Apple Festival

Better weather today.

We spent most of the day at Killerton. The house and the huge estate surrounding, including many tenanted farms, was owned by the Acland family. They owned other large estates in Somerset and Cornwall.

An exhibition celebrates the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Forestry Commission in 1919. Sir Francis Acland was the Liberal MP for Richmond, and he promoted the controversial bill to set up the Commission. At the time the UK had by far the lowest tree cover of any country in Europe (4%), which had caused real economic difficulties during WW1.

His son, Sir Richard Acland, also a Liberal MP, was an egalitarian who became increasingly left wing, believing in the shared ownership of property. He founded a new party, the Common Wealth Party in 1942 (it did not survive the Labour landslide in 1945). In 1944 he gave his Devon and Somerset estates to the National Trust. He helped to found CND, and later became a lecturer in Exeter. When Killerton became a Hall of Residence he and his wife became wardens in their old home.

Killerton has been hosting an apple festival this weekend in its large orchard. . Great fun. And we also walked a small corner of the huge parkland area. There are lots of very old trees, and magnificent woodlands to explore. Worth another visit.