Page 4 - ALG Issue 3 2020
P. 4

Chairman’s
comments
 Coronavirus! May 2020. Well, how has it affected you? I received my self-isolating letter from the NHS and wondered what I was going to do with myself stuck in the house every day for 12 weeks. And then Michael Gove made his allotments statement. You could go to your allotment as long as you self-isolated when you were there. A small light was blinking at the end of what appeared to be a long looming tunnel. No chatting
to colleagues, communal coffee breaks or close catchups! And so, it proved to be. Going to the allotment early in the morning, doing the necessary jobs and coming home proved to be a workable routine, but at times soulless. I was ‘Billy no-mates’ and as soon as neighbours arrived, I left.
Early one morning as I was working at the playing field end of the allotments, from the other side of the fence I heard this conversation. Two ladies walking dogs had stopped to talk and I heard one say to the other:
“Your husband used to have a plot on here once upon a time, didn’t he?”
“Yes, he did, but it was hard work though, and he had to give it up in the end.”
“But it must have been nice to get all that free veg.”
Exactly, “all that free veg”, as long as you’re willing to put in the hard work.
Some of the results of my hard work are now coming home in the form of lettuce. Five varieties: Little Gem (my wife’s favourite), Lollo Rosso and Lollo Bianco (my favourites), and a couple of newish varieties I’ve never tried before – Balloon and Fristina; needless to say, all Kings Seeds. Well it would have
to be, wouldn’t it? We have also been harvesting ‘cut and come again’ salads from the windowsills: soon they will
be trimmed for the last time and then planted out on the plot to join the rest of the salad crops. But I have heard that at some supermarkets there is a shortage of lettuce! Not that I ever go shopping you understand. Well I wouldn’t, would I? Not with all that free veg!
During lockdown, most waiting list and allotment allocations are frozen, but applications are rising all over the country. In April 2019, in Tameside here in East Manchester, there were 30 applications, in April 2020 there were 150 applications, and like many urban areas we have fewer allotments
But I have heard that at some super- markets there is a shortage of lettuce! Not that I ever go shopping you under- stand. Well I wouldn’t, would I? Not with all that free veg!
than we used to. The huge sites in Ashton-u-Lyne on the Moss, one-time home of Ashton Moss celery and Bill Sowerbutts of the original Gardeners’ Question Time, was built on many years ago and unfortunately, they have not been replaced... yet! If, as is very likely according to the pundits, people look long and hard at their lifestyles in lockdown, increased demands could lead to the creation of more sites which would be fantastic.
Early in May I received a phone call from our President, about a possible TV programme being made about coping with coronavirus and the lockdown.
I rang the number and spoke to a Tipperary man, Eoin Corbett, who was in charge of the details. He asked if I knew of a handy allotment site where they could talk to someone and film. The easiest site to find was my own, so I offered that, and my offer was accepted. That Thursday we had brilliant, clear blue skies from here to the Irish Sea and then to the Pennines. The filming and production crew consisted of Ross, the cameraman, and drone operator, Eoin Corbett, from the production team, Amanda Pollock the producer, and Helen Skelton the presenter, and we
all kept scrupulously to our two-metre social distancing. Three hours were spent filming, site wandering, talking, in interviews and getting the drone out of a tree. Following the editing, our allotments featured for maybe three minutes of the programme, but I feel it was the best three minutes. It can be watched on ITV catch up.
One constant I have heard in my early visits to the allotment during lockdown has been parents talking to children about plants and growing. There is some good home educating taking place on family allotments, and because of lockdown it is quiet, very quiet, particularly for us on a Manchester Airport flight path. Finally, as plans
are believed to be in the pipeline for
an easing, or even a lifting, of some of the lockdown regulations (but we do not know when) let me leave you with a quote from that ‘Tonight’ programme:
“An allotment will do wonders for your heart, it’ll do wonders for your diet, it’ll do wonders for your bank account, but it will also do wonders for your soul!”
John Irwin, NAS Chair
            Keeping you informed
– NAS 2020 AGM
As the Coronavirus pandemic continues to have a huge impact on everyone, we realise that this magazine/newsletter may arrive at what may be a very difficult time for you, your family, your livelihood and the community you live in.
The NAS Management and Governance Committees are closely monitoring the restrictions in place. Our priority at this time is the health and wellbeing of our members. We must hold an AGM every year under our Co-operative Rules. We also recognise the importance of the AGM to our members and it is important that we ensure you are able to exercise your right to attend and vote. Sadly, we had to postpone our AGM due to be held in Leeds on the 6th June, which was also going to be our 90th year celebration; however, we hope to still go ahead with these celebrations (90 years and counting) in 2021, when our AGM will be held on Saturday 12th June in Marks Tey, Colchester with business in the morning and a visit to Kings Seeds in the afternoon.
For this year we are looking into holding a virtual AGM, which will cover business aspects only, possibly of one-hour duration to fulfil our legal requirements. Further information will be available over the coming weeks.
Liz Bunting, Legal and Operations Manager
4 Allotment and Leisure Gardener





































































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