It's nice to know that a little bit of Yorkshire is to lie forever in a foreign field. Well, in Greenwich, home of the Millennium Dome, at least.

Three large football pitches worth of finest Yorkshire turf are to be transported lock, stock and barrel to London and used as the basis for a large country park on the Greenwich peninsula between the Dome and the River Thames.

It means that when those millions of Dome visitors go looking for a bit of fresh air, they'll be unwittingly walking on a small piece of Yorkshire.

But what is it about the green, green grass of home that makes it such a winner? Yorkshire turf provided by Thorganby-based Lindum, the firm which has won the Greenwich contract, graces the pitches of football giants Manchester United and Chelsea - not to mention Scottish clubs Hibernian and Heart of Midlothian.

Lindum's Elvington-based rivals Rolawn have supplied turf to Dutch giants Ajax and St Andrew's golf course.

David Snowden, Lindum's sales manager, puts the quality of home-grown turf down to well-drained sandy soil that's free of stones and excellent for growing grass. Perhaps the truth is even simpler. After all, Yorkshire folk always have been known as the salt of the earth.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.