A fantastic old traditional orchard full of wildlife on the edge of Ketton parish.
Panter's Orchard is probably the biggest traditional orchard within 20 or so miles of Stamford with up to 100 old apple, pear and plum varieties. It's in the area marked Edith Weston Quarry, next to the active quarry workings and the new Empingham Road bridge. The next large traditional orchards are over towards Guyhirn and March, or down into Cambridgeshire.
History
It is said that George Panter won a bet in the Irish Sweepstakes and got money to buy the disused Edith Weston Quarry in the later 20s/early 30s. He got the trees "off the back of a lorry when they were going to be discarded". It was a mature orchard by the 1950s with fruit being sold to the Ketton village shop. The whole quarry area, including the orchard is owned by Heidelberg Cement (Hanson Cement).
Status
At present it is just outside the Ketton Quarry SSSI and has no designation. The whole of the Edith Weston Quarry including the orchard would qualify as a Local Wildlife Site.
Biodiversity
There has been no detailed survey in the orchard and there is no management of the orchard. The Quarry Habitat Management Plan claims that this derelict orchard is a good example of biodiversity net gain. However without any full biodiversity survey over time, its changing biodiversity value cannot be judged. I suggest that without positive management its biodiversity value will decline over time as the trees die and are not replaced and scrub develops. All the technical guidance from Natural England would support this as traditional orchards are a Priority Habitat, especially for saprophagous and pollinator insects, birds, bats, lichens and mosses.
Location
Empingham Road, Ketton, Rutland
It is in Normanton Parish and just outside the borders of Ketton Parish.
Access
A car could be parked on the right just after the new bridge over the quarry on the road from Ketton to Empingham. There is a small gated entrance to Edith Weston Quarry. A new permissive footpath around the boundary of the orchard has been created by Hanson.
Yorumlar