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Protecting the beautiful Vale

There have always been orchards in the Vale: apples (eaters, cookers or cider), pears and even vines were grown, but most uniquely, so were plums. These were grown in a number not seen elsewhere in the country, and Evesham had jam making  and canning factories to make use of this crop. The boom time for planting and growing plums was the last quarter of the

nineteenth and the first quarter of the twentieth centuries. Since the end of the Second World War, the Vale has lost 80% of its orchards.
The Blossom Trail is still a beautiful sight in spring. Indeed, compared to most other parts of the country, we are incredibly lucky to have so many orchards and so much blossom! But with the rapid decline that the Vale has seen in its orchards, we have to protect as many as we can that are left to save this very local distinctiveness. And not just to save The Blossom Trail!

The local character of the Vale, and indeed some of its characters, stem from the market gardening heritage that orchards represent. There are still many growers around, and still more small pockets of land used for market gardening than anywhere else in the country. Again, though, for how long? Rescuing these old orchards, rejuvenating them, making them productive again, is a big part of the Trusts plans.

Old orchards are also a haven for wildlife. The birds and the bees are attracted to them for the blossom, fruit and shelter. The birds also enjoy orchards for the insects that the old trees and dead wood harbour.

And did I mention the fruit and the honey that we can eat, or make into juice and cider to drink? Some orchards are grazed by sheep, producing lamb; some by pigs, producing ham - yet more useful food.

Orchards