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Local HistoryYou are in: Essex > History > Local History > Fruit and nursery Fruit and nurseryThe Thomas Rivers Nursery was an internationally recognised centre for growing fruit trees during the 19th century. Based in Sawbridgworth on the Essex/Hertfordshire border there is now only a small square of land left with an orchard on.  Labelled and growing in Sawbridgeworth Colchester resident, Dennis Todhunter, is 87-years-old and he worked at the Thomas Rivers Nursery during the early 1940s.  "I was only about 17 at the time and I'd had a years experience at another nursery. And it was considered I should have some fruit experience, and that is the reason I went to Rivers. "It was a requirement before I could go to university in Reading," he says.
Dennis is proud to have worked for a brief period at such a famous nursery responsible for introducing a large number of varieties of fruit tree: "Conference pear, which most people have heard of. They didn't introduce many famous apples, but mostly peaches, nectarines, plums, cherries and Conference pear. "At the time I didn't realise that it was a privilege to work there," says Dennis.  Mixed plums and greengages At its height in the 19th century the nursery covered over 300 acres and supplied fruit trees to all corners of the globe and the British Empire. A small patch of orchard remains on the site next to the Rivers Medical Centre in Sawbridgeworth on the Essex/Hertfordshire border. last updated: 25/06/2009 at 08:42 You are in: Essex > History > Local History > Fruit and nursery |
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