As well as show gardens like the Suttons "Growing for Health" Garden, the tiny veg plot from RHS garden Harlow Carr featured in the BBC TV series Grow Your Own Veg was here. It measured just 3m x 3m yet it was packed to bursting with every type of veg you can think of.  In the National Plant Societies marquee, there was also a chance to get more familiar with a fruit that would have been eaten by Henry VIII. Cheshire is home to the gooseberry, one of Britain's oldest types of fruit. It's also one of the last strongholds for competitive gooseberry growing, once an obsession with Victorian gardeners in the north of England. Liz Gentil, a professional horticulturist and fruit specialist, has been working with the Cheshire Landscape Trust to preserve this remnant of horticultural history. "It's like being able to talk to a Victorian head gardener and find out how they did things," she said. "These people's traditions of gooseberry growing haven't changed in 200 years. Even the terminology is the same. They just drive around in cars these days instead of walking."
 The display showed examples of some of the rich variety of gooseberries you can grow. Deep red 'Lord Derby', one of the oldest varieties, is known for its sweet flavour and is a favourite with many growers, but for really huge, competition-winning berries, it's got to be 'Montrose' or another Victorian variety, 'The London' - holder, since 1852, of the record for biggest-ever gooseberry. That record looked under threat this year, though, as the long, wet summer promises a bumper crop - and with gooseberry society shows starting in just a couple of weeks time, competition this year will be fiercer than ever.
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