When I go out to walk the dog the bushes and trees are heavy with fruit and berries. One of the prettiest sights is the abundance of rose hips this year. The rich dark red shiny giant sized pips found on the dog rose bush stand out and look like ruby jewels. They are packed full of vitamin C along with an added helping of A, D and E not to mention the antioxidants.
Rosehip syrup became very popular during rationing in WWII. The lack of oranges as a source of vitamin C was a problem for England but this was solved by the introduction of rosehip syrup. A company called Delrosa based in Wallsend near Newcastle produced the syrup and so highly regarded was it that bottles would be given out at baby clinics and parents across the land would administer a spoonful daily in the fight against coughs and colds. The taste is hard to describe but it is definitely sweet and has a tropical fruity taste with no nasty after taste.
A nationwide campaign began to encourage children to collect the rosehips in return for money and 3d was paid for every 1lb of rosehips. 3d was not a bad payment considering that at the time petrol cost 4d per litre. So it was not just children who cashed in, many pensioners and low-income households also joined in. To encourage the children even more, the incentive of the Rosehip Collectors club was started. Each child was given a card to record their efforts and would qualify for a badge when they had collected a certain amount. At the end of the season those that had collected four or more badges could then trade them in for a year badge. There was even a special award the ‘Merit of Award’ badge that was made for those who collected the highest weight.
The rosehips would be delivered to their local collection points which were either schools, local post offices, or private houses. This was organised by the Women’s Institute.
The above badges can be seen with others at www.badgecollectorscircle.co.uk who have kindly let me use their pictures.
My aunt remembered collecting and making the rosehip syrup whenever we walked past a bush and always referred to it being a filthy job, which she wouldn’t repeat. Making rosehip syrup is a time consuming task but all the same a satisfying one. Easy to pick but watch out for the thorns. It is said that the best time to pick them is after the first frost. My experience is if you wait that long you will find that the birds have beaten you to it and cleared the lot.
Rosehip Syrup
Ingredients
2 lbs rosehips
2 lbs sugar
4 pints water
Method
Wash the rosehips and then trim the tops and bottoms. Cut them in half.
Put the 3 pints of water into a large pan and bring to the boil. Once boiling drop all the rosehips in.
Bring back to the boil and then simmer for 20-30 minutes or until the fruit becomes soft and pulpy. Set aside to cool.
Strain the liquid and pulp in a jelly bag or a double layer of muslin.
Try to resist the temptation to squeeze the bag as this will make the syrup cloudy.
Once all the liquid has dripped through the jelly bag remove the pulp and replace back into a saucepan adding the remaining 1 pt of water to cover the pulp.
Bring to the boil and set aside. Repeat the process of straining through the jelly bag adding to the liquid already strained. This process can be repeated a couple of times more but I prefer to just repeat it once.
Put all the liquid back into a clean saucepan and bring back to the boil adding the sugar, stirring until completely dissolved. Remove from the heat.
If you feel that the liquid is a little on the weak side before adding the sugar you can boil down the liquid to reduce it.
The rosehip syrup is ready to bottle into sterilised bottles.
To sterilise the bottles
Wash the bottles in soapy water and drain. Put onto a tray in an oven at Gas mark 3/325F/160C and leave for 10/15 minutes. Carefully take out and use. The bottles should now sterilised.
Maria Dernikos 
Maria, first of all – good to see you back! 🙂
Secondly, this is so interesting! I was not aware of rosehip syrup, nor (and more importantly) of the interesting story behind it at the time of the war.
Thank you for sharing that, along with the recipe.
Thank you Stefano. It’s a slow start but I hope to be back reading what everyone has been up to. I think these days getting children to collect rosehips would be termed as child labour!!
I have to agree with Stefano, Maria. Welcome back and this is fascinating. My parents spoke of many things that were done during the war — all on this side of The Pond — and never was rosehip syrup mentioned. I’ll ask Zia if she’d heard of it. At first, I thought that I’d like to try the recipe — and then I saw that 2 lbs of rosehips are required. I’m not very likely to find that many rosehips. Even so, this is very interesting. Thanks, Maria.
Thank you John. I have put 2lbs of rosehips but like a lot of the old recipes you make do with what you have. If you just picked the rosehips from your garden put them in a pan with some water, boiled them and then strained them afterwards adding sugar it would be the same, you would just have a very small bottle of it! Actually, not a bad idea if you just want to see if you like the taste. Some years I boil the liquid down further for a stronger taste.
Thank you so much for the rosehip syrup recipe. My bushes are thick with hips and I have always wanted to know how the syrup was made. I remember it (Delrosa) from my wartime childhood. Great to know you’re back in circulation again.
The bushes this year seem to have a bumper crop. It’s a shame not to make use of it. I am sure that there is enough to go round us and the birds! I am slowly coming back into circulation and hope to be back to reading what every one else have been up to. Must be the inquisitiveness in me – some might call it something else!!!
What an interesting post. My favorite herb shop carries rosehip powder but I didn’t know about rosehip syrup. Have to confess to chuckling at your aunt’s point of view but also definitely see how it can be so delicate and fulfilling to actually make the syrup oneself. So happy that you’re back! 🙂
Like a lot of these recipes they would have been done with a group of women, who would have sat around a table and chatted, making the task past quickly. Its nice to be back. I have so much reading to do I don’t know where to start.
How interesting! I wonder if I’m able to find fresh rosehips here. Perhaps dried, but could a syrup be made with it?
Any rose plant that hasn’t been dead headed should produce some rosehips. I have never tried dried rose hips but I do know that dried sloes for sloe gin works. I can only think that the flavour might not be as strong.
Wow so interesting! Thanks for the history! Good to see you here!
Thank you Amanada
Welcome back, from one who has also been away from blogging for a bit! Great back story to a lovely syrup.Alas, I have no time to collect any hips this year. Thanks.
I am sure the birds will only be too happy to eat up the rose hips.
I have also been away from reading which I am trying to get up with, have just been to read yours.
– Welcome back Maria! Hope all is well and you are back with full energy.
– This is one interesting story. I knew about rosehip, but not as much as the story you educated us with. Looking forward to more of your exquisite recipes/posts!
Dear Fae, thank you so much for your comment. Not quite full energy but taking each day as it comes.
I have so much catching up to do, dipped into your posts but need to do better!
What a lovely post!!! I have never heard of rosehip syrup and its role in the war. Really interesting! I’m so happy you are back. Your kindness and special culinary skills have been missed in the blogosphere. Hope everything is fine with you and your family! 🙂
Thank you Francesca for your really kind comment, I have missed reading what everyone is doing and cooking. I promise to try and catch up.
Maria – you are back!!! I’ve missed you. Very happy to see you here and love this interesting post.
Thank you Lindy. I have missed you too!
I never heard of this plant , nor its syrup! It would be great to try it out, thank you for the interesting post. and great to see you writing again!
Thank you. If you know someone who grows rose’s you should be able to obtain the rosehips which appear after the plant has flowered.
Ha! I was one of those children who collected rosehips. Not one penny changed hands. Small people like me who collected little received nothing. More successful older children got a tin badge. Whole afternoons were spent collecting when I was at my small village school (about 30 children, aged 5 – 15), so an afternoon i the fresh air wasn’t a bad deal..