Apple harvest brings Bratton community together

Thirty people turned out to pick and press apples at a community harvest in Bratton, producing around 10 gallons of fresh juice before they ran out of containers.

The event took place at Reeves Orchard on Saturday 17th October, with locals bringing apples from their own gardens as well as picking fruit from the orchard’s trees.

Volunteers set up the equipment early in the morning, carrying the heavy apple press down to the juicing area and preparing the machine used to crush the fruit.

The day took on a cheerful feel when Dan Loughran brought out his accordion. His friend Lewis Topley had written a song for him called Scrattin’ in Bratton, with copies handed out so everyone could join in.

Children also tried their hand at pressing apples and enjoyed an American cornhole game built for the event by Bryan Parkinson.

“None of them had seen anything like it before and thoroughly enjoyed playing it,” Bryan said. “I did have to teach a number of them how to throw before they had any success, though.”

Despite it not being a particularly good year for apples, the harvest produced plenty of juice.

Steve Crosby, orchard volunteer team leader, said, “Although it was not a great year for apples, we had plenty and I reckon that we made about 10 gallons of fresh apple juice.”

Rob Mears, who operated the press and helped children make their own juice, said, “It was great to see so many people enjoying the fruits of the orchard, the late autumn sunshine and the young ones trying their hand at pressing the apples.”

Anya Harvey-Loughran described it as “an absolutely marvellous day”, adding that the children had great fun and enjoyed drinking the juice.

“It’s wonderful to teach the next generation how to do something from scratch, and I think they respond really well to seeing their hard work rewarded so definitely,” she said.

The event also welcomed two new members to the orchard’s volunteer team, while organisers said there should be enough juice for the orchard’s wassailing cider.

Photos by Eddie Cole