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Northern
Welcome to our new members...
East End Allotment Association Five Arches Allotments
Tunstall Allotment Association Hurworth Parish Council
7 individual members
Meet the Scottish Allotments’ Honorary President
Gilbert Clark MBE
Gilbert has been growing his own vegetables for almost eighty years.
He rst put spade to soil in Grantham, Lincolnshire in 1940 in the Dig for Victory campaign during the Second World War. After moving to Edinburgh in 1956, Gilbert acquired an allotment at Liberton Brae and rapidly became involved with the Scottish Allotments and Gardens Society (SAGS).
In the 1980s, as happened to so many Scottish Allotment sites at that time, the Liberton site was sold for housing in spite
of valiant resistance by the plot holders. Happily, Gilbert managed to nd another plot at Midmar. He’s still there enjoying all the bene ts of fresh air, good tasty food and, having just celebrated his 95th birthday, a long life.
In addition to his work for SAGS, Gilbert was involved in the beginning of the Federation of Edinburgh Allotment and Garden Associations (FEDAGA), and helped to develop the Edinburgh Allotment Strategy. He’s scaled back his growing a bit over the years, but still has enough produce left over to run a stall at the church of St Columba’s by the Castle. Christian Aid has bene tted from thousands of pounds from the stall, which has been a feature for the last 25 years. He says ‘my regulars love the berries and beans which are always my biggest sellers, and they always ask what I’ll be selling next’.
Given the time and effort he has spent working on the plot for charity, and off the plot for SAGS and FEDAGA, it is not surprising that Gilbert was awarded his MBE in 2001 for services to the allotment community.
Gilbert has seen quite a lot of changes to
growing practices and the use of allotments over the years. ‘These days we rarely see plots laid out for maximum production, which was their original purpose. Instead they have become “Leisure Gardens” where time is spent enjoying the outside, away from life in a tenement at’.
In the last 15 years allotments have again become as popular as they ever were. This has put pressure on councils to provide them, and to shorten the long waiting lists. Gilbert has strong views that people who want an allotment should be aware of
what they are letting themselves in for. He suggests some form of pre-acceptance before a valuable allotment is handed over: ‘A course in how to start off, maintain
and succeed in an allotment would both enlighten and improve how these precious green spaces are used’.
Gilbert has spent almost 40 years on
his own allotment site committee, and understands the challenges that lie ahead
to both plot holders and those on long council waiting lists. He sees SAGS as key to ensuring a fair deal for both, and says that: ‘Without SAGS we run the risk of losing much that our working classes achieved
to provide food in times of hardship and, these days, a place to unwind and watch the beans grow’.
Stuart McKenzie, Chair FEDAGA and SAGS committee member
Regional Report
My visit to Tunstall Allotments
I was invited to visit Tunstall Allotments by NAS members Tunstall Allotments Association in Silksworth, Sunderland after our quarterly meeting in October 2017. We visited on Saturday 11th November 2017.
I must say I was very impressed by the community garden; it was well laid out, with a bug section, disabled-friendly raised beds, and all done by volunteers. Peter was the head volunteer, and their efforts have done them proud. Well worth a visit to see this allotment site and community garden, and to meet the friendly allotment holders.
Thank you for the invitation.
Evelyn Leck
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Notice of Northern Region AGM
27th January 2018 2pm, at the Belmont Social Club, Durham, DH1 1AH