“THERE was a time when every village, every pub and every working man’s club in Darlington had its own leek show,” says Phil Goldsborough, chairman of the Middleton St George Allotment Association.

“Leeks were a very big thing around here when I was a young man, you had people breaking records and travelling to shows all over.”

By Mr Goldsborough’s own admission, he is no longer a ‘young man’, but after taking a ten-year hiatus from leek growing, the 64-year-old returned to the hobby five-years-ago and has virtually single-handedly set about reviving his village’s leek show.

He formed the leek section of the Middleton St George Cricket Club in 2010 and their first open show attracted about 20 entries. Five years on and the club’s last show attracted 150 entries and Mr Goldsborough is hopeful that the leek revival can continue in earnest.

“What I would really like to do is get the enthusiasm for the shows back,” he said. “One of the biggest leek shows in the country used to be held at Haughton le Skerne, Darlington, and they used to come from all over the country to show their leeks but that has all gone.”

The decline in leek shows across the North-East has been constant since the golden years of the early to mid-1900s. Back then leek growing was a positive by-product of the region’s mining industry as nurturing vegetables in allotments offered therapeutic respite and much-needed fresh air for hardworking pitmen.

Not to mention the social aspect of the clubs and shows. In those halcyon days it was not unusual for competitors to travel the length of the country to show their prize leeks at County Durham shows, and eager visitors would happily queue to gain entry.

More recently the tradition was dealt a huge blow when the showpiece World Open Leek Championship and World Heaviest Onion Challenge at the Northern Club in Ashington, Northumberland was scrapped in 2008.

The reason for its demise, as with many things in life, was largely down to money and the same can be said of the closure of many of the smaller shows. Leek growing brings its own expenses and as visitor numbers dwindled and club memberships declined, it was no longer viable for pubs and village halls to host the shows.

This was coupled with the loss of sponsorship, which often came from northern breweries, but also from other local businesses.

But if sheer passion and enthusiasm is enough to revive a dying tradition then in a fair world men of Phil Goldsborough’s mould will surely succeed.

“At first the meetings seemed to be a bit of an excuse to get out of the house for a pint in the cricket club on a Sunday,” he jokes. “But now we have a regular 12 people come along and it’s like it used to be, except now they sit with their smart phones showing each other pictures of their leeks on their phones; that is the sort of enthusiasm I am trying to build.

"I set up a Facebook group which now has 76 members from all over the country; I am so keen and excited about it. I used to be one of the young guys, now unfortunately I am one of the old guys and there is nobody coming in new, but this is what we need and I really want to reinvigorate people about it.”

*The Middleton St George Cricket Club Leek Section meets on the first Sunday of every month from 12.30pm at the cricket clubhouse. Anyone is welcome to go along and to find out more about the club - contact Mr Goldsborough on 01325 333426 or email phil.goldsborough@hotmail.com