BBC's Countryfile presenter Adam Henson has spoken of his heartbreak at the falling number of orchards near his farm, where he lives with wife Charlie.
Speaking about the tradition of wassailing, an ancient winter tradition involving singing and dancing on the Twelfth Night (January 5), Adam said he was glad that despite the falling number of orchards in Gloucestershire, wassailing was still taking place.
Writing in Cotswold Life about nature in winter, Adamsaid: “In days of old, the sheer number of fruit orchards dotted across Gloucestershire made the county a prime place for wassailing.
“The Twelfth Night custom of blessing the trees in hope of a good crop later in the year dates back to pagan times.
“I can’t guarantee that chasing away the evil spirits always worked but I do know that every self respecting wassail involved singing, dancing, the lighting of bonfires and drinking plenty of farmhouse cider.
“It’s heartbreaking that so many orchards have been list in recent decades but it’s good to know that there’s renewed interest in wassailing. Gatherings now take place all over the region.”
Adam’s concerns over the loss of many orchards in the Cotswolds come as the Gloucestershire Orchard Trust warns that changes in buying habits and infrastructure are impacting the number of orchards in the county.
In a statement, they said: “Traditional orchards have unique ecological, genetic, heritage and landscape value that we need to conserve and celebrate.
“Changes in agriculture and in the way supermarkets buy and sell fruit have meant that Gloucestershire has lost over 70% of its orchards in the past 50 or so years and what was once a familiar part of the landscape is now increasingly rare.”
This isn’t the first time Adam has talked about the importance of trees, in an article for the official BBC Countryfile website, he discussed about what people get wrong about them, especially old veteran trees, and how they’re so much more than they appear.
He explained: “You might think that a tree that is full of holes, cavities and crevices is no use to anyone but, in fact, veteran trees are incredibly important for biodiversity and nature conservation.
“For starters, fungi and lichen provide a free home for insects, food for animals such as squirrels and voles, and nesting material for birds.
“Its nooks and crannies are the ideal habitat for woodpeckers and nuthatches; they attract owls, tree-creepers and kestrels; provide roosting sites for bats; and spots to shelter for dormice and badgers. Even amphibians get a look-in – great crested newts love to hide away in the decaying wood of a veteran tree.”
