ORCHARD owner James Witchell was delighted after his Gloucestershire walnuts scooped first prize at the National Fruit Show.

Mr Witchell, who grows his crop in Meadowland, Arlingham, said that despite some early blight he ended up with a good crop.

Historically, Arlingham was famed for its walnuts and earned high praise in Ralph Bigland's History of Gloucestershire which was published in 1792 where he claimed the walnuts grew there in ‘great perfection’.

Witchell’s Walnuts will be on sale at the Stroud farmers’ market tomorrow, Saturday.