Gus the Asparagus Man, St. George, music, asparagus a-plenty and dancing from the Elemental Border and Asum Gras Morris teams, as well as asparagus offered from the on-train buffet, brought great enjoyment to the packed 12.50 'Asparagus Express' from Broadway on Saturday 18th April
Green ‘gras’ travels on the Asparagus Express from Broadway
‘Gus the Asparagus Man’ and friends entertain visitors
Trip promotes protected-status Vale asparagus
The Vale of Evesham’s protected food name-status asparagus is once again approaching its peak growing season. To celebrate this year’s crop, spears of the precious green ‘gras’ travelled on the steam-hauled ‘Asparagus Express’ train from the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Steam Railway’s (GWSR) Broadway station on 18th April.
The trip, organised by the British Asparagus Festival Community Interest Company (CIC) and the GWSR, supported by Worcestershire’s Vale & Spa, celebrated the long history of the UK’s premier asparagus growing area. The event featured Gus the Asparagus Man, St. George and to the delight of visitors, the Morris bands of Elemental Border and Asum Gras. Nigel Smith, landlord of the National Trust-owned Fleece Inn at Bretforton and Chairman of the British Asparagus Festival CIC, sold rounds of asparagus from local growers to travellers. Bacon and asparagus rolls were available from the buffet car and also asparagus dishes were served at The Cotswold Halt Café at Toddington Station.
Nigel Smith explains: “On St George’s Day, the official start of the British Asparagus Festival, the first ‘hundred round of gras’ is auctioned in aid of charity and taken on a different promotional trip each year. A few years ago, this included a journey on the GWSR’s steam trains, which was so popular that we have decided to make this an annual special celebration.
“Steam trains and asparagus are equally popular. This a great way to celebrate both and to promote this very special crop and encourage people to make sure they buy British.”
The GWSR’s public relations officer, Ian Crowder, added: “This was also a reminder of the time when hundreds of tons of Vale asparagus were taken to market from stations such as Toddington on the Great Western Railway’s Stratford-upon-Avon – Cheltenham line, on part of which the present-day GWSR operates.”
At one time, the railway played a significant role in enabling fruit and vegetable farmers in the Vale get their products to market, the trains ensuring that they arrived in the freshest possible condition. There was once a large packing shed at Toddington station, where products such as asparagus, soft fruits, Pershore plums, apples, cherries and pears were packed, labelled and loaded into in special railway vans.
Whilst local production has declined against competition from imports (including asparagus from as far away as Peru), it is enjoying a resurgence as buyers look for the outstanding quality and taste of indigenous British produce. However, train transport had ended by the early 1960s in favour of road haulage.
Ian Crowder added: “Our railway is very keen to support local producers and the interest that our visitors show in this wonderful Vale product is a great way to do that.”
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NOTES FOR EDITORS
Media contact: Ian Crowder MCIPR, 07775 566 555 or [email protected]
About the GWSR:
The Gloucestershire Warwickshire Steam Railway operates over 14 glorious Cotswold miles from Broadway to Cheltenham Racecourse. Carrying over 100,000 passengers per year, it is almost entirely operated and maintained by some 900 volunteers. The railway was part of the Great Western Railway’s route from the Midlands to Cheltenham, Bristol, South Wales and the West country, opening between Stratford-upon-Avon and Cheltenham in 1906. At one time, Toddington station yard handled huge tonnages of traffic including fruit and vegetables from the Vale of Evesham, including asparagus, which was packed in a large purpose-built shed and sent to market by rail. Traffic declined over the 1960s and 1970s, ceasing altogether in August 1976 when the line was closed completely. The formative GWSR, which originated as a lobbying group to keep the line open, acquired the route after British Railways had lifted the track. The volunteers occupied Toddington station yard in 1981 and set about reinstating the railway, completing the present 14-mile route between Cheltenham and Broadway in 2018.
ENDS ALL
