Thursday 13 October 2011

Event - Taste of past as estate garden reveals apple treasure trove (Clumber Park)

MORE than 70 varieties of apple have been picked by staff on a National Trust estate in readiness for a festival which will celebrate the fruit this weekend.

The apples have been grown in the Walled Kitchen Garden, at Clumber Park, near Worksop, and visitors will be able to sample several tastes which are not available in shops.

Garden staff said half of the varieties grown on the estate are from Yorkshire and the East Midlands and include Annie Elizabeth, Bess Pool, Sisson’s Worksop Newton and Yorkshire Aromatic.

Clumber’s Head Gardener said each of the varieties are not grown commercially and most are not available to amateur gardeners, meaning the estate’s focus on their conservation ensures that they are not “lost to cultivation”.

Mr Margrave added: “These old and regional varieties have tremendous historic interest. They are just as much a part of England’s treasure store as Drake and the Armada, a Lennon and McCartney song or the sounding of the final whistle at Wembley on July 30, 1966.

“Each variety brings with it its own stories, not just the obvious ones about how and what people ate, fascinating though these are, but also how communities worked and lived.”

For more details about the festival call 01909 544917.

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