Oughtrington Community Orchard
About Us
Hidden behind Oughtrington Community Centre and St Peters Church Hall, but fully visible from the canal towpath is our orchard. Lovingly restored by local volunteers. We received some grant backing from the Local Heritage Initiative and Warrington Borough Council in 2006 to kick start the work. In 2012 we were succeeded in getting Local Food Big Lottery backing.
We would like to invite you to come and see what we have achieved.
Our aims are:
To promote local character and individuality, by planting up local Cheshire fruit varieties.
To provide a local community facility where outdoor events such as 'Apple Day', Blossom Day etc can be held.
To highlight and encourage seasonality of locally grown produce.
To create a visual reminder of traditional land use and rural traditions
To show local residents the importance of healthy eating and the natural environment, and encourage them to respect it by involving them in the creation and running of an orchard.
Back in 2007 to complement our real trees we commissioned North-West sculptor, Adrian Moakes, to work with Lymm High School to create a piece of artwork for the orchard. The Year 9 students did a fantastic job. Adrian used their ideas to inspire the "Celebration Tree" which is now installed so do take a look.
Our activities involve the local community both in the development and use of the orchard. We are proud of our achievements to date, having cleared vast amounts of nettles, brambles and dead trees, pruned surviving trees and installed fencing, seeded grass as well as planting trees and hedging. Local volunteers have worked in all weathers, eaten lots of cake and had lots of fun on the way. Why not join us and take a look at the rejuvenated orchard?
If you have any memories or photographs of how the orchard used to be we would love to hear from you - contact us at hello@spudwood.org.uk