Video: Fruitful quest for the first Yorkshire Pippin

It is a surprising Yorkshire link to what is one of the world’s most famous varieties of apple.
Freya Mawhinney in 18th Century costume, by the Ribston Pippin Apple tree. Picture by Simon HulmeFreya Mawhinney in 18th Century costume, by the Ribston Pippin Apple tree. Picture by Simon Hulme
Freya Mawhinney in 18th Century costume, by the Ribston Pippin Apple tree. Picture by Simon Hulme

Tucked away on a private estate near Knaresborough is a rare apple tree which still bears fruit today and which helped shape many varieties of apple we find on our supermarket shelves in modern times.

The Ribston Pippin, one of the oldest surviving varieties of eating apple, was raised 300 years ago at Ribston Hall, near Knaresborough, by the arboriculturist Sir Henry Goodricke. He grew the first Ribston Pippin from the only survivor of three pips sent from Normandy in 1709.

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It is thought Richard Cox then raised his famous Cox’s Orange Pippin a century later from this variety. The grandchild of the original Ribston tree still stands proudly in the grounds of the hall and this year visitors to the Harrogate Autumn Flower Show will have the chance to step back three centuries to the days when apples were simply known as pippins.

Freya Mawhinney in 18th Century costume, by the Ribston Pippin Apple tree. Picture by Simon HulmeFreya Mawhinney in 18th Century costume, by the Ribston Pippin Apple tree. Picture by Simon Hulme
Freya Mawhinney in 18th Century costume, by the Ribston Pippin Apple tree. Picture by Simon Hulme

Nick Smith, director of the flower show said: “Of course these days there are so many apples brought in from other countries but I think its important to highlight such a Yorkshire link.

“It’s a little known Yorkshire link,” he added.

Yesterday Freya Mawhinney, from The Georgian Theatre Royal Youth Theatre, in Richmond, was at the estate, which is not open to the public, to step back in time and recreate an era when pippins and panniers were the order of the day.

The flower show, which takes place between September 12-14, at the Great Yorkshire Showground, in Harrogate, will be a celebration of fruits and all things apple, including the Ribston Pippin.

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Yesterday TV chef Stephanie Moon was also in Knaresborough to pick her own pippins for an 18th century recipe she will be recreating for visitors at the Plot to Pot Cookery Theatre. The chef consultant for Rudding Park Hotel, in Harrogate, and fellow cookery theatre host Gilly Robinson, will be offering a slice of history each day as they demonstrate an original 18th century recipe for “a fraze with pippins.”

The recipe for “a fraze with pippins” is thought to come from the book The Whole Duty of a Woman, published in 1737. It combines pippins with batter, similar to that used for pancakes, which is then fried to create a sweet treat.

Visitors to the show will also get a chance to sample Ribston Pippin in a taste test to find out if they can tell the difference between heritage varieties and their modern supermarket successors. A pop-up orchard will be on hand to help demonstrate how to plant, prune and pamper fruit trees.

Mr Smith said the show had chosen the theme of apples because: “Its a time of year when there are apples on the trees and its just the thing of what to do with them.

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“Our love of the humble apple stretches back thousands of years and the vast range of varieties now available means that even small gardens can sustain apple trees.

People are sometimes cautious about planting fruit trees because they worry about how they will fit into their garden and how to care for them properly. We aim to help visitors learn how to plant and prune their fruit trees, as well as discovering how much better the fruit tastes when they do.”

Autumn flower show attractions also include a range of show gardens, a giant vegetable competition, displays by nearly 100 leading plant nurseries and over 5,000 fabulous autumn blooms in Britain’s biggest exhibition by specialist gardening societies.