Yesterday I went for a walk through some beautiful orchards close to my home (permission was not required,the owners are friends of mine). Autumn is such a beautiful time of year and it's apple season.

English apples have a rich history extending back through many centuries. Indeed, it was the Romans who first introduced varieties with sweeter and greater taste. The improvements continued in monasteries following the Norman Conquest while further advances occurred after Henry VIII instructed his fruiterer Richard Harris to identify and introduce new varieties from the continent, which were planted in his orchard in Kent.

a local grower informed me that there are over 2,300 varieties of dessert and cooking apples and over 100 cider apples. My favourite apple has to be the Egremont Russet.

The humble English apple also features in a few folk songs.

A beautiful song by Debbie McClatchy has been in my head all day, it's called "Apples in Winter"


His love for me then
Like apples in winter
So sweet to my lips
Yet hard to find

We walked down the beach
Towards the lights of the city
Leaving the rest so far behind
We stopped at the cove
We had once found together
It was ours, for ourselves,
With none to see

And his love for me then
Like apples in winter
So sweet to my lips
Yet hard to find

The mists of the night
They covered the coastline
The sound of the surf pounding below
And out in the dark
The big lights of the city
Giving the night a reddish glow
And I held him then
And I know in that moment
That this was the way it all should be

For his love for me then
Like apples in winter
So sweet to my lips
Yet hard to find

His love for me now
Like peaches in autumn
Full, soft and warm
And heavy sweet
I lay on the beach
And I bathe in the sunlight
My mind at ease, my comfort complete
And I now watch that man
Who once was that boy
And I know I have done the right thing

For his love for me then
Like apples in winter
So sweet to my lips
Yet hard to find
To my lips.