THE LAST known cherry ladder in the Tamar Valley has been donated to Morwellham Quay where it will go on display to the public. A reminder of the valley?s cherry picking heyday of the 1920s, the 32-foot ladder was transported by ferry from Botus Fleming which once boasted 40 acres of cherry orchards and was known as ?Little Japan?. Found by a local resident, the ladder was once owned by market gardener Arthur Summerfield and is thought to have been made by Richard Striplin from St Dominick, who reputedly made the finest cherry ladders in the Tamar Valley. Generally, the rungs were made of oak while the spars were of special fir, collected from Devonport Dockyard. The task of moving the ladder, which is now in a fragile state, was carried out by staff from the Tamar Valley AONB Service. The ladder was walked four miles from Botus Fleming to Cargreen Quay, passing the former home of the Summerfield family where cherry tree planting began in the village and then transported on a ferry to Morwellham. Ernest Townsend, the last cherry picker in Botus Fleming and nephew of Arthur Summerfield, who also joined the journey, remembered: ?At the end of April the Tamar Valley would be white with blossoms and people would come to see the beauty of it.? Natalie Allen from St Dominick added: ?You could never find a cherry that?s as good as the Tamar Valley cherry.? By the 1950s no new cherry trees had been planted so the cherry industry began to decline; while it remained popular during the 1960s and 1970s there were very few cherry orchards left. Now there is almost nothing, although a couple of people have planted some new trees in Botus Fleming. A variety of projects planned by the Tamar Valley AONB Service will seek to reinstate many of the varieties that grew in the valley and explore commercial possibilities.
