The fruit trees are now in full blossom. The whole orchard is a sea of pink and white. Why not have a wander up and indulge in some blossom bathing. The orchard is open every day dawn to dusk and all are welcome. Watch out for our Blossom Trail posters!
The Community Orchard is maintained all year round by a hardworking group of volunteers. As Orchard members, we all get a share of the apples and soft fruit and in return we help to look after the trees and soft fruit beds. There’s always jobs to do for all ages and abilities. Whether you like grass cutting, weeding, scything or just pottering around, everyone’s efforts help to make the Orchard a beautiful, productive space.
Recently our focus has been the Winter pruning, however, now the weather is warming up, there will be lots of grass cutting and weeding too.
Our work session dates can be found on the ‘What’s On’ page. Why not wander up and have a look to see what’s involved. If you arrive at coffee time, then we are always happy to share cake!
The Orchard is slowly waking up after the Winter weather. There are now signs of Spring everywhere. The sun has woken up the ladybirds too!
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/
The moles have been making the most of the slightly warmer weather and softer soil. We now have a wonderful collection of mole hills in the Orchard! Moles are very shy, elusive animals and the only indication we have of them is the mole hills. They are one of the many creatures we share the Orchard with!
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.
We would like to wish all of our members a Happy New Year!
It was a wintery start to 2025. The trees and bushes were covered in snow and it’s hard to believe that in only a few months they will be covered in blossom again.
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.
On Thursday 5th December, we attended the County Durham Together Awards on behalf of the Orchard Group. We were nominated in the Environment category by person unknown and believe it or not we won!! It was a great evening recognising the contribution of some very inspiring and humble people working in the voluntary and care sectors.
It also reflects what all of the Orchard members have achieved in the orchard over the last 14 years from the early vision and establishment, the stewardship of Lanchester Partnership and the enormous amount of hard graft that makes the orchard a success. Everyone’s efforts during our regular work sessions which maintain the orchard have allowed us to achieve so much environmentally and socially and have made the orchard a lovely place in which to meet and just be in. A huge thank to all Orchard members for all your hard work and friendship and to everyone who has supported the Orchard over the years- it’s humbling to be recognised in this way and thank you to our nominator.
Lanchester Community Orchard has been shortlisted as a finalist in the 2024 County Durham Together Awards in the Environment Category. This is a wonderful recognition of Paul, Sonny and Steve’s original vision, our achievements over the last 12/13 years, all our members hard work and the support of Lanchester Partnership.
The awards ceremony is set to take place at Hardwick Hall Hotel on Thursday 5th December 2024.
Lanchester Community Orchard 