Giant veg success as Mansfield winners 'beet the competition' at annual show

Joe Atherton, from Mansfield Woodhouse, won the class for ‘one heaviest beetroot,’ which weighed a whopping 19.63kg.

The gigantic root vegetable triumph is a new best for Joe, who won the very same class at last year’s Harrogate Autumn Flower Show with a beetroot weighing in at 16.8kg.

This year is the second Harrogate Autumn Flower Show to be held at Newby Hall and Gardens in Yorkshire, with the show running from September 16 to 18.

Today was the first day of the event, which saw the world famous battle of the giants with the Fruit and Vegetable Championship and National Onion Championships.

Joe, who is 67 and has lived in the Mansfield area since he was 17, has previously put his veg-growing success down to “dedication and a hard working wife!”

The determined seed sower has won many awards for his giant produce over the years, having collected 16 world records and currently holding eight, including the longest leek and the heaviest broad bean pod.

But Joe and his giant beetroot weren’t the only winners from Mansfield at the show this year – with the town’s own John Handrahan-Cook taking home the gold for the ‘heaviest onion’ in the National Onion Championships.

John’s hefty onion weighed in at a massive 7.434kg.

Harrogate Flower Shows are organised and run twice a year, in April and September, by the North of England Horticultural Society.

The society announced the relocation of its autumn event to Newby Hall at the end of 2019.

The spring flower show will remain at the Great Yorkshire Showground and will next be staged on 20-23 April 2023.

Tickets are available to purchase online at www.flowershow.org.uk