Rhubarb Triangle
Encyclopedia
The Rhubarb Triangle is a 9 square miles (23.3 km²) triangle in West Yorkshire
, England
located between Wakefield
, Morley
and Rothwell
famous for producing early forced rhubarb
. It includes Kirkhamgate
, East Ardsley
, Stanley
, Lofthouse
and Carlton. The Rhubarb Triangle was originally much bigger covering an area between Leeds
, Bradford
and Wakefield
. From the first decade of the 20th century to 1939 the rhubarb industry expanded and at its peak covered an area of about 30 square miles (77.7 km²).
Rhubarb is a native of Siberia
and thrives in the wet cold winters in Yorkshire. West Yorkshire
once produced 90% of the world's winter forced rhubarb from the forcing sheds that were common across the fields in the area.
In February 2010, Yorkshire Forced Rhubarb was awarded Protected Designation of Origin
(PDO)
status by the European Commission
’s Protected Food Name scheme after being recommended by Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
, (Defra).
' from the nearby urban areas as well as woollen waste from "mungo and shoddy" mills.
The rhubarb plants spend two years out in the fields without being harvested. There, they store energy from the sun in their roots as carbohydrates before they are transferred into the sheds in November where they are planted and kept in complete darkness. The roots are subjected to frost before being moved inside. In the sheds the plants begin to grow in the warmth and the stored carbohydrate is transformed into glucose
resulting in forced rhubarb's bittersweet
flavour. The sheds are long low buildings which are heated; originally this was done with coal, which was plentiful and relatively cheap in the area. Diesel has replaced coal for heating the sheds.
Forced rhubarb grown in these sheds is more tender than that grown outdoors in summer. Without daylight the rhubarb leaves are an anaemic
green-yellow, and the 2 feet (61 cm) long stalks smooth textured and crimson. Traditionally the pickers pull the stalks in candlelight as any exposure to strong light will stop the growth. By the end of March the harvest
is over and the root
stock is totally exhausted and used for compost.
and Covent Garden
markets in London in time for Christmas and was sent to Paris
for the French market. A special express train carrying rhubarb was run by the Great Northern Railway
Company from Ardsley station
every weekday night during the forced rhubarb season from Christmas until Easter. Up to 200 tons of rhubarb sent by up to 200 growers were carried daily at the peak of production before 1939. In 1962 a rail strike caused the growers to look for alternative transport and the service ended shortly after. Rhubarb became less popular after the Second World War when more exotic fruits became more available.
The 12 farmers who farm within the Rhubarb Triangle applied to have the name Yorkshire forced rhubarb added to the list of foods and drinks that have their names legally protected by the European Commission’s Protected Food Name scheme. The application was successful and the farmers were awarded Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) in February 2010. Food protected status means European funding to promote the product and legal backing against other products made outside the area using the name. Other protected names include Stilton cheese, Champagne and Parma Ham. Leeds Central MP and Environment Secretary, Hilary Benn
, was involved in the Defra campaign to win protected status.
The Oxford English Dictionary
dates the name "Rhubarb Triangle" to the Guardian newspaper in 1986 but it was mentioned in a 1965 textbook.
Wakefield Council holds an annual Rhubarb Festival in February, celebrating the area's links and promoting the surviving rhubarb industry. A Farmers' Market, cookery demonstrations, walks and tours of the forcing sheds are among the attractions. In 2005 Wakefield council erected a sculpture depicting a rhubarb plant in Holmfield Park Wakefield.
West Yorkshire
West Yorkshire is a metropolitan county within the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England with a population of 2.2 million. West Yorkshire came into existence as a metropolitan county in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972....
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
located between Wakefield
Wakefield
Wakefield is the main settlement and administrative centre of the City of Wakefield, a metropolitan district of West Yorkshire, England. Located by the River Calder on the eastern edge of the Pennines, the urban area is and had a population of 76,886 in 2001....
, Morley
Morley, West Yorkshire
Morley is a market town and civil parish within the metropolitan borough of the City of Leeds, in West Yorkshire, England. It lies approximately south-west of Leeds city centre. Together with Drighlington, Gildersome, Churwell, Tingley and East/West Ardsley, the town had a population of 47,579 in...
and Rothwell
Rothwell, West Yorkshire
Rothwell is a market town on the River Dolphin in the south east of the City of Leeds metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, situated between Oulton to the east, Belle Isle to the west, Woodlesford to the north east and Robin Hood to the south west. Swillington, Methley and Kippax are located...
famous for producing early forced rhubarb
Rhubarb
Rhubarb is a group of plants that belong to the genus Rheum in the family Polygonaceae. They are herbaceous perennial plants growing from short, thick rhizomes. They have large leaves that are somewhat triangular-shaped with long fleshy petioles...
. It includes Kirkhamgate
Kirkhamgate
Kirkhamgate is a village, north-west of Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England.It originated as a hamlet in the Alverthorpe township in the parish of Wakefield in the West Riding of Yorkshire.-Geography:...
, East Ardsley
East Ardsley
East Ardsley is a village within the City of Leeds metropolitan borough, in West Yorkshire, England. It is situated south of Leeds city centre...
, Stanley
Stanley, West Yorkshire
Stanley is an area in the Metropolitan Borough of Wakefield in West Yorkshire, England. It is about north-east of Wakefield city centre.Stanley was an Urban District in the West Riding of Yorkshire prior to 1974, being made up the four electoral wards of Lake Lock, Outwood, Stanley and Wrenthorpe...
, Lofthouse
Lofthouse, West Yorkshire
Lofthouse is a village in West Yorkshire, England between the cities of Wakefield and Leeds. It is in the City of Leeds metropolitan borough but with a Wakefield postal address . It is mentioned as Locthuse also Loftose in the 1086 Domesday Book....
and Carlton. The Rhubarb Triangle was originally much bigger covering an area between Leeds
Leeds
Leeds is a city and metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. In 2001 Leeds' main urban subdivision had a population of 443,247, while the entire city has a population of 798,800 , making it the 30th-most populous city in the European Union.Leeds is the cultural, financial and commercial...
, Bradford
Bradford
Bradford lies at the heart of the City of Bradford, a metropolitan borough of West Yorkshire, in Northern England. It is situated in the foothills of the Pennines, west of Leeds, and northwest of Wakefield. Bradford became a municipal borough in 1847, and received its charter as a city in 1897...
and Wakefield
Wakefield
Wakefield is the main settlement and administrative centre of the City of Wakefield, a metropolitan district of West Yorkshire, England. Located by the River Calder on the eastern edge of the Pennines, the urban area is and had a population of 76,886 in 2001....
. From the first decade of the 20th century to 1939 the rhubarb industry expanded and at its peak covered an area of about 30 square miles (77.7 km²).
Rhubarb is a native of Siberia
Siberia
Siberia is an extensive region constituting almost all of Northern Asia. Comprising the central and eastern portion of the Russian Federation, it was part of the Soviet Union from its beginning, as its predecessor states, the Tsardom of Russia and the Russian Empire, conquered it during the 16th...
and thrives in the wet cold winters in Yorkshire. West Yorkshire
West Yorkshire
West Yorkshire is a metropolitan county within the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England with a population of 2.2 million. West Yorkshire came into existence as a metropolitan county in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972....
once produced 90% of the world's winter forced rhubarb from the forcing sheds that were common across the fields in the area.
In February 2010, Yorkshire Forced Rhubarb was awarded Protected Designation of Origin
Protected designation of origin
Protected Geographical Status is a legal framework defined in European Union law to protect the names of regional foods. Protected Designation of Origin , Protected Geographical Indication and Traditional Speciality Guaranteed are distinct regimes of geographical indications within the framework...
(PDO)
status by the European Commission
European Commission
The European Commission is the executive body of the European Union. The body is responsible for proposing legislation, implementing decisions, upholding the Union's treaties and the general day-to-day running of the Union....
’s Protected Food Name scheme after being recommended by Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs is the government department responsible for environmental protection, food production and standards, agriculture, fisheries and rural communities in the United Kingdom...
, (Defra).
Cultivation
The cultivation method for forced rhubarb was developed in the early 1800s. The fields were fertilised with large quantities of horse manure and 'night soilNight soil
Night soil is a euphemism for human excrement collected at night from cesspools, privies, etc. and sometimes used as a fertilizer. Night soil is produced as a result of a waste management system in areas without community infrastructure such as a sewage treatment facility, or individual septic...
' from the nearby urban areas as well as woollen waste from "mungo and shoddy" mills.
The rhubarb plants spend two years out in the fields without being harvested. There, they store energy from the sun in their roots as carbohydrates before they are transferred into the sheds in November where they are planted and kept in complete darkness. The roots are subjected to frost before being moved inside. In the sheds the plants begin to grow in the warmth and the stored carbohydrate is transformed into glucose
Glucose
Glucose is a simple sugar and an important carbohydrate in biology. Cells use it as the primary source of energy and a metabolic intermediate...
resulting in forced rhubarb's bittersweet
Bittersweet
-Biology:*A vine in the nightshade family, Solanum dulcamara*Some species of vines in the genus Celastrus, including American bittersweet and Oriental bittersweet -Biology:*A vine in the nightshade family, Solanum dulcamara*Some species of vines in the genus Celastrus, including American...
flavour. The sheds are long low buildings which are heated; originally this was done with coal, which was plentiful and relatively cheap in the area. Diesel has replaced coal for heating the sheds.
Forced rhubarb grown in these sheds is more tender than that grown outdoors in summer. Without daylight the rhubarb leaves are an anaemic
Anemia
Anemia is a decrease in number of red blood cells or less than the normal quantity of hemoglobin in the blood. However, it can include decreased oxygen-binding ability of each hemoglobin molecule due to deformity or lack in numerical development as in some other types of hemoglobin...
green-yellow, and the 2 feet (61 cm) long stalks smooth textured and crimson. Traditionally the pickers pull the stalks in candlelight as any exposure to strong light will stop the growth. By the end of March the harvest
Harvest
Harvest is the process of gathering mature crops from the fields. Reaping is the cutting of grain or pulse for harvest, typically using a scythe, sickle, or reaper...
is over and the root
Root
In vascular plants, the root is the organ of a plant that typically lies below the surface of the soil. This is not always the case, however, since a root can also be aerial or aerating . Furthermore, a stem normally occurring below ground is not exceptional either...
stock is totally exhausted and used for compost.
History
The growing and forcing was originally done by many hundreds of small farmers, smallholders and market gardeners. In later years some growers expanded and owned many thousands of roots and extensive forcing sheds. In the late 19th century early forced rhubarb was sent to SpitalfieldsOld Spitalfields market
Old Spitalfields Market is a covered market in Spitalfields, just outside the City of London. It is in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets....
and Covent Garden
Covent Garden
Covent Garden is a district in London on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St. Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit and vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist site, and the Royal Opera House, which is also known as...
markets in London in time for Christmas and was sent to Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
for the French market. A special express train carrying rhubarb was run by the Great Northern Railway
Great Northern Railway (Great Britain)
The Great Northern Railway was a British railway company established by the Great Northern Railway Act of 1846. On 1 January 1923 the company lost its identity as a constituent of the newly formed London and North Eastern Railway....
Company from Ardsley station
Ardsley railway station
Ardsley railway station was situated on the Great Northern Railway between Tingley and Lofthouse and Outwood on the main line and west of Stanley on the LNER & LMS Methley Joint Railway...
every weekday night during the forced rhubarb season from Christmas until Easter. Up to 200 tons of rhubarb sent by up to 200 growers were carried daily at the peak of production before 1939. In 1962 a rail strike caused the growers to look for alternative transport and the service ended shortly after. Rhubarb became less popular after the Second World War when more exotic fruits became more available.
The 12 farmers who farm within the Rhubarb Triangle applied to have the name Yorkshire forced rhubarb added to the list of foods and drinks that have their names legally protected by the European Commission’s Protected Food Name scheme. The application was successful and the farmers were awarded Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) in February 2010. Food protected status means European funding to promote the product and legal backing against other products made outside the area using the name. Other protected names include Stilton cheese, Champagne and Parma Ham. Leeds Central MP and Environment Secretary, Hilary Benn
Hilary Benn
Hilary James Wedgwood Benn is a British Labour Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament for Leeds Central since 1999. He served in the Cabinet as Secretary of State for International Development from 2003 to 2007 and as the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs...
, was involved in the Defra campaign to win protected status.
The Oxford English Dictionary
Oxford English Dictionary
The Oxford English Dictionary , published by the Oxford University Press, is the self-styled premier dictionary of the English language. Two fully bound print editions of the OED have been published under its current name, in 1928 and 1989. The first edition was published in twelve volumes , and...
dates the name "Rhubarb Triangle" to the Guardian newspaper in 1986 but it was mentioned in a 1965 textbook.
Culture