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A year of celebration marking the 300th anniversary of Sawbridgeworth’s historic orchard culminated in a prize-giving event for a children’s art competition.
The group which maintains and protects the four-acre Rivers Heritage Site and Orchard put on a series of events to celebrate the milestone, including art competitions for adults and children.
Entries were received from individual children from the Sawbridgeworth and Bishop’s Stortford areas and from three local schools: Fawbert and Barnard Infant School, Reedings Junior School and High Wych Primary School.
The entries were inspired and informed in some degree by the beauty of the orchard, the power of the outside space and by its history.
Many of the children who entered the competition walk regularly in the remnant orchard and enjoy the apple, pear and cherry trees through the seasons, while others had come to the annual Rivers Apple Day in October with their families and felt inspired to create some art to celebrate the trees and wildlife they saw then.
Reedings Gardeners’ Club, led by Natalie Newman and Holly Edwards, was highly commended in the schools category and eight children in the individual category received a book and a certificate.
This event was supported by Cllr Eric Buckmaster, a member of Hertfordshire County Council, East Herts Council and Sawbridgeworth Town Council, and a Rivers volunteer. It was organised by Lanier Pole, another Rivers volunteer, and the art works were judged by Chloe Boyce, local artist and educator.
Rivers Nursery was founded by John Rivers and is credited with the cultivation of many varieties of fruit, including the Rivers Early Peach apple and the Conference pear. The nursery declined through the 20th century and was sold at the end of the 1980s.
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