Ian Fletcher from Goodrich has been awarded as the Horticulture Apprentice of the Year at Herefordshire and Ludlow College.

At an awards ceremony at held at the college, on Tuesday, November 8th, Ian was given the Apprentice of the Year, for the course in cider, soft fruit and horticulture.

Ian, who works for Martin Boynton at Hildersley Farm, and Vinetree and Tudorville Farm, began his apprenticeship in January 2014, and completed it in January of this year.

He told the Gazette that he had been working for Martin as a labourer before the apprenticeship began, going between the two Ross-on-Wye farms. Martin approached Ian, and asked him if he would be interested in gaining the experience and the qualification at his farms, and Ian accepted. “I guess Martin saw the potential in me,” he commented.

He added:?“The apprenticeship taught me a lot about production horticulture and helped expand my knowledge greatly.”

Ian said that a feature of the apprenticeship course was to go on orchard walks once every month, where he would have the opportunity to network with other fruit growers.

He told the Gazette that this part of the apprenticeship was definitely a highlight of the course. He said: “I thoroughly enjoyed the orchard walks at other farms and listening to farmers and their experiences and sharing my own.”

I am hopeful to keep working in the horticultural side of agriculture industry and my qualification gained with Holme Lacy will help give me the opportunity to progress to other aspects of horticulture in the future.”