Happy Birthday to No Man's Orchard!
No Man's Orchard is a rare example of a traditional
Kentish apple orchard. The orchard was planted in 1947 mainly with Bramley
apple trees, making it 60 years old this year!
The orchard is 10 acres (4 ha) and is situated between
Chartham and Harbledown. The two parish councils purchased the site in
1996, saving it from being grubbed up for other uses. Since then the
parishes have been working together with the Kentish Stour Countryside
Project, to manage the orchard for its conservation and landscape value.
Since 1996 the No Man's Orchard committee have organised and run a number
of public events to raise the profile of traditional orchards. Today's
orchards have changed completely from traditional orchards that consisted
of large trees and would have been harvested using ladders. Nowadays
orchards are planted with larger numbers of smaller trees which are much
easier to harvest as there is no need for ladders. The trees are sprayed
regularly with pesticides and the ground around them is sprayed with
herbicides to keep the trees free from weeds.
No Man's is a haven for wildlife and a brilliant example
of a traditional orchard. The KSCP along with the orchard committee are
working to keep the orchard more or less as it would have been
traditionally. Through replacing dead trees with similar large varieties
and managing the grassland areas below the trees through cutting alone
with no spraying of chemicals or pesticides.
The orchard was recently successful in gaining an Awards
for All lottery grant! This money will be used to put on a big summer
event in 2008 to help celebrate No Man's 60th and to show
people what traditional orchards are all about. As part of the grant a
sculpture will also be commissioned and hopefully unveiled at the event.
More information on the orchard can be found by visiting
the No Man's Orchard LNR page in the
'Visiting the Stour Valley section of the website'.
