Welcome to Broome Farm and a stroll through our orchards of cider apples and perry pears.  Please beware of rabbit holes as you walk!

Click on any of the images to see the larger picture
 

From Point 1 you can see across the valley to the right an 8 acre orchard of Michelin and Dabinett bittersweet cider apples grown under contract to Bulmers of Hereford as are 40 of the 50 acres of orchard on the farm.  To the left a lake and ground above it belong to the Duchy of Cornwall and are tenanted to a local farmer growing arable crops – the lake was created to provide irrigation.  In the field to the left of the drive are a variety of perry pear trees including Butt, Barland, Oldfield, Brandy, Brinsop and Hendre Huffcup.

Point 2.  The old track that leads from this gate across the field provided access to Wellsbrook Farm.  There are more perry pear trees including Thorn, Taynton Squash, Parsonage and the famous Blakeney Red  planted in the top left hand corner of this field.  In the distance the driveway leads through a traditional orchard to another old farmhouse called the Flan.

At Point 3 you are in Nine Acre Orchard, an orchard of over 2000 trees of six different varieties including the bittersweets Major, Somerset Redstreak and Balls Bittersweet with the majority being Browns Apple which is a sharp. 

Point 4.  From here you can see the buildings of Wellsbrook Farm and Barn parts of which date back over 600 years.  The sloping pastures here are known as Quarry Bank and it is possible that stone from here was used in some of the older buildings in the village.

Point 5 provides a view across the Glebe Field called Starvecrow to Peterstow church and Peterstow Manor, the former vicarage.  The field has its unusual name because it was so difficult to raise a satisfactory crop that even the crows starved!  The church is thought to have been originally consecrated in the 11^th century with the larger Norman church replacing the Saxon church in the 12^th century.

Point 6.  The small lane leading from this corner of the orchard is the bottom of Old Lane and is a right of way to Broome Farm used in the past for horse drawn carts taking produce to market.  The orchard on the other side of the hedge is the oldest bush orchard on the farm consisting of Michelin and Dabinett trees planted in 1974 .  Continuing round Nine Acre Orchard with the hedge on your right you meet a track heading back downhill.  As you walk down the track the orchard to the right is Caravan Orchard, a single variety orchard of 1600 Dabinett trees.

Point 7.  From here there is a view of Ross and further to May Hill - it is said that the best perry comes from orchards in sight of May Hill.  The orchard through the gate to the left is Strawberry Orchard – this orchard has an assortment of apple varieties for Broome Farm cider and apple juice.  Walking with Caravan Orchard on your right,  to your left is Hangmans Orchard, a mixture of Foxwhelp (a bittersharp) and Ellis Bitter (a bittersweet) apple trees.  If it is autumn taste the difference!

The smaller trees beyond Point 8 are Harry Masters Jersey and were planted under the Millennium Orchards scheme part funded by the EEC. 

 Follow the hedge as it turns right to Point 10 – from here you can see a ring of 5 Thorn perry pear trees at the bottom of Bridgewell, a ‘millennium ring’ planted on 1^st January 2000 by Mike Johnson and his family.
 

Keeping the hedge on your left walk round the top of Oak Meadow and proceed through a gateway into the Old Orchard and Point 12.  These are the oldest trees on the farm as it was the traditional farm orchard from which cider and perry was made for the farmhouse and the farm labourers.  There are over 20 different varieties of apple including Yarlington Mill, Stoke Red, Knotted Kernal, Frederick and Bulmers Norman.
 

Follow the arrows back to the farmhouse where you can taste the cider and perry produced at the farm, enjoy a cream tea and say hello to the Broome Farm Alpacas.