Celebrate a bumper apple harvest at the Clyde Valley Fruit Day

A great family event with activities, music, advice and local food

The event returns to Overton Farm, Crossford from 9.30am – 2pm on Saturday 5th October.

It’s a great family event with activities, music, advice and local food. It will be held in a large marquee alongside the Farmers market. Entry is free.

Maggie Young, Overton Farm said “We are delighted to be able to host the event again this year. This year’s Fruit Day will again see a wide range of stalls, displays and information with something to interest to all the family. Local band Terribus will be on hand to provide some great music and there will be face painting and pony rides to add extra fun for the kids.”

The scarecrows are also returning with a family and schools competition with a fantastic cash prize being sponsored by the Clyde and Avon Valley Landscape Partnership. Entry forms can be downloaded from the Farmers Market website. 

AJ Morris from the Farmer Market said ‘Last year we had over 40 entries, many of which were incredibly ingenious and showed the extent of the local talent. It was a fantastic display and most of our local school participated.’

Fruit Day is being organized by the Rural Development Trust and the Clyde Valley Orchard Group. Group Chair Maureen Anning said ‘The Fruit Day is also an opportunity for people to find out more about the history of the Valley. We will show some locally grown heritage varieties of apples. Come and see what a Cambusnethan Pippin looks like ! We will also be pressing local apples and will have fresh local juice for sale.’

Orchards are an important part of our local heritage and in their heyday in the 19th century the Clyde Valley was Scotland’s leading commercial fruit producing area. The orchards are an important feature of our landscape and provide an important resource at a time when local produce is starting to be valued by consumers. The Clyde and Avon Valley Landscape Partnership is promoting the restoration of the orchards and this year has seen a lot of training and development activity supporting the Orchard Group and orchard owners improve their skills and capacity to manage and restore the orchard resource.

There will also be a display by Strathclyde Woodturners who for a small charge will be giving children the opportunity of ‘turning their own toy’ from apple tree wood. Kids, of all ages!, can make their own ‘apple’ bird feeder with the RSPB or go on a mini-beast hunt with the Scottish Wildlife Trust.

For more information on the Fruit Day please contact Chris on 01555 665064 or Kirsten on 663430 or visit the Clyde Valley Orchards website.