The world’s oldest Bramley tree is 212 years old. It was planted from a pip by Mary Anne Brailsford in 1809, in the Nottinghamshire town of Southwell. The seedling produced such fine apples that in 1837 a local gardener asked the next occupier of the house, Matthew Bramley, for his permission to graft scions from the tree. Bramley agreed as long as the apples bore his name. Ms Brailsford never knew the fame her apples achieved. There are now more than 300 Bramley growers in England.