by Richard Borrill, Cross O’Cliff, Lincolnshire

"I've known the orchard all my life. I played in it as a child and live next to it now. The threat it faced became apparent in the early 1990s when people living nearby suddenly realised the county council was planning to build bungalows on it. We all thought: ‘We're not having that!'.

It was pretty unkempt, mind you, having been left untended since the war. The old Victorian and Edwardian fruit trees - apples and pears - had shot up and the site was covered in brambles.

When we heard permission had been agreed on the orchard - at the time, councils were allowed to grant their own planning - we knew we had a battle on our hands. I helped to form a residents' association that was made up of a group of people who just wouldn't give in. I think we were all in love with the place. It was a real tangle and beautiful when spring came and the blossom flowered.

We did a lot with the local press to build support and were heading towards a public enquiry. Then we discovered it was possible to get funding from Common Ground to restore special places like this. We tried to persuade the county council to accept the funding, but they didn't want to know. We were saved when a Labour/Liberal Democrat coalition briefly took power and decided the orchard was a local asset. To be fair, no matter who has controlled the council since, that support has continued.

There are 80 households here, and a quarter were prepared to put in the initial physical graft to clear, prune and replant. In late summer of 1996, the council did the first clearing and after that, 20 or so volunteers would turn up every weekend. With a few other volunteers, I try to put in two hours a week, but it can be a lot more. You get carried away!

Now it's a haven for wildlife and looks like an orchard again. I've planted the fruit varieties that would have been in a Victorian orchard, with one or two Edwardian varieties because they're local. Families come and pick the fruit in autumn, which is great. It's like an oasis, quiet and peaceful - and a wonderful tribute to community action.

Reproduced with permission from the Countryfile website
Fiona Cowan
5 March 2010