Man-Made Eden : Historic Orchards of Somerset and Gloucestershire

Sansom (Acc). New. 2009. Paperback. 1904537758 .*** FREE UPGRADE to Courier/Priority Shipping Upon Request *** - *** IN STOCK AND IMMEDIATELY AVAILABLE FOR SHIPMENT - Flawless copy, brand new, pristine, never opened -- 160 pages; 39 color illustrations. Description: "Britain's West Country is famed for its orchards, but why are they there? As the campaign to save and celebrate English orchards gathers momentum, this book explores their fascinating and - until now - neglected history. Why is Glastonbury known as Avalon, the Isle of Apples? What made Redstreak Cyder the most popular drink of the seventeenth century? Who was Dr Ashmead, cultivator of the connoisseur's favourite apple, Ashmead's Kernel? How did a Somerset vicar come to make cider for Queen Victoria? These questions and so many more are answered in this rich, wide-ranging book which takes a long historic look at changing fashions and fortunes - asking why thirteenth-century monks and Edwardian landowners planted orchards, and why post-war governments paid farmers to destroy them. The author examines the role of Common Ground, the National Trust and other organisations in preserving and restoring orchards, and asks: what can be done to make England's orchards as profitable as they were in centuries past?" -- with a bonus offer-- .