Okehampton College students presented members of the Fatherford Road Allotments Association with handmade tree tags this week for the orchard at the allotment site.

Allotment committee members invited Okehampton College students to create the tags as part of their work tidying the plum and apple trees in the orchard. The committee had initially raised the idea with Duchy College, as some Okehampton young people attend the college and it offers land-based courses involving tree work, but health and safety concerns complicated the plan.

Instead, committee treasurer Debs Barker said she turned to her neighbour, a teacher at Okehampton College, who suggested the students work with technicians to create the tags.

Debs said: “She said she would talk to the technicians and came back, saying they were thrilled with the idea. She sent me a sample of what they thought they could do, and I was happy with that. I thought it was wonderful.”

The tags feature each variety’s name and different designs depending on the variety’s use. Cider apple tags feature an apple press; cooking apples are represented by a freshly made pie, and dessert apple tags showcase a half-eaten apple with a tree behind. Plum tree tags are decorated with a drawing of a handful of plums. The tags also vary in size depending on how old the fruit variety is, with older varieties given larger tags.

Some of the varieties date back hundreds of years, with the Chrislin plum believed to be a very old Devon variety, possibly from Okehampton.

Chair of the allotment association, Jan Goffey, said the trees are set to be pruned in the autumn, and the tags will be hung as soon as they are varnished and fitted with holes and string.