The Plums of Pershore. Written by Lynn Pedley
Pershore loves its plums and to celebrate them every August it dresses up its elegant town in purple for its Plum Fayre. Although the festival is a reason for enjoyment the heart of the tradition lies deep within the make up of the town and stretches back over generations. The origin of the plums that have contributed so much to the area’s economy over the years is very much a local story that runs through time and the town like a living family tree whose roots go back to the nineteenth century and before.
Pershore is famous for its three plums, the Pershore Purple, Pershore Yellow Egg plum and more lately the Pershore Emblem.
When you bite into a sweet juicy plum you are biting into a piece of history. Plums grown in Britain originated from fruits grown hundreds of years ago in such exotic climes as Damascus, Syria, Persia or Armenia. The stone from each species has its own individual characteristics which made it possible to identify which type of fruit was on board Henry the Eighth’s recovered flagship The Mary Rose which sank in 1545.
Our Pershore story began when George Crooks the landlord of the Butcher’s Arms in Church Street discovered a chance seedling of a wild plum growing in the ancient Tiddesley Wood on the outskirts of Pershore. This was then developed and produced the Pershore Egg Plum and was named by 1871,the first trees being planted at Gig Bridge north of the Worcester Road. It is a firm, dry, yellow fruit which is excellent for all culinary uses and is very resistant to disease, which went on to become the basis of almost all production of jam.
Around 1890 another plum experiment resulted in the creation of the famous Purple Pershore. This again was also very much a local story when Mr.Walter Martin of Drakes Broughton transferred pollen from the Old Black or Purple Diamond to the Rivers Early Prolific and five stones were planted of which one grew. The first stock were then planted in 1902 at Lower End Farm, Lower Moor near Pershore by Mr. Martins market gardener nephew James Payne. It was named Martin’s Seedling which became very popular and after a few years was more widely known as the Purple Pershore. Mr. Martin received nothing for his perseverance but eventually had the satisfaction of the Horticultural Society recognising him by registering the versatile plum as Martin’s Purple Pershore.
As with the Yellow Egg plum the Purple is very disease resistant and an outstanding culinary plum. Both plums were the basis for the canning and jam making industry that grew up in the area which along with the land owning market gardeners and the required fruit pickers meant a vast number of people made there living from the plums and other fruit that grew in abundance in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Plum jam was very popular with plums being grown specifically to supply the jam factories. It is said that some years the countries entire manufacture exceeded 50,000 tons and seldom less than 40,000 tons.
A Mr. Varden who owned Seaford Grange near Pershore told how the total production in 1872 including plums came to 436 tons from just his one farm. He employed mainly women whose daily wage was 1/6d per day, if they had babies they were put under a hedge to be cared for by the older children.
This production was particularly important during the food shortages of the First World War when plums and fruit from Pershore and its surrounding areas were transported by train throughout the country. This was commemorated in 1927 the year of the centenary celebrations for the Yellow Egg Plum when Great Western Railways were approached in the hope of naming a commemorative locomotive. Mr. John Wilson a director of GWR and a Malvern man recognised the amount of revenue that had been raised for his company and so granted permission. This resulted in the only train to be named after a fruit, The Pershore Plum, which stayed in service for a number of years. The plums also played a big part on the race tracks around the area with the running of the most valuable races called the Land o’ Plums Chases.
As happens in a changing world, the fortunes of the plum have also altered. Many of the orchards have been lost as tastes turned towards what was thought of as more exotic and varied produce usually bought in from abroad. But this is not just about a wonderful history blighted by modern mismanagement rather a history with a bright future. One reason is that the plum has been to be found to be exceptionally beneficial to health lying within the super food category. They are a good source of carbohydrate and are low in fat and calories, are an excellent source of vitamin A and C, calcium and magnesium, potassium, iron and fibre. They are free of cholesterol and sodium.
The Pershore plums have many culinary uses including jam andchutneys, can be added to cheese and sausages and makes luscious puddings. Then there is the drink Plum Jerkin which is still made from various recipes but that’s another story. For me I only have to bite into a freshly picked plum to have memories of childhood evoked of family holidays in Worcestershire and jaunts to local farms to ‘Pick Your Own’
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Then there is the prospect of global warming and the warning from government that once again we must start to grow more of our own produce and severely reduce the number of air miles that our food costs us. We have the land out here in our part of Worcestershire and we also have expert knowledge that still lives on from our living family tree of the plum. Among them Pershore still has direct descendants of the founder of the Yellow Egg Plum including Mr. Mervyn Crook still living in the town. The plum trees from descended from the originals are still lovingly tended by Mr. Francis Roberts in Lower Moor whose knowledge of the plum is second to none. Then there has been the creation of a new Pershore plum, the Emblem by local man Mr.Ged Witts which is delicious and ripens later than the Egg or Purple. These are just a few of the people of Pershore the town with the plum at its heart who relish its long history and feel that the future is in the purple for our plums.
Pershore PlumsOrchards in this area produce tons of popular plums every
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