THE LOST ORCHARDS

“When leaves that leätely wer a-springen

Now do feäde 'ithin the copse,

An' painted birds do hush their zingen

Up upon the timber's tops;

An' brown-leav'd fruit's a-turnen red,

In cloudless zunsheen, over head,

Wi' fruit vor me, the apple tree

Do leän down low in Linden Lea.”

William Barnes, 1859

This story begins with a list of cider apples: Neverblight, Polly, Go Boyn, Buttery d’Or, written in pencil on brown paper by a Mr Pickford in 1936. When Liz Copas discovered these names of forgotten apples at the National Fruit and Cider Institute in Bristol, it inspired her and the cider-maker Nick Poole to begin a quest to find and identify old varieties of cider apple trees still growing in Dorset. It was a search that lasted over a decade and took them all over the county - from farm to farm, village to village - searching lost orchards, neglected hedges and the corners of cottage gardens, where they found and collected a wonderful array of apple varieties and rediscovered the rich cultural history of Dorset cider orchards. 

Owing to Dorset’s unique history and geography, the apple varieties that Liz and Nick found all have distinctive characters and an extraordinary range of flavours that reveal the changing taste of cider throughout the centuries. Some say that it was monks from northern France, settling near Bridport before the Norman Conquest, that brought the cider-making craft to Dorset, making it the first county in Britain to make cider. Nobody knows for sure, but by 1796 there were 10,000 acres of orchards in the county, and has remained a local pursuit with farmers and smallholders ever since. Only a handful of these ancient orchards remain, following the widespread grubbing up after the Second World War. Dorset most certainly enjoyed its own varieties of apple and the cider produced would’ve been unique from place to place. Much of the diversity has been lost. But thanks to Liz and Nick, they will not be lost forever. After a considerable amount of detective work, including apple DNA genotyping, some of the trees they rediscovered are now officially named and registered with the National Fruit Collection as local Dorset cider apple cultivars. 

The Lost Orchards charts the journey Liz and Nick took to find, taste, propagate and make cider with Dorset’s forgotten apple varieties, the Golden Balls, Maiden’s Blushes, Dorset Best Bearers, Ironsides and Symes Seedlings. The book also presents a new Pomona of these lost and found apples, along with a history of their cultivation in small orchards. This is a hopeful story in uncertain times that will inspire others around the country - and around the world - to look closely at their surroundings and take steps to rediscover, celebrate and conserve the trees and orchards that make their locality special. The book has been several years in the making and we need support to cover the costs of finalising the design and printing in Cornwall. Published in full colour, the book will also include rare and unseen photographs of West Country orchards taken by James Ravilious during the 1980s. 

The book will cost £18 and will be published in November 2022 by Little Toller and Common Ground. 

OUR TEAM

Liz Copas was born and lived in Somerset for most of her life. She worked as a Cider Pomologist at Long Ashton Research Station, Bristol, for over 20 years, then as an advisor for the National Association of Cider Makers. She has spent many years working on orcharding field trials and advising cider apple growers in Hereford, Somerset and Dorset. Now working as a consultant for Bristol University’s apple genomics and as a panel member for the registration of local apple cultivars DNA scheme

Nick Poole was born at Kings Farm, Powerstock, and moved to West Milton in 1986. He was in the building trade for most of his working life and started making cider in 2000 with the formation of the West Milton Cider Club, which opened up a new, fascinating world. In 2009, he began selling cider commercially from his own premises under the name of the West Milton Cider company, and moved into production full time in 2014. His passion for using the best apples led him to Liz Copas, and over the last decade they have been rediscovering some of the best old varieties in Dorset.

Common Ground is an arts and environmental charity working locally and nationally to seek imaginative ways to celebrate the intimate connections communities have with the wildlife and historic landscapes on their doorstep. Since 1986, it has explored the natural and cultural value of trees with many collaborators and with exhibitions, newspapers, books and films. In the 1990, Common Ground started Apple Day, a campaign to celebrate apple varieties and our shared apple heritage, which was also intent on saving orchards from becoming building plots and encouraging the national spread of Community Orchards around the country. Common Ground also initiated Tree Dressing Day, which, from 1990 has inspired hundreds of events across the country - even as far afield as Finland and Japan.

SUPPORTERS

Many thanks to the Dorset AONB, Johnny Boden, Adam's Apple, Dorset Nectar, West Milton Cider Co., Habitat Aid, the Electric Pubs and Alasdair Warren who have supported the project.