Celebrating damson blossom in the Lyth Valley

I am a big fan of damsons and was delighted to discover when I first moved here that these have traditionally been grown in the Lyth Valley.  In the 1930s, many tons of damsons were picked and transported into Lancashire for jam manufacture and, it is said, for dying in the textile trade. https://www.lythdamsons.org.uk/index.html. I have always bought damsons during their short fruiting season to make crumbles and small containers of coulis for the freezer to use in winter. This year (2022) there was a glut and for the first time I made jam which has been highly successful but I did not make enough to share - just three jars. I have discovered that I can use a cherry stoner to remove the stones so the whole process is easy. Frozen Lyth Valley damsons are available out of season, coordinated by the Westmorland Damson Association, so I can make more from last season's crop - see details here https://www.lythdamsons.org.uk/fruitforsale.html

   

I did a blog last month about creating a new damson orchard at Bel’s Wood https://belswood20.blogspot.com/2023/03/a-new-damson-orchard-has-been-planted.html . I have become a member of the Westmorland Damson Association and joined the Damson Blossom Walk on Easter Saturday and enjoyed a wonderful exploration of the valley floor and up on to Witherslack above the village of Row to see the orchards all coming into blossom. The warm April sunshine appeared just in time to make this a glorious walk.

  

We spotted Common Toothwort growing alongside the first damson trees we saw. These are parasitic and live alongside damson trees but do not appear to do any harm.

I learned such a lot about the management of the Lyth Valley which is drained and has bunds (built up ridges between fields) which stop fields from flooding. It was strange to witness the River Gilpin running and then a few metres later a drain running at a different level - currently lower. The pumps are no longer working and there is active debate about allowing the natural flooding pattern to return.

Bund, the bump, in the foreground protecting the field from flooding and the bridge over the River Gilpin

Looking up the valley along the Gilpin with damson blossom

Sheep grazing the valley floor protected from flood water

I also heard about the South Lakes Curlew work - see details here https://www.crosthwaiteandlyth.co.uk/curlews.php. 

One of the walkers on Saturday is a member. He, with others, are working to support the small surviving population of curlews in the valley. There are estimated to be 13 breeding pairs. They are not successfully fledging their chicks. They live up to 30 years so there is time to address this if the right action is taken. The group are protecting nests from predators (foxes etc) and taking other actions working with local land owners. Just as we were learning about this work on the walk we were delighted to hear curlews calling.

Curlew flying overhead in the Trough of Bowland - I don't have a photo of a local one but shall try and remedy that

I saw my first swallow of the year but was too slow to take a photograph of it. 

I was pointed towards this podcast about the Lyth Valley https://podtail.com/podcast/countrystride/countrystride-54-damsons-of-the-lyth-valley/ which gives more details on damsons in the Lyth Valley through a detailed discussion with 2 local octogenarians who have lived all their lives in the Lyth Valley and it contains fascinating information about the history of the Lyth Valley including the introduction of tractors to the valley as well as the role that damsons have played in the local economy.

Here are pictures of the orchards we walked through on this splendid April day

View across to one of the 3 lime kilns that we spotted on our walk around. Lime was used to improve the productivity of the soil.

Views across to Scout Scar and the Lakeland Fells

At the end of the walk I was donated three further damsons trees after a refreshing cup of tea looking to across the valley floor. I was able to plant these in my orchard which now has 16 damson trees. Seeing mature orchards was a real inspiration. Picking damsons is difficult and dangerous work. The damson fruit grows high up at the end of branches a long was from the trunk and the trees have large wide crowns. The temptation is to place a ladder against a branch but the branches can easily snap and there is a history of significant injuries being experienced during harvest time.  One of the orchards had shorter trees which have been managed for ease of harvest which may be an idea I could emulate once my trees are established. I have planted on a slope out of necessity and this may be helpful when it comes to harvesting although using a ladder may be particularly precarious.

Additional damson trees planted