Visitor figures hit an all time high at the 7th annual Watercress Festival on 16 May with 12,000 watercress lovers flocking Alresford, in Hampshire, for a day of family fun. And the record breaking didn't stop there, Sam Batho beat 17 other contestants to set a new watercress eating record. Sam was crowned the winner of the World Watercress Eating Championship after scoffing his way through two bags (80g) of watercress, washed down with a bottle of water in just 49.69 seconds.

It’s a time for celebration as British watercress comes into season in May. Harvested from the pure spring water drawn from deep under the chalk downs in Hampshire and Dorset, British watercress is at its gorgeous peppery best right through until the end of the season in October. So grab a bag now and whip up one of our delicious summer recipes. Whether you’re barbecuing in the back garden or picnicking in the park, there are dozens of dishes to choose from.

Watercress is brimming with over 15 vitamins and minerals, gram for gram containing more vitamin C than oranges, more calcium than milk and more iron than spinach. Research is also highlighting its role in the fight against cancer. The results of a new study being conducted by the University of Southampton into watercress’s potential ability to suppress breast cancer cell development are due to be announced on 15th September 2010.

The vital ingredient for growing watercress is, of course, water – mineral rich flowing water from which the peppery salad leaf takes its many nutrients. So important is this traditional growing method that British watercress farmers have asked the EU to give them protected food status, which would ensure that land grown cress cannot be sold as the "real thing".