A GROUP of people with a passion for apples is working to safeguard the future of rare varieties in Tenbury and the Teme Vally.

The Three Counties Orchard Project has returned some of the county's rarest apples to their places of origin.

Working with volunteers and local orchard owners in the Teme Valley, varieties which were believed to have been lost from the area for decades are now coming back.

The Dewdulip Seedling, an extremely rare green cooking apple, originated in the parish of Eastham and seemingly disappeared from the county altogether, only being preserved at Brogdale in Kent at the National Fruit Collection from which graft wood was sourced and grown on especially for the project by Walcot Nursery of Drake's Broughton.

Haughty's Red, a mid-season red eating apple, originated in Kyre near Tenbury and was also seemingly lost were it not for Brogdale preserving one.

Jones's Seedling is perhaps Worcestershire's rarest apple, an early-season red eater from the Tenbury area that was rediscovered in 2013 by the Teme Valley apple group as one very ancient tree in St Michael's from which grafts were taken to produce new trees.

Young trees of these varieties have so far been planted at orchards in Hanley William, Eastham and Alfrick.

"It's great to be able to return these historical varieties to their place of origin,” said Wade Muggleton of the Three Counties Orchard Project.

“A lot of investigation into these varieties was carried out by our apple group and planting these trees bringing it all to fruition.They really are back where they belong."

The project is a three-year Heritage Lottery Funded initiative which aims to highlight the value of traditional orchards which were once such a large part of the Teme Valley landscape, by enthusing the public, training up volunteers in orchard skills and re-planting these local fruit trees.

A small number of these incredibly rare varieties are available to purchase from www.walcotnursery.co.uk or 01905 841587 for those who want to own a living piece of local history.

More information on the Three Counties Orchard Project and how to get involved can be found at www.tctop.org.uk