Nice series - looks like your Super Ikonta IV is a keeper.
I like the photograph of your apple tree - you did some good thinning on the tree.
Laxton's Epicure is one of the best August/September apples, my father-in-law says ...
Yes it was very overgrown and unfortunately it also suffers from canker, a fungal disease. It needed very heavy pruning and the removal of a large dead branch. It took ages to prune it with help from my friends but the wood was good for the fire this winter. It is an early apple as you say, August/September. If flowers in May and the flowers have a scent of roses which is lovely. I am not that keen on the apples just to eat raw but it is excellent for cooking and I make huge quantities of apple sauce that I freeze in trays. Early apples do not keep well. It is a very old tree and I am very fond of it as I have known it since I was a small child. I have several apples trees to spread out the season from August to November.