成人快手

Hampshire's famous soft fruits have been harvested in the Hamble Valley for over 150 years giving it the title of the 'Strawberry Coast'.

In the days before fridges and freezers, when the nation's diet was ruled by the seasons, the first strawberries of the summer were eagerly awaited.

Tonnes of strawberries were sent by rail

The boom began in the late 1860's, with the railways playing an important part in delivering the fruit across the country on 'strawberry specials'.

In 1888 Swanwick station was built especially to export the high quality, flavourful strawberries.

The station had extra long platforms to speed up the loading process; during the harvest between the end of May through to mid-July it was one of the busiest in the country.

Every day pickers would be given four three-pound baskets to fill. Every day, over 20,000 berries would be loaded onto the daily train bound for Covent Garden and top hotels in London.

At the height of the strawberry boom, train stations along the Strawberry Coast would have had queues of strawberry growers, horses and carts of up to a mile long waiting to get their fruits on the train.

In the late 1960's the South's strawberry fields started to fight for survival as growers struggled to compete with imported berries which arrived earlier in the year and were half the price.

The River Hamble

Many growers went out of business, and by the 1980s much of the area previously covered by the vast strawberry fields was developed for housing.

Before the war there were 1,500 acres being used to grow strawberries; now there's around 800 which includes a number of thriving 'pick your own' farms; the best place of all to buy your strawberries.

If you want to find out more, The Strawberry Trail is a long distance (approx. 15 miles) self guided walk which stretches from Botley through to Netley.听 You can download a free copy of the trail from www.hamblevalley.com.