Bushel boxes

      A veritable wall of 'Bushel Boxes' that a neighbour and friend showed us in one of his tractor sheds and yet another collecting obsession revealed. Most of them are local to the area but the Vale of Evesham and Kent are represented too.
      We have heard them called Norfolk apple boxes and they are apparently highly saleable but the right name for them is a bushel box. The bulk of the boxes that were in circulation seem have been used for kindling or for keeping the sticks neat and tidy or for just routine storage and although it's hard to believe today, there were specialist box factories in Norfolk and no doubt in all the other fruit growing areas too. They must have been a form of currency  because they all have a five shilling deposit on them, or in new money 25p, that beats 3d on a beer bottle.
      The box wall is a bit of social history because many of the fruit producers have gone so they represent a link with the past when fruit was an important crop. Now many of the orchards have been ripped up and turned over to arable farming and the trees converted to sweet smelling firewood.
      We have been asked to keep our eyes open for more to enlarge his collection. Eccentric collecting, we love it!
      What about the half bushel boxes? Don't forget them because they deserve a collector too.