Major apple and pear events from Nov 25 on
(scroll down for 2025 past events)
Please note that we will update this events calendar throughout the year so please revisit it to get the latest news about events. For further details check out the ‘Full Event Listing with Details’ by scrolling down beneath the ‘Events Overview’. If you are interested in joining or helping at an event please email secretary@marcherapple.net
For ‘Members Only’ events, please Join the Marcher Apple Network! We look forward to meeting you!
Events Overview from December 2025 on
11th Dec 2025 NEW! Winter Webinar 1: “On the trail of a rare pear”, with Wade Muggleton, Macher Apple Network: Members only
15th Jan 2026 Winter Webinar 2: Looking after the National Fruit Collection, with Dr Matthew Ordidge, Department of Crop Science, University of Reading: Members only
13th Feb 2026 Winter Webinar 3: The Wild Orchard – the Habitat Value of Traditional Orchards, with Steve Oram, People’s Trust for Endangered Species: Members only
28th Feb 2026 Marcher Apple Network Grafting Course, 10am to 2pm at Nash Village Hall, Shropshire – see Courses
12th Mar 2026 Winter Webinar 4: Fruit ID Database with Peter Laws, Fruit ID: Members only
Full Event Listing with Details from December 2025 on
11th Dec 2025 NEW! Winter Webinar 1: “On the trail of a rare pear”, with Wade Muggleton, Macher Apple Network: Members only
19:00-20:30 online. To book a place and receive a link to the webinar email secretary@marcherapple.net
This is MAN’s first ever evening webinar – and one of a series of Marcher Apple Network Winter Webinars! Join MAN member and author of the The Orchard Book, The Apples and Orchards of Worcestershire and The Worcester Black Pear
Wade will recount the story of how his research into one particular pear, the Worcester Black, lead to to an intriguing piece of detective work and the whole subject of how pears are such an intriguing and under studied area of fruit history.
Link to recording: MAN Evening Lecture – Pears-20251211_190601-Meeting Recording.mp4
15th Jan 2026 Winter Webinar 2: Looking after the National Fruit Collection, with Dr Matthew Ordidge, Department of Crop Science, University of Reading: Members only
19:00-20:30 online. To book a place and receive a link to the webinar email secretary@marcherapple.net
Dr Matt Ordidge has acted as Curator for the National Fruit Collection at Brogdale since 2008. He has overseen much of the genetic analysis of the collection and advised on the FruitID DNA scheme (for which MAN has been an active participant) from its conception.
He will update us on the curation of the collection and gives us a summary of its management as a genebank over recent years.
Link to recording: MAN Evening Lecture -DNA-20260115_190400-Meeting Recording.mp4
13th Feb 2026 Winter Webinar 3: The Wild Orchard – the Habitat Value of Traditional Orchards, with Steve Oram, People’s Trust for Endangered Species (PTES) and the Orchard Network: Members only
19:00-20:30 online. To book a place and receive a link to the webinar email secretary@marcherapple.net
The Wild Orchard – Traditional orchards are as famed for their habitat value as they are for their fruit. Steve Oram of PTES and the Orchard Network takes us through what it is that makes them so rich in biodiversity.
28th Feb 2026 Marcher Apple Network Grafting Course, 10am to 2pm at Nash Village Hall, Shropshire
Great news! The February 2026 MAN Grafting Course is confirmed.
Sat 28th Feb 2026 10am to 2pm at Nash Village Hall, Shropshire
For full details and how to book onto the grafting course see our Courses page.
12th Mar 2026 Winter Webinar 4: Fruit ID Database with Peter Laws, Fruit ID: Members only
More details to follow very soon.
The pears are an impressive collection but there are also apples which are managed by the Gloucestershire Orchard Trust and 99 Pines has taken on the on-site production of perry.
2025 Events Overview – past events
28th Feb Film: Welcome to the Orchard of England at Regal Cinema, Tenbury Wells
8th March Course: Grafting Course at Nash Village Hall: Members only
March: Purchase of MAN heritage trees: Members only
4-5th April British Beekeepers Association Spring Convention, Harper Adams
26th April Paramor Picnic, MAN’s Paramor Orchard, Cwmdu
4-5th May Big Apple Blossomtime weekend, Marcle Ridge, Herefordshire
14th July Pruning Course at Paramor Orchard. Members only
23-24 July Black Mountains Festival, Talgarth, Powys
12th August Orchard visit near Tal-y-bont on Usk – Members only
Sept | Oct Orchard visit – Date and location to be confirmed: Members only
3rd-5th Oct Penwythnos Afalau | Apple Weekend at Llanerchaeron
4th Oct Tenbury AppleFest, Tenbury Wells. MAN stand CANCELLED DUE TO STORM AMY
11th Oct Tenbury Mini AppleFest, Tenbury Wells, MAN stand – arranged after cancellation of main event 4th Oct
11-12th Oct The Big Apple, Much Marcle: MAN stand
18th Oct National Botanic Garden of Wales Fest Afal
18th Oct Leominster Apple Fair, Leominster: MAN stand
15th Nov 2026 AGM, Ludlow: Members Only
Our AGM was held at The Ludlow Mascall Centre, Ludlow, Shropshire, followed, we are thrilled to announce, by a not-to-be-missed session with Liz Copas who will lead an introduction, identification and tasting ‘workshop session’ on the four core types of cider apples, with samples from the West Country, Herefordshire and surrounds.
Liz Copas has been a Cider Pomologist at Long Ashton Research Station and an advisor for the National Association of Cider Makers. Her work has taken her to Herefordshire, Somerset and Dorset, She now works as a consultant for Bristol University’s apples genomics project and is the author of: Cider Apples – The New Pomona and The Lost Orchards: Rediscovering the Forgotten Cider Apple of Dorset (with Nick Poole)
See full details about the AGM on our AGM 2025 webpage.
