Description
One of the best cooking apples available, deserving a place in any orchard, it is hardy and tolerant of late frost. Said to have been found in the thatch of the Hardings Arms at King's Newton in Derbyshire by Mr Taylor in 1870, and introduced commercially by Pearsons of Nottingham in 1887. The fruit are very large and colourful, with yellow flesh heavily flushed with scarlet, and which cook to a full-flavoured yellow fluff with a sweet aroma. With its long keeping qualities, it mellows into a sharp but very acceptable dessert apple by Christmas time.
"Found around 1870, growing in the thatch of the Hardinge Arms, at King's Newton in Derbyshire, the landlord, Mr Taylor transplanted it into the garden; introduced by Pearsons of Nottingham in 1887, it has since enjoyed success at market, and in farm, home and estate orchards across the north, in areas prone to late frost, and of high rainfall. Hilary Wilson says: ... 'my family's late keeper instead of a Bramley at Osbaldwick in York. My mother used to carefully store these, and use them for winter pies and puddings. She would use or discard any that started to go rotten and so keep us in apples until the early rhubarb came in. The bright green colour matured to yellow by Christmas and we used them for dessert.'
Other notes: resistant to scab , v. resistant to canker, susceptible to bitter pit and mildew. RHS First Class Certificate, 1887, Award of Garden Merit, 1993." © Lin Hawthorne - 'The Northern Pomona'.
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