Page 54 - ALG Issue 1 2019

Eastern
City of Ely Allotments Association – Awards Evening 2018
The end of the allotment year heralds the time for the Association to hold its annual Awards Evening, which was on 3rd September, at Centre ‘E’ in Barton Road, to recognise and reward the successful efforts of several tenants in the tending of their plots.
The evening is a social event where, during the break for refreshments, the tenants get a chance to talk and discuss their own individual problems and hopefully find an answer, or help from one of the other tenants present.
There were two illustrated talks during the evening, the first by Les Turner, one of our tenants, who has been a professional gardener for over 40 years. His talk was on the ‘Pruning of Fruit Trees and Bushes’. Les has also agreed to follow up this talk with practical demonstrations/classes on our allotment sites early in the new year, to show how to prune correctly.
The second talk was given by Peter Gladders, a retired ADAS Plant Pathologist, on the subject of crop diseases which can affect allotments, and the methods used to control them.
There were the usual overall cups and certificates together with the trophies for the best plot on each site, the two smallest sites being amalgamated for this award.
This year the special achievement award, decided by the Bridge Fen Reps, was presented to a young person who works tirelessly with his grandmother, and also on his own, on their allotment. He has also just completed his Duke of Edinburgh Award, using the allotment as his special project, and we were happy to write a glowing report about him. He has recently done extremely well in his mock A level exams and is hoping to pick a university place which will enable him to continue working on the allotment.
We would like to thank Jeff Barber, London Area representative of the NAS, for doing the judging back in July, and we were extremely grateful to the Worshipful Mayor of Ely, Councillor Mike Rouse for attending the evening and carrying out the presentations.
The winners were as follows:
A J Fenn Cup (for the Best Allotment in Ely) – Joint Winners – Colin & Olive Bowles (New Barns), and Stewart & Teresa Bye (Bridge Fen)
Third place certificate – Vala Carter (New Barns)
Holden-Rolfe Cup (for the Best Small Plot) – Alan Church (New Barns)
Second place certificate - Owen Howe (Bridge Fen)
Third place certificate – The Dalton Family (Bridge Fen)
Michael Ungar Memorial Cup (for Best Newcomer) – The Dalton Family
(Joint) Second place certificates – Richard & Svetlana Hayes (New Barns), and David & Dianne Scott (Bridge Fen)
Jack Clarke Trophy (for Best Plot on Bridge Fen) – Stewart & Teresa Bye
Maurice Hobbs Trophy (for Best Plot on New Barns) – Colin & Olive Bowles
Nigel Clarke Trophy (for Best Plot on Upherds Lane) – Phil Royle Jack Kemp Trophy (for Best Plot on Back Hill & Canterbury
Avenue) – Lisa Harbinson
Peter Merton Trophy (for Outstanding Achievement on Bridge Fen)
– Daniel Churcherko
Graham Bond, Chair, City of Ely Allotments Association
The two photographs show the main award winners and all the prize winners together with the Mayor of Ely, Councillor Mike Rouse.
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