THE sun managed to shine again on one of the Wellington’s increasingly popular annual events – Apple Juicing Day.

A fair-sized crowd of local people of all ages gathered at Swains Lane Nature Reserve to take advantage of the bumper crop in the community orchard there. Willing hands harvested apples, chopped them, minced them and squeezed the juice to fill the bottles that participants had brought with them.

As always, the youngsters were keen to be involved and some people were still there juicing an hour after the scheduled finish. Live music provided by The Jamesons added to the festive feel of the occasion.

Nature reserve volunteers organised the event together with members of Transition Town Wellington, the local group that promotes all aspects of living sustainably in the 21st Century.

One group member said: “If the event is going to keep growing like this, we’ll need more equipment and a much earlier start next year.”