THE B cups have been full to overflowing in Broomfields apple orchards this autumn. Pondering how to prevent his heaviest Bramleys dropping from the trees and spoiling their showing prospects, grower Colin Broomfield came up with an ingenious answer.

"We suspended them in ladies bras," he divulged. "We targeted several apples as potential prize winners back in the summer, but we were worried they might get so big they'd fall off the trees.

"They needed some support. Something to cradle them gently."

Then the penny dropped and the undie drawer was raided. Whose undie drawer Colin was not saying. "I think we'll go with the line the bras were supplied by a member of staff," he laughed. "No, I can't say what size they were. But these were some pretty big apples."

So big in fact, Broomfields won the prize for the Five Heaviest Apples class at the recent Malvern Autumn Garden and Country Show.

Their five Bramleys weighed in at a little something over 13lbs.

"The class is usually won by Howgate Wonders (another cooking apple variety)," said Colin, "but we looked after and nurtured our Bramleys so well, they carried all before them."

Indeed, it wasn't only the Bramleys that scored for Broomfields orchards.

They also won first prize in the apple classes for Cox's Orange, Gala and Regal Prince, as well as topping the Comice pears section.

They also won a cup for the most points scored in an individual class and a silver salver for the highest number of points totalled by an individual competitor.

So, all in all, it was a very successful event for Colin and his wife Fiona, who have orchards at Holt Heath and Cutnall Green.

"We've done well at the Autumn Show before," said Colin. "But never this well.

"It was actually a good apple growing season, because there was plenty of hot, dry weather. But just as you thought it was getting too dry, along came a thunderstorm to give everything a drink."

All of which augers well for National Apple Day, which takes place this year on Friday, October 21, the day after All Fruits Eve, as I'm sure you know.

The festival was instigated by national charity Common Ground, which champions any form of local distinctiveness, back in 1990, and has been enthusiastically taken up all over the country, particularly in Worcestershire and Herefordshire, where orchards abound.

Lots of events are planned in the area. The Farncombe Estate Adult Learning Centre at Broadway, near Evesham, is holding an All About Apples day today.

The one-day course was due to be be taken by expert Richard Tate and covers the planting and growing of apples, their pruning, how to identify apple varieties and how to make apple juice.

As you might expect Tenbury Wells, the town in the orchard, is going the whole hog. It is devoting a full week to the glory of apples, from Saturday, October 22, to Friday, October 28. There will be a whole host of events, from cookery competitions to children's games.