Cool Place of the Day: Brogdale National Fruit Collection, Kent

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Brogdale Farm is a fruit lovers' paradise, with a cherry fair this Sunday

Like so many rural enterprises nowadays, Brogdale Farm, a mile or so south of the pretty creekside town of Faversham in Kent, has had to diversify to survive. And it has done it very well, creating a kind of foodie marketplace, with a classy cafe, fruit shop and a specialist off-license, Tiddly Pomme, which sells local wine and ciders.

There are also a couple of tasteful giftshops and a garden centre for good measure, the whole caboodle clustered around a little square. Anchoring it all, and Brogdale's raison d'etre, is the fruit farm behind, home to the National Fruit Collection, a giant orchard holding the world's largest collection of fruit trees. There are literally thousands of varieties here, the oldest of which date back nearly a century, and although you are free to walk around the orchards alone – following one of three self-guided walks – the best way to go, especially when the fruits are ripe for the picking, is to take a guided tour.

Fruits at Brogdale are left to ripen naturally and even fall from the trees, but you're only allowed to taste them for yourself when you're with a guide. Tours are relaxed, informed affairs, with your guide helpfully pointing out identifying features and varietal quirks, and plucking fruits from the branches for you to try. Come hungry. Summer, especially, yields rich pickings of cherries and plums, and the next big date at Brogdale is the brilliant Cherry Fair on Sunday, when you can view displays of the collection's 300-plus varieties of cherry. Join in a cherry-pie eating competition and see who can spit a cherry pip the furthest (the local record is 53 feet, in case you were wondering).

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