Our second meeting on 5 March made some good progress. There was agreement that 'The Friends of Dunsden Orchard' (FODO) should be our name. It was decided that, at least initially, meetings would be held on a monthly basis and that they would be open to all.

A small annual membership fee of £10 for families and £5 for individuals will be collected. Planting will not be possible until the Autumn, but it is likely that some soil improvement will be required first. Samples will be sent off shortly to verify this. There was support for the idea of sponsored trees and it is hoped we might offer a professional pruning course. A noticeboard should be provided on site as well as gates from Dunsden Green and the village hall. We received a fascinating list of cherry varieties once grown at Bryant's Farm by the Ford family, complete with comments such as "Frogmore White: poor flavour, insipid!" Napoleons, on the other hand are to be recommended.

We are now actively looking for people to join a small infomal committee of people keen to help get the project off the ground. Duties will not be onerous, but without an official Secretary, Chairman and Treasurer we will be unable to seek grants. If you are interested please send an email now to parish council Chairman David Woodward

It is hoped that our next meeting will include a site visit. Check back here for confirmation, but it will probably be on a Sunday afternoon in mid-April.