Tideswell Community Orchard
Our Trees
The Children's Orchards at Town Head & Richard Lane playgrounds
Discovery
- dessert
The tree's compact size makes it ideal for smaller gardens.
The apples are crisp juicy and sweet, and lovely to eat from the fridge on a hot day.
Although it can be slow to start, it produces reliable yields within a few years.
Fiesta
- dessert
A blushing red and yellow beauty of an apple with a sweet taste.
It's one of the best apples for growing as cordons and espaliers, it's very hardy and particularly suitable if you have late frosts.
Red Falstaff
- dessert
An crunchy, juicy apple - just how you expect an apple to taste.
Easy to grow, heavy cropping and generally disease-free.
The apples keep fairly well and can last in a fridge until Christmas.
Red Windsor
- dessert
An sweet tasting apple with cherry red skin.
Although it's a relatively small tree, it still gives heavy crops.
Easy to grow with blossom that's resistant to spring frosts.
Scrumptious
- dessert
A cross between Discovery and Golden Delicious, crisp with a honey-like sweetness. This is one of the finest early cropping breeds around. The apples are bright red and loved by children and are best eaten straight from the tree.
Sunset
- dessert
Produces masses of small red and gold flushed eaters with a flavour similar to a Cox.
Easy to grow and good for growing as cordons and espaliers. Suitbable for the North with blossom that is fairly resistant to spring frosts.
- it has also been known to make sweet, strong cider.
Worcester Pearmain
- dessert
The epitome of an English apple, with rosy red cheeks, crisp cream flesh, and sweet flavour, best eaten soon after picking. It also has enough of the Blitz spirit to survive the chilliest parts Britain - and has particularly attractive blossom.
The Traditional Orchard - Heritage, Unusual & Local favourites
The apple trees
Acklam Russet
- dessert
A very old Yorkshire variety, first recorded in 1768, with highly flavoured russet apples with a sweet, sharp taste.
It's a hardy tree which crops well and the fruit stores well.
Adam's Pearmain
- dessert (& juice)
An old dessert apple from 1826 with a dry, sharp flavour and a crisp and juicy texture. The tree has attractive blossom and the juice has a nice pink tinge to it.
A good cropper but has some biennial tendency.
Ashmead's Kernal
- dessert (& cider)
Another very old English apple originating from the 1700's. The fruit is small and can look patchy and lumpy, the tree has very attractive blossom and the flavour has been described as "exploding with champagne-sherbet juice infused with a lingering scent of orange blossom" - and it makes outstanding cider.
It stores well and the fruit gets sweeter the longer it is kept, but is not always a reliable cropper.
Beauty of Bath
- dessert (& juice)
A very attractive early-season apple with a sharp, aromatic flavour and juice with an attractive pink tinge.
It used to be a common variety in Britain but has lost out to other more commercial varieties that store for longer.
Easy to grow, and heavy cropping but can have a tendency to drop its fruit before it is fully ripe. It is a good choice for wetter climates as it is very resistant to scab.
Beeley Pippin
Dual: dessert & culinary
An old Derbyshire apple with a strong local connection, originating in the village of Beeley in 1800, almost within the heart of the Chatsworth Estate.
It has a good flavour with juicy aromatic flesh, is clearly able to withstand local conditions, however it does not always store well.
Blenheim Orange
- culinary (& eating fresh)
A classic English heritage apple from 1740 with a very distinctive flavour. Although it can be eaten fresh, it is best as a culinary apple.
The original seedling was found by a local gardener growing against the boundary wall of Blenheim Park. He planted it in his garden where it is said that "thousands thronged from all parts to gaze on its ruddy, ripening orange burden".
Bloody Ploughman
- dessert
First recorded in 1883 in the Carse of Gowrie, Scotland, it has a blood red skin, a crisp, juicy with a sweet light flavour and flesh that becomes stained pink when very ripe. An interesting story, "a ploughman was caught stealing apples from the Megginch estate and shot by a gamekeeper. His wife threw the stolen apples on a rubbish heap and one of the seedlings was rescued to be named after the unfortunate ploughman."
Court Pendu Plat
- dessert
A very ancient continental variety, first recorded in 1613 but may be older, possibly with Roman origins. It is sometimes called the "Wise Apple" and is thought to be the likely grandparent of Cox's Orange Pippin - although no one knows for sure.
The fruit is rich, sweet & sharp in flavour with a dense, firm flesh and the tree has beautiful blossom.
They are hardy, heavy cropping and a good choice for a frosty site.
Egremont Russet
Dual: dessert & culinary
The most well-known and delicious of the russet apples, popular with discerning apple lovers who appreciate its unique flavour and appearance.
Although there are no records as to its exact origins, it was first recorded in Somerset in 1872.
It is very disease resistant and suitable for growing in Northern Britain.
Ellison's orange
- dessert (& juices well)
A superb traditional English dessert apple, closely related to Cox's Orange Pippin - but with juicier flesh.
It has very attractive blossom, fruits well but has some biennial tendency. It is resistant to scab and mildew but can be susceptible to canker. It is generally considered a good alternative to Cox for growing in Northern Britain
Grenadier
- culinary
Grenadier is not especially pretty so not widely grown - but as cooking apples are grown for their taste, not their looks, this is absolutely one of the best.
It is also very easy to grow, almost foolproof in practically any situation.
James Grieve
- culinary (eating fresh & juice)
Considered to be one of the best apples and essential for any orchard around.
The fruit can be quite sharp early in the season, so is ideal for cooking, but as the apples age on the tree they sweeten making them a wonderfully refreshing as a dessert apple
- and the windfalls make marvellous juice.
It is resistant to scab and frost so is a good choice for growing in the North.
Keswick Codlin
- culinary (& eating fresh)
A very old variety, sadly, it's also one of many apple trees that almost disappeared around WW2.
Primarily a culinary apple, but also be good to eat when very ripe becoming soft and juicy with an excellent sharp flavour and very attractive blossom.
Rumoured to have been found growing in a rubbish heap in the Lake district in 1793.
Hardy, a prolific cropper, but can have some biennial tendency.
Lamb's Seedling
- culinary (& eating fresh)
An old Derbyshire variety originating from 1866, now one of the heritage apple trees on Chatsworth estate. The apples have soft, coarse, slightly acid flesh.
Although not widely known, it has proved good as both a culinary and a dessert apple with a good sharp flavour.
Laxton's Superb
- dessert
An lovely cross between a Cox's Orange Pippin and a Wyken Pippin. It is sweet tasting with crisp white flesh. It crops heavily and is perfect for gardens and small orchards.
Lord Lambourne
- dessert
A popular, traditional English eating apple with a crisp, juicy, with a pleasing acidity that sweetens over time. The small size the fruit makes it very attractive to children.
It has good disease resistance, keeps fairly well, and adapts to most situations.
Newton Wonder
- culinary
A traditional Derbyshire cooking apple with an interesting history - the original seedling was found growing in the thatch of the Hardinge Arm Inn at King's Newton in 1870. It was rescued by the innkeeper and transplanted to his garden.
Not as sharp as a Bramley, buts considered a very good culinary baking apple. A heavy cropper, resistant to scab and canker, but can be susceptible to mildew and has a biennial tendency.
Pixie
- dessert
A small sweet apple that is a cross between a cox. They are rarely seen in the shops because of their small size but they can compete with any cox for flavour and also keep well.
Ribston Pippin
Dual: dessert & culinary (& cider)
A very old Yorkshire variety, rescued in 1700, and also known as the "Glory of York". A dessert apple believed to be the parent of the Cox but with a more robust and sharp flavour, lending itself to culinary use and cider making. The apples keep well and taste even better after storage.
Winter Gem
- dessert
An outstanding eating apple. It ripens in late October so perfect timing for apple bobbing! and it has fragrant white blossom in May. It's not a massive cropper so rarely seen in shops but it is very disease resistant and a good keeper.
Plums & Damsons
Avalon - Plum
Dual: dessert & culinary
One of the best mid season dessert plums, with juicy sweet flesh and considered far superior to Victoria as a dessert plum. It is also a good culinary plum when picked under ripe, with a distinctive sharpness which adds to the flavour.
The quality of the fruit is consistently good, it tolerates cold winters although the blossom may need to be protected from late frosts, and it has good disease resistance.
Czar - Plum
- culinary
Raised in 1871, this is considered one of the best culinary plums, but becomes sweet enough to be eaten fresh when fully ripe.
It is a reliable cropper and a magnificent pollinator for other plums with large attractive blossom. It is also unusually frost resistant.
Deniston's Superb (Gage)
- dessert
An old favourite, sometimes considered a Gage because of its sweet juicy flavour - but is also excellent for making jams and cooked desserts.
Marjories Seedling
- both dessert & culinary
One of the easiest plums to grow. It has large, juicy purplish-blue fruits that are later than Victorias, which makes it a good choice for the north of England and areas with late spring frosts. Although it is a good eaters, it is even better as a cooking plum
Opal - Plum
- dessert
Another wonderful gage-like plum. It was a chance discovery near Lyon in France in 1856, but raised in Sweden, so it is hardier than most gages which makes it suitable for growing in the North.
Farleigh - Damson
- culinary
An old damson variety, originating in Kent in the early 1800's, with a very distinctive damson flavour. Although the near-black fruits are small, this is compensated for by very heavy crops. It is one of the hardiest damsons available, so suitable for almost all locations.
Damson (or 'Shropshire') Prune
- culinary
Sometimes called the 'Shropshire Prune'. This is a very old English variety and one of the most delicious damsons after cooking. As the name suggests, it can even be dried as a prune! and used in savoury dishes. It is thought to originate from before the 1670's when prunes were widely used as a winter food.
This page gives the stories & pictures of all our wonderful fruit trees.
We have a total 36 fruit trees - apples, plums & damsons
- sweet juicy apples in the Children's orchard
- wonderful rare, traditional and local varieties of apples, plums & damsons in the Heritage Orchard on Wheston Bank
- there are cookers, eaters and even some for juicing and cider making
- our oldest apple tree is known as the "Wise Apple" which may have been brought over by the Romans.
We also have some old Derbyshire and Yorkshire varieties - including two from the heart of the Chatsworth estate.