Glorifying the Gooseberry

For well over 200 years, on the first Tuesday of August each year, you'll find one particular village in North Yorkshire awash with fruitful excitement as the heaviest gooseberry is crowned winner. That particular village is Egton Bridge, where the aptly named 'Egton Bridge Old Gooseberry Society' hosts the oldest surviving gooseberry show in the country. We went to see what all the fuss was all about.

The Gooseberry Show captured by Angus D. Birditt

I arrived promptly to the 224th Gooseberry Show in the village of Egton Bridge on a perfectly warm summer's day on the first Tuesday of August. As I arrived, by chance, I was welcomed by none other than Chairman of the Egton Bridge Gooseberry Society Graeme Watson who was beaming with a smile. 'Hello', he said, as he was multi-tasking between welcoming me in and busily setting up the ticket stand in front of me. 'I'm chuffed', he said, 'I've just broken my own world record!' From the little knowledge I had of both the show and Graeme (having read their website) I could tell already that Graeme was a modest man, having last year won the highest possible points score (60) never achieved in the long history of this gooseberry show.

Graeme continued, 'We know it [the show] is bonkers but it's a grand old tradition that we need to keep going. So yes, this year I've been fortnuate enough to grow a new world record, well currently, until someone comes in with something bigger. I suppose you could say, we're all things gooseberry here!'

I had arrived at 9am, well before the public can venture through these hallowed doors at 2pm. I was only allowed this most exclusive of accesses because I was promoting the show with an article. In the morning judging happens. This is the point where only the most experienced of gooseberry society members get to come and weigh the gooseberries as they come in - delivered in the most padded and cushioned vessels - over the course of the morning from excited growers. Picture a long narrow room, a long table down the middle where the berries will be placed after weighing, and at the end of the room, a small gaggle of gooseberry men sitting around a small table with a weighing machine and laptop taking notes of all the weigh-ins. I arrive at said weighing table and meet the society's Secretary, Mr Ian Woodcock. Like Graeme, Ian gives me a warm hearty welcome and tells me about the show.

'I've been involved since I moved to the village in 1998 when I ended up in the committee by accident when every one stepped back and I was left there standing there! But it's really good as someone has to keep the old traditions going, and living in the village, it's nice to be involved in something that has been going on for 225 years at least. We are simply the custodians ready to give it to the next generation.'

In this gaggle of gooseberry men, sitting around the small table weighing each berry as they come in, is none other than Bryan Nellist, another star name in the gooseberry world - I've now arguably met the three most famous gooseberry men on the planet, Graeme, Bryan and Ian. This is Bryan's 69th show, a pretty impressive feat if you'd ask me or anyone in the room. I ask Bryan about how he got into the show.'

'I left school at 15 and started work at the Egton Estate as a trainee gamekeeper under the watchful eye of the three gamekeepers who were already there. They happened to be eager gooseberry growers, so in good time I learnt how to grow gooseberries from them. There was a lot of interest and competition between the three gamekeepers, each of whom made many excuses to visit the others, which often ended up visiting their gooseberry pens, of course. I came to the show when I was 15 and saw one of the three keepers win the cup that year. So after, I was encouraged to get my own gooseberry trees and start showing two years onwards - first being in the 'Maiden' class which is for newcomers.'

'I got a couple of cups over the next few years,' Bryan says, 'but it wasn't until 1977 when I eventually won the 'heaviest berry' trophy which is the most profilic trophy at the show. Though I won it by default as the previous winner had a bigger one than me but it burst when he took it to the show so I won it. Altogether I have won that cup seven times in total.'

Bryan once held the Guinness World Record for the heaviest gooseberry that weighed in at 62.01g in 2009, only to be surpassed by Graeme a couple of times since. This year the Graeme has it again, smashing his own record, with 65.5g. This was a yellow Millenium berry. Huge congratulations to Graeme!

One burning question I know you are waiting for me to answer, and that is, how do get involved? Well, Secretary Ian says, 'We are an open show, so we invite any members from anywhere. All you need is your own gooseberry tree (apparently not a bush) and grow your own berries, and to enter the show you need to be a member which is only five pounds a year - make sure you pay before the first week after Easter Tuesday, I don't know why it says that, it's just in the rules! But we are very keen to help out new members, helping them get the right varieties of gooseberry tree for the show berries.' Belmarsh and Millenium are two plants gooseberry varieties that grow nice juicy berries.

The show not only awards the heaviest gooseberry but also the heaviest red gooseberry and ‘twin’ gooseberries, two berries on the same branch.

If you want to visit the show or be a member head over to the website now - Egton Bridge Gooseberry Society

Article and photography by Angus D. Birditt

Egton Bridge Gooseberry Show