Calling Local Residents to Share Their Strawberry Stories!

Grant Takes New Theatre

Back to Strawberry Roots

Eastleigh's days as the strawberry-growing capital of southern England may be long gone but now a community project will help local people learn about their fruit-growing history.

Thanks to a grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund local people of Hedge End and the Southern Parishes of Eastleigh will have the chance to learn of the time in the 1860s when over 20,000 tonnes of berries a day were loaded up at Botley and Swanwick stations, bound for Covent Garden and top hotels in London.

The project will culminate in a large scale community theatre production at The Berry Theatre in Hedge End later this year. Based on the strawberry heritage of the area, the production will explore the stories of the time when strawberry cultivation was at its peak in the mid 1800's, when travelling workers would come into the area during the summer months to help harvest the crop.

A professional creative team from the new theatre will also work with schools in the Borough, using drama, music and dance to bring a century and a half of strawberry farming in the locality alive. The research underpinning the project will also be collated and archived for future use helping to create a resource pack for local schools.

The team are now calling for local people to get involved and share their stories at two "Strawberry Sunday" drop-in events on Sunday 19th and 26th June.

If you would like to attend please contact Rob Iliffe, Drama Development Officer on 023 8062 7807 or at robert.iliffe@eastleigh.gov.uk for further information.