Many of the apples we grow in the nursery originate from the rugged countryside of the Welsh borderlands.

There are fewer orchards now than 200 years ago when many of these apples were bred. But from the remnants of these once-great orchards, still hanging on by a thread, we have managed to rescue many old varieties and save them from extinction. In one particular orchard in South Shropshire, four different varieties, that hadn’t been seen for well over 100 years, and were not represented at the National Fruit Tree Collection at Brogdale, were rediscovered.

These varieties, Bringewood Pippin, Gipsy King, Round Winter Nonesuch and Rhymer have now been propagated onto new rootstock, saved for future generations to enjoy. Of these four varieties, Bringewood Pippin is a borderland variety, originating in Shropshire in the 1800s and is available for sale in the nursery. This map shows where many of these varieties originated or were first found.