Natural England

Last Saturday saw a huge turn out of people at the apple harvest in orchards near Bovey Tracey. The sun shone and locals enjoyed a nature trail, children's craft activities and apple pressing.

The orchards are managed by local farmer, Steve Palmer, with advice and grant-aid from Natural England's Environmental Stewardship Scheme. Martin Longley, adviser at Natural England, commented: “We’ve been restoring the old orchards over the last 2 years to increase their value for wildlife. It was great to see over 250 adults and children come along to enjoy the activities related to the apple harvest. Children enjoyed identifying insects with magnifying glasses and then making their own glittery cardboard bugs. They also learnt a lot about the ecology of mistletoe, lichens and other orchard wildlife and munched through loads of old varieties of apple!”

An apple press, operated by members of the Common Players charity, was on hand to show people how to juice the collected harvest. Martin Longley added: “It was a hectic, but enjoyable day with children helping collect the apples, washing and pressing them and then sampling the sweet juice. Many families went home laden with apples for eating and also with litres of fresh juice.”

The orchards which contain an abundance of wildlife, including rare lichens, can be found on the newly opened section of the Templer Way footpath signposted off the Bovey Tracey to Haytor road (B3387).

Further details of apple pressing days by the Common Players are available at www.common-players.org.uk.

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Notes for editors

1. Natural England is here to conserve and enhance the natural environment, for its intrinsic value, the wellbeing and enjoyment of people and the economic prosperity that it brings. For further information about Natural England please visit: www.naturalengland.org.uk

2. Environmental Stewardship was launched on 3 March 2005. It is composed of three tiers:-

• Entry Level Stewardship (ELS), a whole farm scheme which aims to encourage farmers and land managers across England to deliver simple but effective environmental management;
• Organic Entry Level Stewardship (OELS), which is open to farmers who manage all or part of their land organically;
• Higher Level Stewardship (HLS), which, when combined with ELS or OELS options, aims to deliver significant environmental benefits in high priority areas.

3. For further information and images please contact Christine White on 07900 608017