Tons of apples are now being picked at Ampleforth Abbey
The marathon apple harvest operation has got underway at Ampleforth Abbey in the heart of Ryedale, where teams of novice monks, abbey and college grounds staff and volunteers are picking the fruit.
Over the next few weeks several hundreds of tons of apples from the 70 varieties grown on the 2,500 trees in the 10-acre orchard, one of the biggest in the country, will be gathered ready to be made into cider and apple juice, said manager of the operation Steve Ward.
He said: “It has been a mixed year for the fruit because of the dry weather and then a wet spell.”
While it takes between eight and 12 months for the cider to ferment, demand for this year’s supplies is already coming in from customers.