Cherry Plum

A non native (Orig. South Eastern Europe/Western Asia) although long naturalised fruiting shrub the Cherry Plum (Prunus cerasifera) is 'fairly' common, although in my experience I've always found them in association with sites of 18th/19th century activity. There were several Cherry Plum growing along the tow path of the Romsey Barge Canal, along with a couple of apples (eaters) and of course plenty of the usual wild fruits/nut culprits, Blackberry, Sloe, Haw and hazel. I always feel the presence of semi wild fruit and domestic fruit in the mix at sites indicate human agency, that they didn't get here of their own accord. It's easy to forget how spoilt we are today with numerous shops and the wide scale availability of a broad range of food stuffs; it's hard for us to imagine what it would've been like back in the day. If you travelled up and down the canal networks, or travelled the green lanes or similar, it would've been to your advantage to cultivate fruity treats here and there along the way, cherry plums here, an apple tree there. It's also easy to forget how far removed we've become from our natural world compared to our forebears, even our quite recent ones. You know, if we think about it, we've seen the 'forgetting' for ourselves; when I was younger blackberry picking, or say, chestnut collecting, were established seasonal family activities, now though for the most part the fruits wither on the bush and nuts litter the woodland floor, with folk preferring to buy both from the food fortress. Strange days indeed, a sign of where we went wrong...maybe?