TCTOP – Gorsley Orchard

The owners of this orchard have been hard at work renovating the farm house and are now turning their attention to the orchard. It would once have been part of the many orchards which lined the main street of the village, where the farm houses and cottages had their ‘home’ orchard trees. Most are long gone but this lovely orchard remains.

The orchard is in fairly poor condition since it’s previous elderly owners struggled to manage it. Some of the trees are very big and the site is steeply sloping. The first step has been a thorough survey of all the trees, especially since some are close to power lines – always a worry when working with long saws !

The first step has been to make the trees safe and TCTOP volunteers have worked hard to do this, alongside the owners who are keen to learn how to manage the trees. We’ve carried out conservation pruning;aiming to keep the trees on their feet rather than producing a good crop, but the owners have reported a really good harvest !

One of the real joys of working here is being alongside some very inquisitive Gloucestershire Old Spot pigs; another part of the farming heritage of this county. It’s great to see the landscape being restored and used in a really positive way.