Page 60 - ALG Issue 3 2019

North West
Lancashire, Greater Manchester, Merseyside and Cheshire
Cheadle Hulme Garden & Allotment Association, Billy’s Lane
Centenary Celebration, May 2019
Cheadle Hulme Garden and Allotment Association and site was formed just after the First World War, on good agricultural land provided by Stockport Council at the end of Billy’s Lane. On Sunday 26th May 2019 we celebrated our centenary with a special event in the form of a family picnic party with entertainment.
The central feature was a play by travelling outdoor theatre company, Mikron. The celebration also featured a special Centenary beer, brewed for us by a plotholder and licence holder, with excellent local musicians welcoming guests on arrival and in the interval.
As the impressive lengths of homemade bunting and Centenary banner flapped in the breeze, we prayed for the rain
to hold off and gathered for one of
our longest serving members to open the event. His speech referred to the importance of green spaces in an urban area and we wondered whether the men returning from war 100 years ago, needing to feed their families and take up a peaceful and productive activity, would recognise the site of today.
We hope they would approve and we are certainly proud of our site and its green credentials, such as extensive use of water butts (hoses not allowed),
60 Allotment and Leisure Gardener