Cherries from Hernhill being sent to the Queen
12:00, 18 July 2016
Cherries from Hernhill could have satisfied the Queen’s sweet tooth last week.
Her Majesty was sent samples of the Dawes family’s crop after the Mount Ephraim Fruit Farm was recognised at the Kent County Show.
Sandys Dawes and his son, Will, picked up best in show for their produce in the 86th National Cherry and Soft Fruit Show, which took place at the Kent showground in Detling.
Their triumph meant that organisers shipped off a basket of their finest cherries to Buckingham Palace.
Mr Dawes said: “This year the show came a week earlier than usual, and because we are an earlier site, our cherries had ripened at perfect timing.
“Every year, the organisers send a basket of the best cherries to the Queen; this year it was ours. We don’t know whether she really will see them or eat them, but it is nice to think she will.”
“It is a great to attract more interest in English cherries and soft fruit and to find out the Queen will be sampling our produce is a really lovely thing to happen." - Sandys Dawes
Mr Dawes is partly retired and has passed on his farming talents to Will, with generations of fruit farmers in the Dawes family.
They began farming cherries in 1979, but apples and pears have been their speciality for more than 100 years.
Mr Dawes is passionate about English fruit and encouraging people to shop local for their produce.
He said: “It is a great to attract more interest in English cherries and soft fruit and to find out the Queen will be sampling our produce is a really lovely thing to happen.
“If you win at the competition, it’s great, but even more important to us is spreading the word about English fruit.
“We believe that English produce is top quality and they deserve to be supported by the public.”
The National Cherry and Soft Fruit Show takes place at the Kent County Show every year and is open to any commercial fruit grower.
It was first held in Ashford in 1924, and for a number of years it was held at the Royal Horticultural Society’s Hall in London before moving to Selfridges in 1937, and then on to the County Showground.
