Little Pomona Looks To The Future With Mayoral Perry Pear Plantings

by Susanna Forbes October 21, 2021

The Holmer perry pear edged one step further away from extinction as Mayor of the City of Hereford began his planting quest in Little Pomona’s Cider Garden on 16 October.

Timed to coincide with Little Pomona’s first Cider Club Open Day, Paul, himself a Club member, has been on a personal quest to rescue this endangered perry pear since he first saw it at the Museum of Cider in 2019. A resident of Holmer parish in Hereford, Paul shepherded scion wood collected from the National Perry Pear Collection in Hartpury over to Frank P Matthews nursery, with its rescue a tree service, near Tenbury Wells.

Aiming to have 10 trees ready for planting in Autumn 2021, Paul was delighted to find that 14 out of 15 had taken, and Little Pomona was the first stop on the planting roadshow.

Looking to the next generation, Paul was joined in his planting by Jacques Brunsdon, son of Mayor of Bromyard, Suzette Brunsdon, Harriet Graham visiting daughter of long-time Little Pomona friend, Roddy Graham, and Tobias Szabo and Jack Cullen, visitors from Solihull.

Each helped the young trees settle into their new home.

Fiercely proud of his home county’s cider and perry heritage – Paul’s twitter alter ego is #reclaimtheapple – this is one of a number of initiatives Paul is spearheading during his year in office. Autumn 2022 will see arguably the most ambitious – H’AppleFest, bringing apple culture back into the heart of Hereford. A fortnight of events will kick off with a music and apple festival in High Town on 1 October.

“In my opinion, Herefordshire is one of the spiritual homes of the apple,” says Paul. “We have some of the best cidermakers in the country. Let’s do more to give visitors a reason to come and experience it for themselves."

“We’re so delighted that Mayor Paul Stevens chose Little Pomona as one of the homes for his baby perry pear trees,” said Little Pomona’s Susanna Forbes. “We look forward to watching them grow and flourish – and hopefully we can produce a fine perry in the future, just as happened in years gone by.”