BRITAIN’S wine industry has shown it is on track – after the nation’s strangest vineyard sprung up at an urban railway station close to Del Boy’s south London manor.
Chateau Denmark Hill – at the station in Camberwell – will be sticking the cork in their white wine from their 22 Bacchus vines, grown metres from the busy tracks.
From left: Nicholas Lyndhurst as Rodney, David Jason as Del and Lennard Pearce as Grandad in Only Fools and Horses Credit: Getty
Wine is to be made from grapes grown at a railway station near Del Boy and Rodney’s fictional Only Fools and Horses flat Credit: First Story Media
It will make it the first wine to be produced at a railway station in the UK – and a sign of Britain’s changing climate as most the nation basks in yet another heatwave.
And the tiny vineyard is less than two miles from Del Boy and Rodney’s fictional Only Fools and Horses flat in Peckham where he would often exclaim: “Chateauneuf du Pape.”
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Commuters are expected to be able to enjoy vin du pays when the wine is ready to be uncorked as early as next year.
Local Keith Griffiths, 41, a copywriter said: “I walked past without noticing it, then spotted it from the signs – and now cannot wait to try it.
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“It’s amazing to have a little vineyard in Camberwell and is a great use of space.
“I supposed it is also one benefit of warming temperatures.
“It is the sort of entrepreneurial spirit that would make Del Boy proud.”
Winemakers at the station – next to busy King’s Hospital and in one of the capital’s most hectic areas – wrote on their Instagram: “This year will be our first wine producing year at the station.”
In another post, they added: “The dream of sipping a glass of wine, grown right here in Camberwell, is becoming a reality… making history as they work on the first ever vineyard in a UK station.”
Camberwell is a densely populated area just two miles south of central London with former inhabitants including ex-England football ace Jadon Sancho, comedian Jenny Éclair and ex PM Boris Johnson and his wife Carrie.
Rail firm GTR – the nation’s largest railway franchise which owns Southern, Thameslink, Great Northern and Gatwick Express – has helped fund the vineyard.
The project is being run by the Camberwell society, who have named it ‘Chateau Denmark Hill Station’.
Winemakers reclaimed a tiny bank just two metres from the busy station platform and planted 22 Bacchus vines.
They have all now budded wine and are ready to be harvested.
A new sign proudly announces itself as “the first ever vineyard at a UK station”.
Wine-making is one of the UK’s fastest-growing new industries with over 1,100 active sites nationwide due to warmer summer weather.
Around 16.5million bottles of wine are produced across the country every year with most being made in Kent, Sussex and Hampshire – with many bottles of sparkling wine rivalling the best from France’s acclaimed champagne region.
