LONGNEY RUSSET A small to medium sized, heavily russeted cider ‘sweet’ and dessert apple, first recorded by W. Marshall in The Rural Economy of Gloucestershire, of 1796. Russeted over a yellow ground, sometimes with a reddish patch on the russet. It is very late to ripen, usually in November. The flesh is hard and greenish, becoming sweeter with storage into February. Pollination Group 5
 
 
 
 
 

 

 

LONGSTART First recorded in 1781, Hogg reported in 1884 that it was a favourite of cottage gardens in Lancashire and Westmoreland. A tenant farmer of Witherslack, Daniel Dickinson, recorded taking grafts in his account book of 1820. It has been described as a cooking apple that has also been considered a pleasant eating apple. A medium sized, rounded fruit, with skin mostly covered with red and streaked deeper red, but with a patch of green-yellow, tinted red, in the shade. The flesh is white, crisp, tender and juicy, and pleasantly flavoured. Hogg says it will keep to Christmas. The version we have is that of the National Collection, which does not quite accord with Hogg’s description, being earlier, less coloured and less crisp. Pollination Group 4

 
 
 
 
 
 

 

  

LONGSTOCK BLUSH In the village of Longstock, alongside the River Test, near Stockbridge in Hampshire, is a farmhouse that goes back to the 1500s. Within a few feet of the wall is a single old apple tree. The owners, Mark and Rosie Flewitt (Rosie being Judy’s sister) have enjoyed the apples for many years now and we established a tree of it here, just as many years ago. The medium sized cooking apples are rounded, with yellow skin carrying a rose and crimson blush in the sun. The apples are ripe in early to mid November and are a little too sharp to enjoy raw. Cooked, they soften fairly quickly, going floppy and willing to be mashed to a fluffy purée. The flavour is very rich and sweet, with a good tang and lively acid. The cooked flesh goes pink if left to stand. Pollination Group 6

   
 

LONGWORTH BRYONY Given to us by Kristin Felton, of Bryony Cottage, Longworth, Oxfordshire. An old tree in her garden had to go to accommodate an extension and she was concerned that the unknown variety should not die out. The apples are regular, quite large and golden with a red flush and streaks, when ripe at the start of September. The tree was a prolific bearer, though modest in size and was mature decades ago, when Chris first came to the property. She thought it a culinary apple that becomes an eater when fully ripe, but we found it a most enjoyable dessert apple which can also be cooked. It is sweet and fragrant, richly flavoured and with an agreeable acidity. When cooked it kept its shape completely and had a well balanced flavour. It keeps for a month or two. Pollination Group 3

    
 
LORD BURGHLEY The origin is subject to conflicting detail, but it seems to have been found as a seedling and rescued from wasteland by the Head Gardener, Mr Matheson, at the Marquis of Exeter's gardens at Burghley Park, near Stamford. This was in 1834. It was introduced by Mr House of Peterborough. Scott (1872) said it was raised by Mr House. Others say it was introduced in 1865 by Mattheson and distributed by House. Scott described it as being “very tender, juicy and sweet with a fine pineapple flavour and rich aroma. This delicious fruit has a tenderness of flesh and flavour even superior to Cox’s Orange Pippin. The two should be extensively cultivated by all lovers or first-class fruits”. Bunyard (1920) considered it one of the best eating apples. Attractive apples with a deep red to mahogany skin which are ripe in October, and will last well into April. Pollination Group 5
    
 
LORD DERBY According to the Herefordshire Pomona (1876-85), this is one of the finest culinary apples, ripe before the common Bramley. It was raised by Mr Witham, a nurseryman of Stockport, and recorded in 1862. It has a similar shape to the distinctive 'angular' Catshead, turns from green to yellow when ripe and has a rich, sharp flavour. It quickly cooks to a purée, mild and pleasant, without the need for much if any sugar. Some references say it keeps its shape, but we have not found this. The trees are very hardy and grow well in the north and on wet soil. It has therefore been a favourite in the north and Scotland. A good, reliably cropping tree. Pollination Group 5
    
   
LORD HINDLIP Introduced in 1896, having arisen on Lord Hindlip's estate in Worcestershire. An attractive fruit, streaked with deep crimson, and with firm, sweet and juicy flesh. The flavour is aromatic, tangy and refreshing. Ripe in mid October and storing until February. A reliable cropper. Pollination Group 3
   
 
LORD LAMBOURNE Another famous dessert apple raised by the Laxton Brothers of Bedford, in 1907. It is a cross between James Grieve and Worcester Pearmain. Introduced in 1921, it was named after a past president of the R.H.S.. Sweet, juicy fruit, with rich aromatic flesh. Popular in gardens as the trees are compact and only moderately vigorous, with good crops. Partially tip-bearing. Ready to pick in September; stores until November. It has been said to dislike wet climates, but we hear from good friends, John and Josephine Riley, formerly of Bowen Island, British Columbia, Canada, that it excels in their cold, damp climate and succeeds where most other apples fail from poor pollination. Dusky blossom. Pollination Group 3
    
   
LORD WOLSELEY This apple, though made a synonym of Dewdney’s Seedling and Devonshire Buckland by others, is a distinct apple. It appears to have disappeared in the UK but is now back. Taylor, in ‘The Apples of England’ in 1946 says that Lord Wolseley was planted in the National Fruit Trials in 1923 and that it was a culinary apple, large, round, flattish with smooth, clear yellow skin, and a faint brownish red flush. The eye was said to be closed and the stalk short in a russety cavity. The fruit was ripe in September. It appears very close in description to the Lord Wolseley reported to us by Krystina Hill, archivist of the Canterbury Apple Archive, at Canterbury, South Island, New Zealand, where the apple is now held. She brought us scionwood on a trip to England and informed us, in 2016, that the apple was bred by the Sissons’s Nursery at Harewood, Christchurch in the 1880s. Her knowledge comes from a fellow archivist, Mark Dawber, who is a third generation commercial orchardist and whose grandfather was alive at the time when the apple was popular, locally at first but subsequently throughout South Island. It was featured in a 1928 catalogue of Ivory’s Nursery at Rangiora, which says of Lord Wolseley “A valuable late keeping apple when grown in the South Island, but a failure in Nelson and further North. Fruit medium sized to large, conical, angular, firm, crisp, and juicy, with a refreshing flavour; colour greenish yellow, sometimes with a slight red shading. This tree is a strong, clean grower, very fruitful and immune from the Woolly Aphis. In Canterbury it is one of the most profitable apples grown, and should be in every household garden.” Long grown by the family, it is still one of Mark’s favourite apples. Pollination Group 5
    
   
LUCOMBE'S PINE A late dessert apple, raised by Lucombe's Nursery of Exeter in Devon around 1800. Golden skinned with russet spots, it has firm and juicy flesh and a strong flavour of pineapples. Light crops that store until Christmas. Spur bearing and recommended for espaliers. It has also been used for juice and cider. Pollination Group 4
    
 
MABBOTT'S PEARMAIN Syn. Canterbury. A popular dessert apple around Maidstone in Kent, in the 19th century, originating in Langley. It was introduced in 1883, by Lewis Killick of Langley but was already long established. A medium sized, squarish apple, almost covered with crimson and prominently spotted. The full flavoured fruit has juicy, sweet flesh. A heavy cropping part tip bearer which stores until the end of the year. Pollination Group 4
    
  MACLEAN’S FAVOURITE Raised around 1820 by Dr. Allan Maclean of Sudbury, Suffolk, who then went to Colchester, Essex (- our thanks to Andrea Davies for correcting the record. She is a descendant and has researched the origin of the apple). A medium sized, late season dessert apple with yellow skin and crisp, richly flavoured flesh. Hogg says it prefers light, warm soils where it will fruit prolifically, but it is prone to canker in damp soils. Barron in 1883 recorded another early season culinary apple of the same name. Scott agreed with Hogg, describing it as a top quality apple, ripe from November and storing to January. Roundish, rich, highly flavoured and ‘of very high excellence’. Trees are vigorous and good bearers. The London Horticultural Society catalogue of 1842 also called it ‘of the highest excellence’. It has some history of being used as a cider sweet. The apple currently known as Maclean’s Favourite is more striped than ‘yellow skin’ would suggest. Pollination Group 5    
 
MADELEINE Often confused, in the past, with Margaret and Summer Pippin, but it is distinct. It is probably French but was known in Britain as early as 1790. It seems to have disappeared here, in the modern age, but is still held by the French National Collection and they kindly sent us scion-wood in 2006. Though similar to Margaret as a small, early, dessert apple, Hogg (1884) affirms that it is distinct, despite Lindley’s assertions that they are synonymous. Ripe in August, the apples are small, with pale yellow skin, flushed orange in the sun, with occasional red streaks and with many pearly specks. The flesh is juicy, sweet and with a good flavour for an early apple, though it is a bit soft, even from the tree. Pollination Group 4