Page 52 - ALG Issue 3 2021

West Midlands
Shropshire, Staffordshire, Worcestershire, Herefordshire and Warwickshire
Hay Green Allotments: The Covid Year
Hay Green Allotments is hidden away on the slope running from Rowheath down to Woodlands Brook in the heart of Bournville in Birmingham. Our gardens cover some nine acres of well-drained fertile soil on a clay and pebble base.
George Cadbury was very keen on gardening and the early houses in
his famous workers village had large gardens of 600 square yards, with the house only occupying 25% of the site. While the estates were dry, George felt that vegetable gardening would keep residents away from the temptation
of ale houses in neighbouring areas. Gardens were laid out with two vegetable beds, three fruit bushes and a fruit tree. Many of those bushes and trees still survive today. In the later houses, the gardens became smaller and there was a clamour for allotments, and in the early 1920s Bournville Village Trust identified our current nine acres as the site for its largest allotment. George Cadbury, now Chairman of the Trust, saw allotments as “An example of Communal Organisation” being provided “largely through the kindness of the Chairman.”
Hay Green Allotments are by far the largest of the Trust’s three sites with
90 gardens and operate through
an informal self-management arrangement with the Trust. Now membership is not restricted to people living on the Trusts Estates or working at the factory, and we have gardeners travelling from places as exotic as Barnt Green.
For many years the chocolate factory provided the bean husks to the allotments as our main source of compost! This supply ceased in the 1960s when the processing of the beans was transferred to West Africa, where the beans are grown. Now we are the main repository of the Trust’s autumn leaves, grass cutting and woodchips from their arboricultural teams.
The past 12 months have been a
period of massive change for society in general, and Hay Green Allotments have not been immune from those changes:
• Huge demand for plots: We have never had to advertise vacant
plots; word of mouth has always worked for us. This past year
that has gone viral and we have been inundated by applications stimulated by homeworking and that working an allotment has been viewed by the Government as a
safe form of outdoor activity. Early
in the pandemic we put into place supplemental rules for the lockdown and have varied these as the threat has waxed and waned.
• Plot sizes: We have recognised we need a variety of plot sizes to meet current need, so a number of full plots have been split into quarters, or even eighths. These have proved exceptionally popular.
• The digital allotment: In 2018 we collected all our rents by cash or cheque; this year we collected
80% through electronic transfer with remaining eight being paid by cheque. Over 85% of our members have emails and we issue fortnightly email updates and have an active Facebook site. Digital exclusion particularly amongst some of our older members is an issue we have to address.
• Reflecting our community: The average age of members has dropped dramatically over the year and now we have a number of young families active on plots and we are keeping the local shed and greenhouse industry going with at least 15 new sheds appearing and numerous greenhouses. Recently we have welcomed a number
Looking to the future we hope that the majority of our new gardeners will stay and that our mantra of: “An Allotment is not just for Lock Down” will resonate
of new gardeners from refugee backgrounds which has added to the interest and diversity of cultivations.
• Valuing our older members: We have introduced honorary life membership for gardeners giving up their plots due to old age or illness. Recently we have had a grant from the City Council and the NHS to support older gardeners which will be used to build a number of raised beds and improve access.
Looking to the future we hope that the majority of our new gardeners will stay and that our mantra of: “An Allotment is not just for Lock Down” will resonate. We are getting more involved with the Village Trust’s neighbourhood planning and environmental strategies as part of their forthcoming review of community assets. Responsibility for allotments has recently been transferred from
the Agricultural and Estates to its Community Service division. The Trust owns thousands of acres of farmland in North Worcestershire.
What is great is that the Trust is fully committed to our future; our next 100 years are looking rosy.
Richard Trengrouse
52 Allotment and Leisure Gardener