The Orchard Milepost

The milepost, which was found close to the orchard entrance, has been restored and returned to the roadside this week.

In Blaydon on Tyne, at the end of the 19th century, our milepost was cast. It was placed along the toll road between Belford and Ford Bridge, where it stood for many years before a passing hedge flail caught it and broke it in to 5 pieces. We suspect the farmer hid the evidence of his accident in the hedge bottom - where, through time, the pieces became buried beneath soil level. In 1986 a man from the council listed all the milepost along the stretch of road but, by then, our broken remains were well hidden from sight.

A gentleman from the Milestone Society enlisted our help to find the milepost in 2009 but, although we got rather battered and scratched from digging through the roadside hedge, there was no sign of it. 

In June of this year we had to move a stretch of hedge to create the orchard access - and there, hidden well underneath the hedge roots, was our milepost. Using a metal detector Darren was able to locate the stem of the milepost – it was a long way beneath soil level.

We had the pieces of the milepost sand blasted to remove rust and then, with advice and help from the Milestone Society, we were able to rejoin the 5 broken pieces using steel putty (amazing stuff) and fibreglass.

The mended post was painted with several coats of white Hammerite – and then I used a small roller (thank you Jeremy) to apply black to the raised lettering. In some places the damage was too great – so I resorted to a fine brush and a steady hand (the ‘O’ in Ford is all my own work!).

 Terry and Paul gave Tom a hand to dig and cement the milepost in place at the orchard entrance. Thank you to everyone who has helped us restore this piece of local history.

Northumbria in Bloom Gold

We’ve just been to the Northumbria in Bloom award ceremony where Lowick Community Community Orchard won a gold medal in THE DURHAM TROPHY for Best Conservation Project. A huge ‘thank you’ to everyone who has supported the orchard – it’s been a tremendous success! 

The orchard was also part of Lowick in Bloom's village entry which was awarded a gold medal as well. The members of Lowick in Bloom have worked tremendously hard to transform our village into a pretty, flowery, cared-for place with a great community spirit. Congratulations to all! 

Organic

Lowick Community Orchard is now part of the Organic Farmers and Growers scheme. It will take 3 years to convert the orchard to organic production, and in this time, the area must be very carefully managed. In the autumn of 2014 the fruit harvest of our community orchard will be certified organic.

If you are caring for a tree in the orchard, it’s really important that you don’t put anything on it without first consulting Tom and Karen info@huntinghall.co.uk Please remember not to take compost, fertiliser, manure, seeds, plants, bulbs, chemical or non-chemical treatments to the orchard.

We're really excited about this step; registering a community orchard with an organic scheme is unusual, and makes our orchard quite unique. We hope everyone will enjoy this green adventure and help work towards a very environmentally-friendly harvest.