IT was a double celebration as residents turned out in force to see a play about the conservation of a Cam orchard.

Around 70 people were in Holywell Orchard on Saturday to watch 30 children and three adults perform a play on the history and conservation of the site.

Stroud Valleys Project has a scheme under way to restore the orchard and arranged for the Purple Broccoli Theatre Company to work with villagers to produce a play about the site.

Volunteers and children from Cam Everlands Primary School devised the script and content of the play.

The event was also a chance to celebrate news that the orchard has been given £50,000 in lottery funding as part of its Doorstep Greens scheme.

Director of projects for Stroud Valleys Caroline Aistrop said it was a positive event.

"It was a wonderful event," she said. "Everyone worked incredibly hard to produce the eight minute play. Some children were dressed as apple trees - others were sheep and flowers."

There was also a positive response to draft plans that were on show during the event.

Ms Aistrop added: "The draft plans were generally well received. A lot of the people who came along live close by and were keen to see the site resorted."

Future plans for the orchard include the installation of new seats, increasing the amount of wildlife and finding a spring that is rumoured to be on the site.

The orchard, which appears on maps as early as 1888, had been allowed to fall into a state of disrepair. Landowner Stroud District Council has given the project permission to revive the orchard and turn it into a wildlife haven.