Sustainable Planet Projects Ltd aim to revive the lost orchards of Forres
Participants of a project to re-introduce fruit trees to town centre backstreets are hosting an awareness-raising festival.
The team behind ‘Reviving the Lost Orchards of Forres’ is inviting the community to Auchernack House at the west end of High Street to take part in events from between 11am and 3pm on Sunday, October 27 - and learn about the scheme.
Project spokesperson, Christine Preece, confirmed Heritage Orchard Day is open to all.
She said: “The purpose is to engage the public while providing fun and information.
“We’ll be displaying many apple varieties. There will also be an art exhibition - ‘The Colour of Trees’ by Keith Barker of Moray Art Centre. Also, a photographic exhibition of the more rural town in the past and how local car parks took up so much of the land.
“Carol Scorer will be storytelling and doing musical activities for children, while Nick Molner of Forres Friends of Woods and Fields will be showing attendees how to make juice with his press.
“Transition Town Forres gardeners Jim Knox and Martin Allen will be attempting to recognise the varieties of apples that we encourage attendees to bring from their gardens.
“Isabella Guerrini de Claire and Iain Findlay will be giving a talk about the recent survey of orchards in Moray, Des Scholes will be giving a talk about community orchards and I will be discussing the project.
“Finally, there will be apple bakes courtesy of our volunteers from Forres Area Community Trust and refreshments by donation.”
Forres once bristled with gardens and orchards stretching north and south of the high street. These included around Orchard Road, Anderson Crescent, Sanquhar, Green Lane, Ivy Lane and at the site of Applegove Primary School. Memory Lane and the space behind what is now Ashers Bakery are areas that still look similar to how they once were. Many fruit trees survived until their sites became car parks in the 1970s.
Groups at Sustainable Planet Projects Ltd based at Auchernack - The Caring Community Circle Forres and Greenfingers Forres - are supporting the project, helping to catalogue local orchards and start new ones. They are particularly interested in reviving heritage fruit varieties , partly through using grafts from old trees to grow new ones.
They have collected old photographs showing the extensive gardens of Forres in the past and hope to hear from people who remember the old orchards.
Project participants have mapped trees in the town centre that look like strays from old orchards.
“We’ve found 26 trees ourselves,” said Christine, “and information is coming in about one's that we’ve missed. There are Greengages, various plums, apples and pears so far but we are particularly interested in reviving fruit varieties Medlar, Quince, Mirabelle and Dams so please let us know if you have them!”
They will be running workshops on how to graft and more, and Christine will be making a final presentation in February.
For more information email lostorchardsofforres@gmail.com.