France has its vineyards, Greece has its olive groves and Britain has orchards. However over the last 30 years there has been a 65% decline in the number of fruit orchards in this country. An orchard is an enchanting, bio-diverse resource for a community, a meeting place where stories, customs and traditions can unfold and in doing so can shape the personality of a place. There are an incredible 2000 noted varieties of apple as well as pears, quince, plums, nuts and berries but we still see apples from New Zealand in our supermarkets at the height of British harvest time. There are many references to orchards in London. The London A-Z includes over 130 street names from Orchard Avenue to Orchard Waye.
This project chronicles London’s orchards from spring to winter including Apple Day celebrations in October.
