Long wait for allotments

Long wait for allotments

Traditionally working people in Britain were able to grow vegetables and fruit in their gardens. However, as society changed, particularly in the 19th century, the cottages with gardens were replaced by terraced housing and the common land which had provided a place to plant vegetables was enclosed and fenced off.

To allow people to continue to grow their own food a system of “allotments” was introduced. The oldest allotments are said to be St Ann´s Allotments, in Nottingham and they date back to the 1830s. Many other allotments were provided all over the country and they were enthusiastically cultivated with fresh vegetables and fruit being grown for all the family.

After the Second World War, however, and particularly from the 1960s onwards, enthusiasm for allotment gardening declined. Supermarkets arrived on the scene and the hard work of digging, planting, weeding and harvesting was pushed aside as leisure options greatly expanded. One by one allotment areas were closed, even though local authorities had, and have, a legal responsibility to provide them. Each plot must be not less than 1,000 square meters. However, developers hate allotment sites which they want to cover with concrete. Preparations for the advertising festival known as the Olympics saw many allotments destroyed at the site being built for the London 2012 “games.”

Today allotments are very much back in demand. This is driven by the desire of many people to grow their own food using natural and traditional methods. The credit crunch has given additional impetus.

However, anyone looking for an allotment today is in for a very long wait. In London and other big cities the waiting lists are huge. It is thought that, in the UK generally, about 300,000 people are lucky enough to have an allotment but there are at least 100,000 other people on the waiting lists.

On a recent visit to London Sharon noticed allotments being enthusiastically cultivated by those lucky enough to have them. Spring is a busy time for gardeners and this year´s allotment crop looks like being bigger than ever.

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©2009 Phillip Bruce