COLWALL'S fruity heritage will be celebrated when the village's orchard group holds its annual autumn event.

The open day, on Saturday, October 6, includes attractions for all the family at the Colwall Village Garden from 11am to 4pm.

Apple expert Tim Dixon will be on hand to answer your questions and to identify your apples. Apple identification costs £5, and you need to provide at least three undamaged apples, picked from the sunny side of the tree, with a spray of mature leaves and a new shoot of leaves.

And why not try your hand at making juice using a traditional apple press? If you have apples or pears, bring them along and make apple juice to take home.

Wendy Thompson of the group said: "It’s always wonderful to see families bringing along their buckets, trugs and wheelbarrows of apples and for everyone to have a go at making juice to take home to share; a real experience for children to transform the fruit they’ve picked into a healthy drink.

"If you have more than a trug of apples or pears, let us know so that we can book you in. Our email is members@colwallorchardgroup.org.”

“You can also go on a journey of discovery around our wonderful recently planted orchard with 250 traditional fruit trees. The orchard trail will introduce you to the plants and wildlife living in orchards, will provide information on how to grow and manage an orchard and will tell the fascinating story of how orchards came to be in Colwall.”

Other free entertainment includes crafts and games including an apple catapult and you can look forward to a smashing time when the annual apple pinata is revealed at 2pm.

The Orchard Room Cafe will be serving fresh apple juice, teas, coffee and homemade cakes all day and a barbecue will provide hot food from noon. Cider and beer will also be available and there will be folk music from Rough Notes.