Festival celebrates Denbigh's plum

The Denbigh plum is a unique variety of the fruit

The first ever Denbigh Plum Festival (31 October) celebrates a variety of the fruit unique to the town - and Wales, which doesn't produce any other unique varieties.

Fruit grower Ian Sturrock, the only person to grow Denbigh plum trees commercially, explains that what makes it different is that it's large and round, a dark purple-red colour and is characteristically strewn with golden dots. It ripens early and is usually eaten at the end of August.

"The earliest reference I've seen to the Denbigh plum dates from 1825 and it refers to a tree which was 40 years old at the time," he said.

No commercial orchards growing the plum remain but the trees are to be found in various people's gardens around the town.

Denbigh plums have a totally different shape, size and texture to other plums. Much nicer! Peter Jones

Peter Jones is a Denbigh resident with one of the plum trees growing at the bottom of his garden.

He said: "My family has owned this house since the 1930s. Family legend has it that the plum tree in the garden is one of the original Denbigh plum trees.

"Most years we get masses of plums from it. They taste totally different to other plums, much sweeter, and they're round rather than egg shaped."

Denbigh Plum Group is asking for people with plum trees in their garden to let them know of their locations so that they can log the information.

The Plum Festival is being organised by Sue Muse, Denbigh business growth officer: "For the festival we're involving the schools with a competition to write a four-line poem or song in English or Welsh entitled 'The Denbigh plum'.

"There'll be a market all day, demonstrations and talks on the Denbigh plum tree and how to grow your own and there will be a hog roast with Denbigh plum sauce so there's lots of food to come and try and there will be a lot of Denbigh plum products for sale.

"The idea is to plant the first stone this year and for the festival to grow from there!"

As part of the festival two plum trees will be planted in Denbigh's Evan Pierce Memorial Gardens.

For further information about the festival, call: 01745 813125 / 07776107244 or visit the Glass Onion Cafe, next to the Town Hall.