Remembering the days when bananas and pineapples grew in Dewsbury's Crow Nest Park
The head gardener at Crow Nest Park in the 1930s and 40s, Peter Cardwell, kept records of rainfall and temperatures and these often appeared in the Dewsbury Reporter when the weather was unusually hot or cold.
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In the summer of 1940 the weather became a great talking point when the gardeners were able to grow bananas and pineapples in the park greenhouse.
It was during the war and such exotic fruits like bananas were highly prized.
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Hide AdA banana plant which Mr Cardwell planted in 1940 attracted a great deal of publicity when it started producing large bunches of bananas.
These were sold off at a Red Cross Charity Sale in Dewsbury Town Hall for 13/10d each.
Bananas were not available during the war years, hence the extremely high price.