I've grown potatoes every year since 1979, when I got my first allotment. I've had blight in every year bar one. There is no control for blight available to UK gardeners. The lesson I've learned from this is to grow first earlies and second earlies only, and to get them in the ground in good time, which generally means early to mid-April here in Cornwall. Any earlier and I risk a late frost killing off the tops. One horrible year I got blight before the end of May, but generally I get hit around late July. Maincrop spuds rarely grow big enough before the blight strikes. A double whammy is that late July is when the slugs kick in. So I want my spuds finished by early August at the latest. If I've had blight, I cut the tops off (it's safe to compost them as blight spores can't overwinter - they survive on spuds that have been missed), then leave the spuds for a couple of weeks before lifting, which allows the spores to wash harmlessly away into the soil. I've lifted my last spuds now and the bed is planted up with spring cabbages. I'm hoping that our new cat will deter the bloody woodpigeons.