ardener’s World’s Toby Buckland to plant new ‘Pilgrim 400’ apple to mark Mayflower 400 Anniversary
The ‘Pilgrim 400’ apple was born out of a conversation between two friends, Celia Steven and John Stirland. Celia is the great granddaughter of Henry Merryweather, the nurseryman who raised the Bramley apple, and she lives very near The Garden House, outside Plymouth, Devon.
John Stirland is a horticulturist and a former presenter with Radio Nottingham and he lives in a village near the area where some of the Pilgrims came from. In 2015, they heard about plans to mark the 400th anniversary of the Mayflower’s epic voyage and decided to find a new apple tree that could be named for the occasion.
They already knew that apples were extremely important in the lives of the early colonists.
They appealed for a unique apple that could be named and having found one, in 2018 'Pilgrim 400' officially registered as a Local Cultivar.
The ‘Pilgrim 400’ apple was born out of a conversation between two friends, Celia Steven and John Stirland. Celia is the great granddaughter of Henry Merryweather, the nurseryman who raised the Bramley apple, and she lives very near The Garden House, outside Plymouth, Devon. John Stirland is a horticulturist and a former presenter with Radio Nottingham and he lives in a village near the area where some of the Pilgrims came from. In 2015, they heard about
plans to mark the 400th anniversary of the Mayflower’s epic voyage and decided to find a new apple tree that could be named for the occasion. They already knew that apples were extremely important in the lives of the early colonists. They appealed for a unique apple that could be named and having found one, in 2018 'Pilgrim 400' officially registered as a Local Cultivar.
