When we moved to Broad Oak in 1994, on land once belonging to Cwm Maddoc, formerly the largest farm in the parish, one of the first things we did was to plant a small half-acre orchard. This has now matured and the trees are producing good quantities of fruit.
In 2007 we planted a further 2½ acres of orchard, using local and traditional apple varieties including dessert (such as Ashmead’s Kernel and Adam’s Pearmain), culinary (e.g. Annie Elizabeth) and cider (including Slack ma Girdle and Foxwhelp). We have also planted pears, perry pears, plum, cherry and walnut. The apple trees are on M25 (standard) rootstock and are planted 20-30 feet apart so the trees will eventually produce a traditional tall orchard with grazing underneath.
There is a map in Hereford Record Office showing an orchard on the same ground in the 18th century, when it was called ‘The Upper Orchard’.
