JILL Lloyd has lived in West Dorset since 1962, barring a spell in Oxford during the 90s.
After more than 45 years in the NHS Jill moved to Lyme Regis in 2000 where she lived until 2006 before coming to Bridport.
Jill is now the Chairman of the Bridport Community Orchard, being one of just three still involved since the initial steering group was formed.
The orchard has now been open for over a year, has a 13 strong committee and 100 members.
May sparks a busy month for the Orchard with the launch of a new gardening club, a mudlarks weekend of pond puddling and a scything workshop.
WHAT does the community orchard offer to Bridport?
It is an open green space for the enjoyment of the public. It was planned as a heritage orchard, and so as far as possible we have planted old trees and trees that are local to the West Country. There aren’t many specifically Dorset trees but there are a lot from Devon and Cornwall.
WHAT was your involvement in establishing the orchard?
I got involved in the early days with the environment group who negotiated the land and then I was part of the steering group to plan the orchard. The brainchild and really the main person who has been the driving force behind the orchard is Kim Squirrel and her husband David. They have been the professional advisors on choosing the trees and planting the trees and they now advise us on caring for the trees. I suppose I was appointed chair largely because I’ve got more time and a lot of the other people who are heavily involved with it still have day jobs.
WHAT year was the orchard first dreamt up?
It was being thought about five-years-ago and the group came into operation in late 2008 but we were only constituted and established as a group in January 2009.
WHAT has been the highlight of the year since the orchard opened?
The highlight has been to see how many people are now visiting the orchard. We had huge attendance at the two planting days, at two apple days and at a number of other public events, some of which have involved other local community groups in the town. And of course the allotments where there are now 14 allotments and many families are involved with that.
WHAT events are you looking forward to?
We particularly hope that a lot of people are going to come and join us for the mudlarks weekend which is May 8th and 9th. We will be here from 9am to 5pm on both days puddling clay to line our pond to make it waterproof. So anybody who would like to come along, take off their shoes and socks and puddle the clay, we would be delighted to have children of all ages.
WHAT is the aim of the new gardening club?
That is to involve everybody we can in practical gardening. The club is supervised by a trained horticulturalist who also has a lot of experience of working with people who are vulnerable. It is open to absolutely anybody but we would particularly like to attract people who are older or who have some sort of disability or feel a bit isolated. Carolyn Brightwater will be there on a Thursday afternoon to supervise, organise, support and help and everybody is welcome.
HOW long have you been gardening for?
I think I have been gardening all my life. I was a child in the Second World War, when there was a big campaign to grow your own and dig for victory and its interesting how things go full circle and there is a huge interest again in people growing their own food.
WHAT is your top tip for gardeners?
Keep on top of the weeds, keep everything watered, watch out for pests and enjoy it.
WHAT is your favourite apple variety?
I’m fond of a lot of apples, the one here which is very good is Tom Putt which is an old local variety and we have got two vigorous examples of that and I am really looking forward to when they mature.
WHAT is your favourite apple product?
Well some are good for cider and not much good for anything else, some you can use for everything and we have a variety in the orchard so we should have a good supply of apples for every purpose. We haven’ t yet worked out how we are going to share the crop with the community but since we have got a few years before that happens we are working on it. For me, a plain good eating apple takes a lot of beating, just to eat fresh from the tree.
WHAT was the last book you read, film you watched and CD you listened to?
The CD I think was good old traditional jazz, the book I read was a lovely book by Penelope Lively called ‘Making it up’ and the last film was An Education which I watched in the recent From Page To Screen film festival at Bridport Arts Centre.
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