Of approximately 7,500 apple varieties worldwide, around 2,500 are British. And I think I can add one to the list. Six or seven years ago, I ate a particularly delicious Egremont Russet, and decided to sow the seeds. One germinated into a willowy sapling, which I planted out in the countryside. Obviously liking the sheltered corner I’d selected, the tree flourished. Last spring, its blossom lit the early, dark days of the pandemic.