Page 42 - ALG Issue 3 2021

North West
Lancashire, Greater Manchester, Merseyside and Cheshire
Poynton Allotments Transformation
The Chalet...
From an overgrown, unloved plot
to a vibrant centre of our Allotment Community and a valuable community resource! Some years ago, it had been agreed to give over our top plot for community use. Initially, good work had been undertaken by an industrious few and a couple of apple trees had been planted, but gradually the cultivated plants gave way to tarpaulins to cover up the weeds, and at the corners sneaky brambles and intrepid dandelions still popped through. Added to which, our small allotment association shed (perhaps 50 years old!) was falling apart. Woe was us!
Sadly, our Chair died suddenly, and
we found ourselves press-ganged into forming a new Association Committee. We were very fortunate to have a good local town council who managed the site and had a fondness for what we were trying to do. The Council were able to apply for some S106 funds from a builder developing a local site and they hoped to access some of the funds for a new community shed. We organised a working party and with a little encouragement the old shed soon fell and made great firewood.
We looked at replacement sheds, but the big but obvious question was – what did we want to do with the new shed? The old shed had stored some rusting tools and, some years before, had a small space for selling garden chemicals, but the shop had ceased to operate and all of us were worried about the safety of the little nameless
bags of white powder in the shop! They were safely disposed of. The general view was that we wanted somewhere to meet, somewhere to shelter from the elements, and a storage area. Some options were identified, and democracy broke out with an online vote. The newly christened ‘Chalet’ was 8’ by 6’ with a 3’ veranda. The covered veranda has kept us dry a fair number of times!
The Barrier Free Garden
So, we had our ‘Chalet’, but it was surrounded by a soggy mud bath. We could have made a fortune from cold mud facials! We had realised the area had been too large for community
use so had let half of the plot. This new allotment holder has a disabled daughter who, with her carer, loves
to garden. A plan started to evolve to turn the mud bath into a Barrier Free Garden. Luckily, we were able to draw on the advice of lots of friends and allotmenteers. You never know the skillset of your fellow allotmenteers until you need help! We found we had an architect, a landscape designer and a woodwork specialist.
We applied to various local organisations and gratefully accepted grants from Poynton Round Table, Rotary and Waitrose. One of our allotmenteers made two sturdy wooden raised beds (approx. 6’ by 2’ and 2.6’ high) and our architect drew up some great plans. Serendipity also swung
by with a donation of 200 Indian stone flagstones of various sizes. The big ones were heavy! A few car suspensions (and a few aged spines) were sorely tested! But we now have a fantastic patio area. The first two raised beds have been
‘let’ to groups gardening for people
with dementia. We were also able to buy a simple-to-erect recycled plastic raised bed, and this is being used by a group encouraging its older members to continue gardening (without much bending)! We hope to have a grand opening ceremony later in the year,
but for now we can just appreciate how great the area now looks.
The Community Orchard
We have always tried to be a vital part of our community, and in the past have invested in a huge bag of daffodils. You can see the effects on our allotment track! So, we were interested when we heard about a proposal to establish Community Orchards around Poynton
We hope to have a grand opening ceremony later in the year, but for now we can just appreciate how great the area now looks.
by Poynton Heritage Garden Volunteers. We are on a slight hill and below our allotments is a small field used by a local scout group and dogwalkers. Strangely, there is also a totally overgrown plot of land next to the scout hut, which was apparently an allotment 20 years ago! Can you imagine what
it was like after this amount of time? So, we suggested to the scouts that we clear the former allotment and swap it for the field. We have worked all winter and have just about cleared it, which then allowed us to plant up the top of the field with nine small fruit bushes. We have left about 5 yards between them so that the grass can still be
cut. We are now all looking forward
to harvesting the resultant fruit with members of our local community. I’m particularly looking forward to some Damson crumble! Unfortunately, as
we cleared the overgrown allotment of top growth in winter, we couldn’t really see what was underneath? So, we think there may be some ‘superspreading’ plants!
Tony Penny, Chair of Poynton Allotments (formerly Coppice Road allotments)
Photos courtesy of Richard & Penny Scaife and Tony Penny
42 Allotment and Leisure Gardener