THE village of Brightwell- cum-Sotwell has an unbroken, 150-year history of commercially growing fruit.

But with changes in modern farming practice, and increasing imports of fruit from abroad, that tradition has been under threat.

So this weekend, some of the village’s youngest residents helped to keep their heritage alive.

More than 160 children and families planted 40 heritage fruit trees, each one a different variety, in a new village community orchard.

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Brightwell Primary School pupils will plant five more this week, one for each class.

This orchard will be used for village apple days, blossom picnics and wassail, a traditional celebration associated with apples and orchards.

Villager Jason Debney, a landscape historian, planted an apple tree with his children Thomas, five, and three-year-old Florence on Sunday.

He said: “I’m passionate about orchards and I want them to be as well. Luckily they love growing stuff on the allotment anyway.

“For the last 100 years, fruit trees were the main stay of this village’s economy, and you can still find 100-year-old trees in hedgerows and gardens.

“They’re also an important part of the biodiversity and absolutely vital to the ecology. I want them to understand that, and they do.”

Oxford Mail:

Thomas Debney and Florence Debney plant a pear tree

The seed for the idea was sown when Brightwell Village Orchard Group conducted a survey of village fruit trees and found 78 heritage varieties of apple.

But they found their unique heritage asset was in jeopardy, as many of the trees are up to 100 years old and of some varieties there is only one tree remaining.

So the group bid for, and won, grants totalling £8,000 from waste firm Biffa, the Trust for Oxfordshire’s Environment and North Wessex Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty to buy 45 new trees.

Village families worked from morning till night over the weekend to get them all planted.

Group member Alison Bloomfield, 53, who planted a cider apple tree with her 12-year-old daughter, Lizzie said: “It’s so exciting.

“Everyone has been so inspired by the varieties, it is remarkable how many there are. The children in the village will be looking after these trees in 20 or 30 years’ time.”

Retired Brightwell fruit farmer and apple expert Paul Chilton said: “My family has been growing fruit here since the 1930s so this orchard is a wonderful chance to continue this history.’’

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