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COMMUNITY
ORCHARDS BEES have been involved in developing Community Orchards in Bradford and Keighley for the past 4 years. We see them as a place to grow fruit, develop wildlife habitats and create socialale urban green space. The next work day at Bowling Park Community Orchard is on Friday 14th December - we will be pruning the trees and planting some new trees in the new 'events area' We enjoyed another successful Apple Day at Bowling Park Community Orchard, BD4 on Saturday 13th October 2007 Apple day is a celebration of the diversity of our apple heritage.
Only a handful of varieties are available in the shops, yet over 6000 varieties have been grown in the past. Activities at Apple Day
Despite the drizzle nearly 300 people enjoyed the childrens' activities, horticultutral advice, and wonderful food served by the 1in12 Cafe. As well as the apples and trees for sale we had jute and cotton shopping bags available to purchase - these will be avaailable at future events too. DIRECTIONS TO THE ORCHARD.  Bowling Park Community Orchard is in the Allotments on Bowling Park Drive, alongside the park and near Bolling Hall. From Bradford City Centre go up Wakefield Road to the first roundabout, turn right (Prospect St.) and then second left up Hall Lane. At the top of the hill turn right in front of the park and the entrance gate to the allotments is 500m on the left. From Rooley Lane A6177, take Bowling Hall Lane past the park, turn left at the bottom corner, 500m to entrance. From Manchester Road approach the allotments via Parkside or New Cross Street. Please note that there is another allotment site on Avenue Road - we are not located there, you need to access the site on Bowling Park Drive. Buses – 624 stops at the corner of Bowling Hall Lane and Bowling Park Drive 677/5 stops at the Corner of Parkside and Avenue Road. Both go to the interchange. The orchard is about a 20 minute walk from the Interchange. There is plenty of room for parking on the road. This years event has been supported by: Bradford Apple Group Local Network Fund Community Funding Unit (BEES) Love Apple Café BCEP YMCA Northern Fruit Group NEW! Free apple resource sheets available to download. These were developed by Bradford Apple Group and give information on children's activities, local orchards, recipes etc. Apple Day 2006 When we were involved in the first Bradford Apple Day at Saltaire in 2000 the motivation for the evnent was to see if there was an interest in establishing a community orchard in Bradford, The event soon took on a life of its own adn become an enjoyable celebration day. Meanwhile BEES pressed on with the idea of a Community Orchard and worked with volunteers, schools and local people to create an orchard containing about 40 trees, planted mainly in March 2003. By 2006 the orchard was established enough to host the Apple Day event, and it was very succesfull - the ideal place to enjoy the fruit, play games and offer advice.    Events 2005 In Autumn 2005 we held two successful events celebrating our involvement with Community Orchards in Bradford. Firstly we held an Apple day celebration at Bowling Park Community Orchard on Saturday 8th October 2005, and although it poured with rain over 50 people came along to taste the food, buy apples (which we had bought from Ampleforth College as our trees are still immature), and join in some art activities.   Since the event in October we have been working to improve the infrastructure of the orchard and compliment the planting. Both the events and the practical work has been made possible by a grant to the Friends of Bowling Park Community Orchard from Living Spaces (ODPM). We now have a small shed on site, with a shelter which will collect rain and offer a bit of protection. We have increased the seating with two new benches from Education to Conservation (locally managed woodlands) and by logs donated from the Council. These logs are being carved by volunteers. The planting has included not just trees and soft fruit but ornamental and wildlife friendly shrubs. We also helped organise Bradford Apple Day on Saturday 15th October at Shipley College, Exhibition Hall, Exhibition Road, Saltaire. This was the sixth event organised by Bradford Apple Group and attracted about 500 people to join in the activiites listed below.
 What is Apple Day? A day of fun and information about eating, growing and enjoying apples and community orchards.
How many
different apples have you been able to buy recently?
Would you like to taste others and find out about community orchards and growing fruit? Apple Day is a time to celebrate the diversity of apples that we grow and eat in our region. It was instigated in 1990 by the environmental arts charity Common Ground - now hundreds of events across the country attract thousands of people each autumn. Do you work with children, young people or a community group that would be interested in joining in with an art project? Each year we work towards a display of apple related art for the event. More details nearer the time, but please contact us if you would like to contribute. If you would like any further information about Apple Day then please contact Julia at BEES. |
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Education Service [BEES] Ground floor YMCA Building, Little Horton Lane, Bradford, BD5 0JG - Tel +44 (0) 1274 513109/513102 Fax +44 (0) 1274 734118 e-mail:bees@bradford.ymca.org.uk |
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