0:00:02 > 0:00:05This is the story of a love affair between a nation and a fruit.
0:00:08 > 0:00:11- You've got a job to beat Coxes. - Do you? Why?- They're sweet!
0:00:11 > 0:00:13I like a Pink Lady a lot better.
0:00:13 > 0:00:16A Golden Delicious. That's a Golden Delicious.
0:00:16 > 0:00:21'In Britain we crunch our way through 50 billion apples a year,
0:00:21 > 0:00:25'but our relationship with the apple goes beyond mere appetite.'
0:00:27 > 0:00:31'I want to find out what drove Victorian horticulturalists
0:00:31 > 0:00:32'to lead the world,
0:00:32 > 0:00:36'creating apples in every shape, size and colour,
0:00:36 > 0:00:39'their characters as varied as we are.'
0:00:39 > 0:00:43How many gallons of cider will I earn for tipping all these in here?
0:00:43 > 0:00:46Ever heard of working for kind?
0:00:46 > 0:00:47THEY LAUGH
0:00:47 > 0:00:51'I want to uncover the ingenious and painstaking work
0:00:51 > 0:00:53'of British scientists.'
0:00:53 > 0:00:57It's amazing. The remnants of the research are still down here.
0:00:57 > 0:01:00How did they help create the mass-market apple we know today,
0:01:00 > 0:01:05and why did that leave our varieties in the shade?
0:01:06 > 0:01:10The apple once shaped our landscape.
0:01:10 > 0:01:13I want to find out how we have shaped the apple.
0:01:20 > 0:01:24'This is virtually the dividing line between two great counties,
0:01:24 > 0:01:28'Herefordshire off to the west, Worcestershire off to the east.
0:01:28 > 0:01:31It's a rolling, folded landscape
0:01:31 > 0:01:35of woodlands, orchards and pasture.
0:01:35 > 0:01:37This is home. It's where I grew up.
0:01:37 > 0:01:40As a boy I roamed the fields, climbed the trees,
0:01:40 > 0:01:42and scrumped in the orchards.
0:01:42 > 0:01:45It's a place that, in a way, has shaped who I am.
0:01:45 > 0:01:47I'm a product of this landscape.
0:01:47 > 0:01:51But more than that, this is a landscape in which apples belong,
0:01:51 > 0:01:55and each one has a story to tell,
0:01:55 > 0:01:57whether it's been engineered by gardeners
0:01:57 > 0:02:01or whether it's one of those little accidents of nature.
0:02:05 > 0:02:08For centuries, the apple has captivated us.
0:02:08 > 0:02:11It's a tricky fruit to cultivate,
0:02:11 > 0:02:14because the apple is promiscuous by design.
0:02:14 > 0:02:16Left to its own devices,
0:02:16 > 0:02:20its offspring are as unpredictable as ours.
0:02:25 > 0:02:29Imagine the frustration of those early horticulturalists
0:02:29 > 0:02:32thousands of years ago, stumbling across an apple.
0:02:32 > 0:02:34It was the perfect fast food,
0:02:34 > 0:02:37and yet, when they sowed the seed,
0:02:37 > 0:02:40what came up wasn't the same.
0:02:40 > 0:02:43In fact, it was just as likely to be sour and inedible
0:02:43 > 0:02:47as it was to taste good.
0:02:47 > 0:02:51The mother tree gives birth to thousands of pips
0:02:51 > 0:02:55contained within the fruit, and every single pip
0:02:55 > 0:02:58is genetically different. And just like children,
0:02:58 > 0:03:00most grow up to be ordinary.
0:03:00 > 0:03:04But once in a while, an apple with the most delicious taste
0:03:04 > 0:03:06and texture is born.
0:03:06 > 0:03:11When you sow the pips, you don't get the original form.
0:03:11 > 0:03:13If you sow a Bramley seed, you won't get a Bramley.
0:03:13 > 0:03:17If you sow a Braeburn, it won't be a Braeburn that grows,
0:03:17 > 0:03:20or a Cox or a Worcester, or any of them for that matter.
0:03:20 > 0:03:22Apples require pollinators.
0:03:22 > 0:03:26The pollen from one plant needs to be transferred across
0:03:26 > 0:03:29into the flower of another, and that crossing of pollen
0:03:29 > 0:03:33brings with it the most wonderful genetic exchange.
0:03:33 > 0:03:37Apples generally have 34 chromosomes,
0:03:37 > 0:03:41and that means that you get 17 characteristics from one parent
0:03:41 > 0:03:44and 17 sets of characteristics from the other.
0:03:44 > 0:03:48That's part of the excitement of growing them.
0:03:51 > 0:03:54'And this presented man with a real puzzle -
0:03:54 > 0:03:59'how to persuade nature to reproduce exactly the same apple tree
0:03:59 > 0:04:02'and fruit over and over again.
0:04:02 > 0:04:04'The solution we came up with was grafting,
0:04:04 > 0:04:07'a method of cloning the original tree.'
0:04:09 > 0:04:14The practice of grafting is thought to go back around 5,000 years,
0:04:14 > 0:04:18and to this day, every apple tree in commercial cultivation
0:04:18 > 0:04:20is grafted in exactly the same way.
0:04:20 > 0:04:24The principle behind grafting is delightfully straightforward,
0:04:24 > 0:04:26and in fact hasn't changed
0:04:26 > 0:04:31since the Romans played around with gluing one plant on top of another.
0:04:31 > 0:04:34Not apples, but, in their case, probably grapes.
0:04:34 > 0:04:38And they realised that plants were able to fuse together
0:04:38 > 0:04:41for the very simple reason that, on any plant,
0:04:41 > 0:04:43there is a layer of growth
0:04:43 > 0:04:46immediately underneath the bark.
0:04:46 > 0:04:48That area of green is the cambium layer.
0:04:48 > 0:04:52That's where the cell division and cell expansion is taking place.
0:04:52 > 0:04:55It's essentially the life of the plant,
0:04:55 > 0:04:58and if you can put two of those cambium layers together,
0:04:58 > 0:05:02then, the plants are fused and become one.
0:05:02 > 0:05:06First you need a rootstock. This is a wild form
0:05:06 > 0:05:10which has been cultivated for particular characteristics.
0:05:10 > 0:05:13It will essentially become the driving force behind the plant.
0:05:13 > 0:05:16It will govern how much nutrient is taken up.
0:05:16 > 0:05:19It's like the engine of a car.
0:05:19 > 0:05:23The principle is to cut the head off the rootstock...
0:05:25 > 0:05:27..and then to take your scion.
0:05:27 > 0:05:35This is the particular variety of apple that you're after.
0:05:35 > 0:05:38It's taken from the parent plant,
0:05:38 > 0:05:43and it means that the genetic material contained within that scion
0:05:43 > 0:05:45is exactly the same as the parent's,
0:05:45 > 0:05:47so any characteristics the parent had
0:05:47 > 0:05:50in terms of the flavour of the fruit,
0:05:50 > 0:05:54the ripeness of the fruit, the colour of the skin,
0:05:54 > 0:05:56are all contained within that piece of wood.
0:05:56 > 0:06:01And what we do is literally put that on top of there,
0:06:01 > 0:06:03and the two are then bound up with tape,
0:06:03 > 0:06:07and the rootstock fuses with the scion.
0:06:07 > 0:06:10And in fact, the genetic material of the rootstock
0:06:10 > 0:06:14remains in the rootstock. The genetic material of the scion
0:06:14 > 0:06:16remains in the scion. But what we end up with
0:06:16 > 0:06:22is a scion which is totally governed by the energy of the rootstock,
0:06:22 > 0:06:27and that's what gives us the particular vigour and height
0:06:27 > 0:06:29of the tree.
0:06:33 > 0:06:37With the discovery of grafting, we could clone our favourite trees
0:06:37 > 0:06:39again and again.
0:06:39 > 0:06:42'One of Britain's most prosperous and time-honoured apples
0:06:42 > 0:06:46'was planted 200 years ago in a back garden in Nottinghamshire.
0:06:46 > 0:06:51'Its clones have generated a £50 million industry.'
0:06:51 > 0:06:54"The Bramley apple tree was grown from a pip by a young lady,
0:06:54 > 0:06:57Mary Anne Brailsford, between 1809 and 1815."
0:06:57 > 0:07:00"It's thought it came from an apple grown on a tree
0:07:00 > 0:07:04at the bottom of her garden. One seedling produced very fine apples
0:07:04 > 0:07:08in 1837, when the new occupier was Mr Matthew Bramley."
0:07:08 > 0:07:10- Fantastic. - HE KNOCKS AT DOOR
0:07:10 > 0:07:14- Hi! How are you? - What a terrible day!
0:07:14 > 0:07:17Well, I've seen better days for looking at apple trees.
0:07:17 > 0:07:20'The Bramley tree's proud custodian
0:07:20 > 0:07:23'is 90-year-old Nancy Harrison.'
0:07:23 > 0:07:27- So you were born in this house. - Mm. The tree was in the...
0:07:27 > 0:07:31In the next-door neighbour's garden. So you bought the house next door.
0:07:31 > 0:07:35- That's right.- To get the tree. - Yes. I paid £500 for that!
0:07:35 > 0:07:36HE LAUGHS
0:07:36 > 0:07:39What was it about that particular tree
0:07:39 > 0:07:42that really captured your imagination?
0:07:42 > 0:07:45We've always loved it, really. We've never climbed it or anything.
0:07:45 > 0:07:49Nobody's been allowed to damage the Bramley at all,
0:07:49 > 0:07:53you know, except the cats. SHE CHUCKLES
0:07:53 > 0:07:55And it's such a distinctive fruit
0:07:55 > 0:07:59in terms of how it tastes and how it behaves when it's cooked.
0:07:59 > 0:08:04The flavour from the Bramley, you know, freshly stewed Bramley,
0:08:04 > 0:08:06it's really unbelievably nice.
0:08:06 > 0:08:09And I've eaten it with custard,
0:08:09 > 0:08:13sausages, a steamed pudding,
0:08:13 > 0:08:19bacon, beans and apple sauce, and it goes marvellously with anything.
0:08:20 > 0:08:23It's a garden typical of the cottages of this period,
0:08:23 > 0:08:25long and narrow.
0:08:25 > 0:08:27Look at that!
0:08:27 > 0:08:29Isn't that amazing?
0:08:36 > 0:08:39It's like walking into an enchanted woodland.
0:08:39 > 0:08:43You can see where the original has fallen.
0:08:43 > 0:08:45The original was planted here,
0:08:45 > 0:08:47and has obviously been blown...
0:08:47 > 0:08:50And a piece would originally have been up here,
0:08:50 > 0:08:53and would have branched away,
0:08:53 > 0:08:56and it says something for the resilience and the enthusiasm
0:08:56 > 0:08:58of the Bramley to grow again,
0:08:58 > 0:09:01that it's rooted... Where the boughs kissed the ground
0:09:01 > 0:09:06it's gone away again. It's so vigorous. It's got so much energy
0:09:06 > 0:09:09that even being blown down by the wind won't prevent it.
0:09:11 > 0:09:14Certainly won't hold it back. You hear people talking
0:09:14 > 0:09:17about living history, and this really is living history.
0:09:17 > 0:09:21It's like standing next to a cathedral.
0:09:21 > 0:09:23This is a cathedral of horticulture.
0:09:24 > 0:09:27By 1944,
0:09:27 > 0:09:30the fruit census of that year
0:09:30 > 0:09:33tells us that there were over two million Bramleys,
0:09:33 > 0:09:36all taken from this one tree.
0:09:36 > 0:09:39Every single Bramley you've ever eaten,
0:09:39 > 0:09:43every single Bramley tree that has ever been planted,
0:09:43 > 0:09:45has come from this one.
0:09:53 > 0:09:55Everybody loves the tree.
0:09:55 > 0:09:59It's a stout old thing, isn't it, and puts up with all weathers.
0:09:59 > 0:10:02If there was someone in history the Bramley might represent,
0:10:02 > 0:10:04who do you think it would be?
0:10:04 > 0:10:06Winston Churchill. SHE LAUGHS
0:10:06 > 0:10:10I think you're absolutely right. I was going to say Queen Victoria,
0:10:10 > 0:10:12but I think Winston Churchill is even better.
0:10:12 > 0:10:17Yes. Because he could cope with everything, couldn't he?
0:10:17 > 0:10:20It's a wonderful old thing. I think it will live forever.
0:10:22 > 0:10:24Like the Bramley, the Cox,
0:10:24 > 0:10:27Britain's best-loved dessert apple,
0:10:27 > 0:10:29was a gift from nature's lottery.
0:10:29 > 0:10:32Cox's Orange Pippin was grown from a pip
0:10:32 > 0:10:35by horticultural hobbyist Richard Cox in the 1820s.
0:10:35 > 0:10:38It produced apples world renowned
0:10:38 > 0:10:41for their intense and aromatic flavour.
0:10:41 > 0:10:45Sadly, the original Cox tree was blown down in a gale in 1911,
0:10:45 > 0:10:49but our appetite for its clones lives on.
0:10:55 > 0:10:59'The Cox and Bramley may be our best-loved English apples,
0:10:59 > 0:11:02'but since nature is constantly throwing up new varieties at will,
0:11:02 > 0:11:06'there really can be hidden treasures in our hedgerows.
0:11:07 > 0:11:10'On the A4260, apple lover Andy Howard
0:11:10 > 0:11:13'believes he's found a real gem,
0:11:13 > 0:11:15'and he's called it the Deddington Pippin.'
0:11:15 > 0:11:18I'd forgotten how heavy this ladder is!
0:11:18 > 0:11:20It was here. This one here, yes.
0:11:20 > 0:11:24It seems an old tree, by the thicknesses of the branches.
0:11:25 > 0:11:28It's growing right up, trying to chase the light,
0:11:28 > 0:11:30because it's in quite a shady position here,
0:11:30 > 0:11:34and most of the fruit, you can see, is just above us in the canopy,
0:11:34 > 0:11:38because that's the most sunny part. There's a lot of deadwood.
0:11:38 > 0:11:41It is a Pippin tree, but it's got very good qualities.
0:11:41 > 0:11:43Someone, probably, in an early motor car
0:11:43 > 0:11:46had been driving along here, threw a pip out,
0:11:46 > 0:11:48and 70 years later this is what we got.
0:11:48 > 0:11:52It's got really key characteristics. It's a really good storing apple.
0:11:52 > 0:11:56It stays on the tree till January and will store into February, March.
0:11:56 > 0:12:00- It's a lovely, sweet, juicy apple. - It's all going to be in the tasting.
0:12:00 > 0:12:05Yeah. That is true, so get the ladder out and see what we can do.
0:12:05 > 0:12:08It's like Blue Peter. You always come prepared.
0:12:08 > 0:12:10This is the fun bit. Take this off first.
0:12:16 > 0:12:20That's it. Now you just have to put the legs up.
0:12:21 > 0:12:25- And you want to try and, er... - It's not locked in, that one.
0:12:25 > 0:12:28- Just lean it back a little bit. That's it.- Yeah?
0:12:28 > 0:12:32Yeah. And you just literally want to get the thing underneath it
0:12:32 > 0:12:35and just try and twist it as best as you can.
0:12:40 > 0:12:43You can't say this isn't an action shot.
0:12:43 > 0:12:45I need to be about four feet taller.
0:12:45 > 0:12:48- Keep twisting.- Oh, there we go!
0:12:48 > 0:12:51You scored! You win the goldfish.
0:12:52 > 0:12:54OK!
0:12:57 > 0:13:00- The flavour's a bit of a Cox... - It does!
0:13:00 > 0:13:02It does have the flavour of a Cox,
0:13:02 > 0:13:06but it does need a couple more months to ripen up.
0:13:06 > 0:13:08But that's one of the key things.
0:13:08 > 0:13:11Well done. Excellent.
0:13:12 > 0:13:15Nice red one there, Chris. There you go.
0:13:15 > 0:13:17Oh, wow! Great catch, that one!
0:13:21 > 0:13:25Mmm! Yummy! Real flavour to it.
0:13:26 > 0:13:28- It is a real beauty. - It is a real beautiful tree.
0:13:28 > 0:13:32The remarkable thing is that thousands of people go whizzing past this spot
0:13:32 > 0:13:36every day, firstly without realising how special the apple is,
0:13:36 > 0:13:38how diverse the hedgerow is...
0:13:38 > 0:13:41It's amazing what comes to light.
0:13:41 > 0:13:45That's what's so special. That's why I get so excited about these fruits,
0:13:45 > 0:13:47that they're existing without us.
0:13:47 > 0:13:50They don't need gardeners' help.
0:13:50 > 0:13:53They don't need tending and nurturing and loving care
0:13:53 > 0:13:56and hours of pruning. They're happy doing their own thing.
0:13:56 > 0:13:59This is nature selecting, breeding a new variety,
0:13:59 > 0:14:03and this is nature saying, "Look, here is a great new variety."
0:14:03 > 0:14:06"It ticks all the right boxes. If you can find me, here I am."
0:14:06 > 0:14:09So now and again you get somebody who comes along and finds it.
0:14:09 > 0:14:13If anyone else is out there and they do find a new apple tree,
0:14:13 > 0:14:16research it and see if it's worth saving,
0:14:16 > 0:14:18because you could have the next new Cox's or Bramley's.
0:14:18 > 0:14:22It does rekindle our old hunter-gatherer spirit, doesn't it?
0:14:22 > 0:14:24We are all nomads really.
0:14:24 > 0:14:27We like to wander round and find our food.
0:14:27 > 0:14:31- We've got it on tap, basically. - What are you doing to preserve this,
0:14:31 > 0:14:35to make sure that it doesn't fall out of cultivation?
0:14:35 > 0:14:38I'm now taking graft wood. Every year I get on the ladder
0:14:38 > 0:14:40and take some graft wood from the end of the tree.
0:14:40 > 0:14:43I get maybe 10, 15 Deddington Pippins off there.
0:14:43 > 0:14:45So this isn't the only one now.
0:14:45 > 0:14:49There's quite a few baby ones growing up, which I'm very proud of.
0:14:49 > 0:14:53- So the future's secure for it? - At the moment, which is great.
0:14:54 > 0:14:57'And while nature has thrown up some wonderful varieties of apple,
0:14:57 > 0:15:00'it's human nature to want to improve on it,
0:15:00 > 0:15:05'to try and influence the flavour and texture of the apple produced.'
0:15:05 > 0:15:09And it was the British who first discovered how to do it.
0:15:15 > 0:15:19'It was all thanks to some ferocious Victorian one-upmanship.
0:15:19 > 0:15:24'The gardens of the great stately homes were more than showpieces.
0:15:24 > 0:15:27'They were expected to provide a magnificent array
0:15:27 > 0:15:29'of the very best fruit for the table,
0:15:29 > 0:15:32'to delight and surprise.'
0:15:32 > 0:15:37Head gardeners set about bending the apple to their will.
0:15:42 > 0:15:45The art of manipulating trees is really extraordinary.
0:15:45 > 0:15:48When you consider some of the massive orchard trees
0:15:48 > 0:15:51that a seed from this may well have grown into,
0:15:51 > 0:15:57as soon as you graft onto a very dwarf rootstock,
0:15:57 > 0:16:01a one that is mean in the amount of information and energy
0:16:01 > 0:16:05it sends through into the graft wood, this is what happens.
0:16:05 > 0:16:08You can produce the most diminutive little specimen.
0:16:12 > 0:16:15The man who changed the course of the apple's future
0:16:15 > 0:16:18was Thomas Andrew Knight,
0:16:18 > 0:16:21later president of the Royal Horticultural Society.
0:16:21 > 0:16:25He believed he could engineer an improved apple.
0:16:25 > 0:16:29To do it, he played the part of the bee,
0:16:29 > 0:16:32impregnating the flower of one variety
0:16:32 > 0:16:34with the selected pollen from another.
0:16:36 > 0:16:39'After decades of patient trial and error,
0:16:39 > 0:16:41'the first hybrid apples were born.
0:16:41 > 0:16:45'What followed was a breeding frenzy,
0:16:45 > 0:16:48'head gardeners of every stately home
0:16:48 > 0:16:50'producing new and wondrous breeds
0:16:50 > 0:16:53'to dazzle and grace the tables of their masters.'
0:16:53 > 0:16:57What's always surprised me is the pressure those gardeners were under.
0:16:57 > 0:17:00In the Victorian period, it was cut-and-thrust stuff.
0:17:00 > 0:17:03I mean, you could lose your job for the merest mistake.
0:17:03 > 0:17:07Well, that was the main motivator. It was the fear factor.
0:17:07 > 0:17:11And it's why head gardeners were always looking
0:17:11 > 0:17:16to be able to deliver something new, a novelty, to the table.
0:17:16 > 0:17:18It was unique in the sense that it was the only time
0:17:18 > 0:17:22that a servant was able to speak to his master as an equal,
0:17:22 > 0:17:25and probably sometimes the master had to acknowledge
0:17:25 > 0:17:30that the servant knew more than him, and if you wanted to keep him,
0:17:30 > 0:17:32then, you rewarded him.
0:17:32 > 0:17:35But it was also professional pride, to grow things
0:17:35 > 0:17:38and put them on the table out of season.
0:17:38 > 0:17:41We can grow quality apples in this country. We got the climate for it,
0:17:41 > 0:17:44and the interest was there, and it's just happened
0:17:44 > 0:17:48that we got an apple for all tastes, all occasions and all seasons.
0:17:48 > 0:17:52When you can do something well, it encourages you to develop it.
0:17:52 > 0:17:55Is that why we fell in love with it, do you think?
0:17:55 > 0:17:58Is that what's behind the British obsession with the apple
0:17:58 > 0:18:00and why we hold it so dear -
0:18:00 > 0:18:03the fact that it was very generous in the way that it grew,
0:18:03 > 0:18:07and that it was relatively easy to get the crosses,
0:18:07 > 0:18:10so there was great variety in the types?
0:18:10 > 0:18:12Is that what held our attention?
0:18:12 > 0:18:15It caught the imagination of lots of nurserymen,
0:18:15 > 0:18:17and I think that's what drove them on.
0:18:17 > 0:18:22And when you look at... I mean, is it two a half thousand recorded apples
0:18:22 > 0:18:27in this country altogether? And we grow a small, small quantity of that,
0:18:27 > 0:18:29120 of them. It's this versatility.
0:18:29 > 0:18:32I think that's the one thing that really, you know,
0:18:32 > 0:18:35makes us want to grow it and grow more of them.
0:18:35 > 0:18:38I just think, though, if you look back in time,
0:18:38 > 0:18:42probably the longest fruit in cultivation has been the apple,
0:18:42 > 0:18:45going back thousands of years.
0:18:45 > 0:18:47In some ways it's travelled with man
0:18:47 > 0:18:50as man has developed, and he's developed the apple.
0:18:50 > 0:18:52There is a relationship between the two,
0:18:52 > 0:18:57and I just think it's a unique relationship in many ways.
0:18:57 > 0:18:59The real discovery for me has been Laxton's Epicure.
0:18:59 > 0:19:02It's the best apple ever.
0:19:02 > 0:19:05It must have been the one that Eve tempted Adam with.
0:19:05 > 0:19:08There's something about it.
0:19:15 > 0:19:17At the hands of the Victorian gardeners,
0:19:17 > 0:19:22we once grew more varieties of apple than anywhere else in the world.
0:19:22 > 0:19:25They were so plentiful, you could have eaten a different one
0:19:25 > 0:19:28every day for more than six years.
0:19:39 > 0:19:43Gardens like this are the result of not just the Victorians' obsession
0:19:43 > 0:19:48with perfecting the apple, but also tremendous advances
0:19:48 > 0:19:51in technology, in cultivation,
0:19:51 > 0:19:54growing, training and breeding.
0:19:54 > 0:19:57It's really important to remember, however,
0:19:57 > 0:20:00that the fruits that came out of gardens like this
0:20:00 > 0:20:03were only really available to the privileged few.
0:20:03 > 0:20:06The masses were devoid of apples.
0:20:06 > 0:20:09They celebrated them in a different way.
0:20:09 > 0:20:15The working man's apple was small, bitter, and shaken off trees.
0:20:15 > 0:20:18You couldn't eat them, but you could drink them.
0:20:18 > 0:20:22Cider was like water. Farm workers were paid with it.
0:20:22 > 0:20:25Babies were even christened in it.
0:20:27 > 0:20:30'Ciderland, as the West Country was known,
0:20:30 > 0:20:33'was once an Eden of Kingston Black and Fox Whelp,
0:20:33 > 0:20:37Pig's Snout, Sheep's Nose, Slack-My-Girdle,
0:20:37 > 0:20:39Hangy Down and Yarlington Mill -
0:20:39 > 0:20:42apples that dry the mouth if you eat them,
0:20:42 > 0:20:45but precious for their juice.
0:20:45 > 0:20:49Roger Wilkins' cider plant is like stepping back in time.
0:20:49 > 0:20:52His family have been milling for generations.
0:20:52 > 0:20:55How many gallons of cider would I earn for tipping all these in here?
0:20:55 > 0:20:58Ever heard of working for kind?
0:20:58 > 0:21:00HE LAUGHS
0:21:00 > 0:21:03That's not the spirit, Roger.
0:21:03 > 0:21:06Grandfather learned me a lot on what I know, like.
0:21:06 > 0:21:09He learnt me how to make cider and blend it.
0:21:09 > 0:21:14I were brought up to... I've drunk cider since I was four or five,
0:21:14 > 0:21:17and brought up on it. Weaned on it.
0:21:22 > 0:21:26- Go get it, Dad!- Push it down!
0:21:26 > 0:21:32Roger grows 15 different varieties of cider apple in his orchard,
0:21:32 > 0:21:35and each one has a unique taste.
0:21:38 > 0:21:42These are Chisel Jersey, and they've come straight from the ground
0:21:42 > 0:21:45to the press.
0:21:50 > 0:21:53I'm about to taste this. Won't you just help me?
0:21:53 > 0:21:55Come on, then.
0:21:57 > 0:22:02- Alchol free, that. Pure apple juice. - Couldn't get more fresh, could it?
0:22:02 > 0:22:05Try that. It's different to what you buy in the shop.
0:22:06 > 0:22:10That is packed, isn't it? That is delicious.
0:22:10 > 0:22:14That's why you fall in love with apple juice, isn't it?
0:22:14 > 0:22:16So when you're looking for whether
0:22:16 > 0:22:18it's going to make a sweet or a dry cider,
0:22:18 > 0:22:22do you experience layers of flavour in the same way as you would
0:22:22 > 0:22:25- tasting a wine, for instance? - Yeah. What I made this morning
0:22:25 > 0:22:28were virtually... A lot more bittersweets in it.
0:22:28 > 0:22:31There and now, just tasting that juice,
0:22:31 > 0:22:33there's some bittersharps in with that, as well.
0:22:33 > 0:22:37- I can tell the difference, like. - So you have sweet,
0:22:37 > 0:22:40bittersweet, sharp and then bittersharp?
0:22:40 > 0:22:42- Yeah.- So four different categories?
0:22:42 > 0:22:44In terms of the number of varieties you put in,
0:22:44 > 0:22:47do you mix it together, or do you have...
0:22:47 > 0:22:50I mix it as we're making it, as a rule.
0:22:50 > 0:22:54Different sorts, I just mix it with bittersweets, bittersharps.
0:22:54 > 0:22:57I taste every pressing we put up,
0:22:57 > 0:23:00and I can tell roughly what that cider's going to be like
0:23:00 > 0:23:04by tasting the apple juice. I don't test nothing. I'm happy with that.
0:23:04 > 0:23:08- Do you think I'll get a job tipping apples?- There you are!
0:23:08 > 0:23:11- You think? - You wouldn't live on the money!
0:23:11 > 0:23:15- THEY LAUGH - I'm very cheap.- You are!
0:23:25 > 0:23:28Having spent the day pressing juice which will go into cider
0:23:28 > 0:23:31to fill these great big barrels,
0:23:31 > 0:23:34there's a real sense of a cycle,
0:23:34 > 0:23:38the orchard that springs into life in the early part of the year
0:23:38 > 0:23:41and fills the landscape full of colour
0:23:41 > 0:23:44and activity from insects and wildlife,
0:23:44 > 0:23:47and then the fruits fill, during those summer months,
0:23:47 > 0:23:51harvested or gathered from the ground,
0:23:51 > 0:23:53squashed, pressed,
0:23:53 > 0:23:57and then preserved as cider.
0:23:57 > 0:24:01It's a beautifully simple system.
0:24:01 > 0:24:05But also coming here, coming and having a look at the cider,
0:24:05 > 0:24:09and thinking about the subtlety of the taste
0:24:09 > 0:24:12that Roger is looking for, from each of the different varieties,
0:24:12 > 0:24:16and he knows which variety is going to inject which flavour,
0:24:16 > 0:24:18to create the perfect cider.
0:24:18 > 0:24:22And that's when I really appreciate how important it is
0:24:22 > 0:24:24to preserve variety.
0:24:48 > 0:24:53In the 20th century, Britain was entering a new era of mass market.
0:24:53 > 0:24:56Already popular varieties like the Cox
0:24:56 > 0:25:00seemed like obvious candidates for large-scale commercial production.
0:25:00 > 0:25:04But there was a problem. Our Cox trees turned out to be temperamental
0:25:04 > 0:25:10and prone to disease. Often the apples were just too poor to sell.
0:25:10 > 0:25:12GEESE CRY
0:25:16 > 0:25:19The apple's fortunes had almost stagnated.
0:25:19 > 0:25:21It had been bred and reared
0:25:21 > 0:25:25by talented but largely amateur gardeners,
0:25:25 > 0:25:29and what it needed was a massive impetus
0:25:29 > 0:25:33to allow it to compete on a commercial level worldwide.
0:25:33 > 0:25:36And that impetus came in the shape of some dedicated scientists
0:25:36 > 0:25:39in the Garden of England.
0:25:43 > 0:25:47Deep in the heart of Kent lies East Malling Research Station,
0:25:47 > 0:25:51to this day a powerhouse of scientific research
0:25:51 > 0:25:53at the heart of the industry.
0:25:57 > 0:26:00Set up in 1913 with money from growers
0:26:00 > 0:26:03and the Board of Agriculture, it promised to tackle the problems
0:26:03 > 0:26:06blighting the orchards.
0:26:06 > 0:26:10With Ronald Hatton, a world-distinguished horticulturist,
0:26:10 > 0:26:14at the helm, scientists began scrutinising every last detail
0:26:14 > 0:26:16of the apple.
0:26:17 > 0:26:20They dug elaborate observation tunnels,
0:26:20 > 0:26:24determined to measure and record every aspect of the apple tree.
0:26:27 > 0:26:31Hatton's approach was meticulous, going to extraordinary lengths
0:26:31 > 0:26:33to reveal its secrets.
0:26:37 > 0:26:40It's one of the more unusual places to come and work, isn't it?
0:26:40 > 0:26:45'Dr Jim Quinlan, retired head of pomology,
0:26:45 > 0:26:48'is opening up the root tunnel for the first time in 15 years.'
0:26:50 > 0:26:55It's amazing that all the remnants of the research are still down here.
0:26:55 > 0:26:58Yes. It's some years since it was used.
0:26:58 > 0:27:02So behind each of these screens would have been a tree outside
0:27:02 > 0:27:05- that you could observe. - That's right, with a glass panel.
0:27:05 > 0:27:07Amazing!
0:27:14 > 0:27:16Plenty of cobwebs.
0:27:16 > 0:27:21You can just about make out the way the roots are coming down the glass.
0:27:24 > 0:27:26There. HE CHUCKLES
0:27:26 > 0:27:29That root there is starting to come down,
0:27:29 > 0:27:32and then you get all of the little subsidiaries coming off it.
0:27:32 > 0:27:35And you can almost make out the root hairs,
0:27:35 > 0:27:37- just giving you that little sheen. - Yes.
0:27:37 > 0:27:41It's fascinating to see the marks on the glass,
0:27:41 > 0:27:43recording the growth, presumably.
0:27:43 > 0:27:47It looks like the daily growth of a particular root.
0:27:47 > 0:27:49So what was the process here?
0:27:49 > 0:27:52What specifically was being investigated?
0:27:52 > 0:27:56Well, I think it was to some extent unknown
0:27:56 > 0:27:58until they started looking at the roots,
0:27:58 > 0:28:02but obviously looking at the growth of roots throughout the year,
0:28:02 > 0:28:06and what happened to the root during the course of the seasons,
0:28:06 > 0:28:09so you could look at the browning of the root,
0:28:09 > 0:28:11the insects, fauna...
0:28:11 > 0:28:14You'd see them eating away at some of the cortex of the root.
0:28:14 > 0:28:17Observing how the roots develop during the whole of the season...
0:28:17 > 0:28:20Had anything like this been done before?
0:28:20 > 0:28:23Had any exploration been carried out?
0:28:23 > 0:28:27Yes, but nothing like as ambitious as this.
0:28:27 > 0:28:32What was driving that almost obsessive quest
0:28:32 > 0:28:34- to find out about the plants? - Well, earlier work.
0:28:34 > 0:28:39Some of the researchers here had been actually digging up trees
0:28:39 > 0:28:43and very carefully labelling the exact position
0:28:43 > 0:28:48of the root systems, so they're able to reconstruct the root system
0:28:48 > 0:28:51once the tree is out of the ground.
0:28:51 > 0:28:53This was a logical progression, then,
0:28:53 > 0:28:56to actually look at the growing root.
0:28:56 > 0:28:59It must have been a wonderful environment in which to work.
0:28:59 > 0:29:03The atmosphere down here, the fact that it was so pioneering,
0:29:03 > 0:29:06and that nature is revealing its secrets right in front of you
0:29:06 > 0:29:09on a pane of glass here, and no-one had ever seen this.
0:29:09 > 0:29:14- I mean, this is the equivalent of exploring outer space.- Yes!
0:29:16 > 0:29:18Scientists knew for mass production,
0:29:18 > 0:29:21we had to have apple trees that were completely reliable,
0:29:21 > 0:29:24consistent and hardy.
0:29:24 > 0:29:28A major breakthrough came when they discovered that the secret lay
0:29:28 > 0:29:32in the part of the tree that had been long ignored - the rootstock.
0:29:32 > 0:29:37Ronald Hatton realised the way to overcome this problem
0:29:37 > 0:29:40was to actually produce rootstocks
0:29:40 > 0:29:43that would have a known level of invigoration.
0:29:43 > 0:29:47In other words, you could predict what size the tree was going to be.
0:29:47 > 0:29:51So he selected out 16 different types.
0:29:51 > 0:29:56He propagated them vegetatively, so you got away from seedling variation
0:29:56 > 0:29:59and produced Malling 1 to 16,
0:29:59 > 0:30:04tested them, and found that there was a large range of vigour,
0:30:04 > 0:30:08so that you could then decide which rootstock you're going to use
0:30:08 > 0:30:11to produce a tree of the size you required.
0:30:11 > 0:30:15Do you think that at any point anyone realised the significance
0:30:15 > 0:30:17of what was being done here?
0:30:17 > 0:30:21I think it became pretty obvious early on.
0:30:21 > 0:30:24For example, the most widely grown rootstock now is M9,
0:30:24 > 0:30:28Malling 9, which was produced here by Hatton,
0:30:28 > 0:30:31a dwarf tree which is very productive,
0:30:31 > 0:30:34the fruit a good size. A grower could then plant these,
0:30:34 > 0:30:37as they do today, high-density plantings,
0:30:37 > 0:30:41and be fairly sure that they can manage those trees
0:30:41 > 0:30:47from the ground, in terms of pruning and harvesting the tree,
0:30:47 > 0:30:50relative ease of application of pesticides.
0:30:50 > 0:30:53That was a major advancement.
0:30:53 > 0:30:58It seems strange that, in order to pioneer the range of rootstocks,
0:30:58 > 0:31:02that nobody thought to patent those rootstocks,
0:31:02 > 0:31:07because...well, you would have all been millionaires
0:31:07 > 0:31:10- had that happened...- What a pity... - ..because they've become worldwide.
0:31:10 > 0:31:13..we couldn't have had a penny on each rootstock!
0:31:13 > 0:31:17Now, of course, there is breeding in rootstocks,
0:31:17 > 0:31:20and any rootstock which was produced in the last few years
0:31:20 > 0:31:25can be patented and produce an income for the breeder,
0:31:25 > 0:31:30but for majority of East Malling rootstocks, no, that's not the case.
0:31:31 > 0:31:35East Malling's crowning glory, the M9,
0:31:35 > 0:31:37was and is a roaring success.
0:31:37 > 0:31:40'When word got out, demand surged,
0:31:40 > 0:31:43'and rootstocks were made freely available to anyone who asked.'
0:31:43 > 0:31:47By 1933, over a million had been released,
0:31:47 > 0:31:50and the knowledge had been exported across the world.
0:31:50 > 0:31:54What could have made East Malling's fortune in royalties
0:31:54 > 0:31:57and given British growers a world edge
0:31:57 > 0:32:00strengthened the roots of our competitors.
0:32:02 > 0:32:05It's hard to imagine - in fact it's inconceivable -
0:32:05 > 0:32:09that it would be possible to achieve such consistency in plants
0:32:09 > 0:32:14without root-stock development, particularly, here, the M9.
0:32:14 > 0:32:18The reason that it became so popular and such a ubiquitous rootstock
0:32:18 > 0:32:24is because this small, rather modest section of root
0:32:24 > 0:32:28provides the secret to not only uniform orchards
0:32:28 > 0:32:31but also to a very consistent crop.
0:32:31 > 0:32:34In fact, the scientists very quickly learned
0:32:34 > 0:32:38that the roots not only drive the top growth, the scion of the plant,
0:32:38 > 0:32:41and control its vigour, but more than that,
0:32:41 > 0:32:44it's to do with the nutrient uptake, the water,
0:32:44 > 0:32:46the way the roots penetrate the ground,
0:32:46 > 0:32:48its survivability in many different conditions.
0:32:48 > 0:32:51It's to do with the way in which the fruit is produced
0:32:51 > 0:32:54on a regular level, season after season,
0:32:54 > 0:32:58on very young plants - early cropping means early rewards -
0:32:58 > 0:33:01and large, succulent fruits.
0:33:01 > 0:33:06The M9 encapsulated all of those characteristics.
0:33:06 > 0:33:08It was so successful, in fact,
0:33:08 > 0:33:12that at one time the M9 and its derivatives
0:33:12 > 0:33:16were said to be the roots of over 95 percent of all apples
0:33:16 > 0:33:18grown in Europe.
0:33:22 > 0:33:25There was no limit to the scale of imagination
0:33:25 > 0:33:29in East Malling's experiments. Storage was another nut to crack.
0:33:29 > 0:33:34They tackled this by building an entire ship's hold inside the lab.
0:33:34 > 0:33:37There they discovered how to induce apples
0:33:37 > 0:33:41into a state of suspended animation,
0:33:41 > 0:33:44pushing the limits of shelf life.
0:33:44 > 0:33:49By the 1940s, apples could arrive from the far reaches of the empire
0:33:49 > 0:33:51as if just plucked from the tree,
0:33:51 > 0:33:55and British consumers enjoyed apples all year round.
0:34:00 > 0:34:03With encouragement, the British orchard too began to thrive.
0:34:15 > 0:34:18Science breathed life into our orchards.
0:34:18 > 0:34:20Growers invested in grading machines
0:34:20 > 0:34:24and English Coxes and Worcesters fought to hold their own
0:34:24 > 0:34:27in the mass market.
0:34:33 > 0:34:36The scientists at East Malling made the biggest contribution
0:34:36 > 0:34:39the industry had ever seen worldwide.
0:34:39 > 0:34:42But in post-war Britain, there was a new phenomenon -
0:34:42 > 0:34:47that of the supermarket, introducing a new set of consumer demands.
0:34:47 > 0:34:49How could we possibly resist the temptation
0:34:49 > 0:34:53of the exotic varieties like Jonathan and McIntosh
0:34:53 > 0:34:56that swept in from North America?
0:34:56 > 0:34:59The simple truth was that we in Britain had an industry
0:34:59 > 0:35:02that was working towards quality and quantity,
0:35:02 > 0:35:04but now the consumer turned round and said,
0:35:04 > 0:35:08"You're growing the wrong varieties."
0:35:08 > 0:35:11Scientists at East Malling went back to the drawing board,
0:35:11 > 0:35:14confident that science could engineer an apple
0:35:14 > 0:35:18for the new market. The main stud of the breeding programme
0:35:18 > 0:35:20was our old favourite, the Cox.
0:35:20 > 0:35:23They began a painstaking process,
0:35:23 > 0:35:26extracting pollen from one tree
0:35:26 > 0:35:28and dusting it onto the flowers of another,
0:35:28 > 0:35:31making tens of thousands of crosses.
0:35:31 > 0:35:35After decades of work, they unveiled the fruits of their labours.
0:35:36 > 0:35:40This is Suntan, very much a Cox type.
0:35:40 > 0:35:44Late flowering, large fruit, but quite acid.
0:35:44 > 0:35:50It didn't make the impact that we thought it might.
0:35:50 > 0:35:52Not an improvement over Cox in many respects.
0:35:52 > 0:35:55- It's got many of the characteristics.- It is, it is.
0:35:55 > 0:35:58- Slightly more red, but... - Certainly a Cox type.
0:35:58 > 0:36:01The striping, slight orange texture,
0:36:01 > 0:36:05- quite an open flower. Can I try it? - Yes, certainly.
0:36:10 > 0:36:12Mmm!
0:36:12 > 0:36:14- It's very similar.- Yes. Oh, yes.
0:36:14 > 0:36:17So why was it not successful?
0:36:17 > 0:36:20Why was it not adopted as a replacement
0:36:20 > 0:36:23- or an alternative? - Some problems over storage.
0:36:23 > 0:36:26It wasn't the leap forward we were looking for
0:36:26 > 0:36:29in terms of an improved Cox.
0:36:29 > 0:36:31Here we are.
0:36:32 > 0:36:34This is Falstaff.
0:36:34 > 0:36:37Nice crop. Still hanging on for you.
0:36:37 > 0:36:40It would have been disappointing if we'd got here and it had...
0:36:40 > 0:36:44hadn't produced anything. It's very Pink Lady-like, isn't it?
0:36:44 > 0:36:47This is a red selection of Falstaff.
0:36:47 > 0:36:51Falstaff wasn't as highly coloured as this originally,
0:36:51 > 0:36:55but it's a good, tasty variety.
0:36:58 > 0:37:00Mmm!
0:37:00 > 0:37:02- It's very sweet.- Yes.
0:37:02 > 0:37:05Very sweet. Very juicy. It's a very delicate flavour.
0:37:05 > 0:37:09Very similar to Pink Lady in terms of the way it delivers its flavour.
0:37:09 > 0:37:13- More character, I think.- More depth, but not as much depth as a Cox.
0:37:13 > 0:37:17- No.- It doesn't assault the senses like a Cox does.
0:37:17 > 0:37:20No. It doesn't have the acid level, no.
0:37:22 > 0:37:26No. I'd go with that. Don't think it replaces the Cox, to be honest.
0:37:28 > 0:37:31Alongside Suntan and Falstaff came a slew of others.
0:37:31 > 0:37:37But if our Victorian predecessors had bred for novelty,
0:37:37 > 0:37:42this was all about business - pest resistance, cropping, consistency.
0:37:47 > 0:37:51What was the process involved in producing those new varieties?
0:37:51 > 0:37:55How were the selections made, and how were those crosses made?
0:37:55 > 0:37:58Well, you cross maybe two varieties,
0:37:58 > 0:38:01probably producing 10,000 seedlings,
0:38:01 > 0:38:05from which you've got to, um, select the best.
0:38:05 > 0:38:09Initially you might screen them for resistance to mildew, for example.
0:38:09 > 0:38:13That can be done in the greenhouse. You reduce the numbers down
0:38:13 > 0:38:17to maybe 2,000, and it's a matter of screening out
0:38:17 > 0:38:20various characters which you don't want,
0:38:20 > 0:38:22until you finally come to maybe a hundred.
0:38:22 > 0:38:25You plant these out in the orchard,
0:38:25 > 0:38:28then you've got to see how they crop, how the tree grows.
0:38:28 > 0:38:32Then you might select out one or two for further trialling.
0:38:32 > 0:38:36So at least ten years, or probably longer,
0:38:36 > 0:38:39before you come up with a final variety which you name.
0:38:39 > 0:38:44With all of the knowledge on the different varieties,
0:38:44 > 0:38:47on the character, and also having a very clear focus
0:38:47 > 0:38:52on what was required, why was it elusive?
0:38:52 > 0:38:54Why was this variety that would dominate the world
0:38:54 > 0:38:57going to remain elusive?
0:38:57 > 0:39:01Well, perhaps you could say that a mistake might have been made
0:39:01 > 0:39:03in concentrating on Cox,
0:39:03 > 0:39:07because Cox is not a world variety.
0:39:07 > 0:39:10We should be looking more widely
0:39:10 > 0:39:13at what was required in other countries,
0:39:13 > 0:39:19but we were focussed very much on the requirements of the UK grower.
0:39:27 > 0:39:30The fact that the best scientific brains at East Malling
0:39:30 > 0:39:34in the '70s and '80s couldn't produce the new variety
0:39:34 > 0:39:37to dominate the globe shouldn't really be seen as a failure.
0:39:37 > 0:39:40They'd set themselves an almost impossible task.
0:39:40 > 0:39:43In addition to all the issues of texture and taste,
0:39:43 > 0:39:46colour and consistency, marketability,
0:39:46 > 0:39:49they were looking for an apple that would be able to grow
0:39:49 > 0:39:51in all the orchards around the world,
0:39:51 > 0:39:54as far afield as New Zealand and America.
0:39:54 > 0:39:58However, the frustrating thing for them must have been
0:39:58 > 0:40:02that an apple which was found almost accidentally in America,
0:40:02 > 0:40:04then adopted by the French,
0:40:04 > 0:40:09and a fruit that was vacuous and almost over-inflated,
0:40:09 > 0:40:12suddenly came into the fore.
0:40:12 > 0:40:15This is what threatens their survival -
0:40:15 > 0:40:18the avalanche of French Golden Delicious pouring into Britain
0:40:18 > 0:40:21at a rate of more than quarter of a million tons a year.
0:40:21 > 0:40:25The Golden Delicious had been discovered growing wild
0:40:25 > 0:40:27in West Virginia back in the 1890s.
0:40:27 > 0:40:31It turned out to be the perfect modern commercial apple -
0:40:31 > 0:40:34dependable, hardy and cheap.
0:40:34 > 0:40:38And it flourished in French orchards.
0:40:38 > 0:40:40And do you know what the most galling thing was?
0:40:40 > 0:40:43Because of the environmental conditions it required,
0:40:43 > 0:40:45we couldn't grow it here.
0:40:45 > 0:40:48FRENCH NATIONAL ANTHEM
0:40:48 > 0:40:51ELECTRONIC VERSION OF "FRERE JACQUES"
0:40:51 > 0:40:55In the 1970s, the French launched a government-backed campaign
0:40:55 > 0:40:58to persuade us to eat it.
0:40:58 > 0:41:00And we did.
0:41:00 > 0:41:03THEY CRUNCH TO BEAT OF "FRERE JACQUES"
0:41:17 > 0:41:19The French had struck gold.
0:41:19 > 0:41:24By 1981, they had 240,000 acres of orchards,
0:41:24 > 0:41:28four times what we had, and we were crunching our way
0:41:28 > 0:41:31through more Golden Delicious than anything else.
0:41:33 > 0:41:36'The bitter irony was that, in all likelihood,
0:41:36 > 0:41:40'they were being grown on our old friend, the M9 rootstock.'
0:41:41 > 0:41:45The reason that Golden Delicious became just so popular
0:41:45 > 0:41:48is very simple. From a commercial perspective,
0:41:48 > 0:41:51it's a very consistent crop. Every one of these apples
0:41:51 > 0:41:54looks exactly the same, and that's true of just about every fruit
0:41:54 > 0:41:57off the tree. It's also a very heavy cropper, very reliable.
0:41:57 > 0:41:59It produces fruits year on year.
0:41:59 > 0:42:04It also can be picked early, stored and transported very easily.
0:42:04 > 0:42:08And from a consumer's perspective, it emerged at a time
0:42:08 > 0:42:11when consumers were told that consistency
0:42:11 > 0:42:13was all to do with quality.
0:42:13 > 0:42:17And who could resist a bank of apples
0:42:17 > 0:42:19that looked as handsome as that?
0:42:19 > 0:42:22Why do you think people went crazy for them?
0:42:22 > 0:42:25- Was it that they were available? - It was the colour.- Really?
0:42:25 > 0:42:28And they were cheap, the cheapest apple in the world.
0:42:28 > 0:42:31A French Golden Delicious was working out about...
0:42:31 > 0:42:35during the '80s, two pound for 40 pence.
0:42:35 > 0:42:38- I like the Golden Delicious because of the kids.- OK.
0:42:38 > 0:42:42- That's their favourite.- Is it? - They like the soft texture of it.
0:42:42 > 0:42:44School lunchboxes.
0:42:44 > 0:42:48That's what you got, mate, innit? You got your butties,
0:42:48 > 0:42:50you got your KitKat, and you got your apple.
0:42:55 > 0:42:59'Golden Delicious is undoubtedly one of the most important apples
0:42:59 > 0:43:03'of the 20th century, both as a commercial variety in its own right
0:43:03 > 0:43:07'and as the parent of apples like Gala and Pink Lady.
0:43:07 > 0:43:10'But it's not to everyone's taste.'
0:43:10 > 0:43:14So, tell me, why aren't you buying something like Golden Delicious?
0:43:14 > 0:43:17There's a great big pile on that stall over there.
0:43:17 > 0:43:20- Why aren't you tempted by those? - They're insipid, they're French
0:43:20 > 0:43:23and they're tasteless. What more can you say?
0:43:26 > 0:43:28The plight of the British grower was made worse
0:43:28 > 0:43:32when we joined the Common Market. Our farmers couldn't compete
0:43:32 > 0:43:35with cheap imports like Golden Delicious, and overnight,
0:43:35 > 0:43:38orchards became redundant. Growers began to grub them up.
0:43:38 > 0:43:41And with the orchards went the diversity
0:43:41 > 0:43:44of traditional English varieties.
0:43:44 > 0:43:47The scale of destruction was vast.
0:43:48 > 0:43:52A land-utilisation map from the 1930s
0:43:52 > 0:43:55gives some graphic idea
0:43:55 > 0:43:58of how much of Worcestershire would have been down to orchards.
0:43:58 > 0:44:01Standing on the hill here, looking due west
0:44:01 > 0:44:04across the heart of Worcestershire, the map shows
0:44:04 > 0:44:06between 20 and 30 percent of the land
0:44:06 > 0:44:08was down to orchard, shown here in pink
0:44:08 > 0:44:11with purple spots. Look out there today,
0:44:11 > 0:44:16and with the exception of a little clump of orchard trees
0:44:16 > 0:44:19over there, seeing right across
0:44:19 > 0:44:22towards Bredon Hill in the distance,
0:44:22 > 0:44:26there's not a single sign of a large-scale orchard.
0:44:26 > 0:44:31It gives you some idea of just how much of our orchard landscape
0:44:31 > 0:44:34has gone. In fact, since 1950,
0:44:34 > 0:44:39nationwide, it's estimated that 63 percent have been grubbed up.
0:44:39 > 0:44:41And that's a shame.
0:44:41 > 0:44:45It's such a distinctive style of looking after the landscape.
0:44:45 > 0:44:48And it's the heart of communities like this,
0:44:48 > 0:44:52which has just been ripped to pieces.
0:44:58 > 0:45:01'Norfolk Dumpling, Black Jack, Sops-in-Wine,
0:45:01 > 0:45:05'Beeley Pippin - ancient English varieties
0:45:05 > 0:45:07'all but lost to the hedgerows.
0:45:09 > 0:45:11'I had a favourite apple when I was a boy.
0:45:11 > 0:45:15'I've no idea what it was, but I wonder if that tree survived.'
0:45:15 > 0:45:18When we were kids we used to cycle over.
0:45:18 > 0:45:22There'd be certain orchards that we'd always be drawn to,
0:45:22 > 0:45:25the ones that had the best flavour. We knew exactly where to go.
0:45:25 > 0:45:27There's one up here
0:45:27 > 0:45:30I remember going to on a summer's afternoon,
0:45:30 > 0:45:35and there was one tree where the fruits were oversized
0:45:35 > 0:45:38with a rosy flesh and the most fantastic flavour.
0:45:38 > 0:45:41It would just be great to be able to find what that was.
0:45:41 > 0:45:44DOG GROWLS AND BARKS
0:45:50 > 0:45:53- Hello!- Hello. This is a very strange question.
0:45:53 > 0:45:57When I was about this high, I used to go scrumping in your orchard.
0:45:57 > 0:46:00- Did you?- And there's one apple - it's this one down here...
0:46:00 > 0:46:03Well, maybe it's still there,
0:46:03 > 0:46:05because a lot of the trees have blown down.
0:46:05 > 0:46:08There's very few left. But you're welcome to look.
0:46:08 > 0:46:11- Do you mind if I have a wander round?- Certainly, certainly.
0:46:11 > 0:46:14Help yourself.
0:46:14 > 0:46:16There aren't many trees left. A handful.
0:46:16 > 0:46:19This would have been just a grand orchard.
0:46:19 > 0:46:21Just fantastic. South-facing slope.
0:46:21 > 0:46:24Water would have percolated through the ground,
0:46:24 > 0:46:29the heavy clay soils. It would have been an absolute treat.
0:46:29 > 0:46:32I remember it as being... In fact, it was so dense,
0:46:32 > 0:46:34when we hopped over the gate just down there,
0:46:34 > 0:46:38we felt safe enough to be able to pop in
0:46:38 > 0:46:41and scrummage around without being seen from the house up there,
0:46:41 > 0:46:45or in fact being seen from anywhere. That's how dense the canopy was.
0:46:48 > 0:46:51'I want to do my bit to preserve the English apple -
0:46:51 > 0:46:55'although, worryingly, it looks more like a Golden Delicious
0:46:55 > 0:46:57'than I remember. I hope it doesn't taste like one.'
0:47:00 > 0:47:02Mmm!
0:47:03 > 0:47:05That's so juicy!
0:47:05 > 0:47:08Very clear white flesh.
0:47:10 > 0:47:13Just running with juice. Look. Amazing!
0:47:14 > 0:47:18It tastes a little bit like a Gala or a Worcester.
0:47:18 > 0:47:22It's got the real purity, very delicate flavour.
0:47:22 > 0:47:25I wonder if this is it.
0:47:25 > 0:47:27It would be amazing, wouldn't it?
0:47:27 > 0:47:32'A simple DNA test will tell me what it is.'
0:47:32 > 0:47:34An apple and a stalk,
0:47:34 > 0:47:36a few leaves...
0:47:36 > 0:47:40hopefully will help us to solve the mystery...
0:47:41 > 0:47:43..of what this might be.
0:47:43 > 0:47:46DOG BARKS
0:47:57 > 0:48:00In Britain we consume 50 billion apples a year.
0:48:00 > 0:48:0570 percent are imported, coming from all over the world.
0:48:06 > 0:48:09'So where are the English apples?'
0:48:10 > 0:48:12Tucked away in the corner!
0:48:12 > 0:48:15You couldn't get much further out of the market.
0:48:15 > 0:48:19Tucked away in the corner is a little kind of jewel,
0:48:19 > 0:48:21a little pile of apples.
0:48:21 > 0:48:23The Russet.
0:48:24 > 0:48:27It's not the most glamorous-looking thing,
0:48:27 > 0:48:29but it's the best-tasting apple here.
0:48:31 > 0:48:35It's not just the French squeezing the English apple out of the market.
0:48:35 > 0:48:38- Morning, Justin. - Very good morning, Chris.
0:48:38 > 0:48:40- How you doing?- Very well. - What have you got in here?
0:48:40 > 0:48:44The southern hemisphere have finished with all their apples,
0:48:44 > 0:48:48your Chile, South Africa, Argentina.
0:48:48 > 0:48:52Your South American, South African apples have all finished now.
0:48:52 > 0:48:56Moving into the northern hemisphere, the French apples have started.
0:48:56 > 0:49:00What is top-spec apple? What makes an apple good for you to sell?
0:49:00 > 0:49:05It's got to look the part. It's got to be, like, crunchy.
0:49:05 > 0:49:09It's got to eat well. It's got to have no, like, little dinks,
0:49:09 > 0:49:13or, like, you know... It's got to be 99.9 percent perfect.
0:49:13 > 0:49:17The Grannies all polished and waxed, they look the business.
0:49:20 > 0:49:25There's no doubt we love those buffed international beauties.
0:49:25 > 0:49:29But recently there's been a real yearning to buy British.
0:49:29 > 0:49:32'So although we now have far fewer growers,
0:49:32 > 0:49:35'a new breed of super-orchard is taking root,
0:49:35 > 0:49:38'right in the heart of Kent. This is Mansfield's.'
0:49:43 > 0:49:46We farm just over 3,000 acres.
0:49:46 > 0:49:49New trees we've planted over the last ten years is over a million,
0:49:49 > 0:49:52all East Malling rootstock 9.
0:49:52 > 0:49:57It is a very frustrating suggestion, I suppose,
0:49:57 > 0:50:01that if East Malling hadn't been quite as happy
0:50:01 > 0:50:05to give away their M9 rootstock to the rest of the world,
0:50:05 > 0:50:07you'd have had a huge competitive advantage.
0:50:07 > 0:50:10The rest of the world wouldn't have been able to compete.
0:50:10 > 0:50:13The UK would have had a very strong lead,
0:50:13 > 0:50:16but it's a shame, as you say, it wasn't patented,
0:50:16 > 0:50:19because it would be worth a considerable amount of money.
0:50:19 > 0:50:22Billions, I would have thought, because it's planted,
0:50:22 > 0:50:26the M9 rootstock, in every country all over the world
0:50:26 > 0:50:28that grows apples.
0:50:31 > 0:50:33In so many ways, this is the dream orchard
0:50:33 > 0:50:36the scientists at East Malling were working towards,
0:50:36 > 0:50:39using our own M9 rootstocks
0:50:39 > 0:50:43and the state-of-the-art storage technology they pioneered.
0:50:43 > 0:50:47But there are some things that are distinctly un-British.
0:50:47 > 0:50:53The varieties they grow most of are Gala and Braeburn, from New Zealand.
0:50:53 > 0:50:56How do they choose what's worth picking and what's not?
0:50:56 > 0:51:00We're looking for... Our optimum size on this Braeburn
0:51:00 > 0:51:04is 65 to 80 millimetres. That's diameter size.
0:51:04 > 0:51:08So that's what the customer wants. That's what the consumer wants.
0:51:08 > 0:51:10That's what we need to grow.
0:51:10 > 0:51:14And this is lots of one of my favourite apples
0:51:14 > 0:51:16to grow also in the UK.
0:51:16 > 0:51:21It tastes totally different to the Italian and the French Braeburn.
0:51:21 > 0:51:25It is a dense apple. It's much, much better flavour.
0:51:25 > 0:51:28It is the combination of the sugars and acidity
0:51:28 > 0:51:31that make it better.
0:51:31 > 0:51:33Today is the 15th of October.
0:51:33 > 0:51:37This can come out of store the middle of next May
0:51:37 > 0:51:40and come out exactly the same condition firmness-wise,
0:51:40 > 0:51:42but develop the flavour.
0:51:42 > 0:51:46How do you feel about the future of the English apple?
0:51:46 > 0:51:49Is it secure, or should we be worried about where it's headed?
0:51:49 > 0:51:54I think the future for UK apple production is looking rosy.
0:51:54 > 0:51:58I think the UK could get up to 35 percent
0:51:58 > 0:52:01produced home-grown,
0:52:01 > 0:52:03and the public definitely want UK apples.
0:52:07 > 0:52:12It's great to think of a resurgence in the British apple industry,
0:52:12 > 0:52:14and yes, these are English apples,
0:52:14 > 0:52:17though technically they're not English varieties.
0:52:17 > 0:52:21This is Braeburn and Gala, from New Zealand originally,
0:52:21 > 0:52:24although strangely they grow better in our climate
0:52:24 > 0:52:26than they do back at home.
0:52:26 > 0:52:29And if it's these varieties that have to be planted
0:52:29 > 0:52:32in our orchards in order to make them commercially viable,
0:52:32 > 0:52:34well, so be it.
0:52:34 > 0:52:36But, you know, what I really crave
0:52:36 > 0:52:39are the exquisite flavours and textures
0:52:39 > 0:52:43of those much-loved Victorian varieties.
0:52:49 > 0:52:53My favourite childhood apple is on the slab at East Malling
0:52:53 > 0:52:56for an identity test.
0:52:56 > 0:53:00The scientists are as rigorous and forward-thinking in their approach as ever.
0:53:00 > 0:53:04They've extracted the DNA data of 2,000 apples
0:53:04 > 0:53:07archived at the National Fruit Collection,
0:53:07 > 0:53:10preserving genetic diversity for the future.
0:53:10 > 0:53:13'I'm hoping my apple will produce a match.'
0:53:13 > 0:53:16What we're going to do is filter these data
0:53:16 > 0:53:20by each of the scores that we gave your apple,
0:53:20 > 0:53:25and hopefully there'll be one other entry in the database
0:53:25 > 0:53:27- that matches perfectly with yours. - OK.
0:53:27 > 0:53:33OK. So at the first locus, your apple has a size of 96,
0:53:33 > 0:53:36so we'll filter for 96.
0:53:36 > 0:53:39At the second allele,
0:53:39 > 0:53:41that locus for yours is 106,
0:53:41 > 0:53:43so there's been a ten-nucleotide,
0:53:43 > 0:53:46a ten ATCG mutation.
0:53:46 > 0:53:48So we'll filter by that.
0:53:48 > 0:53:52I'm nodding as though I understand all of this, obviously.
0:53:52 > 0:53:56So now we've limited the dataset to only those apples
0:53:56 > 0:53:59that contain these two alleles at the first locus.
0:53:59 > 0:54:01And there's still a surprising amount.
0:54:01 > 0:54:04- There's still a full screenful. - Sure.
0:54:04 > 0:54:06The probability of finding a unique apple
0:54:06 > 0:54:10at a single locus is very, very low, but at 12 loci,
0:54:10 > 0:54:13the probability increases, so there's a very high chance
0:54:13 > 0:54:15that if we have your apple in the database,
0:54:15 > 0:54:18we will have a single match with your apple.
0:54:18 > 0:54:21So the next locus, filter by 88,
0:54:21 > 0:54:24- and now you see...- That's come down. - There's only 20 now
0:54:24 > 0:54:27which could be your apple.
0:54:27 > 0:54:30So already we're on the right track to finding it.
0:54:30 > 0:54:33Look at some of the names of those! There's some really unusual things.
0:54:33 > 0:54:37Green Custard... Newton Wonder is in there as well.
0:54:37 > 0:54:41Newton Wonder, yep. We've got Green Custard,
0:54:41 > 0:54:44Nouvelle Europe. These are very old cultivars, a lot of these.
0:54:44 > 0:54:47Duke of Gloucester, which is just down the road
0:54:47 > 0:54:50from where the apple was grown. Brown Snout is interesting, too.
0:54:50 > 0:54:52Yeah. They've got some wonderful names.
0:54:52 > 0:54:55So now we'll filter by 113.
0:54:58 > 0:55:03And there you go. Your unknown apple is Keswick Codlin.
0:55:03 > 0:55:06Wow! That's extraordinary!
0:55:06 > 0:55:08But the details, because according there,
0:55:08 > 0:55:12its season... Harvesting from September to October.
0:55:12 > 0:55:15I remember going at the end of my summer holidays,
0:55:15 > 0:55:18which fits perfectly, because that apple
0:55:18 > 0:55:20was then just coming into ripeness,
0:55:20 > 0:55:24- which is why it tasted so refreshing and so sharp.- Yeah.
0:55:24 > 0:55:28But the date is slightly odd. 1793! And it's from...
0:55:28 > 0:55:30The Keswick Codlin. It's from Keswick,
0:55:30 > 0:55:32so what is it doing growing in Gloucestershire?
0:55:32 > 0:55:36It must have been a really well respected apple
0:55:36 > 0:55:39to have travelled down from Keswick to the middle of Gloucestershire
0:55:39 > 0:55:41that early on. That's incredible.
0:55:41 > 0:55:45Well, I'm glad we could help you solve the mystery of your apple.
0:55:45 > 0:55:4932 years of mystery solved by the click of a button. That's fantastic!
0:55:49 > 0:55:51Can you open the gate for me?
0:55:51 > 0:55:53Push.
0:55:53 > 0:55:56'And a carefully grafted Keswick Codlin
0:55:56 > 0:56:00'will be taking pride of place in my garden.'
0:56:00 > 0:56:04- Look at those roots! - I got some, Daddy.- Oh, well done!
0:56:04 > 0:56:08There's no doubt that the British contribution to the apple
0:56:08 > 0:56:13is unparalleled. On one hand we have the diversity
0:56:13 > 0:56:16of varieties, supplied largely by the Victorians,
0:56:16 > 0:56:19and on the other it's about pure science and industry,
0:56:19 > 0:56:22the scientists at East Malling, who catapulted the apple
0:56:22 > 0:56:26into the 20th century - like it or not - making it what it is today.
0:56:26 > 0:56:31- I think that apple tree is planted. - I think it is planted.
0:56:31 > 0:56:33The challenge for the future
0:56:33 > 0:56:36is combining those two disparate elements.
0:56:36 > 0:56:38If the Keswick Codlin, the Pitmaston,
0:56:38 > 0:56:43the Worcester, all manner of heritage varieties, are to persist,
0:56:43 > 0:56:48the responsibility for becoming custodians and guardians
0:56:48 > 0:56:50rests largely with us.
0:56:50 > 0:56:54Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd
0:56:54 > 0:56:58E-mail subtitling@bbc.co.uk
0:56:58 > 0:56:58.