STAMFORD COMMUNITY ORCHARD GROUP

May Day Blossom Brunch

 

The first Orchard Day across Europe and Britain was celebrated in Stamford on May 1st in the Stamford Community Orchard. This was a new annual event in recognition of the beauty, bounty and biodiversity of orchard fruit trees. Stamford Community Orchard Group organised the event in association with Stamford in Bloom and Art Pop-Up to celebrate our orchard blossom as part of the first annual European Orchard Day. As organiser Adam Cade said “Few British sights are as uplifting or evocative as fruit tree boughs heavy with spring blossom, and nowhere is this more in evidence than in orchards. Partly man-made and partly natural, orchards are a meeting point of both worlds.“ Music, food and orchard activities filled the space in celebration of the orchard blossom. There was a children’s storyteller as well as the Woven Chords Community Choir and the Gazebo Folk Band to entertain the visitors, as well as Buck’s Fizz and Pimms served by the Vaults mobile Bar.

 

As Adam Cade explained traditionally managed orchards are a key feature of the British landscape, however numbers have dwindled since the 1950s with only around 10% left. Yet, they provide a key habitat for rare and declining species and are abundant in biodiversity. The Orchard Blossom Day aimed to increase awareness of these historical and biologically rich spaces.