BATHED in warm autumn sunlight, Saturday was both a community apple pressing day and the official opening of the Orchard House – a handmade eco-building at Swan Barn Farm, in Haslemere.

Built by the National Trust ranger team for Blackdown and Swan Barn Farm, its roundwood timber frame is made from coppiced sweet chestnut and timber from the trust’s surrounding estates, all processed onsite, including thousands of shingles for the roof.

Black Down head ranger David Elliott said: "It felt like a really significant moment for us and so rewarding to see so many people come to help us celebrate the opening of our new building.

“It has been a true community effort and we couldn’t have done it without the help of so many people working together.”

Each year on community apple pressing day people work alongside the rangers to prepare apples for juice and cider both from their own fruit and from the trust’s neighbouring orchards.

“On the day of the opening celebration, the whole place was teaming with apples and people chopping, pulping and pressing their harvest into apple juice.

“Hundreds of people arrived from all over the local community, weaving down the lane from Haslemere High Street with bags and even barrows of apples.”

Haslemere Mayor Melanie Odell presided while Jane Cecil, the National Trust’s South Downs general manager and Sarah Bain, president of the Blackdown and Hindhead Supporters cut the ribbon on the new building.

Mrs Cecil raised a toast "to the Orchard House, health and happiness to all who scrat and press here."

The building houses both a historic apple press and scratter – a machine that pulps apples – and is the new base for year-round community events.

The new orchard house and many other projects have been supported by the Black Down and Hindhead Supporters and the Three Counties Association.

Sarah Bain, president of the Black Down and Hindhead Supporters group said: "It has been a huge undertaking to build the Orchard House, all masterminded and done by the Ranger team and volunteers, in additional to all their other work. I think it looks fantastic."

The building project crowns a 10-year orchard restoration project, which has seen rare varieties of apple trees pruned and replanted, the orchards grazed with Jacob sheep and the place come alive with wildflowers and butterflies.

For this, and their landscape-scale conservation at Blackdown, the trust’s countryside team won the Simon Lee Green Award at last year’s LASERs for environment and nature conservation.

Dave said: “The Orchard House is a space to gather in, a home for our historic apple pressing machinery and gives a future to our orchards.

“They are so special for wildlife but they need a purpose and for people to operate within them so they can come to life.”

The orchards at Swan Barn Farm are home to rare apple varieties including Cornish Gillyflower, described as a russet with an intensely flavoured yellow perfumed flesh,

Greensleeves which produces a bountiful crop with a sweet and tangy flavour, and Knobby Russet looking more like a potato, but finely-textured inside and has a crisp, full flavour.

This year has been their best apple harvest yet.

The team produces around 80 gallons of artisan cider each year, which is sold at events such as the Winter Wassail and Countryside Crafts Day.

The proceeds from those events fund further conservation work.

To find out more visit www.nationaltrust.org.uk and search for swan barn farm or David Elliott’s blog at www.swanbarnfarm.word press.com

A video shot when the main frame of the Orchard House was raised can be viewed on You Tube.