Bramley apples are a staple in supermarkets across the UK and it all started in a house in Nottinghamshire. But now the future of the original fruit-bearing tree is in question after the garden where it stands has been sold by Nottingham Trent University (NTU). The news has left campaigners aiming to turn it into a heritage site “gobsmacked”. The tree, which is more than 200 years old, was the very first Bramley from which millions of saplings have been grown worldwide. It was sown by Mary Ann Brailsford in the garden of her parents’ home in Church Street, Southwell, Nottinghamshire, between 1809 and 1815. Artist Dan Llywelyn Hall, who unveiled paintings of the tree in 2024, co-founded a campaign to buy the cottage from Nottingham Trent University (NTU) and keep public access to the tree by making it a heritage site for tourists and an educational facility.…