National Trust calls for pictures from #Blossomwatch day

In Japan, blossom is celebrated with the traditional custom of Hanami, which means ‘flower viewing’ and is an opportunity to take in the beauty of flowers.

This celebration of the spring has been brought to the UK, by the National Trust, who aim to introduce and embed an annual day of appreciation within the nation.

In March the conservation charity revealed that there were 80 per cent fewer orchards in England and Wales and vowed to ‘bring back blossom’.

Head of Historic Environment at the National Trust Tom Dommett said: “Using cutting edge technology we now have a much better understanding of how we’ve managed our landscapes in the past, which is invaluable when thinking about how to tackle the nature and biodiversity crisis that we are facing in this country.

“As the population has grown, cities have expanded and there has been a growing demand for food, particularly after the second world war, with farmers able to be largely more profitable rearing livestock and growing arable crops, than managing orchards.”

He added: “Also, it’s important to take into account that many traditional orchards do have a limited life – with the typical apple or cherry tree producing fruit until they are about 80 years old when they would need potentially to be replaced – however, it’s the fact they were not then replaced with new orchards which speaks volumes.

“The dramatic decline in traditional orchards has massively affected the character and the biodiversity of our landscapes.”

#Blossomwatch, launched in 2021, is an annual campaign that aims to encourage people to “enjoy and celebrate” spring blossom.

This includes digital sharing of images as blossom sleeps up the land from south to north.

This year the event fell on April 23 (yesterday) and Newbury Today wants to see your pictures.

Drop them in the comments using the hashtag ‘#Blossomwatch’.