing, till he saw the haystack.’

View of cherry trees and hop poles in Highsted Valley, Sittingbourne

Barry - ‘We actually live opposite that field now. It must have been the current owners dad or grandad who fired at us.’

Anthony - ‘Great photo from Highsted. Shame the landscape has changed so much. I remember in the 1980s and 1990s in particular how hedges, orchards and hop gardens were being ripped out leaving vast prairie like fields that aren’t so good for wildlife and change the character of the land. I used to like that old cherry orchard beside the bottom of Cromers Road. At least Cromer’s Wood in the photo is still there looked after by Kent Wildlife Trust.

From right to left below Mrs Tucker, Mrs Gardner my mum, Mrs Costa can’t remember the other two ladies names. Remember him when my mum used to work for Gascoyne’s in the orchards.’

Sally - ‘My mum also worked for Clive Gascoyne for many years, we knew Fred and Mrs Harris, always had a Christmas card signed from Fred and Mrs Harris, I don’t think I ever knew her name.

Gill - ‘Think her name was Ella.


Northward Hill

Northward Hill is part of the village of High Halstow situated on the Hoo peninsular. It is very open to the winds blowing across the Thames estuary but has sustained orchards since the early 1900s.

Northward Hill is part of the RSPB nature reserve with its hillside planted with the remnants of an apple orchard and a new cherry orchard. Close by the drain system is a cherry orchard which is over 70 years old.

Years ago the fruit was sold on the trees and the buyer and pickers camped in the orchard with a caravan. This caused much interest to those young boys intent on doing some scrumping of cherries. One day they decided to investigate the gypsy caravan’s contents as it was known by the boys. Was it inhabited? Would they get caught sneaking up to have a peak? With their nerves getting the better of them, they never found the courage to investigate but just kept out of sight doing a little bit of scrumping.

However, this area has much more to recommend itself. Charles Dickens lived close by and his most wellknown quote lives up to these orchards,

‘Kent, sir - everybody knows Kent - apples, cherries, hops and women....’

In 1840 only 6 acres of fruit was recorded in this area, but this has increased dramatically over the years. Today, David Long is farming 1,500 acres close by at Childs Farm, much of which is strawberries and pears.

West Malling

St Mary’s Abbey at West Malling was founded as a community of Benedictine nuns in c1090. In the late 19th century the Abbey was restored and the community has resided there since 1916. In 1846 there were orchards on the south side of Swan Street, West Malling (opposite what is now the NatWest Bank and the Swan Inn). This orchard is shown on the 1849 Site Map in the Abbey archives. In 1846 there is a mention of a meadow and an orchard between the Ewell stream and the western boundary of the Abbey estate now, where their vegetable garden abuts the car park behind Tesco.

In 1840 the grounds of the Abbey were in the ownership of Anne Losack with the area round the Abbey exempt of Vicarial and Rectorial duties. That area consisted of house yard, abbey garden, meadow, garden and a further meadow.

The rest of the area within the Abbey grounds was a meadow of 4 acres, 1 perch and 0 rods. There was an orchard which was 1 acre, 2 perches and 38 rods in size. A further garden and wood brought the total area to 7.3.38 at a vicarial cost of £3.0.0 (pounds, shillings and pence).

A sister who came in the early 1930s mentioned that the Barn on Water Lane, West Malling had been let to a farmer to store his apple boxes. This barn was converted into a chapel in 1938 when it was hoped that it could be used by a mens’ Benedictine community to be established there. They still have extensive orchards at the Abbey which include many rare varieties. West Malling Abbey

The map right dated 1871 - 1890 shows the extensive orchards planted in and around West Malling.

In 1840 the tithe maps states that there were around 60 acres of orchards, some of them were back garden orchards but for those there was an extraordinary charge of 8d (3.5p) per acre so the total Vicarial cost for fruit worked out at £26 17s 4d (£26 86p).

The first planting of Macey’s Meadow, West Malling was in the early 1900s with a further section planted around 1910. The next section was planted around 1930. Since then there have been further plantings with the newest 16 years ago (2003) when the orchard became a community orchard. Macey’s Meadow is a 20 acre wildlife haven in the heart of West Malling. The orchard is open to the public to enjoy. It was named after PERCY MACEY, a much loved member of the local community who was involved in many local activities.

Macey’s Meadow is home to a veritable selection of old apple varieties, Tydeman’s Early Worcester, Beauty of Bath, Blenheim Orange, Polly Prosser, Autumn Pearmain and Beauty of Kent to name a few. There are large traditional cherry trees, once looking like the image left, cobnuts, damsons and the most beautiful wildflower meadow for butterflies. High in the trees are bird boxes and on the far side of the orchard a stunning bee hotel, a

West Malling cherry orchard showing the bivey, camp fire and half bushell baskets for cherries palace for small insects. Look high in the sky at dusk and see the Noctule bats flying over, and as night falls the orchard becomes a haven for nocturnal wildlife.

ADVER T I SMENT


OrchardKibseyScythe

Fruity Wordsearch

LadderPruningGrafting

PlumLichenApple

All the words listed below are connected with traditional orchards. Can you find them in the table above.

PearLittle OwlPip

KatySoilDamson

Sheep Bats Basket

BlossomCherry Stake

Gillingham

Hillyfields orchard lies in the heart of Gillingham betwix the railway which used to feed the dockyard and Saxon Way Primary School. In 1872 questions were asked in the House of Commons about the possibility of linking the Chatham Dockyard and other Military establishments with the main railway line. This would allow the materials required for shipbuilding to be transported directly into the dockyard. At the time, the London, Chatham and Dover Railway Company was unable to undertake this work. The Admiralty became involved and a new railway link was opened in 1877, this was the railway running alongside the orchard. Hillyfields orchard once spanned the full area of Hillyfields Community Park and was owned predominately by Johnny Green.

Hillyfields Orchard, Gillingham 1960

Johnny Green owned the local green grocers shop in the neighbouring road where the fruit, apples, pears and damsons as well as strawberries and blackberries from his orchard were sold. Recently, the orchard’s hidden memories were released when the lads, as they were many years ago, admitted to having spent many a happy hour there ‘scrumping’ the fruit, only to be chased off by the farmer. The locals remember they often went scrumping in the orchards but more interestingly when they had been scolded by mum, after having had an argument they ran to the orchard for cover. Various lads also remember sleeping in the orchard. However, Jane from Gillingham remembers her grandfather lost his part of Hillyfields orchard in a card game gambling, as was often the way.

Milstead

The Leigh Pembertons have lived at Torry Hill, near Sittingbourne since the mid-1800s after moving from Kingsdown close by. The Torry Hill Estate is a working farm supporting livestock, cherry and apricot orchards, walnuts and arable. With both traditional cherry orchards and modern commercial orchards, Milstead’s giant cherry tree was reported in the local paper on the 9th July, 1938.

1938 was a year when the cherry crop was particularly bad throughout the district. A giant Victoria Black cherry tree in Hollybushes Orchard, Milstead, evidently produced 46 half bushell baskets. It quotes that this orchard, now Milstead community orchard, which is about seven acres in size, is the property of Mr Robin Leigh Pemberton, and that year, the fruit was bought at the cherry auctions and picked by Mr C Phipps of Keycol and Mr George Goodhew of Lower Halstow.

Mr Phipps said that he had a long experience of fruit picking and he had never known more than 25 halves from Milstead’s Victoria Black cherry tree being picked 1938

a Victoria Black tree. The largest crop he had ever known from any tree was 48 halves.

Mr Phipps estimated that the tree was about 60 years old and it had yielded many huge crops in the past. The fruit from this tree was sent to a local salesman who had a stall in Spitalfields Market, Messrs Greenlees and Waters and that year, 1938, they averaged 12/0 per half. Mr Phipps asked, ‘Is this a record?’

Cherry orchard blossom in Kent


Roughway Farm, Plaxtol

In 1840 Roughway Farm was owned by the Hon. John and Wingfield Stratford, farmed by a Thomas Knowles and consisted of 110 acres of which only one acre was fruit. Today, the farm is owned by the Cannon’s and covers around 300 acres and is predominately fruit and cobnuts. John Cannon, awarded the Emsden cup for his contribution to conservation in 1992, came to the farm in 1960 where hops and apples were grown. Their farming

policy changed and a variety of fruit was planted. This included Blenheim Orange, Egremont

Russet, Millers Seedling, Beauty of Bath and Lord Lambourne apples. Victoria, Greengage, Yellow Egg plums as well as Damsons. Conference, Beurre Hardy, Williams Bon Chretien pears, and Florence, Napoleon Bigareaux, Early Rivers, Gaucher Bigareaux and Bradbourne Black cherry not forgetting the cherry plums. Cherry plums were often used as marker trees round the boundaries of orchards. They also grew cobnuts in which they now specialise. With around 50 different varieties including Kent, Ennis, Gunslebert and Cosford, each of these are very unique and different. Soft fruit such as gooseberries and raspberries are also grown. Back in the 1970s all of their huge traditional trees were grubbed due to the size, people were pruning all day and the spray operators had to use lances for spraying trees with tar oil,

such a dangerous operation. These sprayers they purchased from Weeks in Maidstone.

In 1987 the farm was hit by the hurricane which blew over many of the last remaining traditional cherry trees. The devastation was captured by this emotive painting by John’s daughter, Jane.

Painting by Jane Cannon of their orchard hit by

the hurricane

Plaxtol

Plaxtol parish was part of Wrotham until it was separated in 1845. However, during that period the names of orchards in the area shown on the tithe apportionments were quite interesting. Since the village was the main area in the country for the production of cobnuts, there are many plantations on the list, for instance ‘Platt Hill Field’ but the most common name for a cobnut plat on the tithe schedules is just ‘Plantation’. In the records we see the name ‘Fruit Plantation,’ ‘Shaw’ which might have been a long stretch of fruit trees; we have ‘Garretts Well’ and ‘Green Orchard’. ‘Cherry Ground’ explains what was probably planted there initially, but ‘Swans Orchard’ may be where swans were seen grazing near the River Bourne. This river flows through Plaxtol with several paper mills on its banks till it reaches the River Medway. Other names of orchards from the 1840’s tithe are ’Round Orchard’, ‘Long Orchard’, ‘Home Orchard,’ ‘Orchard Meadow’, ‘Upper and Lower Orchard’ and ‘Tree Orchard’. But more interestingly you will see ‘Filbert Plantation’, filbert being the name for cobnut or hazel nut and ‘Crabtree Mead’, a mead

being a meadow maybe with a crab apple tree placed somewhere close to its boundary. Some of the orchard names are relevant to the farms on which they are found such as ‘Allens Green Orchard’, ‘Sheet Orchard’, ‘Yaps Green Orchard’, ‘Duck Orchard’ and ‘Broadfield Orchard’. Finally, ‘Slip Orchard’ maybe a long thin orchard,‘Sawpit Orchard’ next to a saw pit,

A cobnut plat in Plaxtol ‘Leyden Orchard’, ‘Malt House Piece’, ‘Bee Orchard’, and ‘Scotland Orchard’ maybe the furthest from the farm.

A large area of Plaxtol was surrounded by orchards. Back in the late 1700s John Martin married Hester Chilman, daughter of Stephen Chilman who lived at Rats Castle, once known as Monks Place when it was owned by Richard Munke in 1512. This house is now surrounded by cobnut plats. John and Hester Martin lived at Bourne Hill Farm later known as Burtons Bourne Farm. Their son, Thomas, born in 1762 married and lived at Dunks farm on the edge of Plaxtol. Their son Thomas Martin jnr. married Sarah Gorham and had six children and in 1851 was farming 263 acres employing 17 men and 4 boys and living at Burtons Brook (Burtons Bourne Farm). He built Allens’ House in 1857 on the site of Allen’s Farm. In 1861 Thomas was farming less land, only 80 acres and he employed 5 men and 2 boys and lived at Church House in the centre of Plaxtol. Frank his youngest son was married to Fanny and living in the Hollies close to Bourne Hill Farm. They later moved to Allen’s House where they farmed 320 acres and employed 16 men and 3 boys. Yet William Thomas Martin, Thomas, his eldest son lived at Reed House and was farming 70 acres and employing 5 men. It seems that maybe Thomas senior split his land between his sons when he was thinking of retiring. In 1901 Frank was a fruit grower and later retired in 1911. Land belonging to Reed House, towards the Plaxtol Spout is now the community orchard and since many of the trees in the orchard are aged, they may have been planted by the Martin’s. Frank Martin from Reed House is not to be confused with another Frank Martin who lived at Old Soar House.

Rats Castle Allen’s House Reed House

(Courtesy of Francis Frith) (Courtesy of Francis Frith) (Kent County Council)

ADVER T I SMENT

Paxton Farm, Plaxtol

Paxton Farm, Plaxtol, in 1911 was owned by Fred Crowson who was married to Mary Adelaide Crowson. They had two children, Mary Evelyn Crowson was born 7th October, 1898 in Ightham, she took the family photograph of the waggoner, ladderman, pickers and children on the farm.

Extract from the 1911 Census

John Cannon

Spraying fruit trees with lances


Weavering Street

Robert Hogg the famous pomologist, records that the origin of this valuable fruit, the ‘Weavering Apple’ is not given in any of the leading orchards authorities, ’I have found this apple,’ says Mr Lewis A Killick ‘in the Journal of Horticulture, in almost every fruit growing district, and usually under different names. I am certain from my own experience it has been grown for nearly fifty years with a local name.’ One of our leading nurserymen imported a new apple from Scotland, which acquired a great reputation three or four years since at the Crystal Palace on account of its size and appearance, but it proved to be Warner’s King.

Warner’s King originated in an orchard in Weavering Street, near Maidstone which was in the possession of Mr Austen Killick. The apple had been grown largely in the neighbourhood of Maidstone and originally known as the Weavering Apple. Over the years it was given various names such as King Apple, Salopian, D. T. Fish, Nelson’s Glory, Killick’s Apple and Warner’s King. In 1851 Jesse Killick was living in Weavering Street and farming 90 acres, employing 7 men. He had two sons, one Lewis and the other Austen. In 1871 Jesse Killick was living in the Farmhouse in

Weavering Street and farming 80 acres with 5 men and 2 boys. At the same time the brothers both living at the same address with

Lewis farming 30 acres with 5 men and 1 boy, and Austen farming 12.5 acres with 1 man and 1 boy. In 1881 Lewis Killick was living at Rat’s Castle in Langley and had extended his empire to165 acres and employing 12 men and 3 boys.

Bev Wingrove remembers a remaining Warner’s King apple tree at Grove Green Cottage, Weavering, where Mr Belcher lived. ‘I used to pick the Warner’s Kings in his garden because they were early cookers, and send them to London. There was enough money for him to pay his rates and his water rates. They used to make 4/- a peck and there were four pecks to a bushel. It was a huge one in the front of his garden. My brother pulled it up. There were a few in the Perrins’ orchard and some at Well House.’

Lenham

Lenham the home of Grant’s Morella Cherry Brandy was not just home to Morello cherries. Many other varieties of fruit were grown in orchards here and in the neighbouring villages of Lenham Heath and Charing Heath.

Sidney John Tappenden of Lenham born in the 1930’s, remembers the fruit growing in these villages. So as

A map of Lenham Heath and Charing Heath fruit orchards in the 1940’s - 1950’s

not to lose the information, he drew his own map of the area indicating where each orchard was and what fruit was growing there. Looking closely, Morello cherries were often underplanted with gooseberries, currants and raspberries. If there was no underplanting they were grazed with sheep and chickens. Often when an old orchard had been removed both horses and cows grazed the area. Some orchards grew mixed top fruit such as plums, apples and cherries. Other fields which had been fruit with grass now were growing kale and mangolds to feed the cattle.

Most holdings kept one horse, chickens, geese, guinea fowl, a few sheep and a pig. George Chapman was the local carrier and collected the Morello cherries in the evenings to take to Maidstone to Grants for processing into cherry brandy. They were picked into peck baskets; most of Lenham Heath also had a few wild cherry trees even in the hedgerows. Sweet cherries were sold to different companies and went to market by train. They were collected by van but during the war they were taken by horse and cart to the station.

The varieties of cherry produced in this small area were Amber, Turk’s, Govenor Wood’s, Waterloo, Early Rivers. Flemish, Morello’s and Napoleon Bigeareau.

Cherry Downs, Lenham Community Orchard

Cherry Downs now stands on the site of the old Lenham hospital, built in 1914. It was originally designed as a sanatorium to treat those afflicted with tuberculosis at a time when it was the dominant killer amongst young people. The only known treatment was relaxation, good nursing and plenty of fresh air. The latter was freely abundant on the North Downs above Lenham particularly as the attractive surrounding farmland was owned by the hospital and any patients, who were physically able, were permitted to work and tend the land. During the war, the main patients were Canadian soldiers who had been victims of gas attacks whilst in the trenches. After the war it returned to its initial purpose as respite for TB patients. With the discovery of anti-TB drugs, the need for beds declined and the hospital shut.

Weavering Apple or Warner’s King

1799 map of Weavering Street orchards

Lenham Hospital with patients recuperating East Wing of Lenham Hospital overlooking where 20,000 cherry trees were once grown.


Lynsted

Lynsted is in the heart of the Faversham Fruit Belt and once the village was surrounded by orchards. It was the centre of cherry production for centuries. Indeed, the first commercial cherry plantations were laid out nearby at Teynham. Traditionally, trees were grown in orchards of about two to five acres.

Cherry trees were large, often reaching 60 feet (18.3 m) in height. This meant the pickers had to use tall ladders to reach the fruit. The ladders were wide at the base to provide stability, and were graded according to the numbers of staves (rungs), from 25 to 65. The pickers were usually women; ‘ladder men’ had the skilled job of shifting and repositioning the ladders. You often heard in the orchard, “don’t brut the trees”, in other words be careful, do not damage the branches, otherwise you may lose some of the crop.

The pickers harvested the cherries into a

The cherry picking gang in an orchard in Lynsted basket called a kibsey, which when full, weighed around 12lb (5.4 kg). One style of kibsey could be carried on the back, attached to a waistband. Cherries were transferred to drum shaped baskets, half bushell or half sieves, weighing 28lb (12.7 kg) when full. These were transported to the fruit market, usually in London. The images of Lynsted and Bapchild are courtesy of the late John Disney as part of the Park Farm Community Cherry Orchard Project. Kim recalls Lynsted ‘. . . it’s an amazing community. A real Darling Buds of May. There is the community orchard that hosts family days where you can bring a picnic and enjoy fun, kids story teller and live music . . . Blossom Day, Cherry Day, Halloween’.

Malcolm Philip Dalton was the youngest of five sons of Philip Dalton. The family lived in Cellar Hill and was involved in the cherry harvest. The photograph shows Malcom at about 25 years of age, holding the reins of a horse-drawn cart, with a group of cherry pickers.

This image was probably taken in Lynsted orchard in about 1910. This photograph above shows Cellar Hill, Teynham when the (image courtesy Sarah Ferns née Dalton) Daltons lived there with cherry trees.

Some of the cherry varieties grown in the area included Early Rivers, Govenor Wood, Tartarians, Webbs Blacks, Gaucher Bigareau, Napoleon Bigareau, Noble, Knights Black and Bradbourne Black. Each orchard was planted in rows on a diagonal grid system from the earliest fruiting to the latest for ease of picking.

Batteries Farm, Lynsted

Batteries Farm on Claxfield Road, Lynsted below once known as Butteries, was also known as

Batteries Farm

Botersland in 1278 and Botelesland in the 14th century Subsidy Roll. This farm was sold by John Hugessen to Joseph Taylor in 1711, and descended

to John Simpson of Canterbury. Charles Murton farmed 320 acres including Batteries and employed 22 people in 1851. It was bought by Mr. Robert Mercer of Rodmersham from his descendants in the last century. His son, Mr. R. M. Mercer, sold it in 1933 to Mr. Percy French, of Teynham. Mr. French planted a great deal of fruit on land that was formerly arable land or hop garden as seen in the image below of the cherry pickers next to the oast house.

Memories of Lynsted

There are so many orchard tales to tell from years back. Here are two which typify working in a traditional orchard, back in the 1940s -1960s.

Joyce Gates lived at Batteries cottages when they were built in 1949 and her mother

worked on the farm in the war. When Joyce first started working on a fruit farm she remembers how she was trained on the job. ‘There were two girls and they took three ladders and put two of them up in the tree with the third in the centre. The men put the ladders up and they had to be careful to place them in a crutch so the ladders were firm and the girls would not fall out. The two girls went up the outside ladders to the top and the trainer the centre. They were told to hook the baskets on the rung of the ladder and work from the top down carrying the basket down. There were times when the ladder was tied into the tree when the wind was blowing, they were very safety conscious. It was stipulated that the cherries must have strigs or they would be rejected’.

Jeff Clayton lived at Loyterton Bungalows, Lynsted. His mother worked at Claxtfield Farm

owned by Potter Oyler, her father, a farmer who in his 80s moved to Malt House, Lynsted. Cherry orchards surrounded their house, looking beautiful in the spring. Jeff remembers, ‘the hedges of the orchards being bush plums and damsons and also what they used to call switzchen plums which were thinnish and long, rather like a cooking plum’. The average size of a ladder was 40 rungs and to place them in the tree they would stand on the bottom rung and rear it up into the centre of the tree. Often where there was a sprog, a dying cherry tree, they would lock two ladders together, one in front of the other. One person would stand on the bottom of one ladder while the other person climbed the other to pick the fruit. Ladders were made by Punyer and Tom or Brungers of Chilham (ladder makers). Cherries were picked in to chips, rather like cardboard boxes with a handle. There were Early Rivers cherry trees at the roadside at Nouds and one tree took 2 days to pick with 60 chips x 12lb of fruit in each. Baker and Kemp transported the cherries to Covent Garden Market.

Park Farm, Lynsted

Before Park Farm was planted to cherries it was a meadow. At the bottom of the meadow next to Toll Wood the River Lyn wound its way through the valley and if you used the river you had to pay a toll. Travellers with their horse and carts had to wait before pulling into Toll Wood Orchard as it was known. Park Farm was owned by Frederick Coxhead Brice from Elmstead, Kent and was planted in 1957/8 by Roy Woodward and Mark Amos in the meadow. Len Epps was the shepherd and ran sheep under the trees and Fred Cheshunt the cowman. There were also two cart horses on the farm for transporting the fruit. Fourteen varieties of fruit were planted in the orchard including Bradbourne Black, Gaucher Bigareau, Florence, Napoeleon Bigareau known as ‘Naps’, Waterloo, Early Rivers, Frogmore and Governor Woods, Noir de Guben, Merton Glory, Merton Bigareau, Amber, Ohio Beauty and Sunburst.


Pictorial memories of Blackbird Farm

Margaret Rogers and Margaret Tolhurst have much pleasure in sharing their memories of fruit farming life during the 1940s on Blackbird Farm, Tonge, Sittingbourne. The family farm was owned by Leslie Doubleday Ltd and in the 1990s the company merged with G. H. Dean and Co. George H Dean was Leslie’s grandfather who, in 1891 lived at Whitehall, on the edge of Sittingbourne next to the cemetery once surrounded by orchards.

Extract from the 1891 census

Whitehall in 2017

Leslie was born in Milton, Sittingbourne but moved to Hempstead House, Tonge as did his son, Garth who died in 2012 aged 99 years. G H Dean also owns land surrounding Iwade Community Orchard and Rodmersham.

The four images above and four to the left show a day in the life of a fruit picker in the 1940s at Blackbird Farm, Tonge, Sittingbourne.

1. The ladders boys ’Where are the pickers?’2. Ready to pick the juicy red cherries3. About to deliver the chips to the orchard4. Collecting the chips full of cherries from the

pickers

1. Time for a cuppa2. Weighing the cherries in the orchard3. That was a good pick of Bramleys4. Home to the packhouse by horse and trailer with

the half sieves full

The map below shows orchards round Hempstead House, Tonge where Leslie Doubleday lived in the 1940s. No doubt the photos taken by Margaret Rogers and Margaret Tolhurst were in these orchards.


Twix Teynham and Lynsted

Radfield Farm, Bapchild is on the edge of Greenstreet and at the end of 40 Corners

Road. The photograph below shows cherry pickers in the 1950s, at the farm. The people in the photograph are Dot Kite up the ladder with the basket, Lou Jeffery sitting on the ladder on the left and Stan Mitchel with the cap.

Greenstreet follows the A2 Watling Street from Dover to London. The south side falls in

Lynsted Parish. The surrounding land seems to have, in early days, consisted of farms and smallholdings where fruit was extensively grown. Between Greenstreet and Lynsted Village stood Malt House, Cambridge, the small hamlets of Bogle, Bumpit and Tickham lying to the east. In the 14th and 15th century there were Greenstreets, probably hence the name of the area, living at Claxfield.

Claxfield Farmhouse

The Greenstreets owned property from Claxfield to Selling and remained an important family. The family of Ropers who lived at Cellar Hill just off Watling Street (A2) was a very ancient one and was connected with Kent as early as the 13th century. Sir John Roper was made Baron Teynham and Lord of the whole Manor in 1616 by James I “because he was the first man of note to proclaim the King in the County” (Hasted). At one time the Lord’s Teynham also owned New Gardens and Osiers Farm.

Cherry pickers and ladder man, Roper Dixon’s Farm

Cambridge Cottage/Farm, Lynsted, once known as both, on the edge of Teynham in

1920 showing kibsies, half sieves and ladders in the photograph above was owned by Roper Dixon who farmed 282 acres and employed 12 men and 3 boys in 1881. A deed in Mr. Dixon’s possession refers to the property as Cambrays rather than Cambridge as it is known now. The name of Cambray occurs in the Subsidy Rolls for 1339, and the earlier

known name was Cambrays. Cambridge Farm once belonged to the Hasteds. Joseph Hasted was chief painter to the Navy at Chatham in 1662 and amassed a fortune which he invested in land. Eventually his grandson, Edward Hasted the Kent historian was the proud owner of Cambridge Farm. Edward sold this land in 1782 and finally, it came into the possession of the Dixon family, the present owners.

New Gardens can be seen on the map below of Hasted’s, dated 1797. This is the site where

Hasted’s Map 1797 showing New Garden

Richard Harrys started his mother orchard for the whole of the country under the Kingship of Henry VIII. This mother orchard stretched right over to Osiers Farm to the north.

The photograph below shows the extent of the orchards around New Gardens in 1946.

Osiers Farm, or Oziers Farm as it was also spelled, or the Brennet as it was also known,

can be seen below in the aerial photograph taken

in the 1940s surrounded by fruit trees. In 1533 this farm was documented as the first site to herald extensive orchards, the beginnings of commercial fruit production in both Kent and England.

On Lynsted Lane on the east side stood an orchard and in that orchard were placed the

stocks. An old gate and rough steps lead up to the place where they were sited until about the late 1960s.

Beyond Lynsted

Rodmersham Court Farm was where Sir William Pordage, as well as his ancestors,

resided in Rodmersham. Here he rebuilt the manor-house in 1615 in the reign of King James I, naming it New House. In 1871 New House, now known as Rodmersham Lodge, later Rodmersham Court Farm, was owned by Mr. Robert Mercer aged 32 years, farming 1525 acres and employing 45 men and 17 boys, not counting the fruit pickers. The 1881 census tells us he was farming 1807 acres with 56 men, 14 boys and 12 women. He was also noted as being a hop planter. Robert had a son, Robert Montague Mercer, who went on to farm

Fruit pickers on Robert Mercer’s Farm

Batteries Farm, Lynsted, in 1911 when Robert Mercer was still at Rodmersham as a landowner with private means. Rodmersham Court Farm now belongs to the Doubleday’s of Blackbird Farm, very large fruit growers. People by the name of Brunger also lived in Rodmersham in the 1880’s and in the 20th century became well known cherry ladder makers in Chilham. The long sheds in the photo were built specifically for ladders of the cherry picking variety.

‘By Jove this apple looks like a Cat’s head! ‘What will the committee name this

specimen?’ c.1883


Iwade

Mrs Shirley Trower, born 1936, worked for Leslie Doubleday picking and pruning the fruit, her father-in-law also worked for him on Tiptree Farm and Street Farm. Shirley remembers, ‘The foreman was Mr Morris who started working on the farm at the age of 15 years. Iwade orchard was once cherries closer to the centre of the village and further away old plums. Between the two orchards there was an orange

sandy track. On the left the cherries were bulldozed out and in the late 1960s were replaced with Marjorie plums and on the right there were both Marjorie’s and Victoria plums. The gooseberry variety, Bristol Cross were planted in between and you would often hear nightingales singing. We used to use bangers to scare the birds from taking the cherries and then I often used the football rattlers to scare them as well. We often used to see grass snakes and slow worms in the orchards.’ Shirley also remembers a bivey in the cherry orchard during the fruiting season which was used as living quarters by the men who were protecting the cherries from being eaten by the birds. Shirley said, ‘They used to tie rooks which had been shot, in groups of 5’s and hang them in the trees twice a year in the spring to ward of other birds from taking the cherries. We had Early Rivers, Napoleon Bigarreauxs, Bradbourne Blacks in the orchard and we used to pick them into chips to be sent to the Kent Agricultural Show, there were also roundels.’

Shirley Trower in Iwade orchard Shirley mentioned, ‘I used to pick the fruit with Jean Blench who used to work for Hinge, Dot (Nan) Trower my mother and Mary Willson. We used to have a barn in the orchard which was used for storing the ladders. Dave Higgins, Uncle Jessie Prett, John Trower, Denis Baldock and Keith Bill used to move the ladders. I often felt sick at the top of the ladders but if the ladders were tied to bales at the bottom they were much more secure. You had to be careful where you put the ladders since there were rabbit holes

everywhere. When the fruit had been A merry group of pickers in Iwade orchard

picked into baskets, from the basket makers in Sittingbourne, and either placed in trays or bins, it was then taken to the coldstore at Tiptree Farm and sorted for Iwade Farm.

Mary Verrier, who was a Romany gypsy, used to collect hawthorn branches from the hedges round the orchards to make a fire to toast her sandwiches on when she was working in the orchards. Dorothy, my mother-in-law, who was also known as Trotty always used to trot round the orchards. Mr Samson lived in the house opposite the Woolpack Inn and he had fruit trees, damson, dark plums but then there were some pears, the varieties were Conference, Fertility and Williams’ Bon Chretien. John Fowler grew apples by the church and further afield were

Trotty in the cherry orchard Czar’s, Premier and Giant Prunes, bush plums surrounded the orchards.

Hucking

Hucking, part of Hollingbourne parish, stands on the edge of the scarp of the Kent Downs where the soil is chalk with clay and flint. In the centre of Hucking is Hucking Court next to the church, this farm belonged to the Duppas of Hollingbourne Court from the 1707.

Hucking 1797 drawn by Hasted, copyright British Library

Hasted’s map of Hucking, shows that in 1797 there was an orchard south of the church, behind Hucking Court, stretching over to the wood. In 1844 the tithe apportionments show that land around Hucking stretching to 296 acres was owned by Baldwin Duppa and farmed by Henry Duppa who also farmed at Friningham, Thurnham. Following the death of Baldwin Duppa, his son, known as Baldwin Duppa Duppa took over the ownership of the farm.

In 1869, the Ordnance survey map showed orchards in the Hazel Street and Belts Green area but not at Hucking. Over the next few years, ownership of Hucking Court changed. In 1871, William Cheeseman who lived at Old Forge, Hazel Street was farming 13 acres at Hucking Court, but in 1881 the house was uninhabited until 1901 when John Hadlow took over as farmer. George Cheeseman occupied and farmed at Hucking Court in 1911 and remained there till at least 1939. The meadow once an orchard in the 1790s behind Hucking Court is now a new community orchard.

In 1953, John Acock’s father purchased a farm close to these orchards at Hazel Street, on the boundaries of Hucking, Stockbury and Bicknor.

Grandad Acock cultivating the orchard

The farm passed from Grandad Acock, to his son, John who was a natural entrepreneur. Bramley apples were their key product for many years. In the 1960s now established as Fourayes, they became the first company to install an automatic apple peeling system. In the 1970s they expanded and launched a ‘Farm Gate’ service as well as a ‘Pick your own’ selling strawberries, redcurrants, white currants, rhubarb and loganberries. Fourayes Farm is now an award winning UK market leader in fruit processing.

In 1823, William Corbbett wrote of the area, ‘When I got to the edge of (Hollingbourne) hill, and before I got off my horse to lead him down this more of a mile of hill, I sat and surveyed the prospect before me, and to the right and to the left. This is what the people of Kent call the Garden of Eden. It is a district of meadows, corn fields, hop-gardens, and orchards of apples, pears, cherries, and filberts. . . ‘

Cherry pickers in the early 1900s showing the traditional ladders and the ‘Kibsey baskets’ which the ladies up the ladders are holding. The baskets on the grass full of cherries are half bushell baskets. The pickers are believed to be members of the Jarvis family from Doddington close to Lynsted

and Milstead, Kent.

Photograph by kind permission of Mrs Bridget Hailwood, a descendent of the Jarvis family.


Sheldwich

In 1800s, much of Sheldwich was owned by the Rt. Hon. Lord John George Sondes of the Lees Court Estate which included New House orchard. At this time the orchard was farmed by Law Cobb. The orchards are shown as pasture on the tithe apportionments below. Law was written as ‘Lau’ and we can see that there

is a cherry orchard, pear orchard and two back orchards, in total the area is 3.7 acres.

New House Orchard is still part of the Lees Court Estate. In 1946 - 7 it was farmed by Mr George Crawford of New House Farm. The current orchard was planted by Eric Grove and other farm workers including Mark Marley, who was foreman and horseman at the time. The orchard took six

weeks of intensive digging to finish planting. Each row was interplanted with Bramley apples amongst the cherry varieties which included Circassian, Waterloo, Early Rivers, Merton Glory, Bradbourne Black, Merton Bigarreau, Amber Heart, Kent Bigarreau, Napoleon Bigarreau, Roundel and Gaucher Bigarreau. Some of these varieties have been planted since the first planting, with gapping up where the initial varieties have decayed and died. The images on the map below are historical photographs of local features painted by Cherryl Fountain

The fruit map opposite shows all the orchards once established in Sheldwich parish which are colour coded with red for cherry, green for apple, blue for plum and yellow for pear. Mixed colours are mixed fruit orchards. The faded colours are orchards outside the parish boundary. In the 1940s, on the nearby turnpike road from Faversham to Ashford stood four bungalows with corrugated tin roofs, known as tintops. Two were condemned as unfit to live in and were purchased by R H Groom and Son of Chartham for £7500. Included in the purchase was a horse called ‘Nobby’ and a four wheeled fruit trolley! Behind these tintops was a 21 acre orchard of cherries and plums, with varieties such as Circassain, Cluster, Florence, Frogmore, Governor Wood, Ohio Beauty, Turks cherries and Belle de Louvaine, Czar, Purple Pershore and Cherry plums. Kentish Bush plum was used as a windbreak.

Nurses were trees planted for protection, Damson, Cherry Plum, Chalk Pears or Kentish Bush Plum in hedgerows round the orchards or belts of quickly growing Poplar, Scotch Fir, Ash and Chestnut and

Larch Fir.

In Old Wives Lees, part of Chilham parish, were traditional cherry and apple orchards which are still standing. Glen remembers playing cricket in the orchards amongst the trees.

‘The manager used to cut the grass between the trees each week with a gang mower, it was just like a cricket pitch.’

Towards the end of the 19th century, the fruit on established cherry orchards, also known as cherry gardens, gave a return on an average crop of about £20 per acre.

ADVER T I SMENT

Management of traditional orchards

In the past management of traditional orchards for pests ranged from the use of Carlton Arsenate of Lead Paste to Niquas, ‘the most successful non-poisonous insecticide of the day’. It was promoted as having advantages of certain death to all insect pests and no possible injury to the most delicate of plants.

‘Voss’ fruit Tree Banding grease remains unexcelled for trapping the females of the Winter March, and Mottled Umber moths and preventing Caterpillar.’

‘The Alpha, King of the Sprayers can be used for lime and whitewash, spraying and disinfecting etc. Any tree spraying solution or insect killer may be used with wonderful effect in these machines’.These are some of the many methods which were

used to control pests in the orchard inthe early 1900’s,not withstandingthe impact

Spraying demo at Neame’s Farm, Faversham

on the environment. During the slack time in November and December it paid to scrape the loose bark off old tree stems and branches before the usual lime-wash was put on. A cloth should be laid under the trees so that all the scrapings could be collected for burning. The lime-wash would kill eggs and larvae of many enemies and make the bark smooth and healthy. Some soft soap and soot may be stirred into the lime-wash and it should be applied to not only the stems but the principal limbs. The salt and paraffin included in the limewash helps the wash enter all interstices and are distasteful to insects.’


Cherries in the rise

John Lydgate (1370 - 1451) mentions in his poem ‘London Lickpenny’, of a poor man seeking his fortune in the big city but finding it inhospitable. On seeing cherries for sale in the street and having no money, he decided to return to Kent.

The unto London I dyd me hyeOf all the land it beareth the pryse

‘Hot pescodes’ one began to fry‘Strabery rype’ and c’herryes in the rise!’

And bade me come near to buy . . .‘Cherries in the rise’ is what the street sellers used to cry when selling their wares. ‘Rise’, in the Kentish dialect meant twig.

Evidence shows that over the last 600 years cherries have been an important crop for the market, whether it be local sales, roadside sales, sales from monasteries or private gardens, or on a larger scale from the commercial orchards of Kent.

Throughout history, Kent has been the leading county for cherry production and it was doubtless here that cherries imported during the early years of the Roman occupation were planted, as were those brought from Flanders by Richard Harris for Henry VIII. Thomas Tusser, the first author who wrote expressly on gardening in the 1500s, included red and black cherries in his list of garden fruits. During the sixteenth century the fruit became increasingly important in Kent where it flourished and impressed William Lambard in 1576. There was a particularly successful cherry orchard in Sittingbourne, planted by the Earl of Leicester, extending to 30 acres of which Samuel Hartlib later said, ‘that it had produced a thousand pounds worth of cherries in one season’, though he doubted this, since, even in 1652, £10 - £15 per acre which equates to £450, had been given for the crop on other farms.

The great annual fruit auctions, at which the crop was sold ‘off the tree’ goes back to the sixteenth century. At this time the London fruiterers, who were often kinsmen of the farmers themselves, came down in the spring or at ‘cherryty time’ to purchase the prospective harvest.

Kent cherry sales - June 1901

Cherries continued to be an important crop in Kent, being mostly sold by auction on the trees

when immature. An average spread over many years at the turn of the 19th to 20th century gave the returns of an established orchard at about £20 per acre.

The buyer of the cherries at the auction would have to pick them with his own pickers and take the responsibility for marketing the crop. Hopefully, he would make a profit if the weather was not inclement at the time of harvest, damaging the fruit; and if there were no drop in market prices. This enabled anybody to purchase fruit from a small orchard, who perhaps had an outlet or their own market stall.

Boughton cherry sales - July 1939

Boughton cherry sales - June 1941

Cherry sales were held throughout the Faversham Fruit Belt especially at Boughton under Blean, the furthest east of the area, through Lewson Street, Eastling, Teynham, Newington and Sittingbourne.

Sales were also reported across the county in Maidstone, Wateringbury and Horsmonden. However, sometimes these sales did not make the price the farmers hoped for with poor flowering leading to lower than expected crops. As the saying goes,

‘If they (blossom) blow in AprilYou’ll have your fill

But if in May, They’ll all go away.’

Sometimes following several bad years, the farmers would decide to sell the fruit on the tree at dedicated orchard auctions.

Orchard auction report from Messrs G Webb of Sittingbourne

The cherry orchard at Luton House, Selling, mentioned at the bottom of the East Kent Cherry crop report, still stands majestic with sheep grazing beneath the trees, now in the ownership of Lady Swire. Some recent gapping up has been undertaken.

East Kent cherry crop report


Stockbury

In 1844 the tithe apportionments show that the largest fruit grower in the Stockbury parish was John Lake who farmed Yelsted Farm, with 13.4 acres of fruit, of which 8.3 acres he owned. William Cooper was next largest with 7.9 acres. One of his orchards was called Kisby’s Orchard. John and James Bing farmed 5.2 acres of fruit and one of their orchards was called Lacey Orchard. Many of the other orchards had very standard names such as House Orchard, Oast Orchard and Apple Orchard, Long Orchard or Barn Orchard, letting one easily surmise the origin of each.

Stockbury village showing the cherry trees either side of the road

The average size of the orchard in 1844 was 1.2 acres and the total acreage of orchards in Stockbury was 50.9 acres. At that time Church Lane Orchard, Stockbury was owned by Courtney Stacey and being farmed by Philip Cooper. The land to the east of the orchard was called Barn Field and was arable and the land nearest the village was called Stable Mead and was pasture. At the entrance to the orchard were three cottages called Bings Cottage, Priests Cottage and Mitchels Cottage. Further back was a large house called Cheesman’s Cottage and this is where Courtney Stacey lived, he also owned the other three cottages.

During the war the orchards were badly managed. Tear gas was used to clear replant disease when the orchards were replanted in the same planting sites.

Stockbury orchards 1960 (image courtesy of Kent County Council)

However, nearly 100 years on from the first tithe maps, orchard acreage had change considerably, now with 8 times the acreage. Just under 420 acres was planted in Stockbury to top and stone fruit, apples, cherries and plums. This included 24 acres in the centre of Stockbury, 33 acres at Yelsted and 52 acres in the Pett area, south of Stockbury village.

Church Lane Orchard, StockburyClive Belsom’s father romanced his girlfriend,

now wife, 66 years ago in Stockbury orchard while keeping the birds off the cherries. How many other people can tell such a tale?

A family tale in a cherry orchard

An elderly lady, one day was catching a bus and some tourists who were walking the North Downs Way stopped and spoke with her about the local traditional cherry orchards. The elderly lady responded with

a tale saying, ‘my parents picked the cherries in the traditional cherry orchards in the Sittingbourne area.’ She continued to say, ‘I was born under the trees in the local cherry orchard and cherries are my favourite fruit.’ The image shows a typical family working out in the cherry orchards in the 1920s with grandparents, parents, husbands and wives and all the children as well as a babe in arms. Notice the white and black cherries in the

bushell baskets on the ground and the dog. The young boy sitting holding the gun, keeps the birds off the cherries and the ladder boys are standing behind.

Eastward in a direct line across Kentching Field, and Kitchen Field, to a Post at Corner of Nine Horses Wood continuing . . . ‘.

In 1792, Kentching Field and Kitchen Field were the names of the areas where New Ash Green Community orchard is situated now. This land was in the ownership of Mr Whittaker and was occupied by Mr Middleton and covered 1.8 acres. The farm was known as Turners Farm in the tithe survey, but in fact it was part of North Ash Farm. An orchard also surrounded the farm house and yard. Much of the parish was arable, meadow, wood and waste ground.

In 1884 the land was in the ownership of Edward and Constantine Wood with William Andrus farming

it. The spelling of the fields had changed slightly with Kitching Field and Kitching Shaw in the apportionments and Ketching Field on the map. At that time the tithe map showed the surrounding area planted to hops, arable. There was a considerable amount of waste ground to the East, presumably very wet as there was a predominance of ponds. There were a few orchards mainly around the homesteads totalling less than 15 acres in the whole of the parish, against over 60 acres of hops.

New Ash Green

New Ash Green is a village built in the late 1960s and was once known as Ash next Ridley, ‘A Downland Parish’. In 1792, Fulljames, a land surveyor in Kent, undertook a survey of the village showing the ownership of each field within the boundary of the parish. New Ash Green community orchard is bounded by Hartley parish with a small area of orchard in that parish as seen in the map below. A perambulation of the parish, also known as ‘Beating of the Bounds’ began at Forge Pond. However, closer to the orchard the route took, ‘. . . the Bounds then turn and go in a Southward direction up the Lane to a Gate at Corner of Kentching Field, and from thence then turn and go

Cherry Ratafia Recipe

Take six pounds of the black heart cherry, one of small black cherries, two of raspberries, and two of strawberries, bruise the fruit, and let it stand three or four hours, then strain the juice, and to every pint add four ounces of fine lump sugar and one quart of brandy, strain it through a jelly bag, and flavour it with half an ounce of cinnamon and one drachm of cloves infused in brandy for a fortnight previously.

taken from ‘My Receipt Book’ by A Lady 1885

A map showing the northern part of Fulljames’ map of Ash next Ridley 1792


New Ash Green 100 years on from tithe maps

Fruit growing was to change over the next 100 years with a resurgence of orchard planting way into the 1940s. New Ash Green orchard was planted up with Bramley apples and some damsons. The whole area surrounding the original farmstead was now planted predominately with fruit, covering 128 acres leaving some meadow and woodland. In 1891 George Day was farming the land and the farm was then known as North Ash Manor. In 1901 George Day became a poultry farmer, Thomas Lanton Kilham a live in servant and poultryman and Frederick Melcolm Smyth a poultry pupil. By 1911 George Day called himself a farmer and fruit grower in the census, with his son, Ralph Ernest working on the farm and by 1939 George had retired.

New Ash Green orchards 1929 - 1952

Orchard management in ‘A Downland Village’

As with the collaboration with Hartley parish, the orchards in New Ash Green were being grazed by poultry, increasing the fertility of the soil. The fruit was being picked and used in the process of jam making. The image below shows this practice.

Chickens grazing beneath the orchard

However, the soil at New Ash Green is poor in quality, with clay over chalk. The management of the orchards has changed dramatically over the last 100 years with advances in science. The report below suggests that, depending on the fertility of the soil as to whether or not to plough beneath the trees in certain years. It is thought that where soil is poor, this practice should increase growth of the trees. If the trees were already vigorous then grass should be left for the period of time the trees were present. It was suggested that ‘you plough every two in five years and then sow back to grass to sweeten the soil and let the air in, promoting germ life when the trees have come into fruit bearing’.

Hunton

‘I have wonderful memories and at this time of the year every morning is a “hopping morning” with the dew on the grass and the particular smells of the countryside in September with blackberries, plums, apples and pears on the trees.’

Written by Patricia when she spent time during the 1940s and 50s at Buston Manor Farm, Hunton and she continues with her memories:

‘Memories are evoked as you stand in the familiar places where the huts stood and where the Salvation Army held services on a Sunday morning. The blackberries are still there as is the little bridge I fell off and cut my leg open when I was five. The smell of woodsmoke always takes me back. . .’

During the time when the tithe maps were being compiled in 1844, Hunton had 80 acres of orchards.

Hartley next North Ash Manor

Hartley was the neighbouring village to New Ash Green with some of George Day’s land lying in this parish. At the beginning of the 19th century, a significant event occurred in the history of the parish, as most of Hartley was purchased by Smallowners Ltd, who attempted to create a community of smallholders in the area. They built houses, ran lectures on poultry keeping and ran local shops, as well as one in London to market the produce. They split up the fields into smaller units and most of their purchasers ran small scale pig or poultry farms, or planted orchards. Smallowners also opened a jam factory to provide a market for orchard fruit. George Day from New Ash Green did exactly that with his farm.

Pictorial Orchards - how we did it

Their tractors were horses, their wheels were legs!

Their steering wheel a man with the plough!

With no protection the trees were sprayed by hand with pesticides, now banned!

where John Miller lived and farmed in the 1840s.Across Hunton Hill was Court Lodge, owned by Thomas Turner Alkin in 1844. There were two large orchards totalling 10.2 acres, with one called Barn orchard located to the North East of the main house. In 1940s this area was still planted up to orchards and extended to the south east of the main house. Close by was Amesbury Farm and Savage Farm on which gooseberries, plums and cherries were grown as well as numerous varieties of apple. These farms are now farmed by Clive Baxter. In 1939 they were farmed by Harry Denniss Hubble with Harry Dodge, a farm worker who, as a child lived in Amesbury House. Tom Scott farmed at Grove Farm from 1932 with his son, John Scott taking over fruit growing in the 1960s at Cheveney Farm as well. The varieties grown were Bramley, Gladstone, Blenheim Orange, Lady Sudley, George Cave, Grenadier and Howgate Wonder to name a few. Strawberries and currants were also grown by John Scott in the area.

Up on the hill not far from Burston stood Gennings. Thomas Law Hodges owned Gennings, a large prestigous house with surrounding land, which was farmed by Edward

Buston Manor Farm, Yalding 1871 - 1890 Curtis in the 1840s. In total Edward had 11.8 acres of orchards situated East of the house. The names of the orchards were associated with the fruit trees they contained for example English Cherry Orchard, Hart Cherry Ground. This area is still home to orchards with malus species (crab apples) and further orchards to the North close by Barn Hill

Orchard management early 1900s


Yalding

‘I was evacuated to Yalding during the war, this was to be my childhood days and as I was with a family who had a son about my age. It was fantastic and those 4 years I will never forget. My dream is to return and relive my childhood, travel to the places I remember so well, and to meet those who are still with us.’

Written by Edward Downes when he spent the war time there. Graham Williams also spent time at Kenward, a Dr Barnardo’s Home, his life in this country village was so idyllic, with many happy memories: since the house was surrounded by orchards and fields in the 1900s.

‘I was at Kenward from early 1950s-1963, I loved it there, a truly wonderful setting. The staff cared about us, and had a strict but trusting regime, and yet we had the freedom to roam the fields, orchards and woods and fish on the Medway!! A veritable adventurous place to live.’

Yalding has three bridges; the most notable of which is probably Twyford Bridge known as one of the finest medieval bridges in South East England. Twyford meaning twin ford, where there was originally a double crossing of the two rivers. This village was one of the principal shipment points on the River Medway for cannons, from the Wealden iron industry. With the decline in industry, the area around Yalding reverted to mostly fruit farming, with apples and pears being very common. The wharf close by to the community orchard was then used for transporting fruit from the many orchards in the area. The river Medway runs next to Yalding Fen community orchard, once known as Parsonage Farm, Twyford, Yalding.

Parsonage Farm part of Yalding Fen community orchard. 1871 - 1890

In 1844 the orchard was in two parts, House Orchard and Barn Orchard. They were 2.2 acres and 1.2 acres respectively. This land was owned by Sarah Warde and Ramsay Warde and was known as Rectorial Glebe (church land). It was farmed by Ramsay Warde, their brother, the rector. When Ramsay Warde died in 1857, his brother James became head of the household, farming 380 acres and employing 24 farm labourers and 5 boys. Some of this land was orchard, in an area known as Hampsted, close to Yalding railway station.

There were many orchards in Yalding in 1844, with 262.7 acres being shown on the tithe schedule. Elizabeth Miller, farmer, owned 35.8 acres of orchards, of which only 6.5 acres was tenanted. The orchards had various names including Cherry Orchard, Oasthouse Orchard, Knights Orchard. The largest orchard was Spit Field, which was 8.2 acres in area. In 1851 Elizabeth Miller was farming 250 acres of her uncle’s land, William Mercer, in Yalding and Hunton.

William Tomkin

William Tomkin lived in the centre of Yalding and was farming 31.4 acres of orchards in 1844, of which only 9.8 acres was farmed by himself since he had other means. The rest of the orchards were tenanted. These tenants included George Wedd, Alfred White, Frederick Ade White, William Eaton and James Starnes. Some of the orchards had interesting names including Forge Hassock, Lower Richard, Two Acre Orchard, Long Meadow Orchard, Upper Harlands, Moat Orchard and just over two acres of Filbert Plantation. Filberts are also known as cobnuts.

William Tomkin had a grocery store in the middle of Yalding often referred to as a dumbbell village, with the two halves of the community joined together by the main Bridge, Town Bridge. Each half had its own department store, with both meeting almost all the local needs for at least two hundred years.

Tomkin’s store 1800s The store stretching between the two paths up to the church at the northern end of Town Bridge was at one time, Tomkins store. It is not known exactly when it commenced in business, but the house contains a date of 1792 on internal panelling. William Tomkin with his wife Mary had their first son baptised in 1784 in Yalding, followed by his sister Mary Marchant 1786, and further siblings Thomas 1787, John 1788, Sarah 1789, George 1790, and Ann 1792. Ann was to marry Richard Francis Warde on 25th October 1815, vicar of the parish. The business was still being run in the name of William Tomkin in the 1800s, but at this time it was William, their son born in 1784, and his wife is Elizabeth running the store. William was also farming 230 acres and employing 16 men in 1851. William retired farmer in 1861. The old Tomkins store - 2019

Yalding Organic Garden

Yalding Organic Garden started in 1995 with a generous gift of 10 acres of land, and a sum of money in trust, from Donald and Pixie Cooper from Yalding, with the intention of setting up a display garden under

the Henry Doubleday Research Association, the UK’s leading organic growing charity.

The Association created demonstration gardens which told the history of gardening in an imaginatively landscaped setting. There were 14 themed display gardens, all of which were totally organic and would transport visitors from medieval times to the present

day. There were examples of ancient woodlands, a 13th century apothecary’s gardens, a Tudor knot and paradise gardens, a 19th century artisans’ plot, and borders inspired by Gertrude Jekyll’s ideas, a 1950s ‘Dig for Victory’ allotment and a stimulating children’s garden, designed to inspire the organic gardeners of the future. The Yalding Organic Garden was located in an area of Yalding called Congelow.

Congelow Farm

Congelow is a small hamlet with a farm and a few cottages situated south of Yalding village in Benover Road. Within the hamlet are several oast houses of which just the remains of two can be seen today. It was once a hop and fruit growing area. In 1844 much of the land around Congelow Farm was farmed by Thomas White, who also farmed over 500 acres of land in this parish of Yalding. Despite the large acreage of farmed land, he only had four orchards covering just 12.7 acres. The largest was Old Orchard covering 4 acres. He also owned an orchard called Quinells, situated the other side of the road to Yalding Organic Gardens.

Another orchard opposite Congelow Farm called Nightingale orchard, was owned by Thomas Fowle. It was only just 2 acres in size but he was also farmed 113 acres in Yalding and owned several cottages.

Over the next 75 years the area used for fruit production in the Congelow hamlet had increased to almost 80 acres, this can be seen in the map below.

Congelow hamlet in Yalding 1907 - 1923

Yalding was increasingly becoming a fruit producing village. One of the villagers remembers the orchard below Congelow Farm being full of Bramley apples. It was then grubbed and planted to hops. These have since been grubbed up as well. There were also pears in the fields either side of the road close to the cricket pitch, the fields are now just meadows. Sadly, Congelow, one of the areas where orchards and hops once stood is now bare with just meadows and arable crops.


Growing fruit in community orchards

Many of our community orchards are over 70 years old and were once commercial orchards. However, when dwarfing rootstocks became available, the traditional orchard became less attractive for the farmer. Spraying with organic and inorganic pesticides became prohibitive because of the size of the tree, therefore the orchard fell into disrepair. In the mid 1990s the government introduced a grubbing grant and many of these traditional orchards disappeared. A selection of those which were left have been purchased by the parish councils as green spaces for the community. The local communties manage them organically with great success; this seems to be a system being advocated by many environmentalists to increase the biodiversity of these habitats. These orchards are thriving with abundant wildlife and are now being used by schools for environmental educational.

Hugh Ermen, a well recognised fruit breeder found the work of Dr Wilkinson at Wye College in the late 1960s -70s using hardwood

cuttings, of considerable interest to the fruit industry. Long Ashton Research Station was also undertaking rootcuttings and research into own root apple varieties as part of the ‘Meadow Orchards’ concept project. Hugh developed techniques, which became quite successful and continued with this work following his retirement from the National Fruit Trials, Brogdale, Faversham. This work continued in his back garden and at Yalding Organic Gardens where he found that techniques, which included withholding nitrogen and withholding irrigation, except in serious drought, all of which stimulated the tree into cropping. Once the tree had begun cropping, its energies were channelled

Hugh Ermen taking cuttings

into fruit production and growth slowed down to a controllable level. Organic management was working for trees grown on their own roots.

Hugh Ermen, the English fruit breeder

Hugh Ermen H.F.Ermen. A.H.R.H.S., N.D.H. (1928-2009) was a British horticulturalist, considered one of the United Kingdom’s leading amateur apple breeders. He specialised in breeding new apple varieties, especially ‘own root’ trees, and was awarded the Royal Horticultural Society Associate of Honour in 1988 for his contributions to pomology, the study and cultivation of fruit. The varieties he propagated at the Brogdale Horticultural Experimental Station included popular British garden apples such as Core Blimey, Red Devil, Winter Gem, Limelight, Herefordshire Russet, Scrumptious, Sweet Society, and Laura (named after his wife) and White Star, the latter

Hugh Ermen with Laura his wife in his garden with 500 apple trees (image courtesy of Nick Dunn)

two being ornamentals. A number of these received the Royal Horticultural Society’s Award of Garden Merit (AGM) in recognition of their value as superb garden apples for the amateur; being easy to grow with good disease resistance and heavy crops of handsome, well flavoured fruit.

Following his retirement he began to advocate the use of own root fruit trees. Much of this trial work was undertaken at Yalding Organic Gardens. He argued that the artificial propagation of two types of tree together, one as a rootstock, created a degree of incompatibility. By growing the fruit tree on its own roots this incompatibility was removed and as a result the tree would be healthier, live longer, and the fruit would have more flavour. Since the turn of the millennium this research has been adopted both commercially and academically with a view to producing healthier and longer living fruit trees.

Joan Morgan author of The Book of Apples, wrote on the Fruit Forum website:‘Hugh received his horticultural training at Writtle College in Essex and the Royal Horticultural Society Garden Wisley before joining the Ministry of Agriculture’s National Fruit Trials at Brogdale in Kent in 1956 where he worked until his retirement.

His particular areas of expertise were the pollination of fruit crops, for which he enjoyed an international reputation, and propagation, which led to his interest in ‘own root’ trees. Only a few varieties of apples will root from cuttings, but Hugh developed techniques that allowed him to propagate a much wider range on their ‘own roots’; this he believed produced a better tree and fruit flavour compared with one grafted onto a rootstock. His propagation skills proved invaluable in 1987 when hurricane force winds struck England and many of the fruit trees in the National Fruit Collections were blown over and even ripped from the ground. A number were pulled back into an upright position but other trees of precious varieties could only be saved by propagation, which Hugh achieved despite it being October and far from an ideal time.

In 1989/90, the National Fruit Trials closed. Hugh had already retired but he gave his time, expertise and knowledge to help establish the new Brogdale and open up the National Fruit Collections to the public. He was familiar with all the Collections, although apples were his first love, closely followed by plums and pears and Hugh became a font of information on varieties for the many enthusiasts eager to know more about this unique resource. At the same time he took up fruit breeding in earnest, raising hundreds of seedlings every year. As soon as he had identified ones with good potential, scions were sent off to his great friends the late Andrew Dunn and his son Nick,of Frank Matthew’s Nursery in Tenbury Wells, Worcestershire. Here they were grafted, planted out and the trees and fruits evaluated over many seasons before the best were introduced by the Nursery. In a number of his crosses, Hugh used Discovery as a parent tree which gave his apples a degree of disease resistance and often a brilliant red flush and regular shape. For example, Red Devil, making this an exhibiter’s favourite. Scrumptious is also brilliantly colourful and fruitful, but Herefordshire Russet takes the prize for a rich and aromatic flavour.

All Hugh’s fruit breeding work was undertaken in his garden, a relatively small plot, yet packed with

some five hundred trees grown as vertical cordons planted only inches apart and often grafted with several varieties. He was an accomplished photographer of fruit, which is not the easiest subject to catch just right, so that all its key features are clear and the result is also visually pleasing. Hugh’s wonderful fruit legacy will live on for very many years.’

John Partis, Fruit Advisor wrote of Hugh: ‘When I started at Brogdale in the summer of 1965, fresh from school, it was Hugh that took me under his wing. Over the next few years he continually shared his already extensive knowledge of fruit growing with me. I accompanied him on walks through the fruit collections, helped him record the results from the variety trials and spent long hours at weekends in the spring helping him carry out pollination compatibility tests on potted fruit trees in the Brogdale glasshouses. It is to him I owe my lifelong interest and career in fruit growing.’

Malcolm Withnall, founding member of the East Kent Fruit Society, wrote of Hugh:‘I knew Hugh for over 45 years when we shared a mutual passion for fruit trees. Hugh and his dear friend, John Bultitude (who wrote, Apples a Guide to International Varieties), fuelled my early stages of coming to know the subtleties of pomology when they both were at Brogdale. He was indeed one of the ‘special ones’, having original thought on traditional practices to widen the debate over getting better results from our trees. John Bultitude

His knowledge of pollination from work on pollen compatibility was masterly, his propagation skills were unsurpassed, leading him to promote ‘trees on their own roots’. But his greatest skill was recognising the parental attributes for potential improvement, whether better flavour, resistance to pathogens, or improved productivity.

His living legacy is in our fruit gardens in the form of a stable of really good apple cultivars, all true thoroughbreds. Hugh was a unique ‘one-off ’, and I doubt we will ever see a ‘reincarnation’ or another bearing such gifts.’


The Fallen

Each year, in June, a wooden sign:hand-painted cherries and the words Yum Yum,a block that turns from Closed to Open.

Seasonal workers climb tapered ladders,their pickings weighed and poured into plastic,pass our house on the way to the Co-op,Crispin’s chip shop, the Golden Dragon,return to their caravans, carriers swinging.

End of the season, the pickers leave.A chainsaw bite at the back of the kneesdoes for the spent trees. They lie where they fall.Sheep graze amid the jagged stumps, dirty white.

Maria C. McCarthy © 2015

Congelow Educational Organic Trust

Friar’s Omelet Recipe

Boil twelve apples as for sauce, put to them four ounces of butter and the same of sifted sugar, when cold add four eggs well beaten, cover the bottom of baking dish with crumbs of bread, them put in the apple mixture, finish with a layer of bread crumbs, when baked turn out the putting and sift loaf sugar over the top.

taken from ‘My Receipt Book’ by A Lady 1885

Accidents do happen

With cherry trees near on 50 feet high and ladders legs splayed on the ground stretching slim and slender through the branches to the sky. The wind is whistling through the leaves, the branches are swaying, baskets laden with cherries are hanging from the rungs, balancing is precarious; it is no wonder accidents did happen!

AcrossOrganic Trust (8)

Village from which a new one rises (3) Basket makers (6) Fruit processors (8)

Historic map (5)

Breeder of Red Devil (4)

Wisley (3)

Thatching material (4)

Tonge cherry Farm (9)

Community orchard (7)

Oh .. oh .. (2)

Seller of cherries (6)

Recollection (6)

Surname of cherry crest (9)

Across: 1. Congelow, 4. Ash, 7. Packer, 9. Fourayes, 11. Tithe, 13. Hugh, 14. RHS, 15. Reed, 16. Blackbird,

20. Lynsted, 23. My, 24. Minter, 25. Memory, 26. Shrubsole

Down: 1. Culpepper, 2. Owl, 3. Boughton, 5. Sue, 6. Banger, 8. Katy, 10. Strood, 12. Hartley, 17. Katy, 18.George, 19. Plum, 20. Laura, 21. Smith, 22. Nut, 23. Lime.

Fruitful Crossword

1.4.7. 9. 11.13.14.15.16.20.24.25.26.27.

1.2.3.5.6.8.10.12.17.18.19.20.21.22.23.

DownFruit tapestries (9)

Night bird (3)

Branch of a fruit tree (5)

Picked fruit in school holidays (3) Bird frightener (6)

Apple variety (8)

Site of the original damson (6)

Where jam was made (7)

Apple variety (4)

Kent’s doyenne of fruit breeding (6)

Juicy fruit (4)

Tree dedicated to his wife (5)

Author of National Apple Register (5)

Squirrels favourite (3)

Used to wash off eggs (4)

Kent Orchards for

Everyone

Discover the community orchards

honoured in this newspaper, through

our booklet, on Facebook:

Kent Orchards for Everyone, or

our website: www.kentorchards.org.uk

Written by Pippa Palmar

Answers

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23 24

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