The Blackden Trust Blackden


The Gooseberry Project

Blackden Gem gooseberries

Blackden Gem gooseberries

  


 

In the area around Blackden, the competition is ferocious to grow monster gooseberries, the size of hens' eggs.

History

During the late nineteenth and early twentieth century gooseberry societies flourished in the north of England, mainly in Cheshire, Yorkshire, Lancashire and the Midlands. These societies were formed to organise annual shows where the heaviest berries won prizes such as copper kettles and brass pans.

From a peak of one hundred and seventy one shows registered in 1845, only eleven have survived into the twenty-first century. Ten of these societies are in Cheshire and have formed the Mid-Cheshire Gooseberry Shows Association.

The skill and patience required does not attract the young, so what once was almost a rite of passage amongst the gooseberry growing fraternity has largely become a pastime for older people, mostly men.

To record this culture before it disappears, The Blackden Trust has offered to house the archives of the Cheshire societies and provide facilities for their study in the library of The Old Medicine House. Some documents and artefacts have been deposited.

Frank Carter

Growers bred gooseberry trees that would produce heavier and heavier berries, but none with more success than Frank Carter. He is legendary among gooseberry growers for developing seventeen new gooseberry cultivars. All were grown from seed on Blackden soil, many of them in the garden of The Blackden Trust.

The 2008 Frank Carter Memorial Plate

The 2008 Frank Carter Memorial Plate

Frank Carter was born in Toad Hall at the beginning of the twentieth century and lived all his life in Blackden. He worked at Jodrell Bank, in the experimental gardens of the Biology Department of The University of Manchester. When he retired he continued to work at the visitors' centre, and he continued to develop new cultivars.  Frank's cultivars still grow the heaviest berries shown today.

To celebrate his achievements the Trust has inaugurated The Frank Carter Memorial Plate to be awarded each year for the Premier Berry at Goostrey Gooseberry Show. The plates will be made by the potter, John Hudson, and will record the year, the name of the grower and the name of the berry, so that every plate will be unique.

In 2008, Terry Jones won the inaugural plate and the award was made to Dave Heath in 2009.

The Frank Carter Memorial Archive will be a living archive of his seventeen cultivars. Cuttings will be taken from the trees and grown on, so that visitors to the Trust can continue Frank's legacy.

Eight gooseberry trees of the seventeen cultivars developed by Frank Carter have been donated to The Blackden Trust by members of the Goostrey Gooseberry Society, and are now growing in the soil Frank cultivated. 

Frank Carter's cultivars

The oral history about Frank's cultivars is already patchy. We would be most grateful if anybody could fill in the gaps in the chart below. If you have any information please email or phone 01477 571445.

  Name Colour Date registered Story behind the name
1. Montgomery White    
2. Prince Charles Yellow   This berry was named to commemorate the birth of Prince Charles.
3. Firbob Yellow    
4. Blackden Gem Red   All Frank Carter's cultivars were grown in Blackden
5. Just Betty Red   Frank wanted to name this berry after his mother, Betty, but he told, Alan Garner's mother, Marjorie, that he was not happy about naming it Betty Carter. She suggested that just Betty would be fine, so Frank named the berry Just Betty.  
6. Christine Red    
7. Montrose Yellow   It is said that Montrose was the name of a house Frank Carter's mother-in-law admired and wanted to live in.  
8. Mr Chairman White    
9. Bank View Green   Frank Carter's son, Doug, lives at Bank View in Goostrey
10. Blackden Firs White   Frank Carter lived most of his married life at No. 4 Blackden Firs
11. Roots Green    
12. Woodside Green    
13. Millennium Yellow    
14. Newton Wonder White    
15. Bellmarsh White   Bellmarsh House, originally Bomish Farm, is on the edge of Blackden.
16. Crystal White    
17. Jodrell Bank     The Goostrey Growers say that Frank refused to count this berry, but they do not know why.

The Gooseberry Archive 

Some images from the Gooseberry Archive.  

Pictures in the gallery below are shown as 'thumbnails'.  Clicking on a picture will display a larger version on a new page.  Some pictures are also available as full size images and these are indicated by a small magnifying glass in the top left corner.

 The Gooseberry Archive
A set of gooseberry scalesBlackden Gem gooseberries  
A set of gooseberry scales Blackden Gem gooseberries     
Larger print available
(1) Blackden Gem
Larger print available
(2) Just Betty
Larger print available
(3) Millennium
Larger print available
(4) Montrose
(1) Blackden Gem (2) Just Betty (3) Millennium (4) Montrose 

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© The Blackden Trust 2008-2010
    Updated: 27/02/2010		 The Blackden Trust is a registered charity no. 1115818