Pick of the play at community orchard

Pupils and staff from Swansfield Park Primary School joined the Friends of the Community Orchard and town and county council representatives as the ribbon was cut.

Sue Patience, a member of the Friends and a town councillor, said: “This was a joint project between the Friends of the Community Orchard and Alnwick Town Council. The Friends have long wanted to install play equipment at the community orchard to complement the orchard itself and encourage visits to and interest from parents and grandparents and of course from children who are the potential next generation of community orchard Friends.

“At the same time, Alnwick Town Council, which maintains children’s play areas in the town, was keen to develop a new play facility for five to 13-year-olds in the Glover’s Green area, where there was a gap in such provision.”

The orchard was established in 2011, to provide a source of fruit and nuts free to pick by the public and to encourage interest in nature, activity healthy eating and horticulture.

Funding for the equipment came from Alnwick Town Council, Northumberland County Council, county councillors Gordon Castle and Robbie Moore, from their members’ local improvement schemes, and the Percy Family Fund, via the Community Foundation for Tyne & Wear and Northumberland.