Category Archives: News

news and updates from the TCOP

Bugs and Swifts at Trumpington Community Orchard

28 Sunday Aug 2022

Posted by in biodiversity, events, insects, News

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Bugs and Swifts for the Heritage Open Days Sunday 18 September 2022 14:00 – 16:00

Take a tour around our small plant-filled oasis designed to enhance the community and promote biodiversity and educate people about fruit production, wildflower meadows and conservation.

Innovation is not just technology, but the integration of sustainable food production with biodiversity and conservation is an innovative approach to a new way of living to minimize consumerism and maximize a positive environmental impact.

The visit will highlight how the community orchard and wildflower meadow contribute to biodiversity, illustrated by the bugs found. In addition the swift tower and observational beehive illustrate the possible contribution to conservation as both swifts and bees have been in decline (sadly this year swifts have been added to the red list, emphasizing the urgent need for action).

Trumpington Community Orchard illustrates how nature needs to be the central consideration in all INNOVATIVE community planning.

Juvenile swifts

No booking required, just turn up. Please park considerately in this residential area. The event is free but we rely on donations to keep the orchard going.

Wassail 2022 – small but beautiful

29 Saturday Jan 2022

Posted by in events, News, seasons, volunteering

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We took the hard decision not to hold a wassail (a traditional ceremony to honour the apple trees) this year. I know other orchards held large and enthusiastic wassails, but our space is small and we have to think about the potential risks.

But never fear, our Maintenance Session volunteers saw to it that the trees received their usual blessing of a libation of apple juice poured at their roots, and pieces of toast hung in the branches. When we started this orchard over a decade ago, our first wassail was three of the founders (including me) singing some kind of song and banging a saucepan, and a few neighbours came out to see what the racket was. Since then the wassail grew into a really sizeable and popular event, and we have had everything from lantern processions to a wheelbarrow orchestra to folk dressed as Green Men and Women, and as penguins. In the last few years wassailing has been re-discovered, re-invented and revived across the country (I think we were way ahead of the trend.) Wassailing is certainly a tradition of this orchard, and it will carry on, in some way or another, every year.

We’re going on a bug hunt

06 Monday Sep 2021

Posted by in biodiversity, events, insects, News

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On Saturday 11th September 2021 from 2 – 4pm in the orchard, we will be searching for as many bugs and minibeasts as we can find. All creatures, once examined and recorded, will be carefully returned to where we found them.

Come along and see what you can find. No experience necessary, and no knowledge of bugs required.

Last time we did this, we found a lot of bugs!

This event is part of Open Cambridge It is a free event, but donations to keep our orchard going are much appreciated.

Here we come a Wassailing – Event on 12 January 2020, 2:30pm

06 Friday Dec 2019

Posted by in News, Uncategorized

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In the olden days, rural folk and villagers across the apple-growing counties must have endured the short, cold days and long, cold nights of winter with gloom. What better way to drive that away than to create a ritual involving firelight, noise and cheery singing? And if there was cider involved so much the better. Wassailing, or giving thanks to the orchard, has a long and colourful history and we are happy to be part of its revival.

These days the wassail is less cider-centric, but even more fun. Our annual wassail will be led by Nigel Pennick and we will all follow, singing (or at least making a noise) as we go. Along the way we tie some toast dipped in apple juice in the branches of each tree. All this will protect the apple trees and encourage them to bear a bumper crop next year, so it’s essential arboriculture.

Turn up with a torch or a lantern, and enjoy some hot mulled apple juice. Wrap up warm and be prepared to sing. The event is free but donations to help the orchard and cover our costs are much appreciated. Children very welcome.

Please bear in mind there are no facilities on the orchard. Parking is on the adjacent streets – please park with consideration to our neighbours.

wassail 2015 22 A

 

 

 

Working off the Christmas calories

06 Friday Dec 2019

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I love to have a relaxing Christmas, including sitting around watching terrible films, but there’s only so much of that I can enjoy before I begin to feel a bit like a Christmas pudding. If you get that feeling too come and join us on Monday 30 December 2019 for a Bramble Blitz and litter picking session. We will be starting at 10.30 am in the community orchard, and ending up with a free lunch of hearty soup and bread which will be served in the Clay Farm Community Garden building.
This event is supported with a grant from TKMaxx and Homesense.

Our orchard relies on voluteers, so we really do appreciate the efforts of everybody who turns up and helps out. In particular the Orchard team would like to say a big thank you to Anna who is volunteering for an hour every Tuesday between 8 am and 9 am. So far she has helped to rake up cuttings from the scythed meadow and dig out brambles and turns up whatever the weather with a willingness to help.

Be like Anna – Come along and see what you can do. You will leave feeling more warm and fuzzy than a Christmas jumper.

gloves

Orchard Maintenance Dates

09 Saturday Feb 2019

Posted by in News, seasons, Uncategorized

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We hold a maintenance session every second Sunday of the month (11am – 1pm), and every fourth Thursday (10am – 12pm)

If you love our orchard, and want to help keep it special, please come along to one of our regular maintenance sessions.  We provide all the tools you need, and lots of help and advice, so if you’ve never done any gardening before, don’t worry. It’s a great way to spend some time in the outside and meet new people

.These sessions are when we look after the trees and check what needs to be done. For each season we will check the health of the trees, attend to any pests and diseases, and make the orchard look as beautiful as possible. It’s vital work to keep the orchard going and we rely on our volunteers to look after these trees, so we really appreciate the help. You don’t have to stay for the whole session, just come along when you can. Superivised children are welcome but please note we have no toilet/hand washing etc facilities on site or nearby. Please wear clothes suitable for outdoor work.

DATES FOR 2019:  Every second Sunday of the month (11am – 1pm), and every fourth Thursday (10am – 12pm)

Sunday 10 Feb
Thursday 28 Feb

Sunday 10 March
Thursday 28 March

Sunday 14 April
Thursday 25 April

Sunday 12 May
Thursday 23 May

Sunday 9 June
Thursday 27 June

Sunday 14 July
Thursday 25 July

Sunday 11 August
Thursday 22 August

Sunday 8 Sept
Thursday 26 Sept

Sunday 13 Oct
Thursday 24 Oct

Sunday 10 Nov
Thursday 28 Oct

Sunday 8 Dec
(Thursday 26 Dec – probably not going to happen!)

“Wassail wassail all over the town…”

18 Tuesday Dec 2018

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Sunday 13th January 2019 2pm

“Wassail wassail all over the town…”
So begins the traditional Wassail carol – celebrating Christmas, winter and the bountiful harvest to come. Our own orchard wassail is a bit of a tradition in its own right, having been going for a mighty ten years. This year we have story telling for everyone, a great way of setting the scene and leading us into the fun and mystery of singing to apple trees as darkness falls.

Come and see us. It’s free (although donations are much appreciated) and it’s suitable for all the family. Because we’ll be outside in an orchard, wear warm clothes, bring a torch. Dressing up is encouraged – it’s usually Holly Kings and Ivy Queens but we have had a 6ft tall penguin come along in the past, so anything goes!

Come and join us for our 10th Birthday

10 Tuesday Jul 2018

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We are celebrating our 10th Birthday on Thursday 30th August 2018

All are welcome to come along and listen to a story or two about apples, orchards and the amazing creatures that live in them

Afternoon
Tea party for children and their carers, starting 2.30pm with cake and apple juice with storytelling starting at 3.30pm for about an hour. Our storyteller is Marion Leeper.

Evening

  1. Storytelling for grown ups will bring us all together at 6.30pm with Malcolm Busby with Marion Leeper joining in later. Bring a picnic and a blanket and settle in for a traditional, but contemporary experience.

More details will follow on, keep an eye on our Facebook event page too. 

A fruitful day in the orchard

12 Tuesday Jun 2018

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On Saturday 9th June we hosted the AGM of the East of England Apples and Orchards Project.  This organisation grows all the varieties of apples and other orchard fruit that originated in the East of England, and does a lot of research into their origins and how to grow them. It’s open for anyone interested in fruit to join, and it is really worthwhile.
After the business part of the meeting, it was our turn to give a short presentation on how this little orchard came into being. We could hardly believe it was first thought of over ten years ago! We used lots of photos to jog out memories – some of the photos you can find by exploring the links and early posts on this site. It wwas good to have the comments from so many other expert growers and owners of community orchards.
Many of those present joined us for a tour of the orchard itself. As you can see from these picures, the wildflower meadow around the trees was the star of the show. Everyone admired the swift tower, and looked to see the swifts themselves. Hopefully swift towers will be a feature of more community orchards, and the EEAOP site itself, in the future.

Wassail 2018 – Sunday 14th January

21 Thursday Dec 2017

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As I write this it’s the Winter Solstice, and thick fog outside. No wonder that winter festivals of light, dancing and music are so popular, and so much a part of rural life in the past. So shake off the gloom and look forward to Wassail 2018! Each year we like to do something a bit different, so for our Tenth Wassail (I know, I can’t believe that but it’s true, this will be the tenth one)…anyway, we are very pleased to be hosting a demonstration of green woodworking skills.
Come along to the Orchard from 12:30 – 2:00pm for the woodworking, with music and Wassail traditions afterwards from 2:30pm.
Special thanks to Nigel Pennick’s Rabble Rousing Wassail Band for providing the music to scare bad spirits out of the apple trees. If you’d like to bring anything to make a noise with, that would be great. Dress up if you want, and in any case wrap up warm. Hot mulled apple juice and various apple bakes will be served to keep out the cold

The event is free but donations are appreciated. Please park with consideration for the residents.