Page 20 - ALG Issue 3 2023

creative plotholders
Bagthorpe
Robin
I sing my title deeds:
an unseasonal outpouring
to stake my claim upon the soil, and all that lies within.
From old pear tree to tumbledown shed,
from hawthorn hedge to wooden gate;
All this is mine;
don’t let anyone tell you different.
I have no interest in mineral rights, or planning permission; livestock is my sole concern. Grubs, larvae, caterpillar, earthworm.
These are mine, and mine alone.
I prefer fresh, simple food, unseasoned.
This is an organic allotment. You may dig here, on one condition:
leave the pest control to me.
Mike Clifford Jan 2023
Dr Maggie Weir-Wilson has had an allotment in Horsham for over 10 years now. During this time, she not only grew vegetables and fruit but was interested in the history and current usage of the 11 allotment sites in the town. Nothing had been written about these allotments and so Maggie decided to fill that gap. During lockdown, she researched in the archives, visited each site, spoke to plotholders and committees, asked questions, noted recipes and growing tips, and took lots of photographs.
The result is a book entitled ‘Growing Together, Horsham’s Town Allotments’ and she had a book launch on the 5th April just before Easter at The Olive Branch, one of the local public houses. Here she read from her book and answered questions before signing copies for all those who bought a book.
Apart from allotmenteering, Maggie’s other hobbies are watercolour painting
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The book is thus a very personal project, as well as being a valuable local history
and writing poetry. It was thus that each chapter is headed with either a painting of a piece of fruit or a vegetable from her allotment, or a poem inspired by her allotment. The book is thus a very personal project, as well as being a valuable local history. Maggie also hopes that by recording each allotment site history and use, this will help to protect them against future development. Also, it may encourage the different sites
to know more about each other, swap ideas, provide mutual support and perhaps even joint social events.
‘Growing Together, Horsham’s Town Allotments’ by Dr Maggie Weir-Wilson
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20 Allotment and Leisure Gardener
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