Meet the mangelwurzel: The forgotten root vegetable making a comeback

A forgotten vegetable once viewed as peasant or livestock food is enjoying an unlikely comeback in Somerset as a festival in its honour takes place this weekend.

More than 100 people across seven villages between Glastonbury and Bridgwater are now growing mangelwurzels, the bright red root crop crossed between beetroot, sugar beet and chard.

The Great Polden Hills Mangelwurzel Day will see vegetables judged in categories like ‘Biggest Girth’, ‘Best Looking Legs’, and looking ‘Most like Donald Trump’.

Event founder Beverley Finnegan said: “What started as a challenge between friends to grow the biggest mangelwurzel has, eight months later, become a festival with hundreds of locals involved.”