Category: Orchard events

Members of the Orchard switched off their lights and headed up to the Orchard on a cool, windy evening to celebrate Earth Hour. Millions of people around the world celebrate this every year, highlighting the awareness of climate change. Despite the cold, breezy weather, the sky was very clear and we were able to see stars and planets. An orchard member talked to us about what we could observe and we were able to see Jupiter’s moons via a telescope. Afterwards, coffee and biscuits were much welcomed.

In 2025, The Nation Trust commissioned a YouGov poll to survey people’s response to nature and the outdoors. The poll found that ‘the majority of UK adults, 94%,  feel happy when seeing blossom in bloom on trees or in hedgerows’  (Nation Trust press release March 2025)

This Spring, make yourself smile and pay a visit to the Community Orchard during the blossom season. Take your blanket or chair,  sit under the trees and enjoy!

Watch out for the Blossom Trail notices on Newbiggen Lane. 

George and Chris from the Communities in Focus Project joined us for our Wassailing event. The project aims to record people, places and moments in our local communities.

George and Chris have created a wonderful record of Wassailing in the orchard and shared some of their photos with us. If you’d like to see all of the photos and find out more about the project, you can visit the Communities in Focus website here.

Every year we hold our Wassailing event, this is a tradition that’s held around the country at this time of year. In the past people saw it as a way of thanking the trees for the fruit, wake up the trees ready for Spring and bring luck for a good crop of fruit.

This year we had another bright sunny, snowy day for our Wassailing. We were led round the orchard by our Green Man, and musicians leading us in traditional songs and dances. Our trees were woken up with loud noises and fed cider and bread to encourage another bumper crop of apples. Many thanks to our musicians and dancers and our Green Man. Hopefully we will see the results in September!

Usually we celebrate the Summer Solstice in a shower of rain, but not this year. The sun shone for the whole event. We listened to wonderful music provided by an Orchard member and his friends and listened to poems about the solstice. Another member had prepared a quiz testing our knowledge about the sun.

In Scandinavia, it’s traditional to weave bracken crowns, so many of us added them to our sunhats. The shared lunch was amazing and we managed to get the tents down just before the rain!

We have set up a Blossom Trail in the Village to signpost everyone to the beautiful display of blossom on the fruit trees. Watch out for the signs and follow the trail up Newbiggen Lane to the Orchard. Everyone is welcome to wander around and enjoy the blossom.

Please be mindful of the narrow lane and oncoming traffic once you leave the path.

Saturday March 22nd.

This year we will be celebrating Earth Hour again in the Orchard.

“Since our beginnings in 2007, Earth Hour has been known for the “lights off” moment, with individuals from around the globe switching off their lights to show symbolic support for the planet and to raise awareness of the environmental issues affecting it.” https://www.earthhour.org/

Our Wassailing celebration is now an annual event. We all gathered on a cold, sunny crisp morning to wake up the trees in the traditional way. Lots of noise, tapping of trees and bread and cider is supposed to give us a good harvest of apples. Our Green Man lead the way around the orchard, and we sang traditional Wassailing songs and read poems. Many thanks to our musicians and everyone who added to the event.

On a very windy and rainy evening, members of the orchard braved the weather to celebrate the Winter Solstice. Some well placed windbreaks made the forest garden a ‘cosy’ setting for our get together. Many thanks to Jim, Noel, Linda and Simon for providing the music. We shared poems, mulled cider and good food. We lasted about an hour before the weather drove us home but it was a very good evening.

Orchard members and their families joined in with our apple harvest. The apples, all heritage varieties, were picked, sorted and shared and juiced. We were lucky to have another sunny day although a bit chilly. All members receive a box of apples and we also share the apples with our local organisations and community.

The only question remains… what to cook with all of our delicious apples.