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Pride of the Valleys (Merthyr Tydfil)

Original price was: £29.95.Current price is: £23.99.

History & Discovery

We spent several unproductive years with the help of Merthyr council, searching for an old apple variety called Foreman’s Crew. We found out during our research that Mr Foreman was heavily involved in breaking the Merthyr Rising (Click here for more info), so we weren’t too upset to discover his apple is now extinct.

During our search, local gardener Mr Eric Jones contacted us with a Merthyr apple he called Pride of the Valleys. Discovering this unique local apple was an unexpected twist in our search for Foreman’s Crew. Mr Jones donated some scion wood and we have now successfully started cultivation of the variety.

Fruit

This sweet apple has a distinctive flavour with overtones of jackfruit and banana. It is lightly russeted, with a pleasing red and golden flush. Naturally disease resistant and scab free, it is perfectly suited to the notoriously rainy climate of the South Wales Valleys.

A mid season apple that stores well.

Rootstock & Eventual Tree Size

All fruit trees are grafted onto rootstocks. The rootstocks determine eventual tree size.
Bigger trees are more robust & produce more fruit, but take up more space.
Always choose a bigger rootstock if you need extra anchorage or your soil is poor (very wet, dry or rocky). Small trees cannot compete with grass and weeds.

If you want your fruit tree to remain smaller than its eventual tree size, simply prune back in the summer.

(Unsure about summer pruning? Click here to check out our video guide!)

Pollination Group: B

Bilingual product label and small “Welsh to the Core!” tie-on label (left) included.