Yorkshire and Humberside orchard groups

To find community orchards local to you, see our community orchard map

• Northern Fruit Group – Formed in 1995, The Northern Fruit Group is a membership based group of individuals interested in the growing of fruit. Ability ranges from amateur gardeners interested in fruit but having little knowledge through to professional fruit growers. Membership of the group exceeds 300.The group holds regular meetings at RHS Garden Harlow Carr, Harrogate with talks given by invited speakers. A newsletter is published four times a year. There is at least one visit each year to a garden, orchard or commercial fruit farm. The Group is developing teaching and demonstration gardens in the Walled Garden at Harewood House, near Leeds; on allotments at Dewhurst Road, Huddersfield and in Hexthorpe, Doncaster. The group ethos is one of sharing practical skills; members are encouraged to come along and take part in the practical days held at the various garden sites. A number of Workshops are held including:- summer and winter pruning, bench grafting and budding. The group also produces a number of leaflets, which include:-
  Suggested Cultivars for the North details the cultuvars that members grow and some observations on their performance.

•  Kirkby Fruit Project – 

  We are a volunteer group making use of surplus fruit
  to help raise funds for local community groups

  KFP aims to:

  • Use locally grown, surplus fruit to generate funds for community groups and projects

  • Learn and teach skills in juicing and pasteurising juice

  • Learn and teach skills in cider making

  • Learn and teach skills in propagation and care of fruit trees

  • Create a living record to celebrate the fruit production heritage of Kirkbymoorside

  The Kirkby Fruit Project (KFP) was formed in 2012, to pick and distribute surplus apples in the local area to help prevent them being wasted

Where to buy trees in Yorkshire and Humberside

• R.V. Roger Ltd – stock around 80 varieties of apples, plus pears, plums, cherries and nuts, and can advise on planting and growing. The Nurseries, Pickering, Yorkshire YO18 7JW. 01751 472226

• Marc Richmond – runs a small nursery specialising in heritage apple trees and those of the East Midlands, all grown to organic standards. 07817 654022

• Fruit Works Co-operative - As well as our fruit tree nursery we support community groups and schools around Bradford and Leeds to plant and manage orchards. We also run training courses and provide a pruning service.

• Sheffield Fruit Trees – a social enterprise fruit tree nursery based in Meersbrook, South Sheffield. We developed as an offshoot of the Abundance urban fruit-harvesting project back in 2014 and have been operating independently since 2017. We consider Abundance as our sister project – you can find out more about them here.

  We cultivate a wide variety of fruit trees and other perennial edible plants specialising in trees suitable for a Northern climate and fruit varieties unique to Sheffield that you won’t find anywhere else. We are committed to an ecologically-conscious approach and use only naturally-occurring nutrients and sprays to keep our trees healthy.

Orchard services and produce in Yorkshire and Humberside

• Yorkshire Orchards – a small family farm in East Yorkshire, England, who specialise in growing fruit to make into juices. Grow a wide variety of fruit, mainly apples and pears, which are processed into juices, some mixed blend, some single varieties. Also grow brambles, raspberries, currants etc., which are processed and added to the juices.

• Garden House Damson Cheese – Damson cheese is made from orchard damsons. It is contained in specially made pottery and is available from their village shop. The Garden House, Anvil Square, Reeth, Richmond North Yorkshire DL11 6TE. 01748 884188

• Ampleforth Abbey – Apples have been grown at Ampleforth for well over one hundred years. Today, the orchard covers more than 2 hectares, with some 2,000 trees and more than 40 varieties of apples, including Ribston Pippin, originating from a tree grown locally at Ribston Hall in the 17th century, Ashmead’s Kernal, Vista Bella, and Beauty of Bath. Some of the apples are sold to visitors and others are juiced or used in the production of Ampleforth Abbey Cider and Ampleforth Cider Brandy.

• Moorlands Farm Cyder & Apple Juice – Widely available in Yorkshire.

• Fruit Works Co-operative - As well as our fruit tree nursery we support community groups and schools around Bradford and Leeds to plant and manage orchards. We also run training courses and provide a pruning service.

• Yorkshire Wolds Apple Juice – Located on the edge of the Yorkshire Wolds close to Malton, Yorkshire Wolds Apple Juice is a small family run enterprise. Juice available locally in Yorkshire. Also offer juicing service.

Other links

• Abundance Sheffield – Abundance is a volunteer based organisation that rescues, shares, cooks, and juices and enjoys fruit which may otherwise go to waste across Sheffield. You can join the ‘Abundance Sheffield Project’ Facebook Group for more info, events and discussion.

• Wortley Hall Walled Garden – Restored walled garden. In November 2007 seventeen different Yorkshire heritage apple varieties were planted. Wortley Hall Walled Garden, Wortley, South Yorkshire S35 7DB.

• Helmsley Walled Garden – The orchard is mostly apple trees together with a small range of pear and stone fruit trees including Arthur Turner, Grenadier and Victoria plum. The whole of the North wall at the bottom of the Garden was replanted in 2012 with a mixture of plums, damsons, cherries and red and white currants, all to be fan-trained as they grow. There is the display of step-cordoned and cordoned Yorkshire apple varieties around the Allotments. Helmsley Walled Garden, Cleveland Way, Helmsley, North Yorkshire, YO62 5AH. 01439 771427

• Beningbrough Hall, Gallery and Gardens – Over 50 varieties of apples & pears, plus many other fruits & vegetables, are cultivated using traditional methods in two acres of enclosed kitchen garden. Harvested produce is used in the restaurant and surplus sold through the shop. Beningbrough, York, North Yorkshire, YO30 1DD. +44 (0)1904472027

• Bowling Park Community Orchard – The orchard was developed on six disused allotment plots adjacent to Bowling Park. In March 2003 over 40 trees were planted including 35 varieties of apple, 6 pears and 4 plums. The orchard is managed by BEES (Bradford Environmental Education Service) conservation volunteers. BEES, YMCA Culture Fusion, 125 Thornton Road, Bradford, BD1 2EP. 01274 371303

• Cannon Hall Museum Park and Gardens – owns an historic pear tree collection comprising 48 trees of 30 different varieties grown in a walled garden built in 1760, 43 of which are grown against walls. Cannon Hall Museum, Cawthorne, Barnsley, +44(0)1226 790270

• Millenium Orchard, Beverley Parks Nature Reserve  – The site has four parts with a mixed broadleaved woodland, an orchard and two fields. There are eighty standard trees of 37 culinary and dessert apple varieties including local apples Hornsea Herring, Fillingham Pippin, Cockpit, Hunthouse Pippin and Ribston Pippin, the others being northern varieties that will grow well in the local conditions.