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New gate posts - Posts for two new gates - one for vehicles, one for people - being installed on 2 April 2010. The tidy, newly-planted orchard is clearly visible as are the two drainage ditches along each side of the fieldErecting the new orchard sign - Master craftsman in oak, Mark Goldsworthy, installing the orchard sign - 15 May 2010 Orchard sign fully installed - The St James Village Orchard proudly proclaims its identity in solid oakOrchard entrance - August 2013 and the orchard gates, sign and one of the benches are now nicely weathered-inInstalling the owl box I - Our owl box from Suffolk Wildlife Trust needed to be fixed to the top of a suitably tall pole for installation. This is the initial lining up to assess the fixing needed
6 May 2011Installing the owl box II - It did not come pre-drilled!
6 May 2011Installing the owl box III - Substantial packing spacers to ensure a snug fit plus a couple of brackets to reinforce against tilting
6 May 2011Installing the owl box IV - A couple of large bolts re-cycled from the top fitting of an electricity pylon provide the main strength
6 May 2011Installing the owl box V - Ready for the big lift
6 May 2011The owl box - Now installed and here, in June 2102, part of the backdrop to our Jubilee Strawberry Tea celebration in the orchardBench with cushion - One of the three oak benches made by the orchard team with a comfortable looking cushion... of snow ... in February 2012Main benches - One of the two splendid oak benches beautifully crafted for us in oak by Orwell Mencap at their workshops in Ipswich and installed in the orchard clearing. Each is engraved on the front of the top rail with the name of one of our favourite treesTree tags - Every tree in the orchard has a name plate showing its position in the planting grid, its type, variety, the root-stock on which it was grafted, and the year we planted it.Hut Maintenance - August 2103 and our orchard hut needs painting all round including, for the first time, the corrugated roofMaturing trees - August 2013: From the entrance with our medlar in the foreground. The meadow is waiting to be cut, hut painting continues in the distanceViews from the roof - I - August 2013. Work on the hut provides the opportunity to take some "aerial" photos of the orchard. This shows the orchard entrance, one of our benches, the boundary sign for St James village and, beyond, the outskirts of St James South ElmhamViews from the roof - II - Looking SW across the orchard clearing, extended for the 2013 Tea in the Orchard" event. Metfield village is beyond the house in the backgroundViews from the roof - III - Looking W with the second of our Orwell Mencap benches, the owl box and the boundary with the large field adjacent to New Road/Common Road
