When the founders of TRIUMF broke ground on the Main Accelerator Building (then referred to as the Meson Hall), they also planted a single apple tree: a direct descendant from the apple trees that grew on Isaac Newton’s family farm, Woolsthorpe Manor in Lincolnshire, England. These same trees are famous for inspiring Newton’s understanding of one of the four fundamental forces in nature – gravity.
The quest to bring the trees to Canada began with TRIUMF’s first director, Dr. John Warren, a known apple arborist. Discussions began in the late 1960s with England’s National Physical Laboratory who took up the task of obtaining approvals and preparing cuttings for transit.
Once sign-off was received from the United Kingdom’s National Trust, caretakers of the original Newton trees, it took just under a year to receive two saplings which arrived on January 4, 1971.
See Featured Media to learn more about the history of these unique apple trees as told by The Canadian Press.