Celia Steven, has a ‘Great’ connection to the famous Bramley apple and this wonderfully versatile culinary staple is now helping raise money for the local cricket club.
“When I arrived in Buckland Monachorum in 1998, knowing nobody, and wondering what I had done, I was made so welcome. I had not realised that I had arrived during ‘ Bramley Week’; it appeared there was an article in the Telegraph and the owner of Store Cottage Bed and Breakfast, as it was then, had seen it and made the connection that I was the Great Granddaughter of Henry Merryweather who introduced the Bramley to Great Britain, still commercially viable to this day, favoured by chefs everywhere, and is famous worldwide.
I thought however my work in that direction finished when I left Nottinghamshire, and wondered what to do. I had run a small horticultural nursery for over 21 years, and had been involved in Council work and tourism, planted many trees, and flew the flag for the Bramley apple. Nothing could have been further from the truth, and my adventures continue.
It started with talks about the Bramley, its history, cullinary, and whatever else I thought fitted the bill and this was a very good way to find out more about the area and meet people. This led to starting a Community Orchard for the village, a way of protecting old apple varieties and helping children from St Andrews School in Buckland Monachorum learn about local history and the wonderful natural biodiversity of such a place. It is now about 17 years old and provides apple juice locally. It is still quite difficult to find help with such projects but somehow we carry on with help from a variety of people and a more peaceful place I can’t imagine. I am very grateful to the Northmore family for allowing us to use a piece of their land to make this possible.
I continue to plant trees when the opportunity presents itself, and help wherever I can, not to mention travelling to Northern Ireland during the bicentenary celebrations where they grow about 50% of Britains Bramleys, and Japan, who started growing them fairly recently. I was invited to see their industry and it was a visit I will never forget. I hope we can find a way to incorporate all of this growing friendship into the Tokyo Olympics in 2020.
The Drake Manor Inn has been home to a host of wonderful events, Mandy Robinson has been a tower of strength and the Bramley incorporated in a great many of them, from competitions to Royal Celebrations and of course this year, the National Apple Day Dinner to raise some money towards the building of the new Pavilion for Buckland Monachorum Cricket Club.” - Celia Steven
The Cricket Club, based in the village of Crapstone, currently has distinctly sub standard facilities for such a picturesque cricket club and has been reliant on porta-cabins since the demolition of its old pavilion several years ago. A great deal of money has been raised over these years to fund a brand new pavilion. Funds are nearly complete and with a final few more fund-raising events may mean the new pavilion will become a reality very soon.
In response to Celia’s support and her ‘Apple Day Dinner’ – the cricket club now has it’s own apple orchard tucked away in the corner of the field.
If you’d like to come along to the dinner on 20th October at the Drake Manor Inn or are able to offer a ‘promise’ for the after dinner auction, please contact Celia for more details – email: celia@bramleyapples.org.uk