The Symondsbury Apple Project: The cider orchard

Willy Tuck's on Duck Street in Symondsbury is a replanted 1 acre cider orchard, it is named on the 1839 Tithe map as Hales orchard and was then half an acre bigger. This site is the project's main teaching resource and most trees are in their final year of restoration pruning.

In 1999 the young trees had been neglected and un-pruned for some time many had toppled over, overgrown hedges had crowded some out and others were lost beneath a sea of brambles.

With the help of a Natural Pioneers Millennium Award two families started up the voluntary group that became the Symondsbury Apple Project. Hedges were laid and planted, trees pruned and freed from wire and ties and a new fence deterred inquisitive livestock.

The trees were bought in Herefordshire from Bulmers in the 1970's and varieties include, Brown Snout, Yarlington Mill (a Somerset apple) and Bulmers Norman. Three Dorset varieties Tom Putt, Warrior and Melcombe Russet were planted 5 years ago along with some cobnuts, which unfortunately the deer found irresistible.

The site is a north-facing slope so that the trees blossom late. This minimises the risk of damage from a late frost, a traditional way to maximise your crop.
From the slopes of the orchard there is a stunning view of Colmers hill as it benignly sits above the village. Casual wildlife spotting has resulted in sightings of goldfinches, goldcrests, green and lesser spotted woodpeckers, badgers, roe deer (who live harmoniously with the apple trees), red admirals, gatekeepers, commas, tortoiseshells and peacock butterflies and thankfully only one bullfinch (which is a voracious bud-eater).

The groundcover progresses in diversity and manageability; spring bulbs and wildflowers are making a comeback after the tyranny of nettles and buttercup. Yet here and there the nettle still holds sway as an essential element in the life cycle of the peacock butterfly

Read more about the Bridport Community Orchard.

The apple project has completed a year of research to discover more about local orchards and to identify some of the trees remaining on the numerous sites in the Bridport area. To view an illustrated summary of the project's year of research go to the Heritage Orchard Year supplement.

A Heritage Orchard for West Dorset

Old trees in Dorset orchards were planted by a generation that knew them to be a valuable resource and as such these trees were prized and cared for. Cider was a key element in the rural economy as a supplement to farm workers wages. To our grandparents a fruit laden tree would have been a wonderful sight after the long wait of summer.

Our present day experience of fruit consumption creates for us a single season of all year round supermarket apples. This effectively dislocates us from the seasons and from the rhythm of growth and harvest that would have been widely appreciated just a generation ago.

The old Bramley apple tree in the garden, the gnarled remnants of an ancient orchard are unique to their location. As apple trees take on physical changes in direct response to their environment they become unique regional landmarks to be held as much in our esteem as anything wrought by skilled hands. The old apple tree has become a haven for wildlife, for lichen and mosses, it was invariably planted with purpose by someone who planned to enjoy its bounty throughout their lifetime and who, with an eye to the future, chose a tree that would almost certainly out live them.

From the outset of the Apple Project we have flirted with the idea of planting a community orchard of standard trees. It would seem that this idea has now taken on a life of its own. Initial research in the parish of Symondsbury hints at the wealth of history, as yet unexplored, regarding West Dorset's standing as a significant apple growing and cider-making county.

And what better way to mark this journey though our heritage, than to plant an orchard with the same optimistic and generous eye to the future as our forbears.

Kim Squirrell