Page 67 - ALG Issue 3 2019

Eastern Region report
Welcome to our new members...
Balay Allotments
Newton Longville Allotment Association Stondon Allotment Leisure Garden Association TW2 Allotment Society
16 Individual Members Chorleywood Parish Council
(from left) Derek Cosbey, Paul Emerson, Chris Bishop and Mick Smith with the sign erected in memory of Keith May
News from
Hunstanton
Allotments
A lane in Norfolk has been named after a much- loved former allotments chairman. Keith May, chair of Hunstanton Northfields Allotments Club, passed away in February 2018 at the age of 81. The proud Liverpudlian rose to the rank
of Major during his service with the Coldstream Guards and in retirement
was a stalwart member of
the Northfields Allotment
Club on Cromer Road for 10 years before he became its chairman.
We have had a very dry spell and as I am writing this report, we
are having a welcome shower. No doubt the crops will enjoy this and also make the weeds grow more.
It appears that many allotment sites are full, with ever-increasing waiting lists. This is really good news and perhaps local authorities will realise that providing allotments for the residents is
a good facility and will increase health and wellbeing.
Unfortunately, by the time this report is published, summer will be coming to an end and we will be thinking of autumn and winter crops.
Eastern Region will be holding a quarterly panel meeting in Baldock on the 12th October where we
will have the pleasure of Paul Merryweather of Luton Borough Council talking about allotment management and Non-Cultivation procedures. Please try and come along to the meeting.
Happy growing and stay positive. Please support our region and help it grow stronger.
Ray How
Regional Rep Eastern Region
Essex Young Farmers Show
For the second year in succession, the Essex Support Group of the NAS paid for a stand at the Essex Young Farmers Show held at Boyton Hall Farm just outside Chelmsford. It is primarily an agricultural show, but recently there has been an increase in horticultural participants and the Young Farmers have now set up a dedicated area of the show for Horticulture exhibitors.
We wanted to promote not only the work of the NAS at county level but also the work of the NAS at national level. We had magazines and leaflets on display for visitors to take away with them, and we also handed out several membership forms. We also had many people ask about allotments in their
area of Essex, and what was gratifying was seeing how many new people seemed to be taking on allotments; however, we had many gardeners visit us to ask general questions about gardening, in particular about vegetable growing, and it was nice that those who helped man the stand were able help them with their queries.
We learnt a lot from this year’s show in terms of how we should be setting up our stand, and we are already discussing ways of further developing the stand for next year’s show with lots of interesting ideas being considered.
Four of the Essex committee helped on the day and, along with myself, I would like to thank Peter Fowler, Allan Trigg and Neville Meadows for helping on the stand. It worked well because we constantly kept two people on the stand whilst the other two were able to wander around the show and, of course, find sustenance.
Wyn Marshall
Essex & Eastern Counties Chairman
Members of the
allotments club have
erected a sign in his
memory, funded by
donations, with the
kind permission of the
LeStrange Estate. Paul
Emerson, the club's
chairman, said: "Keith was
at Northfields Allotments
for many years making it
what it is now, a thriving
community of dedicated
allotmenteers. His
memory will always be remembered by naming the lane down to the allotments after him, a fitting reminder of all the hard work he did."
Chris Bishop, committee member at Northfields Allotments in Hunstanton
Keith May
Allotment and Leisure Gardener 67