Help Save an Ancient Apple Tree from Property Developers

[FB.]

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Please help to save one of the oldest apple trees in the world from being removed by profit-driven property developers:

Fruit Trees- Historic Varieties Grown and Supplied by Bernwode Fruit Trees

Thank you.


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[Polytastic]

How can it be so tough
haven't we lost enough
Why even stop to ponder
losing the Milton Wonder

[orangepippin]

There may be other factors involved, but I would be very surprised if a local authority planning committee would allow this to go ahead, they are usually (at least in our area) almost over-zealous in safeguarding trees.

[Nes]

I've been told that developers got around the protection order on the old oak tree in my childhood garden by chopping it down and then paying a pathetic fine . Once the tree's gone, the way is clear for development.

[orangepippin]

I wonder how many streets called "Orchard Close" or "Orchard Road" etc there now are across the UK, as a testament to orchards that once stood on the edges of towns and villages but have now been "developed".

[pagangill]

E-mail sent, fingers crossed!

[FB.]

I wonder how many streets called "Orchard Close" or "Orchard Road" etc there now are across the UK, as a testament to orchards that once stood on the edges of towns and villages but have now been "developed".

If it's a commercial orchard with common and often short-lived "supermarket-type" varieties on dwarf rootstocks then I have no issue with its redevelopment.


But when a tree has shown its resilience for two centuries, and is of a variety which was never widely grown (therefore very rare) it's a different matter.

We can take grafts from it, but every graft has a risk of being a mutation and not quite the original variety - such as Red Ellison (Ellison's Orange), Rosette (Discovery), Morspur (Golden Delicious) Wilhelm Ley (Red Boskoop, which is itself a mutation of Belle de Boskoop) or Bramley Clone 20 (Bramley's Seedling) to name just a few.

When the tree is dead, by all means redevelop the site. In the meantime, any development should leave the tree untouched, and nothing other than grass within an area twice that of the outer reaches of the canopy.

[yummersetter]

Am I the only one fretting about the fate of Mrs Marlow? . . . quote Bernwode website 'It is now over 5 years since we wrote about the Milton Wonder apple tree and its delightful owner Mrs Lilian Marlow, now 93.'

[mothhawk]

Email sent. Hope this isn't the only forum you've posted on FB. Spread the word.

[FB.]

Email sent. Hope this isn't the only forum you've posted on FB. Spread the word.

I've only posted on this forum - and I wondered if I was pushing the boundaries of what's an acceptable topic by doing so.
Other forums that I belong to probably couldn't care less, and I'm not close enough to the tree to be actively involved; the folks at Bernwode Fruit Trees seem to be happy to take the lead and, given their conscientious attitude to forgotten fruit trees they are probably the best people to do it.

Making an offer to purchase the land before plans are approved or before construction begins crossed my mind, but I expect that if planning is granted it'd cost a couple of hundred thousand pounds which is quite a lot of money to tie-up indefinitely, unless as part of a syndicate. Without planning permission, or with permission denied, the land would be worth a few tens of thousands of pounds.

Let's face it: race horses can be owned by syndicates so why not the old apple tree and the land it stands on?

[memoryweaver]

Official 'Save the Milton Wonder' Campaign Website Launched

Just to let everyone know, there's now an official website for the campaign, with updates as to what's happening.

Please check back often, as the site will be kept up to date as new news becomes available.

Please see the Save the Milton Wonder Apple Tree site.

Regards,

Marcus