Orchard Network

Shropshire is Damson Country. For the past 12 years, damson enthusiast John Cushing has held a Damson Feast at the Goldstone Hall Hotel in Market Drayton. Damsons feature in every course. Telephone 01630 661202 for details - the feast usually takes place at the end of September / beginning of October.

The Drayton Fair (1850s to 1930s) was where baskets of damsons were sold for cotton and wool dying.

The National Damson Collection has been created in the gardens of the Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust, Coach Road, Coalbrookdale, Telford, TF8 7DQ by the Shropshire branch of the National Council for the Conservation of Plants and Gardens. There is a public footpath through the collection, but no interpretation boards. The Collection is a small but important part of the Trust's work but at present there is no horticultural advisor available to give further information.

Ironbridge Gorge Museums Trust -  Contact their Tourist Information Centre:

01952 884391

Visit the website 

Look out for damson blossom along the banks of the River Severn at Ironbridge. Create your own Blossom Route ...