A special guest known as ‘The Apple Lady’ peeled back the years by presenting a heritage fruit tree her family developed to a village school.

Celia Steven, an expert on apple growing, gifted a grafted original Bramley apple tree to St Andrew's CofE Academy in Buckland Monachorum, where they celebrate village’s apple growing heritage by naming their classes after varieties of the fruit.

Celia, also of Buckland Monachorum, is at the core of the Bramley apple history, while the village is in an area renowned for all things apple in its community orchards, traditional Wassail ceremonies, cider and juice production and the Bere Ferrers Apple Festival.

Debbie Nunn, St Andrew’s CofE Academy headteacher, said:“We feel incredibly privileged that our school now has its own grafted descendant of this famous tree. It will not only be a wonderful addition to our grounds, but also a meaningful way for our children to connect with history, nature and heritage.

“A huge thank you to Celia Steven for such a thoughtful and generous gift, we will treasure it for many years to come.”

The Bramley apple story began in Nottinghamshire when the first-ever Bramley tree grew from a pip planted by young Mary Ann Brailsford in the early 1800s.

Celia travels worldwide promoting the famous Bramley cooking apple. Her great-grandfather, Henry Merryweather, recognised the potential of this special tree for commercial production. As a nurseryman, he took cuttings from the original to use as grafts and began cultivating what would become the Bramley apple we know today.

Every Bramley apple tree grown since can trace its roots back to that one original tree, making the gift a living link to a special piece of history.

St Andrews CofE Academy celebrates the area’s apple-growing heritage with classes named after Pippin, Bramley, Knight, Pendragon, Crimson and Warrior apples.