Exhibition of apples grown from discarded cores

An orchard of trees that started life as discarded apple cores in hedgerows and waysides, is the subject of a new exhibition in Cornwall.

The Some Interesting Apples project has found more than 600 apple wildings in the county since 2019, according to The University of Exeter which supported the scheme.

The university said working with the National Trust, the project created the first ever orchard in the UK dedicated to growing apples seeded by chance in the wild in 2023.

Co-founder William Arnold has documented the first six months of the orchard's growth and his photography will be on display at the university's Penryn Campus in April.

The exhibition will show the variety of apples found across the county.

The university said 80 apple rootstocks were planted at The Wilding Mother Orchard site near Helford in 2024, with the grafting of the wilding scions beginning later in the year.

The orchard, which is used as a community and research resource, is jointly managed by The National Trust Lizard and Penrose team, and Some Interesting Apples.

The photography shows the grafted plants after six months.

Mr Arnold said: "People get alarmed when they realise that the heritage apple varieties they love might not survive in a climate-changed world.

"They don't appreciate that we are surrounded by unique wild apple volunteers that may be better adapted to future conditions."

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