Next to an old farm by the King's Head Inn, Bledington is this superb perry pear orchard. It has twelve trees, all of different varieties and all well over 100 years old. I expect it is particularly beautiful when the blossom is out so we may have to pencil in a revisit for early next year...
Apparently, 'You plant pears for your heirs'. Not sure about my heirs just yet, but I like the idea of investing in such a long lived fruit tree. I really want to get a few planted at Charingworth but I need to track down somewhere that supplies them and see if I can get any varieties unique to the Cotswolds. (Then heirs?)
All twelve trees are different. I expect this is quite usual for old farm orchards, where having a lot of different varieties to choose from was more useful than just one or two. Perhaps having a range of fruit helps with making perry too. Unfortunately I am a complete beginner with perry pears but it would be great to take along an expert and get these identified. Must learn more!
This tree was particularly impressive, with its huge twisted trunk an ideal habitat for all kinds of creatures.
This is the same tree as the previous picture, with me sitting for scale. I think it may be the biggest pear tree I have encountered so far, even larger than the beauty at Mount Pleasant near Shipston-on-Stour. I wonder if anyone out there knows of a bigger one?
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Here's a big one: http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2473/3998783978_5bc6d40062_b.jpg
ReplyDeleteIt's (probably) a Green Horse, and is located in an old orchard on the ourskirts of Braodway. Absolutely covered in pears this year, and even my lightweight 10 metre panking pole can't reach anywhere near the top. Great blog, keep up the good work.
Try Lodge Farm Trees...they have a good selection of maidens if you can collect.
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