AONB conference forages into history of orchards

The East Devon Area of Natural Beauty (AONB) is bringing a touch of the Mediterranean to its annual heritage conference, with a host of guest speakers.

Stelios Lekakis, from the University of Newcastle, is working part of the RES.CO.PART project and will speak tomorrow (Saturday) about the issues Greek farmers are facing in the wake of a growing tree disease affecting olive grove crop cultivation.

The conference, which is being held at the Norman Lockyer Observatory, will also look at the economic, social and historical effect of the orchards on a local, national and international scale.

Local speakers include Trevor Dymond, who will talk about the aspects of orchard land use in Ottery St Mary.

Roger Stokes, from Woodbury History Society, and John Torrance, from the Branscombe Project, will also speak.

Entry to the conference costs £15, including lunch, and it will run from 9.30am to 4.45pm.