2026 Wassail at Donkey Lane Community Orchard

Donkey Lane Community Orchard

Wassail Sunday 18th January 2026

Greening Chinnor and the Mid Shires Orchard Group are pleased to announce that we will be holding the Wassail at Donkey Lane Community Orchard on Sunday 18th January 2026 2 pm - 4 pm. Gates open at 1:30 pm for a 2:00 pm start.

An old tradition to bless the trees and wish them good health. It involves a ‘toast’, singing, drumming & mulled apple juice.

Bring your children, families and friends, warm clothes and wellies, a sense of humour, musical instruments or a pan and wooden spoon to make a noise and your finest singing voices!

Entry is FREE with the option of a cash donation. Any voluntary donations go towards our continuing community and conservation work.

Check the weather forecast and dress up appropriately. Bring a brolly if needed! Wear wellington boots or stout, waterproof footwear that is suitable for walking around in an orchard environment, in winter weather.

The nearest postcode to the Orchard is OX39 4PF. There is no access for cars or parking at the Orchard. There is free on road parking on Chinnor: Church Road and High Street. Also Parking behind the Post Office and near The Village Centre.

To find the Orchard from the Post Office. Walk up Keens Lane towards The Ridgeway. Cross at the level crossing (be aware of trains – this is an active railway line). The Orchard is accessed by a metal gate directly on the right-hand side after the crossing.

November Archaeology at Donkey Lane Community Orchard

The last of our autumn sessions of archaeological digs at the Donkey Lane Community Orchard, Chinnor will be on 15th &16th November 2025, 10 am – 3:30 pm.

Anyone can join in; accompanied children are most welcome. No experience necessary. You will be guided by the experts from South Oxfordshire Archaeology Group.

You can join us for the whole weekend or just an hour or two. Old clothes and stout shoes are advisable.

To find us, head up Keen's Lane, Chinnor, OX39 4PF - cross the railway crossing - the Orchard’s directly on the right. To book a place email: greeningchinnor@gmail.com

Autumn Archaeological Digs at Donkey Lane Community Orchard

Our 2025 autumn archaeological digs at Donkey Lane Community Orchard will take place on Saturday and Sunday 25th & 26th October with the second digs taking place on the 15th and 16th October.

All welcome...

2025 Greening Chinnor AGM with Guest Speaker

Annual General Meeting

Tuesday 20th May 2025

7:30 pm, Committee Room, Chinnor Village Hall, Chinnor OX9 4PQ

Your chance to find out what we’ve been up to over the last year with our many projects. After the short business end of the AGM we will follow with an illustrated talk by local archaeologist, 

Paul Green. Come and share his experience of flying over the Chilterns with:

‘A Birds Eye View of The Chilterns and Beyond: 

The search for archaeology from the air’

All welcome, entrance free, refreshments available.

2025 Wassail at Donkey Lane Community Orchard

Greening Chinnor and the Mid Shires Orchard Group are pleased to announce that we will be holding the Wassail at Donkey Lane Community Orchard on Sunday 19th January 2025 2 pm - 4 pm. Gates open at 1:30 pm.

An old tradition to bless the trees and wish them good health. It involves a ‘toast’, singing, drumming & mulled apple juice.

Bring your children, families and friends, warm clothes and wellies, a sense of humour, musical instruments or a pan and wooden spoon to make a noise and your finest singing voices!

Entry is FREE with the option of a cash donation. Any voluntary donations go towards our continuing community and conservation work.

To find us, head up Keen's Lane, Chinnor, OX39 4PF - cross the railway crossing - the Orchard’s directly on the right.

First 5-Years of the Project

February 2019 – March 2024

It’s 12:45pm on Saturday 9th February 2019 and I am standing in a small clearing surrounded by dense overgrowth and undergrowth in what will become the Donkey Lane Community Orchard.

Earlier in the week we had made our way through the narrow path cut from the lane and cleared an area to accommodate about 10 people. I am waiting, along with Alan, wondering if anyone will come. We have a small bag of tools, some hi viz jackets, gloves and bundles of enthusiasm. This is the first of three working parties that we will have in the coming week. People said they would come, but would they?

To get to where we were on that day in 2019, I need to go back over the previous 15 months.

How we got involved

In November 2017, Greening Chinnor were approached by Nick Marriner, Landscape Partnership Development Officer from the Chiltern Conservation Board. He had been put in contact with us via Chinnor Parish Council. He wanted to discuss the potential involvement of our group with their forthcoming ‘Rough around the Edges’ (RATE) project, which was part of a larger Lottery Funded Chalk, Cherry and Chairs 5-year Landscape Partnership Scheme programme for the Chilterns.

He explained that the Landscape Partnership Scheme would weave together three main themes – local wildlife, local heritage and local people, this would be across a whole host of different projects designed to engage people, celebrate the area, and protect and enhance the Central Chilterns landscape.

The Scheme would be funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund and the HS2 Community & Engagement Fund, and would be managed by the Chilterns Conservation Board.

Initially our involvement would be in connecting and increasing wild life areas around Chinnor – RATE.

As the discussion about the project went on, we found out that restoring old orchards was part of the project – hey presto – we knew of a disused orchard!

To find out more about the Chalk, Cherries and Chairs project go to www.chilterns.org.uk/chalkcherrieschairs/about-project

Why did we get involved?

A good question, but why not? We are a local environment group working to look after our wonderful area. We knew of the Orchard site and knew it was incredibly overgrown.

After being put in touch and meeting with Claire Conway-Crapp from the Mid-Shires Orchard Group, we knew the apple varieties could go back to the mid-1800s and we should try to preserve these heritage fruit trees. We further found out from an earlier rough survey taken in 2013 by Derek Tolman of Bernwode Nurseries, that there were at least 19 apple trees on the site plus the Chinnor plum.

We saw it as a potential relaxed and enjoyable space for all - we could all enjoy and share the harvest of fruit. It would make a good social and educational outdoor space, we could encourage schools, nurseries and other local groups to use it as an ‘outdoor classroom’. We wanted to explore the social history of the site: Who lived there? What was their story? There was the opportunity to learn about and increase the biodiversity of the area. Identify and record the flora and fauna and extend its value as a wildlife habitat. AND Training opportunities: Learn the skills to manage an orchard: pruning, coppicing, hedge-laying, etc. An opportunity to good to miss.

Where is the Orchard?

Donkey Lane Community Orchard occupies a small area of privately owned land next to the Chinnor & Princes Risborough Railway on Keens Lane, Chinnor. You will find the Orchard on the right-hand side after the crossing, accessed by a gate.

The lane that passes the Orchard has been variously known as Hollands Lane, Guntrips Lane and in more recent times as Keens Lane. Locally it is known as Donkey Lane possibly due to the donkey blacksmith located nearby. On the site there were three double cottages built probably during the late 18th Century and finally pulled down about 100 years ago. Read more...

Archaeology at the Community Orchard

26th - 27th October & 16th - 17th November 2024

10 am - 3:30 pm

Working with South Oxfordshire Archaeology Group and following on from our success in finding evidence of the cottages, we plan to extend our test pits. This is an opportunity to help find out more about the people and history of the Donkey Lane Community Orchard site.

All volunteers will be guided through each stage so everyone can learn how an excavation is carried out.

Even if you don’t dig, there are other essential roles that can be done whilst sitting and/or in short bursts and without getting too dirty! Anyone can join in; children are most welcome (accompanied by a parent or guardian). You can join us for the whole weekend or just an hour or two. Old clothes and stout shoes recommended.

Numbers are limited so if you are interested in joining us, please email greeningchinnor@gmail.com.

Apple Pressing at the Orchard

Apple Pressing - Saturday 19th October 2024

2:00 pm - 4 :00 pm

CANCELLED

Unfortunately, this year's Apple Pressing is cancelled. Hope to be back next year.

There is a bumper crop of apples this year. What do you do with yours? The compost heap is all very well but if you bring them to us you could have lots of lovely juice instead.

What do you need? Save all your good apples, not the ones with bruises and maggots, along with as many clean screw-top glass bottles as you can. We will make lovely apple juice from the apples (apples may need to be mixed for pressing).

Also, come along and see how the Orchard restoration is progressing and what we’ve found out about the cottages. Guided tours and refreshments available.

Entry is free and cash donations towards the restoration and maintenance of the Orchard are welcome.

To find us, head up Keen's Lane, Chinnor, OX39 4PF - cross the railway crossing - the Orchard’s directly on the right.

Outside Church at Donkey Lane Community Orchard

We are delighted to be hosting St Andrew's outside church at the Community Orchard on Sunday 4th August. 

 

February Archaeology Dig at the Orchard

Would you like to help open a ‘window on the past’?

Would you like to find out how an excavation is carried out?

Following on from our successful digs with South Oxfordshire Archaeology Group we will again be digging more test pits at Donkey Lane Community Orchard.

Last year we were exited to find possible traces of one of the cottages. What are we going to find this year?

This is an opportunity for you, your friends, family and neighbours to help us find out more about the people and history of the Orchard site.

All volunteers will be guided through each stage so everyone can learn how an excavation is carried out.

Even if you don’t dig, there are other essential roles that can be done whilst sitting and/or in short bursts and without getting too dirty! Anyone can join in; children are most welcome (accompanied by a parent or guardian). You can join us for the whole weekend or just an hour or two.

The test pits will be excavated over 2 days Saturday 24th and Sunday 25th February 10 am – 3:30 pm.

Numbers are limited so if you are interested in joining us, please email Linda at greeningchinnor@gmail.com.

To find the Orchard, head up Keen's Lane, Chinnor, OX39 4PF - cross the railway crossing - the orchard’s directly on the right.

February dates for your diary

February dates for your diary

2024 Wassail at Donkey Lane Community Orchard

Thank you to all our volunteers and visitors who braved the elements to join us at our annual Wassail in Donkey Lane Community Orchard. It was touch and go as to whether it went ahead. Luckily the wind died down (slightly) although we still had to tie down the refreshment table.

We certainly made a lot of noise as we paraded around the Orchard to ward off bad luck and mischievous spirits so they stay away and don’t steal the fruit!

Our thanks to Claire Conway-Crapp from Mid Shires Orchard Group who did a marvellous job of leading the Wassail and to Rev’d Jacky Barr for the final blessing. And of course who could forget our special guest, Stickman who had a great time and hopes to come along to some more of our Orchard events.

Our next event will be the Greening Chinnor Quiz: February 23^rd, 7.15 pm at the Village Hall. Tickets £5 per person, tables of up to 8. Book a table/ticket by calling David on 01844 353349. Cash only please. Can be paid on the door.

The next events at the Orchard will be in conjunction with the South Oxfordshire Archaeology Group 24^th & 25^th February (details to follow) and hopefully our Blossom Day on the 27^th April.

Wassail! Good health, wealth and happiness to you for 2024!

2024 Wassail at Donkey Lane Community Orchard

On Sunday 21^st January, Greening Chinnor & The Mid Shires Orchard Group will be hosting its annual Wassail at Donkey Lane Community Orchard. Bring your noisiest pots and pans to bang to scare away those evil spirits, and join in the merriment as we bless our apple trees for a fruitful harvest in the autumn.

Time

2.00 pm – Start of the Ceremony

The Wassail Ceremony will focus on the special Royal trees, as guardians of all the others. We will:

·       Toast the King and Queen of the Orchard with a loud shout of ‘Wassail, Wassail, Wassail!’

·       Give the Wassail blessing for an abundant harvest from the apple and plum trees

·       Offer a libation of cider, representing a successful harvest, to the roots of the King and Queen

·       Pour cider onto chunks of broken bread, then hang or place these in the tree boughs, as gifts to the robins (it was believed that robins were the corporeal embodiment of apple tree spirits)

·       Dip the branches of the King and Queen of the Orchard into cider and ask blessings on their health

·       Sing the traditional Wassail Songs, accompanied by the Towersey Village Voices choir

·       Make a din to scare off mischievous spirits, by banging drums, blowing horns, beating pots and pans

·       Assembled children (of all ages!) will scatter a festive seed mix, for the wildlife to enjoy

·       Collect cups of cider and apple juice, to prepare a toast to the King and Queen of the Orchard

·       Toast the King and Queen of the Orchard again with a loud shout of ‘Wassail, Wassail, Wassail!’

·       Toast the health of the Wassailers and local community with another ‘Wassail, Wassail, Wassail!’

3.00 pm – Conclusion of the Ceremony

Congregate around the Refreshments Stall to enjoy mulled cider, apple juice and cake

Enjoy a social chat with fellow Wassailers and supporters of Donkey Lane Community Orchard

3.30 pm – Take a tour of the Donkey Lane Community Orchard

·       Take a walk around the Donkey Lane Community Orchard

·       Visit the historic apple and plum trees and learn more about them

·       Discover the site of the old well and the cottages

·       Learn how you can help keep this orchard flourishing, join in working parties and enjoy orchard events

4.00 pm – Conclusion of the Wassail at the Orchard

What to bring and wear

Please dress appropriately for the weather. Layers and sturdy shoes are advisable. Bring pots, pans, drums, shakers, etc.

Accessibility

To find us, head up Keen's Lane, Chinnor, OX39 4PF - cross the railway crossing - the Orchard is directly on the right. Please note that the ground in the Orchard is uneven and likely to be muddy at this time of year it is also particularly wet and muddy in the lane at the Orchard side of the railway crossing.

Entry is FREE with the option of a cash donation. Any voluntary donations go towards our continuing community and conservation work.

Christmas Thoughts at Donkey Lane Community Orchard

 It’s late October and I’m bent over, kneeling on my green gardening pad to try and take the pressure off my knees. Bending is a problem because I’m all wrapped up with several thick layers, including my wax jacket and the waterproof trousers I used to wear for biking in wet weather. I’m here to help dig a test pit in the Orchard, after all those Sunday afternoons watching ‘Time Team’ in the 1990s, I am finally doing it myself. It’s hard work, this wet clay is really heavy. But it is rather addictive, as you move down carefully taking off the earth inch by inch and thinking that the next layer might be the one where you find something really exciting. We’ve already got a large spoil heap and on top perches the little robin who has adopted our pit. He came to see us both days and sang for his supper, thanking us for all the worms.

Robins seem to have a special affinity with man, is that why they have become associated with our biggest annual celebration? They began appearing on Christmas cards when these first became popular in Victorian times, and are still there today. The early postmen wore bright red jackets and were known as ‘robins’ or ‘redbreasts’. Early cards showed the bright red post-boxes along with a robin holding a card in its beak. Nowadays robins can be seen on all the supermarket shelves on packaging for a whole range of items, as well as on Christmas tree decorations. Even if the practice of sending cards continues to dwindle, there will always be the robin worn on a Christmas jumper or decorating the wrapping paper used for Christmas presents.

The robin is also found in earlier folk tales associated with Christianity and the birth of Jesus. There was said to be a robin in the manger who flapped his wings to fan the fire which was in danger of going out. The flame revived, mother and baby were kept warm, but the little brown bird scorched his breast. There is a different version which takes place later, when Jesus was on the cross. A robin pulled out a thorn from his crown and sang to him to try and ease his suffering. In this version a drop of blood fell onto the robin’s breast and coloured it.

We seem to have at least two resident robins in the Orchard which is surprising as they are usually very territorial birds. It is interesting that they are always referred to as the ‘red robin’ because when you really look, their breast is orange. This tells us that the bird was named before the English language had a word for orange – rather like the ‘scarlet pimpernel’ flower which looks perfectly orange to my eyes. The robin has been our national bird since 1960, and is a favourite of the public, especially gardeners and those who like to feed their wild visitors.





I straighten up to stretch my back, I can see the holly tree already decorated with many scarlet berries shining through the drizzle. Perhaps they foretell a hard winter to come? Read more...

Newcomers to the Orchard 2023

The soil in the Orchard is a natural seed bank and it turns out that many different wildflower seeds are being stored there. As we have been doing clearing work, and disturbing the soil to dig out nettles or plant new hedging, dormant seeds have been given a chance to grow up into the light. Some of the plants are new to us. Compared to what we first recorded in 2021, last year we counted six ‘new’ species and again this year we found a similar number.

 
Here are a couple of plants that we noticed for the first time this year. They are both members of the Daisy family and they both arrived on our shores in the 1700s. However the way that they came here was very different, the first arrived accidentally but the second was brought here on purpose.

 

Conyza canadensis - Canadian fleabane

Two specimens turned up growing close up by what we call the Queen apple tree. This fleabane is a plant originally native to North and Central America, where it has become a problem weed in soya bean fields and it is known there as Horseweed. Here with us it has a rather unassuming look, a tallish weedy annual growing in arable land and having very small colourless flowers and fluffy seed heads. It isn’t a problem in the UK. It also thrives in man-made environments such as the pavements in city streets. It can now be found from Cornwall right up to Scotland, and it seems to have spread rapidly north in recent years perhaps as a result of the warming climate.  Read more...

“Hear our Story”

Tuesday 7th November 2023 

7:30pm (doors open 7:00 pm)

Chinnor Community Pavilion, Station Rd, Chinnor OX39 4PU

We are fast approaching November 11th, the time of year when we remember those who fell in the many conflicts involving our nation. We specifically wish to remember the two young men who were born in the cottages that once stood in Donkey Lane Community Orchard, Alfred and Aubrey Howlett and the landowner’s son Frank Eggleton. They, and many others, left to fight in WW1 for their country but never returned. 

If you missed last year’s presentation, this is your chance to come along and hear about their experiences. The talk will be well supported by maps, photos and illustrations including some new material. Some of the background information you may find surprising! 

Delving deep into war diaries and other War Office records, hear the poignant stories of the sons of two families; the Howletts, Alfred and Aubrey who lived in one of the Orchard cottages and Frank Eggleton, the son of the owner of the land where the cottages stood.

Discover some of the key battles and lives of the soldiers who, along with many other young men, left their village to serve their Country in the Great War and did not return.

Are you baffled by the language used in descriptions of the war or maybe thought ‘how did they do that’? 

We will try to answer a few of these things. For example; how did they transport 700 horses to Alexandria in 1914.

Admission £5 by ticket (cash only please) available from Chinnor Parish Office or by emailing greeningchinnor@gmail.com or call on 07973 788339. 

2023 Apple Pressing at Donkey Lane Community Orchard

It is with great regret that due to an extreme shortage of apples Greening Chinnor will be unable to hold the planned apple pressing in the Orchard. Several factors have caused this. We had a bounteous crop last year and many old fruit trees crop well and then have a rest. During blossom time we had several sharp frosts and finally the growing season has veered between deluge and drought. Unfortunately, a couple of local growers who could also be guaranteed to supply a few boxes had the same problem as us, plus the affliction of brown rot. Fingers crossed for next year and we hope the Wassail brings us better fortune.

We have seen a few members of the community picking the extremely sparse crop of windfalls. Good for them. The orchard is a Community Orchard and is always open. We are happy for anyone to collect windfalls. There is no charge and all we ask is that you do not pick for commercial purposes, damage the trees and always take your litter home.

Donkey Lane Community Orchard - Heritage Fruit Tree Nursery

Renovation and restoration of the Orchard means we need to ensure the heritage fruit trees are not lost to posterity and in February 2023, a new Orchard nursery was established to safeguard the genetic lines of the apple trees.

Most of the fruit trees are well in excess of 100 years old and as such are starting to come to the end of their natural life. With the need to preserve such varieties as “Lane’s Prince Albert”, the decision was made to graft* some of the ‘more vulnerable’ apple trees. Grafting essentially clones the tree. It enables the forming of a new tree with the same genetic makeup as the original tree. This way we can preserve the variety true to form. At present we do not know the names of all varieties of apples in the Orchard although DNA testing, results which will be available the end of the year, should give that information. We do know however, that two of the apple trees have been lost in the last year due to storms.

In February, members of the group took scion cuttings from five of the apple trees and attended the Mid Shires Orchard Group ‘Scion Swap’ at Buckingham Nurseries. Here they were advised on what root stock would be suitable for the Orchard trees and chose M111, a vigorous and disease resistant rootstock which should produce heavy crops in 3 to 4 years. Read more...

Donkey Lane Community Orchard – Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee Hedge

During the spring of 2022 Greening Chinnor volunteers planted over 370 hedging shrubs in the Orchard hedge running adjacent to the lane. The intention was to plant a native mixed species hedge to commemorate Her Majesty’s Platinum Jubilee and was part of the nationwide tree planting initiative ‘The Queen’s Green Canopy’.

Orchard hedge as detailed on the QGC map

The hedge is intended to have several beneficial purposes for the local environment and community:

• to provide a wildlife corridor along the length of the orchard
• be a food and nesting resource for wildlife
• give picking and foraging opportunities for the local community
• and finally, to look wonderful

Varieties planted include: Hawthorn, Cornelian Cherry, Hazel, Kentish Cob (Lambert’s Filbert), Spindle, Dog Rose, Cherry Plum, Wayfaring Tree, Bledlow Bullace, Sea Buckthorn, Field Maple and Holly. The hedging was planted whilst the bushes were still in winter dormancy and before the bird nesting season started. Read more...

Donkey Lane Community Orchard - Useful Plants

 We have largely forgotten the closeness we had to plants in the past, buying our food in the supermarket and our medicines in the pharmacy, not to mention the way that plastic has replaced wood for a whole range of former uses. Artificial fibres have replaced plant fibres in much of our clothing and bedding. We no longer rely on the willow weaver to make our baskets and other containers, or collect rushes to light our homes, and firewood and brush to cook with and keep us warm. But if we stop to think about it, we do still rely on a wide variety of plants in our daily life, both for eating and medicine, for wooden furniture and linen or cotton clothes. But now the plants are a good step removed from our daily life, both in terms of collection and manufacture.

In the past and especially before the Industrial Revolution, people lived closer to the earth and to a large extent, looked after themselves as much as they could. Ordinary people living in the countryside were of necessity, what we now call 'foragers'. Foraging has had a raised profile in recent times, building on the earlier work of people like Richard Mabey with his 'Food for Free' book first published in 1972. Nowadays up-market chefs use foragers to supply them with a whole range of wild leaves and berries for their restaurants. Celebrity foragers have Instagram accounts and have appeared on recent mainstream TV programs as diverse as 'Countryfile' and ‘Extraordinary Escapes with Sandi Toksvig'. As well as providing unusual cocktail ingredients and tasty additions to salads, plants are being re-discovered for other uses - such as nettles for fibre, and elderberry juice for its anti-viral properties. Read more