HIS month and next I am going to travel around the North of England and buy and eat apples grown in the area.

I decided to do this because I began to wonder why it is so hard to find what I call “proper” apples in our supermarkets. I think I understand why this is the case.

Obviously, it makes sense to sell foreign apples at a time when the seasons mean there are none in England.

These days, supermarkets sell apples all the same shape to fit plastic packets. They’re often kept refrigerated prior to selling and I am sure that affects the taste.

Some of the best tasting apples picked straight from the tree may have ‘strange marks’ on them and not be quite the right shape, but who cares.

Last year I bought Russet Apples from Cumbria, Ribston Pippins from Yorkshire and Bramleys from Lancashire.

I even had an apple pie made from crab apples picked near Foulridge, mixed with blackberries from a hedgerow near Whalley and sweetened with honey from the Trough of Bowland.

This year, there was plenty of apple blossom and it looks as if it is going to be a bumper apple year. So why not join me and taste British apples.

Note: In the last thousand years, more than 2,000 varieties of apples have been grown in Britain!