Page 54 - ALG Issue 3 2016

Yorkshire
New Mentor Joins the Team
My rst allotments were in Twizell Lane, County Durham and were taken on to keep hens and rabbits as my Dad did most of the vegetable growing. Each spring he would “set” the garden and I assume that he kept it simple because it didn’t seem to require much effort after that. I haven’t acquired his knack for this but I’m still using his spade. It was probably my Mum and my Grandad, who had gardened for a living and had an adjacent plot, who peaked my interest in growing. Since then, I’ve been in and out of allotments and gardens as we moved with work until the present day where I co-garden a plot on a private site in Bingley.
Yorkshire Water (YW) brought us to Shef eld in 1982 and Bradford in 1997. Contact with local authority staff, the Environment Agency and landowners is part of promoting schemes to solve YW’s problems. Safe working, identifying the root of the problem and getting value for money, were my priorities, as well as supporting, alongside my colleagues, YW’s “Million Green Fingers” initiative to get kids involved in gardening.
Growing your own is without doubt good for you in many respects and I’m keen to support all those creating, maintaining and using allotments. Phil Gomersall will be a hard act to follow, but gardening is all about new beginnings. So, how can I help?
Tony Urwin
OBITUARY
Mr Roderick
Mellor
Rod Mellor, Chairman of the
Calderdale Allotments Federation died
suddenly at home, aged 73, from a heart attack on 28th April 2016. Rod was also the Chairman of Britannia Allotments in Sowerby Bridge, a private site that was bought by a developer, resulting in all the plot holders leaving the site. Rod was instrumental in getting many of those members re-housed on a nearby site and responsible for the Local Authority opening a new small site to take the remaining members who wished to move. For the rst time in many years, Rod was left without an allotment garden. Rod’s interests did not stop at gardening; he was also well known in the local area for his interest in many community projects, varying from schoolchildren on allotments to new open spaces. Rod was a man who knew everyone and whom everyone knew and liked. He leaves behind a wife, two sons, two grandchildren and two great grandchildren.
Rod really is a person who will be truly missed by many.
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Welcome to our new members...
Gringley Allotments & Gardens Society Milton Street Allotments
Parson Cross Community Gardens
3 Societies
The allotment garden
Solar power electric circuit