Ever heard of The Nuttery? It’s a small nut orchard planted in 2009 by Transition Bath on National Trust land at the bottom of Smallcombe Vale, alongside Widcombe Hill.
It’s right next to the Bath Skyline Walk, and there is easy pedestrian access from Horseshoe Walk.
Earlier this month, a group of Transition Bath volunteers and friends set about some scything to prepare the area around the beautiful – and productive – mulberry tree for a community picnic at the weekend.
Whilst working to prepare the picnic site the volunteers admired the walnut and cobnut trees, laden with under-ripe nuts and wondered when they might be ready to harvest.
Then- in coming back for the picnic ten days later – all the nuts had gone! And no, it wasn’t the squirrels.
Dr Lyn Barham, who is a Trustee of Transition Bath, told me: “Squirrels don’t make a distinct footpath to the trees, or trample the ground around each tree. Not do they strip each tree absolutely bare in one short period.
We grow the nuts for community use. Anyone is invited to pop in and take a fair share – preferably when they are ripe, of course. So who decided to take all the nuts, under-ripe, in one fell swoop?”
Transition Bath, she told me, is all about finding ways of living that make for local resilience and less reliance on fossil fuel.
“Food is part of the Transition story, with a concern for growing food locally and sharing it – and at present we are really pleased to have a grant through WECA’s Bee Bold biodiversity enhancement funding.”
Do have a look yourself at the story of Transition Bath https://transitionbath.org/
