Perry pears are quite unlike ‘normal’ pears. They tend to be small, sharp, bitter and gritty. Despite this description they make a drink with much more character than eating pears. They also make magnificent trees. Perry pear trees are very long lived, perhaps 2-300 years and grow very large. A mature specimen of Moorcroft (100 years old!) might reach 70ft high and 40ft across and even a small variety like Thorn will reach 30ft high. Mature perry pear trees can still be seen in the West Midlands
Perry pears are virtually unknown in East Anglia. A trial planting in 1908 by J.B.Chevallier at Aspall Hall in Suffolk was unsuccessful as the trees refused to crop. We planted 60 trees in 1994 which cropped after 5 years and are now producing around one to two tons a year. In the winter of 2004/5 we planted an additional 93 trees. These all survived their first year and most have fruit on in 2006. The varieties we now have are:
