Page 10 - ALG Issue 4 2018

Book Reviews
General
Ansley Common
Allotment Association –
100 Year Celebrations
Ansley Common Allotments will, in September 2018, have been on the same site for 100 years and as part of the celebrations a 'special ale' was commissioned and brewed by our local micro- brewery - Church End Brewery of Ridge Lane, with labels being designed free of charge by Stocks, Taylor Benson. The beer was so successful we almost sold out at our Annual Show & BBQ, with only 1 bottle remaining out of 200.
The allotments, which were originally set up for local miners and their families have been continuously worked from 1918 – 2018, although during the 1970s they were under threat of closure by the local Council, due to non-cultivation of a large number of plots. At this point, the small remaining group of plotholders bravely each took on a minimum of 5 allotments and began to bring them up to the required standard. Thankfully, they managed to convince the Council that Ansley Common Allotments were worth keeping and since then we have all been enjoying the 'Good Life' although not for 100 years in most cases!
Nowadays, plotholders do still come from the immediate area, as was a requirement
in the 1920s, but we now welcome those from slightly further afield, which gives everyone the opportunity to grow their own vegetables, fruit and flowers (and even keep chickens and ducks),
as well as enjoying the many social events which have taken place over the last 100 years.
Karin Cartwright, Ansley Common Allotments, North Warwickshire
10
By Val Bourne
Bantam Press, £9.99 Hardback, 368 pages ISBN: 9781787631069
The Remarkable Case of Dr Ward & other Amazing Gardening Innovations
By Abigail Willis, Illustrated by Dave Hopkins Laurence King Publishing, £12.99
Hardback, 112 pages
ISBN: 9781786273161
The Remarkable Case of Dr Ward & other Amazing Gardening Innovations celebrates
50 of the greatest gardening inventions and ideas, including many of the biggest gardening innovations. Accompanied by retro line illustrations, explore the development of tools such as the Wardian case, the lawnmower
and secateurs; gardening trends such as carpet bedding and ha-has; to the history of the allotment movement and the emergence of garden centres.
The Ten-Minute Gardener
Featuring practical tips and to-do
lists for getting the most out of your precious gardening time, The Ten- Minute Gardener is a month-by-month guide to growing your own, suitable for both beginners and experts. Included within are fascinating facts and advice on a variety of subjects, including Rainy Day alternatives and 'Secrets of Success', all based on first-hand gardening experience.
I Am the Seed That Grew the Tree – A Nature Poem for Every Day of the Year
By Fiona Waters
Nosy Crow, £25.00 Hardback, 336 pages ISBN: 9780857637703
Spanning over 400 years of poetry, and incorporating a variety of traditional, well-known and new poems, I Am the Seed That Grew the Tree is a collection of 366 illustrated nature poems – one for every day of the year, including leap years! Named after the first
line of Judith Nicolls’ poem, Windsong, ‘I am the seed that grew the tree that gave the wood to make the page to fill the book with poetry.’, this collection is full of bite-size poetry to be enjoyed.