Introduction.

                  Members of regional  groups in Britain are engaged in many activities to highlight the value of our traditional orchards. Restorative pruning, grafting and budding, juicing, identification of varieties at Apple Days, the promotion of home grown fruit as opposed to tasteless imported supermarket fare.....and much more!
                 I am interested in old varieties of apples and pears growing in remnant orchards, mainly but not exclusively in the north of the U.K. There are written records of  many "local" fruits which were grown into the early c20; many of these old varieties are now "missing". The race is on to try and re-discover some of these "lost" apples and pears. They are an important part of our local heritage and many possess qualities well-suited to our northern climate.
                Old O.S maps provide invaluable information on the location of orchards, in particular the 1:10000 c.1845-1860's and 1:2500 1890's extracts. Lancashire County Council's Mario mapping system is freely available on the web. Orchard survey work  has been carried out by volunteers in recent years in Lancashire and Cumbria for The People's Trust for Endangered Species. Grafts have been taken from many old trees bearing apples and pears which have not been positively identified.
                Apple Days provide another rich source of information about old orchards and "mystery" varieties! We do try to make sure that we are not dealing with seedling trees- apples grown from pips do not come true to their parents.
              It is difficult to identify small, scabby specimens from neglected remnant fruit trees; by grafting new trees we produce much better fruits with the characteristics that may match historic descriptions.
            At present a large number of unidentified apple and pear varieties grafted from very old trees in the north of England is being assembled at the site of a former commercial orchard south of Preston.