Apple Pressing Cancelled Due to Bad Weather risk

No apple pressing in Tarvin Woodland on Saturday, 4th October.

"The best laid schemes of mice and men gang aft agley" is a line from Robert Burns's 1785 poem, "To a Mouse." Its meaning is that no matter how carefully people plan, their plans can often go wrong. It applies to the Tarvin Woodland Apple Pressing this year!

The Woodland Trustees organised the Bioblitz in the woodland last Saturday, and that certainly didn’t go wrong. It was a really good day: the people participating had a thoroughly enjoyable time and the University were well pleased with the outcome. However, the Apple Pressing planned for next Saturday seems to be a completely different matter. The occasion is the same as usual – the first Saturday in October. It is the day on which all the apple pressings have been going on for the past ten years. So, what is the particular problem this time?

What we hadn’t reckoned on in our long-term planning is that the day might coincide with the arrival of Storm Amy, the first named storm of this year and the remnants of a particularly nasty hurricane. Unsurprisingly, it brings with it a yellow warning for wind.

But what might that involve? Well, apparently:-

Some damage to buildings and people, such as tiles blown from roofs and, in woodlands, branches being blown from trees.

Injuries and danger to life from flying debris are possible.

Power cuts may occur, with the potential to affect other services, such as mobile phone coverage.

It will certainly pay divedends for everyone to be careful!

Trustees are always exceedingly conscious of the need for safety in the woodland and we have notices on display warning of possible dangers on very windy days. It would be supremely ironic for us to organise the Apple Pressing on a day when trees might shed branches or folk might be in danger from airborne gazebos! So, reluctantly, we have had to cancel apple pressing in the woodland on this occasion. Will there be another opportunity to press apples this year? I don’t know – but we’re going to discuss it at the Trustees meeting next week. We’ll let you know the outcome!