The
area around Market Drayton is famous for its damsons.
Every September, wicker
baskets holding about 90lbs were brought by the growers
to Hickman’s which stood on the site of the present
library or sold along High Street where the biggest customers
were dye manufacturers. In one particular year the crop
was so large prices fell to an all time low. It was reported
that Cheshire Street between the Railway Hotel and the
brewery was ankle deep in damsons as farmers dumped their
crop. After 1945 the demand for damsons ceased and the
fair came to an end. It was revived in 1987 but there
are now too few trees to match the heyday of the damson
fairs.
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