English Apples - Foxton's Pride

FOXTON'S PRIDE
Also known as 'Foxton's Favourite' - a small cooking apple, a few trees of which are found in the Leicestershire village of Foxton, of lock fame. The tree is said to propagate easily from cuttings; quite unusual for an apple.

UPDATE....On 7 Mar 2010, in Foxton, some apple trees raised from pips by a local enthusiast were distributed at a seed event "Seedy Sunday", described as "Foxton's Pride". There was an interesting write-up in the 'Leicester Mercury'.

We are pleased that the Leicestershire Heritage Apples Project has stimulated interest in local apples, including those from Foxton.

We must point out, however, that although these seedlings are interesting to grow, they are not Foxton's Pride. Trees produced from seeds are not the same as the parent.

On the same subject: there are at least three people in Foxton who believe they have the authentic "Foxton's Pride". The 'Leicester Mercury' report mentioned six known trees.

We have been investigating the Foxton apples on and off since 2008. After advertising locally, making telephone calls, talking to allotment holders and gardeners, and spending a lot of time walking around Foxton village and the surrounding countryside, we have only found three.

We examined them last autumn, when they were in fruit, hoping to verify the identity and to ask the owners about taking cuttings. Imagine our disappointment when we found none of them were the same.

At the time of writing, therefore (7 Mar 2010) there is still no positive identification of this apple or any of the trees. The three candidates for the name 'Foxton's Pride' have now been grafted but this in itself will not solve the problem.

If you have definite information or believe you have an authentic tree we would be pleased to hear from you.

compiled by Nigel Deacon / Melanie Wilson, Diversity website

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