VIDEO - Newbury Apple Day 2024: Newbury’s new town crier helps launch pressing occasion as Apple Day returns

It was poetry in motion, as Newbury’s new town crier launched his career by joining the annual apple day celebrations.

Steve Wallis took on civic duties at the weekend and used verse to usher in the popular event.

The eight-line ditty acted as a summary of the day’s events: “Oyez! Oyez! It’s Apple Day! / So bring us your windfalls, / your harvest, your bounty / From the gardens and orchards / and fields of the county / For crushing and squeezing and bottling today. / Bring us your apples and take juice away!”

Hundreds of people, including the mayor of Newbury town, turned up to Market Place to take part in the annual celebration of the harvest.

“It was a really good day,” said Blake Ludwig, a member of the event’s organising committee.

Those attending could bring their apples and, using a press, convert them into fresh juice. If they didn’t have any windfalls, they could taste some of the juices pressed from donated fruit or try some apple-inspired recipes such as a Chelsea bun.

Mr Ludwig said: “We encourage people to bring their apples from their apple trees and they get them identified so they know what it is that they're growing in their backyard and obviously we save a lot of apples that would normally go to landfill.

“If you've had an apple tree in your backyard, you know a lot of them fall off and you end up piling them up and putting them somewhere … We're throwing them away.

“We hopefully save a lot about those that would normally, which would otherwise go to waste.”

The day also helped people see the connection between the fallen fruit and where juice comes from, Mr Ludwig said.

“Also, you taste it and know it’s so much better than what you get in the supermarket.”

The 64-year-old from Wash Common said that on the day, they pressed 145 litres of fresh juice, and sold bottles of juice made by Richard Padgett in Hungerford.

“When you see young kids, especially the little ones, come and try the apple press, they are really wide-eyed and happy,” he said.

“One family came from outside Newbury. An hour before they came, they picked apples from their tree and brought them.

“Their kids helped chop them and we press their apples, and they took home three or four litres of juice … they were really over the moon.

“The parents really appreciate that their children could participate in doing the whole cycle. It was very cool.”

Nothing from Saturday will be wasted.

The pumice – leftovers from the apple press – will become pigswill.

“There’s going to be some happy pigs eating all the leftovers,” Mr Ludwig said.

And they brought 60 cardboard trays of apples to the event, with 20 left over. The group are distributing them to soup kitchens and other community groups that could use them.

Anything left after that will be juiced.

The volunteer-led event is important, Mr Ludwig said.

“If you’ve been to small villages, they have an apple day. They go and pick apples, then come together and press them, with the juice put into bottles,” he continued. “It’s a community thing and is a celebration of the harvest.

“It’s a very educative and informative project. I love it.”

The group’s website is appledayinnewbury.wordpress.com

It contains an opportunity for people to get involved.