Stainsacre: Inside a competitive onion-growing club

Richard Clarkson came last in his first onion-growing attempt

There are many stories. Stories of triumph, stories of love, stories of war. But this is my dad Richard Clarkson's story. The story of him desperately trying to win the respect of his community by growing the largest onion.

It starts at The Windmill pub in Stainsacre, Whitby, up by the coast in north-east England, which has been hosting the competition for about two decades.

It sees locals attempt to grow the heaviest onion in the village.

Richard has entered twice, finishing last and then second to last, and he is desperate to climb the leader board. It's a tale of passion, ambition and local legend.

The Windmill pub is the centre of the community

For my dad, this adventure began two years ago.

He worked on the oil rigs for more than a decade, with little time for leisure when he was home.

He got laid off during the pandemic, and while there was the possibility of trying to find another, similar job, he decided against it.

"Yeah, you sacrifice the money, nice cars and holidays but you can't put a price on life - and I have a life now," he says.

"The minute there was a start of a life at home, that was it, I applied to join the onion club and got accepted into the group."

The competition is taken very seriously

Members get to vote on applications to join and luckily for my dad, they "asked about" and said yes.

"It's like being in a little gang," he says.

He might be half-joking, but joining has without a doubt brought him closer to the community.

Club members have become his friends, catching up in the street or discussing the ideal onion feed in the pub.

Everything is onions - Richard even has his coffee in an onion soup mug

And his new-found passion has this year become an obsession.

"You spend a year getting the soil ready. Watering, feeding, nurturing, observing," he says.

His first attempts were bad. Very bad. But this year will be different, he says. For a time he felt confident he could double the weight of 2021's effort.

But disaster was around the corner.

"I saw the rot on a couple of onions and I thought 'I hope that doesn't spread', but as the weeks went by, it did," he says.

"My biggest onion, which I had big hopes for, was the last one to start rotting and it couldn't recover. I am down."

About 700 people live in Stainsacre - local landmarks include Mr Collinson's allotment

He stands looking over his onion beds. He shakes his head, defeated.

After what feels like hundreds of conversations about this competition, it feels strange to actually be witnessing the conclusion with him.

We're in the garden listening to the gentle swish of the koi pond, waiting for the club secretary to arrive.

David Rowland does not mess about and ensures there is no cheating

There's a knock, and David Rowland comes in armed with carrier bags.

He's currently going door to door to collect the entries. To avoid cheating, everybody is given vegetables from the same batch.

David drops them off in the beginning, and collects them at the end and takes them to an undisclosed location in the village to have them weighed.

Richard was made redundant from the oil rigs

My dad still submits his onions for competition and is initially downcast about his prospects.

Later we walk to the pub for show day and dad has news. He's spoken to an "inside man" who suggests his onion rivals have done even worse than him this year, which gives him hope.

The pool table is covered and is being used to display dozens of onions. Without context, this would be an unusual sight.

People mingle, drinking pints and enjoying the pie and peas - a show day tradition.

I take the opportunity to speak to some of the locals.

The onions are carefully laid out at the pub

Tony Brown, a previous landlord of The Windmill, accidentally reveals the losing onion before quickly returning it to the bag. It's small and rotten, a truly pathetic sight.

"If anybody wants to buy it - you're dafter than what I think you are," he laughs.

I worry this onion carries my family name and everybody is about to find out.

Trevor Allanson had a rather unconventional method of watering his onions...

Trevor Allanson tells me he's probably lost to my dad and accuses him of "spying" on his onions.

At last year's show, after a few drinks, Trevor whispered that he had a secret growth technique that he wanted to try this year.

Urine.

I ask him if he went ahead with his plan.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," he nods.

"Mixed results, but everything's worth a try, isn't it? I'll probably have a go with the urine again next year."

Landlady Tammy Armstrong jokes she is "sick of hearing about onions" and puts the club's appeal down to being "any excuse to come and have a drink".

Landlady Tammy told Adam the club was any excuse for a drink

The TV above the onion table shows Manchester United v Arsenal - it's hard to believe these two competitions are taking place at the same time.

Eventually, the anticipation reaches boiling point and the pub falls silent.

The announcer stands up: "First place - Dom Brown. 7lb 5oz.

"Second - Tony Ord. 7lb 4oz.

"Third - Richard Clarkson."

He's cut off by screams and applause before he can reveal the weight (6lb 5oz).

Richard's arms fly up in the air and celebratory shots are poured.

Richard was overjoyed at coming third

It was clear in the months building up to the competition that this genuinely meant a lot to my dad. I have to be honest, to see him rise from the bottom to third place is heart-warming.

The win maybe goes to his head, as he immediately proceeds to call an AGM for later in the year - making his case that club operations need to change to "revamp" the onion growing experience.

We go home a few hours later and he starts a fire in the garden, dropping his prize onion into the flames.

He says it's to mark the end of this chapter in his life, but as one chapter ends, another begins, and soon David will be dropping off more onions, ready to do it all again.

Giants of competition - and Man Utd v Arsenal in the background

There's more on this year's competition on a new BBC Radio Tees and BBC iPlayer show What's Your Thing?