VISITORS to Snowshill Manor near Broadway will have the chance to enjoy autumn by helping to collect the windfall in the orchards, and trying apple-inspired food on offer in the tea-room.

They will also have the opportunity to find out more about gardens, apples and orchards, as the garden team have created autumnal displays inspired by the apple harvest.

Some weekend highlights include a wood turner on Saturday October 14 and October 15, who will be creating objects from wood that he has collected from trees at Snowshill.

The highlight of the final weekend will be a performance to celebrate the season from the Happenstance Morris Dancers on Sunday October 29 during the afternoon.

Snowshill Manor’s two orchards are home to over 50 varieties of apple and senior gardener Vicky Cody is looking forward to showing off the harvest. "We want to encourage people to look at the many varieties of apple which exist – the vast majority of which can’t be found in supermarkets. We have eaters, cookers, crab apples and cider apples each of which can be used in a different way.

"We use the apples from our orchard in the tea-room and they will try different varieties in various recipes depending on their flavour and texture. They have risen to the challenge of baking apples into pies, puddings, sausages and chutneys."

This year, the tea-room team have also been inspired by the notebooks of Charles Paget Wade who donated Snowshill Manor and its collection to the National Trust in 1951.