WHAT was believed to be a record crowd of more than 16,000 people descended on Alresford last Sunday for the annual Watercress Festival to mark the start of the UK growing season.

The event opened with the arrival, on board a horse and cart, of the King and Queen of Watercress, Dylan Clarke and Tilly Rustell, both pupils from Sun Hill Infant School, as they threw freshly harvested watercress from local beds to the crowd, preceded by troops of Morris Men.

The weather was kind, as glorious sunshine drenched the crowd, many of whom had travelled in on the Mid-Hants Watercress steam line and who leisurely milled among the 50 or so stalls selling watercress-infused goodies such as fudge, chocolate, sausages, burgers, scones, gin and beer, with many more stalls selling plants and crafts.

Visitors were entertained with live music, Punch and Judy shows, birds of prey and cookery demonstrations from a variety of local chefs, including Keri Astill of The Watercress Company, who showed the audience how to make a healthy watercress smoothie.

This was then available to try on The Watercress Company stand for a small donation to children’s cancer charity the Joe Glover Trust.

This has been the preferred charity for the festival for a number of years, not just because of the outstanding work it does but because research has shown a significant link between watercress and cancer prevention. Visitors could donate to the charity in exchange for bags of watercress from both local producer stands – The Watercress Company and Vitacress (who also gave out smoothies) – or for tubs of watercress pesto prepared by Alresford Salads.

Other highlights included cookery demonstrations by Jane Devonshire, winner of BBC MasterChef 2016, who lives in Four Marks and is a big fan of watercress, and helped to show how versatile an ingredient the peppery ‘super food’ is.

Sole Butchers in Alresford won the ‘Most Innovative Use of Watercress Award’ for their mouthwatering pork and watercress sausages, while Jackie Fletcher, from Ledbury in Herefordshire, won the competition for the best barbecue recipe using watercress with her BarbieBerro Sauce.

Meanwhile, for a brave 10 men and women the pinnacle of the day was that imfamous challenge – the World Watercress Eating Championships. With contestants from Alresford, Andover, Stockbridge, Winchester, and as far afield as Spain, competition was tight and as advice from one competitor to “put it all in, masticate and swallow” rang in their ears the competitors had to chew their way through an 85g bag of watercress in the shortest time.

Some rounds were tighter than others, but eight-time champion and Alresford man Glen Walsh proved impossible to beat yet again with his time of 37.6 seconds.

Tom Amery, of The Watercress Company, said of the event: “It was another great festival. This is the 13th and proved very lucky. We had record attendance, stunning weather and a great atmosphere as ever, and I’d like to thank everyone involved in the festival’s organisation.

“We hope that people appreciate what a truly fantastic product watercress is and have learned new ways to include it in their diets. It is a vital local industry. Watercress is principally grown in Hampshire and Dorset and needs to be supported, but what’s more important is that watercress is so good for you!”