Page 57 - ALG Issue 1 2019

Southern
Prestigious
International Award for
Carterton Allotments
The presentation of a Diploma for Innovative Activities was awarded to Swinbrook Allotments, Carterton, from the Office International du Coin de Terre et des Jardins Familiaux,
the international allotment organisation with over 3 million members throughout Europe and Japan.
The opportunity to
be awarded a diploma
is open to all member
sites of the National
Allotment Society. The
prestigious award is
granted by a panel of
international judges
and the allotment
site must fulfil criteria
laid down for the
award, and submit a
presentation of how
this was achieved and confirmed by a letter of commendation from the National Allotment Society.
Phil Gomersall, the rather flamboyant President of the National Allotment Society who represents Great Britain at the International Allotments Office, travelled to Carterton to present the Diploma to Garry Collicut, the Chairman of Swinbrook Allotments, at Carterton Town Hall in the presence of the Town Mayor, Cllr Martin McBride.
Also at the presentation was the Regional Representative of the National Allotment Society, Jenny Crawford, and a good number of allotmenteers from the site.
Following the presentation Phil Gomersall and Jenny Crawford were shown around the allotment site by Mike Alcock, Swinbrook Allotments Secretary, and the Mayor, to see first-hand all the innovative activities the site was involved with. It is a very popular site with over 30 people on the waiting list.
They were also shown one of the two new allotment sites being developed in Carterton as part of a building development.
Photo L – R: Mike Alcock, Secretary – Phil Gomersall, President, NAS – Garry Collicutt, Chairman – Town Mayor, Cllr Martin McBride
The Chairman of The Association presents Dennis with an engraved vase
Dennis puts his abacus away!
A founding member, and since its formation in 2006, the Treasurer of The Drove Allotment Association (in Andover), has decided to relinquish his Treasurer role. Over the past thirteen years Dennis Short has given unstinting service to The Association. When he started in his role, his first report gave a balance of about £100 – today he reports on finances into the thousands. At The Association’s Annual General Meeting in October, the Meeting thanked Dennis for the diligence he has shown in his Treasurer role over the years and presented him with an engraved Dartington Crystal vase.
Mike Cantillon
Welcome to our new members...
Clanfield Allotment Association Stratton St Margaret White Hart
Allotment Society Watlington Parish Council 9 Individual Members
1 Life Member
My anti-badger fence
Badgers attacked the sweetcorn on my allotment, destroying four plants, even before the cobs were anywhere near being ripe. Having lost half my crop in 2017 I decided that action was needed; I started to build defences using wire netting.
The wire netting was too short, added to which I thought that this was inadequate defence against a hungry and determined badger. At this point I remembered that I had rescued some discarded corrugated iron sheets with the intention of repairing the roof of my allotment shed. Using four of the sheets, I constructed the defences around my patch of sweetcorn.
The stroke of good fortune I had was that I had planted my ‘square’ of sweetcorn of such dimension that it fitted exactly within
the defences. Next year the size of the block of plants will be planned to fit within the corrugated iron defences. The metal supports in the picture had all been up-cycled from other uses including the legs of an old ironing board. Later in the year these will be used as stakes for the purple sprouting broccoli.
All the remaining plants survived, producing an excellent crop, but my shed roof still leaks.
I acknowledge that most allotment holders do not have a set of corrugated iron sheets immediately to hand. However, I am sure that resourceful colleagues could acquire materials of similar dimensions to use as construction materials.
Dennis Sutton, Cheltenham and District Allotment Holders’ Association
Editor’s note: We would advise plotholders to check their tenancy agreements and allotment rules before constructing anything from scrap metal on their plot; many agreements prohibit the use of corrugated iron sheets and other metals.
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