A community orchard in Cheltenham is going through the first phase of redevelopment so it’ll once more be available to the people living in the area.
Weavers Field, an orchard in the Warden Hill ward in Cheltenham, is a traditional orchard and it received 20 new fruit trees, including apple, cherry and plum trees, earlier this year to kickstart its rejuvenation.
The fruit varieties are a good mix of traditional Gloucester trees as well as some modern varieties to make sure there’s a good crop of fruit later this year.
A community effort
The orchard is being helped along by the local community, council officers and various partners and there are also plans to rejuvenate some of the mature plum trees already in the orchard.
Children from local schools, several volunteers from Warden Hill and Martin Hayes from the Gloucestershire Orchard Trust (GOT) got down to some hard work by planting the trees in January. The group also has plans to plant an original warden pear tree at some point later this year.
Martin Hayes from GOT said that orchards are at the “…top of the tree’…” in terms of biodiversity and that community orchards like Weavers Field play a large part.
He added that the GOT is keen to be involved in projects like Weavers Field as it knows how important such places are to local wildlife and to people. It can also advise volunteers and councils and source the right trees to create an optimum mix for orchards.
In the past, Warden Hill comprised several orchards and its name is believed to be derived from the warden pear variety, with this fruit featuring on the parish council’s emblem.
Lib Dem councillor Iain Dobie, cabinet minister for waste, recycling and street services, said that the Weavers Field orchard is a great start to the year. He added that it was also a big step on the journey towards enhancing Cheltenham’s biodiversity for many years to come.
