Celebrate Apple Day 2010
Apple Day gets to the core of the matter


October 21 is Apple Day. An annual celebration of all things apple, this year the nationwide frivolities have a pressing message to convey, with the recent news that two traditional apple-growing areas are in serious decline.
Apple orchards have declined in Britain by 63% since 1950 (with some areas particularly badly hit, such as Devon which lost 89% of its orchards between 1946-2003 and Kent which lost 92% during the same period).
Initiated by Common Ground in 1990, Apple Day 2010 includes hundreds of local events across Britain, including a longest peel competition (www.commonground.org.uk/appleday/a-peel.html) and performances from the Apple Day poet laureate (www.commonground.org.uk/appleday/a-crowden.html) For more information, or for information on how to get involved in local happenings in your area, go to www.commonground.org.uk/appleday
Exquisite houses, the beauty of Nature, and how to get the most from your life, straight to your inbox.
Country Life is unlike any other magazine: the only glossy weekly on the newsstand and the only magazine that has been guest-edited by HRH The King not once, but twice. It is a celebration of modern rural life and all its diverse joys and pleasures — that was first published in Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee year. Our eclectic mixture of witty and informative content — from the most up-to-date property news and commentary and a coveted glimpse inside some of the UK's best houses and gardens, to gardening, the arts and interior design, written by experts in their field — still cannot be found in print or online, anywhere else.
-
Alan Titchmarsh: My garden is as pretty as I've ever known it, thanks to an idea I've rediscovered after 50 years
Thinking about an article he wrote almost half a century ago prompted Alan Titchmarsh to get sowing — and he's now reaping summer loveliness.
-
Water you're waiting for? Britain's best heritage lidos were built to save swimmers from polluted seas full of potato peelings, oil and coal — and they're still in action today
The seaside lido continues to offer safe swimming for holidaymakers irrespective of the tide, but they're also architectural gems worthy of our admiration.