Since 1950, 60% of England’s orchards have disappeared. Along with the decline in orchards comes the disappearance of many rare fruit varieties and loss of habitats for wildlife such as beetles, bats and birds. The local environmental group, Transition Chichester, with the help of the Rotary Club of Chichester, took action in 2011 by planting a 35-tree orchard in Oaklands Park, just behind the Festival Theatre. The orchard is now a highly productive area and provides an attractive green space for people to wander when they walk in the park or visit the theatre. It also fosters biodiversity and encourages pollination without which our environment would be in serious trouble.
The orchard comprises 30 trees, mainly apples, but with some pear and plum trees, selected with help from Peter May from the Brighton Permaculture Trust to feature local varieties, many with poetic names never seen on supermarket shelves, such as Saltcote Pippin, Ashmead’s Kernel, Alfriston and Egremont Russet. It is maintained by volunteers who keep the trees in good shape and harvest the fruit in the autumn. The orchard is maintained for the benefit of the community; thus, passers-by are free to sample an apple or two in the growing season, although taking more than one’s fair share is discouraged!
We maintain a close relationship with the Festival Theatre, and to celebrate the late Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, the theatre arranged for a wildflower meadow to be planted in the orchard. In the spring and summer, the meadow is alive with bees and butterflies and is a delight to behold.
Peter May has maintained an interest in the orchard and comes every year during the winter months to help us with the pruning – now quite a challenging job as the trees have reached full size. Pruning days are advertised on the notice boards at the entrance to the orchard and we always welcome helpers.
We organise community harvesting sessions in September and also enlist help from the Apuldram Centre and Sanctuary in Chichester. Several crates are donated to UK Harvest for distribution at their Community Food Hubs. For the last three years, the crop has been too heavy for us to be able to store all the apples, so we have taken them to be juiced at Kimpton Farm near Andover. This year we had a record number of 274 bottles of delicious apple juice. There is still quite a lot of juice left over, so if you would like to try some, call or text 07788 641926.
If you would like to help out in the orchard during the year, contact Julia Sander at secretary@transitionchichester.org.
