The Nuttery ORGD03 Original Seed Squirrel Proof Bird Feeder, Ocean Green

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Here in an area bounded by Bath, Oxford and Stratford-upon-Avon you’ll find some of the finest landscapes in England. Cotswold towns and villages such as Burford, Bibury and Bourton-on-the-Water are world famous and remain largely unchanged since their creation in medieval England centuries ago. This was when the wealth of the wool trade left its mark in the high quality stone buildings for which the area is renowned. College Court, right next to ancient St Michael’s Gatewas adopted by Beatrix Potter for her story The Tailor of Gloucester and is now a small shop and museum. Photo: Colin Smith/geograph.org.uk

Domestic nutteries were a regular feature from at least the sixteenth century, with cultivated varieties of hazel as well as the native species. Although they were a means of adding extra food to the table at a time when many households were largely self-sufficient, they could also be decorative. Hazel was the most commonly grown nut tree, but Sweet Chestnut and Walnut were also grown. Almonds were only grown in sheltered and more southerly gardens.They’d been brought in by the Romans but their cultivation has been a bit hit and miss in Britain. if you have room, grow one of the larger nut trees as a specimen tree – and of course it will provide shade, food for wildlife as well as a harvest for youAlso known as white walnut. Hardiest of the walnut family. Partially self-fertile and can be pollinated by walnuts and especially heartnuts Some easily available almonds for a nuttery include these two which are hardier and more resistant to leaf curl – Walnut, Juglans regia, probably introduced into Britain in the sixteenth century. The taste difference between a fresh or green walnut and the dried ones most of us are familiar with, is vast. But you will need a large garden – some get up to 150 foot tall, although this will take a good few years. Or find the variety ‘Rita’ which makes about 30 foot tall. Remember that Walnut trees are wide so allow room for spread.

Be sure to buy Prunus dulcis dulcis, the sweet almond, and not Prunus dulcis amara, the bitter almond. This latter is the one used for flavourings and is not one you’d want to eat from the tree!The difference between fruits and nuts is sometimes a bit blurred, and its not untrue to say that they are similar. They both have an outer casing containing a seed or seeds. Beatrix was also a sheep breeder and conservationist, buying up large swathes of countryside on the proviso that the National Trust would buy half of it from her when the funds became available. Here was someone using their earned wealth for the greater good. She was into conservation long before the cause became trendy. Talking of the National Trust, it’s portfolio includes at least a dozen properties connected with writers, a bit of a who’s who of English Lit; one of them, of course, is Beatrix. The last of Beatrix’s little books, designed so that even the smallest of children could hold them, ‘The Tale of Little Pig Robinson’, was published in 1930. When Beatrix died three days before Christmas in 1943 aged 77 she left 4,000 acres of land and 14 farms to the National Trust. Window display at the House of the Tailor of Gloucester based on Beatrix Potter’s story. Photo: Rudi Winter/geograph.org.uk