The Farmers Mart Aug/Sep 2015 - Issue 41 | Page 32

Arable

BACK IN FAVOUR – RHUBARB,
and how we nearly lost it
Editor Pat Gwynnette looks at the uniquely Yorkshire story of rhubarb….
»»A friend brought me a load of
rhubarb recently, so I spent some time
knocking out crumbles and pies for the
deep freeze. It may seem old-fashioned
but forced Yorkshire rhubarb is now
favoured by top chefs such as Yorkshire’s
own gorgeous James Martin as well as
Rick Stein and Hugh Fernley-Whittingstall.
Whenever I offer it as a hot crumble
pudding with ginger and cream or custard,
it never fails to appeal!
But in WW2, we came close to losing
this ancient Yorkshire delicacy largely as a
result of sugar rationing.
Behind the survival of rhubarb is the story
of a family’s determination and the support
of an organisation that is leading the UK in
horticultural technology today.
War time Britain’s palate was rather on
the sweet side, and sugar rations were not
available in the quantities needed to bring
this sharp flavoured vegetable to their
taste. This situation was compounded postwar, when overseas trade and refrigerated
logistics facilitated the trade of new and
exciting tropical fruits. This spelt disaster
for the Yorkshire rhubarb triangle, as the
producers were massively over-producing
and making a loss on their production
costs. Sadly, some went bankrupt, others
sold up and most turned to other crops.
Thanks to the tenacity and true Yorkshire
grit of the Oldroyd family of Lofthouse, and
in particular Ken, the son of the founder
of E. Oldroyd and Son, some growers
persevered.
To help safeguard the future of his
crop, Ken sought advice from Stockbridge
Technology Centre and the independent
research station became involved in
a range of trials in the late 1980s and
early 1990s. A high proportion of the
UK’s specialist growers of rhubarb were,
and still are, located within 20 miles of
Stockbridge Technology Centre’s site at
Cawood, near Selby. In order to safeguard
the future of Yorkshire Rhubarb, scientists
and crop specialists examined all aspects
of production to improve both yield and

32 Aug/Sep 2015 www.farmers-mart.co.uk

quality, to offset increasing production
costs and to prepare the industry for future
customer demands in taste, quality, and
presentation.
Stockbridge Tecnhology Centre’s first
Station Director, the late F G Smith, was
largely responsible for the development of
the outstanding varieties of Stockbridge
Arrow, Stockbridge Harbinger and Cawood
Delight. His work was then continued by
J.D.Whitwell and finally by M R Bradley. As
this was happening a strong link developed
between the research centre and Mr
Oldroyd. He was invited to join the Advisory
Committee at Stockbridge House in 1981
and was re-elected for 11 years until its
re-organisation in 1992. For his services to
the rhubarb industry Ken was awarded the
Northern Horticultural Societies highest
award, The Harlow Carr Medal in 1995.
Sadly Ken, known as the ‘Rhubarb King’,
died in 2007. His selfless devotion to the
industry made him one of the horticultural
A painting of
Stockbridge
station director,
F.G. Smith
hangs in the
board room at
Stockbridge
House, home
to Stockbridge
Technology
Centre.

industries most respected and admired
figures of his time. Ken left a great legacy
behind, a rhubarb industry that has
survived, thanks in part to his determination
and dedication. Today the family company
he worked so hard to build up produces
yearly around 1,000 tons of rhubarb for
UK supermarkets, while the experts at
Stockbridge Technology Centre continue
to share their agricultural and horticultural
expertise with clients worldwide.
http://www.stockbridgeonline.co.uk.
http://www.yorkshirerhubarb.co.uk/
ruhbarb_triangle.htm