THE DAFFODIL DETECTIVES
Before the Second World War, the Tamar Valley in Devon was carpeted with narcissi. Today, a band of volunteers is reviving this rich floral legacy
How a band of volunteers is reviving a rich floral legacy in Devon’s Tamar Valley
Two ladies in waterproofs and Wellingtons peer quizzically at a tiny flower in the hedgerow. Armed with a tape measure, clipboard and identification guide, they confer over whether it is a ‘Lucifer’ or a ‘Firebrand’, before jotting down their conclusion. Mary Johnson and Marlene Harris are helping with the Heralds of Spring project, celebrating the rich horticultural heritage of Devon’s Tamar Valley by gathering information on the rare daffodils that grow here each spring.
“I got involved because I was intrigued by all the daffodils sprouting up in hedgerows and woods in the area,” Marlene says. “You can wander down a track in the middle of nowhere and come across yellow, white, lime-green, peach and golden blooms growing in straight rows or scattered in clumps. I wanted to find out why.”
“Everyone we talk to is keen to know what we’ve discovered,” adds Mary. “Even my mother, who’s 88, gets excited when she hears we’ve seen ‘Ice Follies’. Landowners want to know about crops that once grew in their fields, and conserve areas where bulbs still lie.”
FLORAL FINDS
Marlene and Mary, both keen gardeners and former biology teachers, join forces as daffodil detectives once a week, looking for clues with a scientific eye, measuring and photographing each species they find. Their data and descriptions are then verified by experts. For three years, along with their fellow volunteers, they have combed the area for remnants of its floral legacy – last year alone, 104 ‘new’ old varieties were rediscovered. Run by the Tamar Valley Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund, the Heralds of Spring project has sparked new interest and pride in local history.
Today, the women are extending their knowledge at Andrew Spry’s organic smallholding on the Bere peninsula, an area between the rivers Tavy and Tamar. Andrew is a third-generation grower who offers his land to the project as a training ground for identifying unusual narcissi. He already grows 135 types of daffodil to sell at market and is committed to continuing the family tradition.
A BLOOMING INDUSTRY
Once known for its daffodils, the Tamar Valley defines the Devon-cornwall border, meandering south through lush landscape for 60 miles to Plymouth Sound. The sloping banks and rich alluvial soil provide perfect growing conditions for the flowers, which proliferated here in the Thirties and Forties. Back then, market gardening supplanted the industrial mining of copper, silver and arsenic. A vast and rolling patchwork of tiny fields employed thousands of workers from January to late May, who would pack the produce in boxes lined with coloured tissue to be taken by rail and boat from quays along the river to Plymouth and other cities.
During the Second World War, however, the Dig for Victory campaign required farmers to grub up the
Last year alone, 104 ‘new’ old varieties of narcissi were rediscovered
daffodil fields to grow food, and the industry fell into decline. In haste, growers discarded the bulbs, often throwing them within arm’s reach. Daffodils, however, are resilient and, years later, many started to reemerge higgledy-piggledy in ditches and woods, or in their original rows alongside agricultural crops.
After the war, the workforce was so diminished that there weren’t enough people to replant the daffodils on their former scale. Although some families, including Andrew Spry’s, continued to grow the flowers commercially, two further blows came with the Beeching rail cuts of the mid-sixties and an increase in the cost of road freight. Meanwhile, the Isles of Scilly established themselves as the only source guaranteed to supply early narcissi. The blossoming industry in the Tamar Valley had gone.
FLOWERS OF THE FUTURE
Today, the best-known home-grown variety discovered at Weir Quay on the banks of the River Tamar is the strongly scented ‘Tamar Double White’. And the daffodil detectives are scouting for more, alongside ‘Firetail’, ‘Brilliancy’ and ‘Emperor’. For now, the project’s aim is to discover old species, with the hope that similar identification schemes will be established nationwide. As Mary and Marlene wander the fields, however, they quietly hope for a new Dig for Victory campaign – when the flowers can be reproduced. Meanwhile, they consult their guides, take photographs, make notes and dream of reviving the once-thriving industry. FOR MORE INFORMATION on walks, see tamarvalley.org.uk. To volunteer, email info@tamarvalley.org.uk.