A plum role

‘Lacking a label, it was named “greengage” by Sir William Gage’s head gardener, in his employer’s honour’

ONE of the delights of August in Cambridgeshire is a harvest of Cambridge gages, succulent, honey-sweet plums. A local variant of the old English greengage, the Cambridge gage has a close historical connection with the eastern counties. It became the mainstay of the fruit industry that developed in the Cam Valley in the late 19th century, when, thanks to the railways, fresh fruit could