Apples and Pears for North West England: suggestions please?

Keswick Codlin, an early cooking apple variety that arose in North West England

I am a farmer in the south Pennines (I have recently taken over the farm from my now retired parents) and am looking to plant some more apple and pear varieties best suited to our climate. I’m hoping to plant around 15 – 20 trees in 2018 and look forward to using this resource to research what varieties to get. If there is anyone reading this based in the North West who has the time to offer advice to someone such as myself please do feel free to get in touch. Our farm website has our contact details on: www.cronkshawfoldfarm.co.uk.

Dorothy McCarthy

And please post your suggestions and comments below and we will pass them on.

We asked Hilary Wilson to give us some suggestions which are posted below – Comment number 3. Hilary  is a great authority on the apples  of the North West and has spent many years identifying and searching for varieties that do well in her native Cumbria, where she also farmed.

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Fruit Blossom 2017

Early Rivers cherry at the National Fruit Collection, Kent.

As we have done for a number of years, we publish the flowering dates for the National Fruit Collection at Brogdale, Kent, undertaken and kindly supplied by Lorinda Jewsbury. These are the records for a selection of varieties (standards and any new accessions) from all the tree fruit collections at Brogdale.

An early start to the warm weather has really brought on the flowering for this year, as I’m sure you’re aware. The plums are roughly a couple of weeks earlier compared to last year. As an example, Victoria was in full bloom this year on 30^th March – earlier than the 10^th April noted for last year; the current 10 year mean (the average full bloom date) for Victoria is 8^th April.

Although a number of the cherries in the Collection have yet to come into flower, the earlier varieties, again, have responded to the warm weather and Lapins reached full bloom on the 2nd April. It was the 23^rd April last year and Lapins’ 10-year mean is 16^th April.

The pear orchard is a sea of white once more as the trees have responded to the temperatures. Louise Bonne of Jersey, one of the early flowerers in the Pear Collection, was in full bloom on the 30th March. Last year saw it at full bloom on the 15th April, pretty much spot on for its average of 14th April.

The apples are just setting off and, of the early flowerers, Red Astrachan and Stark’s Earliest are already in full bloom. There is still a way to go yet with the Apple Collection and with the weather forecast to be a little cooler after the weekend there may be a fair gap this year between the early and late flowering varieties.

Lorinda Jewsbury

2017

PLUM

Cambridge Gage: 29^th March (10% open); 30^th March (full flower);

Czar: 20^th March (10% open); 26^th March (full flower);

Denniston’s Superb (Imperial Gage): 22^nd March (10% open); 24^th March (full flower);

Farleigh Damson: 25^th March (10% open); 28^th March (full flower);

Marjorie’s Seedling: 30^th March (10% open); 1^st April (full flower);

Oullins Gage: 28^th March (10% open); 30^th March (full flower);

Pershore Yellow Egg: 26^th March (10% open); 28^th March (full flower);

Victoria: 28^th March (10% open); 30^th March (full flower);

 

PEAR

Concorde: 5^th April (10% open);

Conference: 2^nd April (10% open); 5^th April (full flower);

Doyenné du Comice: 3^rd April (10% open); 5^th April (full flower);

Louise Bonne of Jersey: 28^th March (10% open); 30^th March (full flower);

 

CHERRY

Early Rivers: 30^th March (10% open); 2^nd April (full flower);

Hertford: 3^rd April (10% open);

Lapins: 30^th March (10% open); 2^nd April (full flower);

Merchant: 4^th April (10% open);

Stella: 5^th April (10% open);

Sunburst:

 

APPLE

Blenheim Orange:

Bramley’s Seedling:

Cox’s Orange Pippin:

Crawley Beauty:

Discovery:

Egremont Russet:

Falstaff:

Feuillemorte:

Fiesta/Red Pippin:

Gala:

James Grieve:

Jonagold:

Meridian:

Red Astrachan: 31^st March (10% open); 2^nd April (full flower);

St. Edmund’s Pippin:

Worcester Pearmain:

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West Country Apple grown during WWII – suggestions please?

Can anyone help me find this rare apple variety, grown in the West Country during WWII, the fruit is the size of a large grapefruit and yellowish in colour. By all accounts the most delicious variety ever. Any ideas?

John Denham

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Which Variety was my Pear Tree?

I am trying to identify a pear tree that we had many years ago in Berkshire. It was tall, old and produced knobbly little pears that were hard! But they were fabulous to eat once they had been bottled in syrup!
This was about 30 years ago. I would love to plant another if possible?

Jenny Tarrant

A possibility might be Hessle which was once planted all over Britain, in domestic gardens, market gardens and orchards.

Hessle pear

For more ideas on which variety it might be look here for photographs of some 450 pears, most of which have been grown in the UK at one time or another and now grow in the National Fruit Collection, Brogdale, Kent; also described in detail in  The Book of Pears.

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