David Warburton, MP for Somerton and Frome, recently visited West Bradley Orchards, where he was welcomed by owner Edward Clifton-Brown. As the apple harvest commenced it was an opportunity for Mr Warburton to gain an insight into the history and development of this award winning Somerset orchard.
Edward Clifton-Brown said: “It was a great pleasure to show our new Member of Parliament around an active and innovative Somerset fruit farm. We started his visit by viewing our ancient traditional cider orchard, now in the final stage of its life and rapidly succumbing to old age and mistletoe damage. We showed him our recent tree plantings with both new and traditional apple varieties on modern planting systems, all supplying fruit to one of Somerset’s oldest industries, the production of top-quality cider.
“We believe that West Bradley Orchards, small though we are, is in some respects leading the way towards providing the cider industry with good apple varieties gathered from efficient planting systems. Our aim is to satisfy today’s cider drinking tastes, and to increase the appeal of cider to a new generation of young customers.
David Warburton commented:“I was so enormously impressed by West Bradley Orchards, and particularly with their meticulously-researched, scientific approach to apple-growing and the scrupulous attention to detail they employ in growing apples of the best possible quality for our Somerset cider. It was a fascinating and highly educational insight into modern fruit-farming, and it’s wonderful to see successful producers such as West Bradley Orchards thriving in Somerset, English cider’s true heartland!”
Mr Warburton also saw West Bradley’s walnut orchards, the largest in the West Country, which produce walnuts for pickling, providing an essential Christmas delicacy.
Edward Clifton-Brown concluded: “The tour ended with a visit to Orchard Pig’s headquarters here at West Bradley Orchards coupled with some sampling of its apple drinks, aiming to introduce David Warburton to a newish member of an old but thriving Somerset industry.”