Page 53 - ALG Issue 1 2020

East Midlands
Nottinghamshire, Lincolnshire, Leicestershire, Derbyshire, Northamptonshire and Rutland
Harlestone Road Allotments win Silver Award
Judy Odley, Association Secretary, Harlestone Road Allotments
In May 2019 our allotment, known
as Harlestone Road Allotments from Northampton, entered the 2019 Northampton in Bloom Competition run by Northampton Borough Council. We are one of the larger sites in Northampton with a total of 255 plots. The site is owned by Northampton Borough Council but is looked after by the Association Committee. The site are members of both The National Society and Northampton Allotments Network. The site has a well-established vineyard with a variety of five different wine grapes. The vineyard is looked after and owned by five independent plotholders. Around four years ago we created a Remembrance Garden for the site. We
took a small piece of overgrown land that was doing nothing, and, with the help of volunteers, we have transformed it into the garden it is today; a very tranquil place in the centre of the site where plotholders can go and sit any time they wish to.
The site has an Association shop run by volunteers where members can purchase supplies for their plots. We also have a portacabin on site, which is used for a variety of things. We hold our committee meetings and the Association AGM there, along with
a breakfast club, plus other events throughout the year. Normally in August we hold a Site Open Day, very much
like a fete, where the public can come along, have a look around the site, and, if interested, they can put their names
with the help of volunteers, we have transformed it into the garden it is today
down on the waiting list. This is our biggest fundraiser of the year. For the past four years we have also held the Northampton Allotment Networks Annual Pumpkin Competition. Following our entry into the competition, the judges arrived on Monday 21st July 2019. They were shown around the site by two of the Committee, taking photos as they went around. After this it was
a waiting game until the Presentation Evening on Thursday 3rd October held at the Northampton Guildhall, to find out if the site had got anywhere. On the evening we found out we had achieved a Silver Award for the site. As well as the site receiving a Silver Award, two individual plotholders also received awards; Christine Hack received a Silver Award and Steve Kane received a Gold Award.
Allotment and Leisure Gardener 53