CELEBRATE the first fruits of the Hale community orchard from 10am until 11am on October 11, at St Mark’s Church, Upper Hale.

The 11 trees in the orchard were each adopted by different community groups in Hale and have all thrived since they were planted in December.

Reverend Lesley Crawley said: “We are delighted that our community orchard is bearing fruit and so we decided to celebrate. We will be having some entertainment including apple tasting and apple-y music and possibly dance. If that isn’t enough apply-ness there will be pancakes with apple filling to eat.

“There will be no religious element to the apple hour so come along if you have any faith or none and join in the fun. Afterwards, you are welcome to stay for the 11am service if you wish, there is also a bring-and-share lunch afterwards.”

John Ely, who has overseen the planting of the trees said: “We will bring a juicer, so if you would like to turn your apples into juice then bring apples that are in good condition, washed and picked from the tree along with clean two litre plastic milk cartons including the lid to put the juice in.”