Berrington Court: 'Back to The Fruiture'

The 'Wells' in Tenbury Wells only came about after attempts in the mid- to late 19th-century to capitalise on the mineral water in the town's wells. The Pump Rooms, built in 1862 and recently restored, are its other legacy, but it was too late into the fashion - Malvern Wells, Droitwich Spa, Buxton Spa and the like - for it to yield prolonged success.

Once upon a time Tenbury was known as 'the town in the orchard'. It has been estimated that between 1970 and 1997, 64 per cent of Britain's orchards were grubbed up. Why? Often it was because the grants system operated by the then Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (MAFF) encouraged many farmers to grow cereals, not top fruit. Orchards on urban peripheries were, and those that remain still are, ripe for house-building. The cider industry is still thriving - witness the number of young orchards you may see while driving in the two counties - but some varieties of apple are verging on extinction.

On this walk you will notice that Frank P Matthews grows a lot of trees. The company sells about 60 varieties of apples. They also have a commercial interest in 'tree heritage', being the supplier of rare species to the Fruit Tree Kits scheme, administered by the Herefordshire Council Parks and Countryside Service and run every autumn.

The scheme's stated aim is 'to help people source old apple varieties that were once traditionally grown in Herefordshire but that are now rarely planted or difficult to obtain commercially and in turn restore or replant traditional standard orchards.' Those available may be culinary, dessert, or cider apples. A particularly quirky apple is called Ten Commandments; this is a rather insipid dessert apple, in fact, but its strange name comes from its bizarre internal colouring - when cut open, ten red spots are evenly spaced around its core. The scheme is not exclusively for apples, embracing particular varieties of quince, plum and pear.

Commercially, apple trees are propagated by grafting on to another rootstock. One reason for this is that they might otherwise grow into large but relatively unproductive trees. The time of maturing, the 'cropping capacity' and the final height of the tree are therefore determined by the rootstock on to which it is grafted. The fruit tree kits for orchards are supplied on rootstock coded 'M25', that is a vigorous sapling that will grow to a standard height of perhaps 33ft (10m). However, to widen the net of propagation, fruit tree kits can also be purchased for growing in a garden. Trees for this purpose are 'M26, dwarfing', growing to 8-12ft (2.4-3.6m) tall, making them practical for the gardener to harvest.

Where to eat and drink

Despite its modest size, there are plenty of options in Tenbury Wells, including a pizza house. In the heart of Tenbury is the Crow Hotel, which has a beer garden. Several of its pubs are old, timber-framed affairs, including the Royal Oak in Market Street, the King's Head Hotel in Cross Street and, on the route out, Pembroke House, which serves Caffrey's Irish Ale.

While you're there

About 3 miles (4.8km) south east of Tenbury Wells is Kyre Park, a large private house, basically medieval with Elizabethan and Jacobean pieces bolted on, set in 32 acres (13ha) of landscaped gardens, including five lakes, a medieval dovecote (resited in 1756), and a brick tithe barn from 1618. You can get married here if you want to, or just share a pot of tea. Apart from running about in the gardens, children have a 'fun palace' and there's even a miniature soft play area for toddlers.

What to look for

No 18 Teme Street (now the Country Restaurant) once housed Tenbury's most famous resident, yet he lived there for less than a year, struck down by tuberculosis when aged 30. Henry Hill Hickman, born in 1800, was a pioneer of anaesthetics, but never a practitioner (and only recognised posthumously), beyond experimenting with animals. The seventh of a farmer's 13 children, he was a truly brilliant youth.