January 2025

Published on January 1, 2025.

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Welcome to the first month of Rivers 300, January 2025! The Rivers Heritage and Orchard group begins our 12 month programme of special events to celebrate the founding of Rivers Nursery in 1725. See our leaflet now available widely in Sawbridgeworth that lists the events to look forward to.




On a drizzly December day the Orchard volunteers gathered to dig holes ready to receive 6 commemorative saplings, Rivers Nursery plum cultivars, including the well known Czar, launched to the market in 1874 and named in honour of a recent trip to England of the Czar of Russia. In an article to appear soon on this website, Colin Gill who has negotiated with Brogdale Nursery in Kent for the preparation of these young trees for planting here, will tell the story of selection, grafting and rearing that will result in healthy trees of the right species that have descended from the 19th century cultivars.





We are looking forward to Wassail on January 25th in the Orchard, Wassail is part of the folk culture honoured in Community Orchards round the country. As in past times, rural families came together in cold winter to celebrate the season of crop renewal, orchards ready for growth in the warmth of spring encouraged to bear good crops by singing together and pouring a libation of juice and cider on the roots. This year we have a new Wassail Song. Zoe Dedman on the flute and choirs of school students will lead us in singing in the light of the bonfire. In these dark days of winter we will think of sunshine and the good fruit to come.

See you there!

Next Events

Wassail Saturday January 25th 2025, 6 pm to 7:30 om outside the Rivers Orchard, with limited parking kindly provided by the Rivers Hospital. Please see the main RHSO site for a map of orchard access.



Articles coming up

Each month an article relating to Rivers Nursery or Orchard will be published on this website. In January will be an Interview with Diana Richards, who tells the story of how after Rivers Nursery was closed in the 1980s, Rivers Heritage Orchard came to be, allowing a new chapter to come to be preserving the place and our rural past.

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