Today is Apple Day.

They inspired Newton, shaped our countryside, and strike at the very core of Britishness. Now, after years of decline, native apples are back in fashion.

Michael McCarthy goes in search of the birthplace of the Cox, and recounts tales of the origins of the Blenheim orange, the Ribston pippin, Egremont russet and many more.

Read his celebration of the British Apple in The Independent on Sunday