The Rhubarb Triangle is the area roughly bounded by Wakefield, Morley, and Rothwell, where the soil's acidity, the local coal-fired heating tradition, and a quirk of the railway timetable to London once combined to make the region the world centre of forced rhubarb. At its peak in the early twentieth century, a rhubarb special train ran every night from Wakefield Westgate to King's Cross.
The trade is much smaller today but still active. In the forcing season — usually late January through March — a handful of growers offer tours of their candlelit forcing sheds, in which the pale pink stalks grow extraordinarily fast in total darkness. It is one of the stranger and more atmospheric agricultural experiences you can have in Britain. Check ahead — visits are by booking only.