About Luton Orchards
Who's been helping so far and why we think Luton needs this project.
People
Konni Deppe
Edible High Town & Luton Orchards
Thinks Luton's orchards are forgotten but fabulous
Project coordinator
Joanna Crosby
Honorary Research Fellow, University of East Anglia (UEA)
Has written books about the Victorians and their orchards
Historic adviser
Sal Wileman
Trustee, East of England Apples and Orchards Project (EEAOP)
Ran her first Apple Day back in 1991 and introduced me to the motto 'More orchards for more people more often'
Orchard adviser
Steve Oram
Orchard Biodiversity Officer, People's Trust for Endangered Species (PTES)
Grafts 30 trees an hour at the annual Buckingham Scion Swap
GIS and data adviser
Marian Biskupski
Luton resident and OS map aficionado
Pulled fantastic maps out of his collection, including a 1:1250 OS map of Luton from 1963
Elise Naish and Chris Grabham from Luton's Museums (Culture Trust Luton)
Trawled through Luton's collection and accession register to find all things orchard
Volunteer citizen scientists
So far, we've had help from:
Adam, Anna, Antony, Barry, Carly, Chace, Claire, John, Liz, Martin, Maxine, Paul, Peter, Rachel, Shani, Sheila, Torben and Wendy.
Right now, you can help with desktop research, but also on-site surveys of existing orchards, taking photos, and telling us your orchards stories.
Why Luton Orchards?
Local fruit trees are struggling
The Luton Orchards project came about after the particularly dry summer of 2022, when many newly-planted trees all over the UK and continental Europe struggled to make it through the year.
Local community gardening group Edible High Town, which helps look after the community orchard in People's Park, thought there must be a way to get more people excited about their orchards.
Partner orchards
As part of this project, we're creating an informal network of orchard custodians to support each other with skills and knowledge. So far, we've been collaborating with the following local groups and organisations:
Friends of People's Park/Edible High Town - People's Park Community Orchard
Grasmere Children's Nursery Orchard
Luton Hoo Walled Garden fruit trees
Luton Parks and Countryside Service - Wigmore Valley Park Orchard
Penrose Roots2Recovery Garden
Stockwood Discovery Centre - espaliered fruit trees
Stockingstone Road Allotment Association - communal orchard
Luton orchards in the press
BBC online, 31 Decemmber 2023: 'Apple nerds' wanted to find Luton's lost orchards
More about what we hope to achieve
Understanding what we have and what we've lost is the first step towards ensuring Luton’s orchards reach more of their potential to benefit local people and nature.
Project coordinator Konni Deppe connected with different regional and national organisations who are involved in orchard care. This includes the Bedfordshire and Luton Orchards Group, East of England Apples and Orchards Project, Orchards East Forum, People's Trust for Endangered Species and The Orchard Project.
Konni put together a plan and raised funding to research the past and survey the present of orchards in Luton.
This work will help us understand what we've lost, what we have now and how to enjoy the benefits of our orchards in Luton.
It's part of a much bigger movement to strengthen low-carbon urban food growing, to help humans and nature.
By September 2024, we want to have:
better understood the history of our orchards
mapped, recorded and published Luton’s orchard data so it can be used by those who need it
helped protect our orchards by making people more aware and building a network of orchard custodians
helped make the orchards more accessible by publishing location and access information
explored how to make orchards virtually accessible online, eg by text, videos and photography (basis for a further project)
progressed towards making Luton’s orchard history part of the historic landscape and include it in the town’s Heritage Implementation Plan and Local List, with information held online and in museums
identified the orchards with the strongest potential based on their history, biodiversity and community value
