We meet at Growing Hollingdean shed on the corner of Brentwood Road and Lynchet Close at 10am. We wait 10 minutes before going on to our location within the estate. One of our Growing Hollingdean volunteers will talk through the mornings plan, give out equipment, including some Health & Safety tips. It’s free fitness, a chance to make new friends, and we always have a good laugh along the way.

Tree Guardians seen in Merevale Orchard 1st February 2026

Five volunteers braved the rain (and a child) pruned nine pip fruit trees in Merevale Orchard and the top of Brentwood Road. A small bag of litter was collected from near these trees, caring for the community we live in. A very satisfying morning and looking forward to tasty fruit on these trees. Well done volunteers.

075 Apple Tree: Pitmaston Pineapple

Pitmaston Pineapple is an old English russet apple tree variety known for its small, golden-yellow fruits with a distinct sweet, sharp, and nutty flavour, often described as having a hint of pineapple. This heritage apple is suitable for smaller gardens and is resistant to scab disease. 

076 Apple Tree: Forfar

Forfar apple tree is a traditional, moderately vigorous variety that produces large, dual-purpose (eating and cooking) fruit with a rich, sweet, aromatic flavour. The apple has firm, crisp, juicy, yellow flesh with a rich, sweet, aromatic flavour.

077 Apple Tree: Discovery

Discovery apple tree is a popular, early-season English dessert variety (introduced 1949) known for its bright red, crisp, and juicy fruit with hints of strawberry, often ready to harvest from mid-August. 

078 Apple Tree: Heredforshire

Herefordshire Russet is a modern (2002), compact, and self-fertile dessert apple tree with golden-brown fruit, known for its rich, aromatic Cox-like flavour. 

176, 178, 180 & 181 Apple Tree’s, either Sturmer or Lord Derby or Reinette Clochard or Hindlip Cultivar

Let us know if you can help to identify which tree you think apples are, we are always on the look out for volunteer tree surveyors.

Sturmer Pippin was an important English apple in the Victorian period, esteemed because of its excellent keeping qualities. Rated by the Victorian writer Hogg as “of first-rate excellence”. A crisp, juicy, and sharply flavoured green-yellow fruit that turns orange-brown. The tree is vigorous, hardy, and highly productive. 

Lord Derby is an English cooking apple tree, a large, firm, attractive, bright green fruit with a distinctive ribbed angular shape.

Reinette Clochard is a highly-regarded French heirloom dessert apple, originating from the Deux-Sèvres region in the 19th century. Known as a “vagrant” (Clochard), this tree is vigorous, reliable, and scab-resistant. The fruit is medium-sized, firm, and yellow with russet freckles, offering a sweet-tart, aromatic flavor that stores well. 

Lord Hindlip is a traditional, late-season English dessert / eating apple, originating from Worcestershire in the late 19th century. Known for its excellent keeping qualities until March, this hardy, ornamental tree produces firm, cream-fleshed, heavily crimson-flushed yellow-green fruit. It is a versatile, crisp, and aromatic variety. 

183 Apple Tree: Saltcote Pippin

Saltcate Pipin is a medium to large dessert / eating apple. Cream coloured, firm flesh that is juicy, sweet, aromatic, and rich in flavour. A fascinating skin texture which resembles finely hand-beaten copper due to the minute ‘dimples’ on the surface.