Long Ashton Research Station
Encyclopedia
Long Ashton Research Station (LARS) was an agricultural
and horticultural
government research centre in the village of Long Ashton
near Bristol
, UK
. It was created in 1903 to study and improve the West Country
cider
industry, expanded into fruit
research (particularly apple
s, pear
s, plum
s, strawberries
and blackcurrant
s), and was redirected in the 1980s to work on arable
crops and aspects of botany
.
Research on cider making
began privately in 1893 at Robert Neville-Grenville's farm near Glastonbury
. This led to the formation of the National Fruit and Cider Institute in 1903 in fields south of the main road through Long Ashton. Frederick Lloyd
was appointed Director.
In 1912 the Institute became the University of Bristol
's Department of Agricultural and Horticultural Research and its name was changed to Long Ashton Research Station. Indeed, the Universities of Bath and Bristol ran Master of Science (MSc) courses at the research station for many years. The first purpose built laboratory, the Barker Laboratory, was ready for use in 1914.
Fenswood Farm on the north side of the road was bought by the University in 1920 to extend the space available for experiments, and in 1921 the Campden Research Station was taken under Long Ashton's management.
The British Government formed the Agricultural Research Council (ARC) in 1931 and this body was given a direct role in managing LARS. A new Biology Laboratory was completed in 1948 and in 1952, although links with Campden Research Station ended, the ARC Unit of Plant Nutrition was set up at Long Ashton.
The Station's 50th year was celebrated by the publication of a book, Science and Fruit. The 1950s were a time of rapid expansion for Long Ashton with the opening of the Kearns and Hewitt Laboratories (1956) and the Wallace Laboratory, Refectory and Conference Room (1959). The first Long Ashton International Symposium was held in 1967.
1981 saw the disbandment of two of Long Ashton's major research divisions, the Pomology and Plant Breeding Division and the Food and Beverage Division. This action by the ARC was a severe blow to the Research Station and began a long period of structural change. The Hirst Laboratory was built in 1983 as part of the reorganisation process, and work on arable crops substantially replaced Long Ashton's long history of work on fruit and cider.
The Agricultural and Food Research Council
(AFRC, previously ARC) closed other research sites including the Letcombe Laboratory (1985) and the Weed Research Organisation (1986) and their staff and programmes were moved to Long Ashton. With Rothamsted
it became part of the Institute of Arable Crops Research (IACR) in 1986. Although the new Treharne Library and Fryer Laboratory were built in 1987, as a junior partner in IACR, Long Ashton was now vulnerable in the event of further restructuring.
The Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council
(BBSRC, formed from the previous AFRC in 1994) announced in 1999 that Long Ashton was to be closed. The seventeenth and final Long Ashton International Symposium took place in 2002 and the Research Station was duly closed in 2003 having served agriculture and horticulture for exactly 100 years. Some of the remaining staff were moved to Rothamsted during Long Ashton's final years, providing some continuity with the programmes of work under way prior to closure. The site was sold and subsequently redeveloped for housing.
Agriculture
Agriculture is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life. Agriculture was the key implement in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the...
and horticultural
Horticulture
Horticulture is the industry and science of plant cultivation including the process of preparing soil for the planting of seeds, tubers, or cuttings. Horticulturists work and conduct research in the disciplines of plant propagation and cultivation, crop production, plant breeding and genetic...
government research centre in the village of Long Ashton
Long Ashton
Long Ashton is a village and civil parish in Somerset, England. It falls within the Unitary Authority of North Somerset, a few miles south west of the city of Bristol. The parish has a population of 4,981...
near Bristol
Bristol
Bristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, with an estimated population of 433,100 for the unitary authority in 2009, and a surrounding Larger Urban Zone with an estimated 1,070,000 residents in 2007...
, UK
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
. It was created in 1903 to study and improve the West Country
West Country
The West Country is an informal term for the area of south western England roughly corresponding to the modern South West England government region. It is often defined to encompass the historic counties of Cornwall, Devon, Dorset and Somerset and the City of Bristol, while the counties of...
cider
Cider
Cider or cyder is a fermented alcoholic beverage made from apple juice. Cider varies in alcohol content from 2% abv to 8.5% abv or more in traditional English ciders. In some regions, such as Germany and America, cider may be termed "apple wine"...
industry, expanded into fruit
Fruit
In broad terms, a fruit is a structure of a plant that contains its seeds.The term has different meanings dependent on context. In non-technical usage, such as food preparation, fruit normally means the fleshy seed-associated structures of certain plants that are sweet and edible in the raw state,...
research (particularly apple
Apple
The apple is the pomaceous fruit of the apple tree, species Malus domestica in the rose family . It is one of the most widely cultivated tree fruits, and the most widely known of the many members of genus Malus that are used by humans. Apple grow on small, deciduous trees that blossom in the spring...
s, pear
Pear
The pear is any of several tree species of genus Pyrus and also the name of the pomaceous fruit of these trees. Several species of pear are valued by humans for their edible fruit, but the fruit of other species is small, hard, and astringent....
s, plum
Plum
A plum or gage is a stone fruit tree in the genus Prunus, subgenus Prunus. The subgenus is distinguished from other subgenera in the shoots having a terminal bud and solitary side buds , the flowers in groups of one to five together on short stems, and the fruit having a groove running down one...
s, strawberries
Strawberry
Fragaria is a genus of flowering plants in the rose family, Rosaceae, commonly known as strawberries for their edible fruits. Although it is commonly thought that strawberries get their name from straw being used as a mulch in cultivating the plants, the etymology of the word is uncertain. There...
and blackcurrant
Blackcurrant
Blackcurrant, Ribes nigrum, is a species of Ribes berry native to central and northern Europe and northern Asia, and is a perennial....
s), and was redirected in the 1980s to work on arable
Agronomy
Agronomy is the science and technology of producing and using plants for food, fuel, feed, fiber, and reclamation. Agronomy encompasses work in the areas of plant genetics, plant physiology, meteorology, and soil science. Agronomy is the application of a combination of sciences like biology,...
crops and aspects of botany
Botany
Botany, plant science, or plant biology is a branch of biology that involves the scientific study of plant life. Traditionally, botany also included the study of fungi, algae and viruses...
.
History of LARS
Cider
Cider or cyder is a fermented alcoholic beverage made from apple juice. Cider varies in alcohol content from 2% abv to 8.5% abv or more in traditional English ciders. In some regions, such as Germany and America, cider may be termed "apple wine"...
began privately in 1893 at Robert Neville-Grenville's farm near Glastonbury
Glastonbury
Glastonbury is a small town in Somerset, England, situated at a dry point on the low lying Somerset Levels, south of Bristol. The town, which is in the Mendip district, had a population of 8,784 in the 2001 census...
. This led to the formation of the National Fruit and Cider Institute in 1903 in fields south of the main road through Long Ashton. Frederick Lloyd
Frederick Lloyd
Frederick Lloyd was a British film actor. He appeared as Doctor Watson in the 1932 film The Hound of the Baskervilles.Lloyd was married to actress Auriol Lee from 1911 to 1922...
was appointed Director.
In 1912 the Institute became the University of Bristol
University of Bristol
The University of Bristol is a public research university located in Bristol, United Kingdom. One of the so-called "red brick" universities, it received its Royal Charter in 1909, although its predecessor institution, University College, Bristol, had been in existence since 1876.The University is...
's Department of Agricultural and Horticultural Research and its name was changed to Long Ashton Research Station. Indeed, the Universities of Bath and Bristol ran Master of Science (MSc) courses at the research station for many years. The first purpose built laboratory, the Barker Laboratory, was ready for use in 1914.
Fenswood Farm on the north side of the road was bought by the University in 1920 to extend the space available for experiments, and in 1921 the Campden Research Station was taken under Long Ashton's management.
The Station's 50th year was celebrated by the publication of a book, Science and Fruit. The 1950s were a time of rapid expansion for Long Ashton with the opening of the Kearns and Hewitt Laboratories (1956) and the Wallace Laboratory, Refectory and Conference Room (1959). The first Long Ashton International Symposium was held in 1967.
1981 saw the disbandment of two of Long Ashton's major research divisions, the Pomology and Plant Breeding Division and the Food and Beverage Division. This action by the ARC was a severe blow to the Research Station and began a long period of structural change. The Hirst Laboratory was built in 1983 as part of the reorganisation process, and work on arable crops substantially replaced Long Ashton's long history of work on fruit and cider.
Agricultural and Food Research Council
The Agricultural and Food Research Council , was a British Research Council responsible for funding and managing scientific and technological developments in farming and horticulture....
(AFRC, previously ARC) closed other research sites including the Letcombe Laboratory (1985) and the Weed Research Organisation (1986) and their staff and programmes were moved to Long Ashton. With Rothamsted
Rothamsted Experimental Station
The Rothamsted Experimental Station, one of the oldest agricultural research institutions in the world, is located at Harpenden in Hertfordshire, England. It is now known as Rothamsted Research...
it became part of the Institute of Arable Crops Research (IACR) in 1986. Although the new Treharne Library and Fryer Laboratory were built in 1987, as a junior partner in IACR, Long Ashton was now vulnerable in the event of further restructuring.
The Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council
Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council
Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council is a UK Research Council and NDPB and is the largest UK public funder of non-medical bioscience...
(BBSRC, formed from the previous AFRC in 1994) announced in 1999 that Long Ashton was to be closed. The seventeenth and final Long Ashton International Symposium took place in 2002 and the Research Station was duly closed in 2003 having served agriculture and horticulture for exactly 100 years. Some of the remaining staff were moved to Rothamsted during Long Ashton's final years, providing some continuity with the programmes of work under way prior to closure. The site was sold and subsequently redeveloped for housing.
Long Ashton International Symposia
This series of international conferences was well respected and attended by scientists from every continent.- 1967 - Recent aspects of nitrogenNitrogenNitrogen is a chemical element that has the symbol N, atomic number of 7 and atomic mass 14.00674 u. Elemental nitrogen is a colorless, odorless, tasteless, and mostly inert diatomic gas at standard conditions, constituting 78.08% by volume of Earth's atmosphere...
metabolismMetabolismMetabolism is the set of chemical reactions that happen in the cells of living organisms to sustain life. These processes allow organisms to grow and reproduce, maintain their structures, and respond to their environments. Metabolism is usually divided into two categories...
in plants - 1969 - PhysiologyPhysiologyPhysiology is the science of the function of living systems. This includes how organisms, organ systems, organs, cells, and bio-molecules carry out the chemical or physical functions that exist in a living system. The highest honor awarded in physiology is the Nobel Prize in Physiology or...
of tree crops - 1971 - Fungal pathogenicityPathogenicityPathogenicity is the ability of a pathogen to produce an infectious disease in an organism.It is often used interchangeably with the term "virulence", although virulence is used more specifically to describe the relative degree of damage done by a pathogen, or the degree of pathogenicity caused by...
- 1973 - Lactic acidLactic acidLactic acid, also known as milk acid, is a chemical compound that plays a role in various biochemical processes and was first isolated in 1780 by the Swedish chemist Carl Wilhelm Scheele. Lactic acid is a carboxylic acid with the chemical formula C3H6O3...
bacteria in beverages and food - 1975 - Environmental effects on crop physiology
- 1977 - NitrogenNitrogenNitrogen is a chemical element that has the symbol N, atomic number of 7 and atomic mass 14.00674 u. Elemental nitrogen is a colorless, odorless, tasteless, and mostly inert diatomic gas at standard conditions, constituting 78.08% by volume of Earth's atmosphere...
assimilation of plants - 1979 - Quality in stored and processed vegetables and fruit
- 1982 - Improving vegetatively propagated crops
- 1984 - Rational pesticidePesticidePesticides are substances or mixture of substances intended for preventing, destroying, repelling or mitigating any pest.A pesticide may be a chemical unicycle, biological agent , antimicrobial, disinfectant or device used against any pest...
use - 1986 - HormoneHormoneA hormone is a chemical released by a cell or a gland in one part of the body that sends out messages that affect cells in other parts of the organism. Only a small amount of hormone is required to alter cell metabolism. In essence, it is a chemical messenger that transports a signal from one...
action in plant development - a critical appraisal - 1989 - Herbicide resistance in weedWeedA weed in a general sense is a plant that is considered by the user of the term to be a nuisance, and normally applied to unwanted plants in human-controlled settings, especially farm fields and gardens, but also lawns, parks, woods, and other areas. More specifically, the term is often used to...
s and crops - 1991 - Transport and receptor proteinProteinProteins are biochemical compounds consisting of one or more polypeptides typically folded into a globular or fibrous form, facilitating a biological function. A polypeptide is a single linear polymer chain of amino acids bonded together by peptide bonds between the carboxyl and amino groups of...
s of plant membraneCell membraneThe cell membrane or plasma membrane is a biological membrane that separates the interior of all cells from the outside environment. The cell membrane is selectively permeable to ions and organic molecules and controls the movement of substances in and out of cells. It basically protects the cell...
s: molecular structure and function - 1993 - EcologyEcologyEcology is the scientific study of the relations that living organisms have with respect to each other and their natural environment. Variables of interest to ecologists include the composition, distribution, amount , number, and changing states of organisms within and among ecosystems...
and integrated farming systems - 1995 - Plant rootRootIn vascular plants, the root is the organ of a plant that typically lies below the surface of the soil. This is not always the case, however, since a root can also be aerial or aerating . Furthermore, a stem normally occurring below ground is not exceptional either...
s - from cellsCell (biology)The cell is the basic structural and functional unit of all known living organisms. It is the smallest unit of life that is classified as a living thing, and is often called the building block of life. The Alberts text discusses how the "cellular building blocks" move to shape developing embryos....
to systems - 1997 - Understanding pathosystems: a focus on SeptoriaSeptoriaSeptoria are Ascomycete fungi that causes numerous leaf spot diseases on field crops, forages and many vegetables, and is responsible for yield losses...
- 1999 - BiotechnologyBiotechnologyBiotechnology is a field of applied biology that involves the use of living organisms and bioprocesses in engineering, technology, medicine and other fields requiring bioproducts. Biotechnology also utilizes these products for manufacturing purpose...
of cerealCerealCereals are grasses cultivated for the edible components of their grain , composed of the endosperm, germ, and bran...
s: tools, targets and triumphs - 2002 - New frontiers in plant development: from geneGeneA gene is a molecular unit of heredity of a living organism. It is a name given to some stretches of DNA and RNA that code for a type of protein or for an RNA chain that has a function in the organism. Living beings depend on genes, as they specify all proteins and functional RNA chains...
s to phenotypePhenotypeA phenotype is an organism's observable characteristics or traits: such as its morphology, development, biochemical or physiological properties, behavior, and products of behavior...
Former staff
- John Pilkington HudsonJohn Pilkington HudsonJohn Pilkington Hudson was an English horticultural scientist who did pioneer work on long-distance transportability of what became known as the kiwifruit...
- director, horticultural scientist - H.G.H. KearnsH.G.H. KearnsProfessor Howard George Henry Kearns BSc, PhD, Dip. Agric., OBE was a significant researcher in entomology. He was a long-time researcher at the University of Bristol and the Deputy Director of its Long Ashton Research Station...
- deputy director - Lawrence OgilvieLawrence OgilvieLawrence Ogilvie was a Scottish plant pathologist.Ogilvie was a UK expert on the diseases of commercially-grown vegetables and wheat from the 1930s to the 1960s....
- plant pathologist - A.F. Parker-RhodesFrederick Parker-RhodesFrederick Parker-Rhodes was an English linguist, plant pathologist, computer scientist, mathematician, mystic, and mycologist.-Background & education:...
- plant pathologist
External links
- BBC article on LARS
- Units and Institutes of the Agricultural Research Council
- LARS Reunited: association for former employees and associates