Families gathered at Okehampton Community Garden last weekend to honour Apple Day — the annual October celebration of apples and orchards led by Wren Music.

The afternoon of Thursday, October 26, saw families from across Okehampton join in a wide range of activities, despite the very autumnal weather, led by Jon Dyer and Amy Wilson from the local music charity, Wren Music.

Families were invited to take part in traditional apple games and sing apple songs and were even able to take home a bottle of freshly-squeezed homemade apple juice.

Jon said: “Everyone had a great time and it was lovely to hear them all singing the Apple Round and to see the children teaching the song to others on the day.”

The afternoon began with the ceremonial halving of an apple to mark the beginning of the event and was followed by pressing many kilos of fruit with a hand-powered crusher and press. Everyone was able to enjoy a glass of the resulting juice and some took bottles of it home.

The pressing was followed by an apple quiz and a ‘name that apple’ competition, where people had to identify seven different apple varieties by the look, feel and smell.

The final activity was a new contraption created especially for the event, which was named a ‘Dartmoor Newton’s Cradle’. Without using their hands, up to four participants at a time raced each other to be the first to bite an apple hanging from a length of string.

One of the highlights of the afternoon was the singing of the Apple Round, a new folk song written by Wren Music in the 1990s. Some of the Year 2 children at Okehampton Primary School and St James Church of England Primary School had learnt the song in school with Wren’s musicians the week before, and they helped the other children and adults to learn it on the day.

The event also included the annual Wren Music Conker Competition. The final was played between Willow and Tessa, two seven-year-olds from Okehampton, with Willow being the ultimate winner. Amy added: “We’d like to thank Devon County Council for supporting the event and Okehampton Community Garden for providing such a wonderful setting for the celebrations. We were a bit worried when we saw the weather forecast, but the afternoon was a great success thanks to so many people coming along and throwing themselves into the activities.”

Wren Music was established in 1983 by Paul Wilson and Marilyn Tucker in order to bring music to people across Devon, particularly those who may otherwise be unable to access it.

The charity focuses on folk music.