Today was Cranford Park's first Apple Festival with the Secret Garden open for Macmillans coffee and cake morning.
Preparations were well under way by the time I arrived at the park....
The apple stall had a selection of fruits from every variety of tree in our orchard....
If Alison Shipley, the Boroughs Conservation Officer, ever fancies a change in career, she'd make a good poster girl for the sale of apples.
Lorraine's cake and drinks stall for the Macmillan charity, done a thriving business....
At 11am we were rounded up for the short walk from the Secret Garden to the walled gardens, where the last part of the Cranford House orchard remains.....
At the gate we were met by two violinists....
and Bob Barton gave a short talk on the orchard itself....
We all picked apples....
and learnt a lot about them from both Alison and Bob....
My good friend, the historian Christopher Luetchford, was there today too....
Everyone who did turn up (which was in fairly good numbers considering this is the first year we've held an Apple Festival) seemed to really enjoy themselves....
Bob started off the 'wassailing' - an ancient term used when blessing the trees hopeful for a good crop.....
The Apple Wassail is a traditional form of wassailing practiced in the cider orchards of South West England during the winter. There are many well recorded instances of the Apple Wassail in the early modern period. The first recorded mention was at Fordwich, Kent, in 1585, by which time groups of young men would go between orchards performing the rite for a reward. The practice was sometimes referred to as "howling". On Twelfth Night, men would go with their wassail bowl into the orchard and go about the trees. Slices of bread or toast were laid at the roots and sometimes tied to branches. Cider was also poured over the tree roots. The ceremony is said to "bless" the trees to produce a good crop in the forthcoming season
We all enjoyed the wassail....
and we even 'toasted' one of the trees....
We picked a good number of apples.....
then it was back to the courtyard to make apple juice the old fashioned way.....
and I have to say it was absolutely delicious......
Even Ginny seemed content with all the fuss she got....
A very successful first Apple Festival, and one that can only get bigger next year.
The Macmillans coffee and cake stalls also done very well.
Good day all round.
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