TO enter the covered courtyard of the Lea & Perrins factory in Worcester is like taking a step through time.

Worcestershire Sauce has been made there since the factory was built in 1897, using a recipe reputed to have been brought into the country by the former Governor of Bengal, Marcus Lord Sandys.

The story goes that on return from India to his native Worcester, Lord Sandys took the recipe to a pair of Victorian gentlemen called John Wheeley Lea and William Perrins, who owned a pharmacy in Broad Street, Worcester.

They made up the sauce from the ingredients given and discovered it tasted... horrible.

"They found it to be quite horrible and put it into jars in the cellar and left it there for some years," said Ray Robinson, factory manager.

"Some years later, on clearing the cellars, they rediscovered the jars and before throwing them away, decided to taste the sauce again.

"They discovered to their delight that the ageing process had transformed the mixture into the delicious savoury sauce we all know and love," he added.

FACT FILE

1835 - Chemists John Lea and William Perrins make up a recipe from India, but don't like it.

1836 - After initially consigning the sauce to the cellar, they try it again and now like the taste after it has matured.

1837 - Lea & Perrins Worcestershire Sauce is first sold commercially.

1904 - Royal Warrant granted by King Edward VII.

1906 - High Court declared that only Lea & Perrins Worcestershire Sauce may be called Original & Genuine.

1930 - Lea & Perrins merge with HP Sauce Ltd.

1964 - Lea & Perrins destroyed by fire but Worcestershire Sauce is back in production within 10 days.

1988 - Lea & Perrins becomes part of the BSN Groupe, who later change their name to the Danone Group.

1997 - Lea & Perrins celebrates 100 years of manufacturing Worcestershire Sauce at the Midland Road factory in Worcester.