I recently took my 90-year-old mother to visit the community orchard just outside Ringmer. We had been invited by Katharine , who met us there and helped me to manoeuvre my mother to the apple-laden trees, where she sat in her wheelchair. It was a beautiful sunny Autumn morning and it was a joy to see my mother's delight just to be out among the fruit trees. All through my childhood she had talked of the orchards of Kent, where she grew up. She mourned the disappearance of varieties like Beauty of Bath, Lemon Pippin, and Russet and lamented the flavourless substitutes. Katharine brought various different apples to show my mother, telling us their names - Orleans Reinettes, First and Last, Falstaffs and many more. And then she introduced the tree right in front of us and covered in huge shiny, red apples straight from a fairy tale. Newton Wonders - my mother's favourite. We polished up three smaller ones and placed them in her lap. Her delight as she crunched her way through all three in succession was palpable. 'Now that's what I call a real apple!'. 'There should be an orchard for every community. I've always thought so’ she told me afterwards. Thank-you Katharine for a wonderful day among the fruit trees. DS