A giant apple is 'growing' in the orchard at Cotehele in East Cornwall in time for the National Trust's Apple Day celebrations on Saturday September 27 and 28.
The living 'hand and apple' sculpture is a creation of southwest based artist Brendon Murless, to encourage visitors to explore the orchard at Cotehele, which contains fruit trees only found in the Tamar Valley — an area famed for its temperate climate and rich market garden history.
Chris Groves, orchard officer for the National Trust, said: 'The orchard at Cotehele is a great spot for wildlife and for learning more about traditional orchards. But it's also more than that, it's a wonderful space to explore and we hope that this sculpture will open up the orchard for even more people to discover.'
The National Trust makes traditional apple juice from the mature orchard at Cotehele. In 2007, Trust staff and volunteers extended this orchard and planted a further 120 fruit trees — known as the Mother Orchard. The Mother Orchard was planted with trees saved by a local couple Mary Martin and James Evans who have gathered as many as 250 varieties in their spare time and have spent the last 25 years saving threatened varieties of apple, cherry and pear in the Tamar Valley.
Brendon Murless explains his inspiration for the sculpture: 'The Mother Orchard suggests a relationship with Mother Nature and this feminine figure is something repeated in history and mythology. With this being a strong and reoccurring theme, I decided to create a female hand holding an apple to stand in the orchard.'
Apple weekend at Cotehele will take place from 11am to 4pm. The event includes cooking demonstrations by catering manager Geoff Revill, Cornish dancing on the Saturday from 'An Daras' and folk music from the 'Calstock Rubber Band' on Sunday. As well as children's activities, there is also apple tasting, pressing and tours around the new Mother Orchard.