NEWBY Hall in Ripon will bring the 2014 season to a close on Sunday with the annual Apple Day.

Visitors will be offered tours of Newby’s extensive and historic orchard, home to 50 different varieties – many old, rare and some found nowhere else in the North of England.

The day will also include apple pressings and tastings by Slenningford Old Farm, suppliers of Newby Hall apple juice and cider, a fruit display and advice from the experts at the Northern Fruit Group. Apple tart will be available in the garden restaurant.

Younger visitors will enjoy the family trail in the gardens, collecting secret clues, face-painting, apple craft activities and toffee apples.

The highlight of the day is Newby’s annual apple-throwing championship, when competitors of all ages and abilities are invited to throw Newby’s windfalls all the way across the River Ure – a distance that varies each year – with a grand final for the most impressive throwers.