Apple Fantastic

Due to the weather the others cried off so I went to the Blackmoor Estate 'Apple Fair' on my own. Just as well because I came home with two apple trees and other goodies. As the car was filled up with my stuff there'd have been no room for passengers. Thank you Guardian Angel, you had my best interests at heart. As I hate crowds I set off early. There were lots of exhibitors, wild life, food producers, Blacksmith, Chair Bodger, Morris Dancers etc.... I left around lunchtime, far too many people and much too crowded for me A real treat was going up the Church spire for just £1.50. Narrow spiral stairs led to the bell ringers room where we saw the Victorian clock mechanism spring into action on the quarter hour. Nice to catch one's breath before the next stop which was the actual bell room. We saw one of the bells swing on it's axis while being rung by a volunteer in the room below. The final stop was the gallery which run round the base of the steeple. Lovely views but why did my legs feel like jelly? Journey down phased me a bit, parts of the spiral stairs were so dark I couldn't see where to put my feet. My apple trees were a real bargain at only £10 each, I just hope they thrive. James Grieve, the top one, is a very popular old Scottish apple variety. It was introduced in Edinburgh in 1893. These apples are a red flush stripe over a pale green. A juicy, crisp apple, they have an excellent flavour, hence their popularity. Red Windsor has a Cox type flavour and is a heavy cropper. It is a frost hardy apple tree, especially at blossom time. It has very compact and easy to grow with good disease resistance. This apple is the product of the cross between the apple varieties British Cox's Orange Pippin x German Sport of Alkmene and was first introduced in 1985. They will pollinate each other.