- Junction of Forest Road and Greenwood Road
-
51.544185, -0.063257 (OpenStreetMap, Google Maps, Yandex Maps)
- Pear trees near the junction. The plaque in front of the westmost tree
- Top line
-
Pick Date Sep/Oct
-
Historical background
The Passion for Gardening
British gardening dates back to the Romans who had left behind beautiful gardens. They were followed by monasteries that started to cultivate herbal gardens for medical purposes and kitchen gardens with vegetables and fruit for domestic use, bringing new varieties of plants from Europe. Royalty and nobility became happy owners of lavish gardens after the monks. Rich bourgeoisie began to copy the noble gardens. The beginning of the 19th century saw the emergence of the Royal Horticultural Society that turned out to be a tremendous success. Miraculously gardening helped to erase class barriers!
Ordinary people created a new type of garden. The “English garden” maintains and emphasises the beauty of nature and at the same time has all fruit and vegetables you need. Apple and cherry trees, currant and goosуberry bushes, strawberries grow along with wild trees and grass. Amature selectionists work hard to improve the quality and taste of crops. There are numerous periodicals on gardening, useful tip are published in newspapers, radio and TV programmes attract large audiences.
English show their “green thumbs” with pride. Gardening is an art and science at the same time. It is also a good way to relax and stop worrying. A housewife rushes to weekly local market to sell her amazing carrots, a businessman keeps his front lawn in pristine condition, a floodgate guard plants colourful flower beds near the gate, a postman gets an award for the biggest pumpkin at a seasonal exhibition and you can find a “communal” vegetable patch in the centre of the town where everyone can plant anything and reap the harvest.
The story of Conference pears is a good example of the national passion for gardening. The name of this fruit has an unusual and prestigious origin. In 1885 at the National British Pear Conference in London showcased a new type of pear which won the first prize and was named Conference. Now people grow Conference pears far from Britain and buyers can easily recognise its shape all over the world.
// by Richard Follow (England 1938 RHS Garden) [CC BY 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/)], via Flickr
Present in routes of categories Lion-Light, Lion-Pro, Horseman
Passed by: 49/69 (71%).
By categories:
- Horseman: 1/1 (100%)
- Lion-Light: 24/25 (96%)
- Lion-Pro: 24/43 (56%)