Stephen Purvis Won Both the National Onion Championship and the Giant Leek Class at Harrogate Autumn Flower Show
A 36.43 kilogramme marrow and a 1,022 millimetre cucumber also went on the scales as the Yorkshire show marked its fiftieth year.
Stephen Purvis of Seaham, County Durham, won the National Onion Championship with an onion weighing 7.972kg at the Harrogate Autumn Flower Show, held at Newby Hall and Gardens near Ripon, on 18 September 2026.
Purvis also took the giant leek class with a specimen of 8.4kg, giving him two titles in the North of England Horticultural Society's giant vegetable competition, which is judged on the opening day of the three-day show.
Graham Haswell won the giant marrow class with a fruit of 36.43kg and Chris Marriott took the giant beetroot title with 21.88kg. Paul Proud produced the longest cucumber of the competition at 1,022mm, more than a metre from end to end.
The giant vegetable competition has been a fixture of the Harrogate show since 1983, and growers arrive with their entries wrapped and cushioned after a season of daily feeding and shading. In 2023 the competition produced a world record when an onion of 8.97kg was weighed at Harrogate, a mark that none of this year's entries came close to matching.
The show, in its 50th year, runs until 20 September at Newby Hall, with floral marquees, specialist nurseries and trade stands alongside the weigh-in. Britain's giant vegetable growers move on to the CANNA UK championship at the Malvern Autumn Show later in the month.