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Egton Bridge

Gooseberry Show

Ribes uva-crispa, better known as the Gooseberry, recipient of hours of devotion

Egton Bridge, eight miles from Whitby in the North York Moors National Park, is the setting for the oldest surviving gooseberry show in the country, established in 1800. The show is held on the first Tuesday in August each year by the Egton Bridge Old Gooseberry Society.

The 2009 show was truly a record breaking event. Champion grower Bryan Nellist took the R. Harland Challenge Cup with a record breaking berry. Coming in at exactly 35 drams (2.19 oz or 62.0 grams) the Woodpecker berry is the heaviest ever shown in the United Kingdom, beating Kelvin Archer’s previous record by just over 2 grains or 0.1 grams. It has now been recognised as an official World Record. Bryan’s success received widespread coverage in the local and national press. The Whitby Gazette hailed it as “Bryan’s berry best in world” (follow this link to see the full article, reproduced by kind permission of Whitby Gazette).

Bryan Nellist with his record breaking berry

The Middlesbrough Evening Gazette proclaimed “Bryan smashes fruity record” (follow this link to see the full article, reproduced by kind permission of the Middlesbrough Evening Gazette).

The 2011 show saw a host of Society records broken, seven in all. Although growing conditions had been trying in the months before the show many growers managed to excel with J. Hart from Cheshire taking both Champion Berry and Champion Grower titles.

The 2012 show will be held on Tuesday 7^th August and it is open to the public from 2 PM. The band will be playing from 5:30 and the prize giving will begin at 6:30 PM.