Family's fight to preserve 'last of their kind' fruit trees
A family has lived on farm for nearly three decades completely unaware that it was home to two very rare trees. The pear trees in the Cocker Bar Orchard in South Ribble, Lancashire, are believed to be the last of their kind. Liam Campbell, 36, and his family are determined to preserve the fruit - identified as CR5 and CR7 varieties - from extinction so future generations can enjoy the pears. "These varieties were enjoyed by Lancashire inhabitants for last 300, 400 years so it would be good for that to be continued for the next 300 or 400 years," he said.
Mr Campbell and his family moved to the orchard, which dates back to 1730, in 1996.But it was only a few years ago that they discovered the land was home to the two unique trees.Each year he takes some new shoots in a bid to grow some more trees and preserve the pear varieties.
"They're coming towards the end of their life span, so it's really hard, you have to get really high up and take cuttings," he said."You graft it together and hopefully they take."But the planting has not always gone to plan with. Mr Campbell's dog Monty put a stop to last year's attempts."They'd survived a couple of months - a lot longer than they did this year - and then Monty decided that it was going to be his chew toy for day," he said."So I just came back and I saw all my lovely grass in splinters on the floor and a very satisfied-looking Monty."
Despite the challenges, Mr Campbell said he was determined to succeed."There is a lot of pressure because I really want people to enjoy these for generations to come," he said."You can only graft once a year and we reckon those trees won't be there in 50 years' time so I've got 50 more attempts."The story of Cocker Bar Orchard has been shared in Radio Lancashire's Hidden Lancashire series.You can listen to more from the series on BBC Sounds.
Listen to the best of BBC Radio Lancashire on Sounds and follow BBC Lancashire on Facebook, X and Instagram. You can also send story ideas via Whatsapp to 0808 100 2230.
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