With this month’s LeftLion cover presenting you lovely readers with a zen looking-tree person, and Sherwood Forest providing inspiration for the latest exhibition at Nottingham Castle, it seems only right to dive into the greener myths and legends Nottingham has nurtured over the last millennium...
Whether it’s brown sauce (AKA HP Sauce if you’re crackers and prefer to call it by its government name), Shipstone’s beer, or a bit of Stilton, Nottinghamshire has a range of food and drink options synonymous with it. One of these delicacies, unfortunately not brown sauce, is the Bramley Apple, with a history dating all the way back to a garden in Southwell in 1809.
A young girl named Mary Ann Brailsford pinched some pips from apples her mother was preparing and planted them in a flowerpot. As years went by, one of the pips began to thrive and so she planted it in her garden. Unfortunately, Mary left the cottage without knowing how influential her apple would be in the food and drink industry, given that Mary’s pips are responsible for what is today a £37 million industry. Hindsight really is a wonderful thing.
However, it was a local butcher named Matthew Bramley who purchased the cottage and garden in 1846 and coined the name - Bramley Apple. Bramley’s nurseryman, Henry Merryweather, realised the potential of the apples growing from the tree’s branches. Henry, being only seventeen years old, enquired about taking cuttings from the tree to start his apple empire with there being only one catch: Bramley would only agree if the apple were to bear his name – hence ‘Bramley’s Seedling.’
The Bramley Cottage was eventually owned by Nancy Harrison, who is still credited as one of the primary carers for the original Bramley Apple Tree, as she cared for it for over 75 years. Nancy spent her whole life around the Bramley Tree, either living inside of the house or next door to keep a keen eye on its survival, whilst pesky tourists came to marvel at its beauty.
For over 200 years, the original Bramley Tree, nicknamed ‘Mother,’ has stood tall through violent storms, two World Wars, roughly eleven major theatrical releases of adaptations of Robin Hood and even season eight of Game of Thrones. Sadly, however, back in 2016 it was discovered that the Bramley Tree had contracted a fungal infection which attacks the water delivery system within the tree which is destroying the tree’s root system. Whilst the infection is deemed to be untreatable, Nottingham Trent University bought the cottage on 75 Church Street, in a bid to save the original tree. With staff and current students tending to the tree, it still continues to bear fruit to this day.
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