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Do you know your local apple varieties?
Until a few years ago, I didn't.
When I go on holiday one of the things I like to do is walk from the door, ideally up the nearest hill, in order to get a feel for where I am staying. A sense of place. Woods, farmland, crops, and, of course, the local orchards.
I read the labels if there are any, taste a few and scrump a few windfalls if it's the autumn, and consider taking a few scions if it's the winter.
On one of these ramblings I realised I didn't know my local (Derbyshire) apple varieties.
I put that right!
Derbyshire have five local varieties, and I now grow them all.
Beeley Pippin
Belledge Pippin
Lamb's Seedling
New Bess Pool
Newton Wonder
Beeley Pippin
Raised c1880 by the Reverend C. Scunthorpe of Beeley, a village near Bakewell and part of the Chatsworth Estate. Dessert apple. ‘Dusky pink and russet; aromatic flavour’ (M&R).
Belledge Pippin
Received by the National Fruit Trials from Derbyshire in 1818. Dessert apple. ‘Fruits have coarse, soft flesh with an acid flavour’ (National Fruit Collection).
Lambs Seedling
Raised c1866 by the Head gardener Joseph Lamb at Meynell Langley, Derby. Seedling of Northern Greening. Dual purpose. ‘Slightly sharp but prized for its tender flesh in New Year’ (M&R).
New Bess Pool Believed to be a seedling of Bess Pool, a Nottinghamshire variety. Raised by J. Stevens of Stanton-by-dale, south east Derbyshire (not Yorkshire as attributed by Morgan & Richards) sometime before 1850. Dessert apple. ‘Quite sweet, light flavour’ (M&R).
Newton Wonder
Found c1870 growing in thatch of Hardinge Arms by innkeeper Taylor of King's Newton, Melbourne (South Derbyshire). Thought to be Blenheim Orange X Dumelow's Seedling and received a RHS First Class Certificate in 1887. Has a good acid flavour and holds its shape when cooked. Culinary. Cooks to ‘a yellow fluff’ (Sanders) but ‘mild compared to Bramley’ (M&R). Becomes a brisk dessert apple. Still popular.
Arguably, there is a sixth apple, too:
Lord Derby
Raised in Stockport in 1862 by B. W. Witham, a nurseryman in Stockport, Cheshire – just over the Derbyshire county border and connected by name. Catshead a possible parent. Ribbed angular in shape. Large green/yellow culinary apple. ‘Best used early, green, strong, sharp taste, keeps little form’ (M&R).