FRUIT orchard expert Ian Sturrock has turned detective and historian in search of the elusive Denbigh Plum – and uncovered some fruity felony in the process.
As the second Denbigh Plum Festival draws near (October 30-31) Ian, the only commercial grower of Wales’ sole surviving native plum, has been delving into the National Library and the archives of the national fruit collection in Kent in search of its origins.
Ian, who specialises in saving rare fruit varieties at his organic nursery in Lon Cytir, Bangor, has found some references in historic works, but nothing definitive though it appears one of the best-known names in British fruit may not have been averse to pinching a plum and renaming it.
“I think Mr Cox of Buckinghamshire may have nabbed it and renamed it the Cox’s Emperor,” said Ian, 61, who will be talking about the Denbigh Plum at the festival in the town centre on Saturday (Oct 30).
The festival was a huge success in its first year and this second event will feature cookery and horticultural demonstrations with Hafan Catering, Alwyn Thomas, Llaeth Y Llan, Bee Keeping, and Green Fingers. You can eat hog roast with Denbigh plum sauce, and freshly baked plum bread.
There is a schools cookery competition, seeking plum recipes, which one of the festival organisers Sue Muse of the Glass Onion café, wants more entries for, and a shop window display competition, town walks and talks, fun fair, meet Sali Mali and Sam Tan, and music with The Denbigh Stones.
On the Sunday (Oct 31) there will be the planting and formal opening of the new community orchard on Cae Dai Trust land, between 12-4pm, with a hog roast for lunch, when the public are being urged to sponsor and plant a Denbigh Plum tree.
The inspiration for the event comes from the Denbigh plum though and Ian Sturrock has done some digging on the subject and may have uncovered the mystery of this ‘lost’ Welsh native.
Retired brewer and horticulturalist Richard Cox is best remembered as the man who grew the Cox’s Orange Pippin in 1825, widely regarded as the finest dessert apple in the world.
“I also found a lot of correspondence from the chief agricultural officer for Denbighshire at the national fruit collection HQ in Kent with references to the Denbigh plum but again nothing which could give a clue about its origins," said Ian.
“H.V.Taylor’s ‘Plums of England’ written in 1949 also makes a reference to the Cox’s Emperor and its connection with the Denbigh, as does Robert Hogg’s 1884 standard reference book.”
But these works tend to take information from the treatise on orchard fruit, The Fruitist, written by Benjamin Maund, a pharmacist and botanist (1790-1863) and since copies of the book are so incredibly expensive, Ian has been trying to persuade the National Library to copy him the reference to the Denbigh plum.
“I might have to go to London to take a look at the book,” said Ian.
Denbighshire Agri-Food Project Officer Robert Price said: “Ian’s findings about the Denbigh plum are fascinating and show that industrial espionage wasn’t unknown in the 18th century and that even someone as well known as Mr Cox wasn’t above it.
“We’re delighted that the Denbigh plum is emerging from the historical shadows though and taking its place alongside all the other splendid produce that this part of Wales is renowned for."