ORCHARD SURVEYING, ORIGINS, RESTORATION & RE-CREATION, FRUIT & NUT IDENTIFICATION, ORIGINS & RESEARCH, CULTURAL LANDSCAPE & CULINARY HISTORY, TRADITIONAL ORCHARD SKILLS TRAINING.
“ORCHARDS EAST” a collaboration Traditional Orchards in SUFFOLK,
SUFFOLK TRADITIONAL ORCHARD GROUP University of East Anglia
A member of SUFFOLK BIODIVERSITY PARTNERSHIP
VARIOUS SURVEYS & METHODS •
Before 2000 Hertfordshire (HOI) catalogued sites from old maps.
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2006/7 Norfolk EEAOP2000 & later Cambs. Using Millenium Edition OS 1:50,000 (1.25”=1mile) maps. Estimated that 108 commercial Norfolk orchards still existed (smaller sites were not recorded on these maps).. Volunteer surveyors check each site.
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2006/7 Suffolk: First GIS mapping? 2nd Ed OS maps, 6” = 1mile (1905-1925 approx 6,250 sites). Survey began in 2009/10. Parish surveyors check each site PLUS the PTES data. Continuing, but so far about 500 sites visited and confirmed as orchards, and 900 expected in total, almost all of the “residential” form.
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2008/9 start of Peoples’ Trust for Endangered Species survey of England (under contract to Natural England): aerial survey and mapping. Digital data provided to ground based volunteers and local organizations.
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2009/2010,UEA/Patsy Dallas, surveyed 5 sample areas representing about 1/6 of Norfolk. This data suggests that a minimum of 6 x 570= 3,780, and probable maximum of 7,000 orchard sites existed in 1880, and probably over 1,000 today.
TRADITIONAL ORCHARDS IN SUFFOLK
The “Traditional Orchard”, was recognized as a UK Priority Habitat by the UK Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC) in 2007. A short definition is: “Groups of fruit and nut bearing trees, managed in a local or regional traditional manner without spraying, generally on vigorous rootstocks, in semi-natural grassland, often grazed.” In 2009 the Suffolk orchards, over 6,250 orchard sites, on these maps were recorded by the Suffolk Biological Records Centre from 2nd Ed OS (6” = 1 mile) maps of 1905-1920. Identifying which are still in existence requires a visit. In 2009 People’s Trust for Endangered Species (under a contract from Natural England) started to record all English sites that seemed likely to be traditional large tree orchards using aerial/satellite surveys. They supplied the first Suffolk map to us in 2010 with 660 possible sites. The PTES survey of Suffolk was not a complete record of all old orchards still in existence; and not all these sites are orchards, so they need to be visited and checked. We needed a single map for both management and the surveyors that carried all the information all the information
STOG surveyors have visited over a thousand ancient sites many of which have vanished. However, many were found still to exist, and a large proportion (up to 70%) had not been recognized by PTES. Some of these are large wood-pasture-like / parkland sites with scattered trees, and other sites where the line structure no longer exists.
A wood pasture-like ancient Suffolk orchard in early spring. Pears, plums and cobnuts in open grassland. 18 trees in all. Originally had over 40 large trees. Framsden, Suffolk .
Traditional orchards in Suffolk Orchards are very vulnerable to change and many old sites now look like this....!
By 2013, about 300 of the possible PTES sites in Suffolk have been checked or visited; about 70 are not orchards. It is now thought that over 900 orchards still exist in Suffolk, and that without both sources we could not locate them. Several very large and old and important orchard sites havebeen discovered, not recorded previously by either PTES or by OS.
The leaning tree is the only orchard tree left in a tangle of new woodland (apple D’Arcy Spice)
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The ORCHARDS EAST project sets out to survey the 6 counties of modern East Anglia/east of England. In 2011 Peoples Trust for Endangered Species, using aerial surveys and maps, estimated 3,879 possible traditional orchard sites in East Anglia:
Bedfordshire Cambridgeshire Essex Hertfordshire Norfolk Suffolk
235 890 832 477 825 620
It is difficult to estimate the actual number in the 6 counties as a whole. However it seems likely that unless both PTES and Old 6� to the mile OS maps are used the true extent of what remains will not be discovered. Using both sources for all 6 counties will enable a regional evaluation of the habitat, andprovde the basis for further research.
Extent of traditional orchards in England 2011. Crown copyright. Š All rights reserved Natural England 100046223 (2011)
ORCHARDS EAST
Extent of traditional orchards in England, 2011. Crown copyright. © All rights reserved Natural England 100046223 (2011)
The Project Manager has a suite of maps and annotated satellite images showing historic orchard sites and the PTES database of sites. PTES sites can be shown as red dots on satellite images at different scales.
Proposed Orchards East Survey Method I 1 Agree the division of regions into practical Survey Management Areas, probably counties. 2 Mapping Centre or Centres agreed, and assemble source data and produce Survey Management Areas Orchard Maps on MapInfo. a. Historic 2nd Ed OS orchards as RED polygons, b. PTES sites (which include HLS agreement parcels) as BLUE polygons each with a PTES number eg SUFF201. c. Current orchards as GREEN spotted or hatched polygons.
MapInfo screen view of Suffolk, as proposed for the
Proposed Orchards East Survey Method II 3
Orchard Survey Manager appointed for each region.
4 Recruitment and training of volunteer surveyors and allocation of personal survey areas under guidance from the Orchard Survey Manager. Orchard Surveyor Training Courses using an agreed standard Phase 1 form 5 Each Volunteer Orchard Surveyor supplied with a digital pdf map file of their personal survey areas, probably a parish or group of parishes. a. Historic 2nd Ed OS orchards as RED polygons, b. PTES sites (which include HLS agreement parcels) as BLUE polygons each with a PTES number eg SUFF201. c. Current orchards as GREEN spotted or hatched polygons. d. A magnified scale inset can be made and located in a corner of the map
Proposed Orchards East Survey Method III 6
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Surveyors print out their PDF map (in colour) and annotate all site numbers 1-n on the printed map (PTES Sites will be annotated with its PTES site no), print out a blank survey form for each site, and carry out the surveys, recording data. Surveyors return completed survey sheets to the regional Orchard Survey Manager.
ORCHARD SURVEY PROCEDURE. Digital maps are available that show all known potential orchard sites as coloured overlaid polygons on modern maps, from three sources. 1 The Project Manager prepares a digital map file of the each parish a surveyor is working on and emails it, or post a print-out, to the surveyor. Example of an Orchard map of Kersey, Suffolk, provided to the local surveyor GREEN = sites designated by a green orchard symbol on the current OS digital MasterMap. Almost all these are modern commercial sites. BLUE = sites recognized by PTES, using maps and Google earth aerial photographs, as likely to be Traditional Orchards. RED = sites designated by an orchard symbol on the 2nd Ed 5” =1mile OS maps of 1905-1920
2 After training the surveyor visits each site and completes a survey sheet with details for each site, and returns them.
Phase 1 SUFFOLK ORCHARD SURVEY, complete boxes, or delete as appropriate Use one sheet for each site. For any other information please write on the back of this page. Surveyor’s name
Dates of visit/s
Parish
OS Grid Ref
Site No
Location
1 Does this orchard still exist completely or partially
Yes No
If YES go to Q2, if NO go to Q10
2 How much of the mapped area of the site is still present is still present as orchard? (Give percentage if possible, please)
3 Approx how many fruit trees including stone fruits & nut trees are present within the site?
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a What is the form of most of the trees?
Standards, 1.5m+ stems.
Small multi-stemmed bushes or trees
Spindly bushes to 2m.
b Briefly describe the size trees, and how many are more that 30cm (1ft) in diameter.
5 Are there fruit trees or bushes (including stone fruits & nuts) growing in the hedges around the site? Yes No 6 What is the composition of the ground cover? Mown grassland
3 A selection of the best sites are then scheduled for botanical, zoological, landscape or crop surveys.
Grazed grassland
Rough grassland
Scrub/brambles
Bare ground
7 Are there fruit bushes (including stone fruits & nuts) growing inside the boundary hedges of the site? Yes No 8 If grazed, what animals are used? Cattle
Sheep
Horses
Chickens
Geese
9 Do trees showing signs of damage by livestock?
Other ( please specify)
Yes No
10 If the orchard no longer exists what is the current use of the site? Grassland
Arable
Housing
Garden/amenity
Other built development
11 If the orchard no longer exists, are there any fruit trees still present on the site? If so, how many?
12 Details of owner, or “carer”, if available, name, address, tel. no, email……… if possible.
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Phase 1 SUFFOLK ORCHARD SURVEY, complete boxes, or delete as appropriate Use one sheet for each site. For any other information please write on the back of this page. Surveyor’s name
Dates of visit/s
Parish
OS Grid Ref
Site No
Location Yes No
1 Does this orchard still exist completely or partially
If YES go to Q2, if NO go to Q10
2 How much of the mapped area of the site is still present is still present as orchard? (Give percentage if possible, please)
3 Approx how many fruit trees including stone fruits & nut trees are present within the site?
4
a What is the form of most of the trees?
Standards, 1.5m+ stems.
Small multi-stemmed bushes or trees
Spindly bushes to 2m.
b Briefly describe the size trees, and how many are more that 30cm (1ft) in diameter.
5 Are there fruit trees or bushes (including stone fruits & nuts) growing in the hedges around the site? Yes No 6 What is the composition of the ground cover? Mown grassland
Grazed grassland
Rough grassland
Scrub/brambles
Bare ground
7 Are there fruit bushes (including stone fruits & nuts) growing inside the boundary hedges of the site? Yes No 8 If grazed, what animals are used? Cattle
Sheep
Horses
Chickens
Geese
9 Do trees showing signs of damage by livestock?
Other ( please specify)
Yes No
10 If the orchard no longer exists what is the current use of the site? Grassland
Arable
Housing
Garden/amenity
Other built development
11 If the orchard no longer exists, are there any fruit trees still present on the site? If so, how many?
12 Details of owner, or “carer”, if available, name, address, tel. no, email……… if possible.
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Proposed Orchards East Survey Method IV 10 Evaluation of orchard survey forms and data logging. Accessed for comprehensibility, and need visit by specialists in wildlife, veteran trees, or fruit). 11 Once confirmed Orchard Survey Sheet data is logged onto a county or regional database, periodically despatched in a suitable format to UEA, PTES, and NE. 12 The final Orchards East survey output will comprise: a. the database above in Access and Excel formats b. the regional MapInfo files with their overlays as used by the Orchard Survey Manager. c. Survey sheets retained as hard copy by county biological records offices
ORCHARDS EAST MEMBERS ACTIVITIES WILL ALSO INCLUDE: Learning to graft and bud and other propagation techniques. Volunteer grafting of local traditional varieities for planting into orchards Planning and planting new traditional orchards Sharing and learning traditional fruit cooking Researching historic fruit and orchard management skills and associated regional and local landscape history Learning to identifying fruit species and varieties. Discovering the orchard habitat and its biodiversity...not just the wildlife but also of the crop. Contributing to the gathering of information, and production of Advice Notes, on orchard management for crop and wildlife, veteran fruit tree restoration and new planting.
New “traditional� orchards. Above: just planted. Top Right: 6-7 years old Bottom Right: 9-12 years old. All on traditional vigorous rootstocks; some are already cropping and could be productive for up to 100 years.
The anatomy of a woody twig
Propagation training and production In 3 years almost 1,000 trees propagated and given to orchard sites. Below: potted grafts growing on in a rabbit proof site.
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An important part of Apple Day has become the juicing of apples. And not only apples: pears, quince and plums can be juiced too. The techniques vary but some are better than others...and some are much safer than others! STOG produces Advice Notes on many subjects: Planting trees, Cobnuts, Rare fruit varieties etc. and is also researching a special one on juicing fresh fruit.
Left: volunteers in an abandoned and very ancient orchard restoring old cobnut stools to production (NOT by coppicing which reduces fruiting almost totally) They are removing the thin “wands�, reducing the number of large stems and reduces their overall height to encourage the short one year old growth that produces the flowers and the nuts.
Right: volunteers planted this 100 tree orchard and help to built its tree protectors for this sheep grazed new Stewardship orchard in Norfolk. This the largest traditional orchard to be planted in East Anglia this century! STOG volunteers have worked outside Suffolk on several occasions already.
Learn to identify fruit species and varieties (all these have been found in East Anglian orchards (most frequent first): apples, pears, plums, gages, cherry plums cobnuts, bullace, cherries, damsons, Cobnut, Cosford walnuts quince, almonds, Cherry Plum, Burrell’s Red mulberries, medlar, 4 Warden Pears morellos/sour cherries, (culinary), different apricots, varieties all from peaches, one orchard, nectarines, mirabelles, figs (figs were once grown commercially in Suffolk!), chestnuts.
Shepherd’s Bullace
Identify fruit varieties found during surveying or brought in at “apple days” etc. This really goes on all year round!
April with cherries in blossom
A traditional orchard in East Anglia Once a small holding. 26 trees still present, including a 200 year old pear (the largest tree above), apples, plums, cherry plums, damsons. cobnuts and cherries. Crop once sold at the gate and taken to Diss market weekly, from the 1920’s.
Fruit identification.
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Ad hoc identification, of any fruit or nuts, at any time.
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Special events and apple days