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Cry 'God for Harry, England and Saint George!
23/04/09
Cry 'God for Harry, England and Saint George!
And is there anything more English than an allotment, and what’s more, an allotment with a shed on it!
As an actual war-cry I’d guess Whitman’s Yawp! was closer to reality, but there’s no denying the courage and resolve evoked by Shakespeare’s Henry V before the half-breached walls of Harfleur.
I think about the one hundred thousand people on allotment waiting lists in England, waiting with modest stillness and humility, and I wonder that now’s not the time for them to stiffen the sinews, summon up the blood, and do something about winning more allotments, because if there’s one tenant waiting for every three that’ve got one, then the game’s afoot.
5 comments
Comment from: Martyn Cox [Visitor] · http://martyncox.biz/blog
Stirring stuff. I love your white and red shed.
23/04/09 @ 22:55
Comment from: Soilman [Visitor] · http://www.soilman.net
Be careful what you wish for! We've got tons of new folks on our allotment site, and now...
• You can't be alone there, ever
• It takes an hour to reach your plot when you visit, because there's so many folks to say hello to on the way
• You can't have a pee anywhere without being seen
• You can't be alone there, ever
• It takes an hour to reach your plot when you visit, because there's so many folks to say hello to on the way
• You can't have a pee anywhere without being seen
24/04/09 @ 20:03
Comment from: Simon [Member]
Hi Soilman
I have an answer to the pee problem: A site loo.
But what I'm asking for is more allotment sites, because ours is already crammed to capacity. The council have been splitting plots for the last couple of years and don't let anything bigger than a couple of poles now, and their latest idea is to split plots that are currently let - so they could try and kick me off half of my 11 poles - though it would be me doing the kicking if they tried it!
Allotment culture will change very much for the worse if we're not able to have as much area as we want and do all those non-veg things like ponds, lawns and sheds. Our proposal for a site hut was eventually turned down on the flimsy excuse of the area it would take being required for veg-growing.
I have an answer to the pee problem: A site loo.
But what I'm asking for is more allotment sites, because ours is already crammed to capacity. The council have been splitting plots for the last couple of years and don't let anything bigger than a couple of poles now, and their latest idea is to split plots that are currently let - so they could try and kick me off half of my 11 poles - though it would be me doing the kicking if they tried it!
Allotment culture will change very much for the worse if we're not able to have as much area as we want and do all those non-veg things like ponds, lawns and sheds. Our proposal for a site hut was eventually turned down on the flimsy excuse of the area it would take being required for veg-growing.
24/04/09 @ 20:16
Comment from: VP [Visitor] · http://vegplotting.blogspot.com
Your shed still raises a smile here :)
Have you seen Cleve West's piece on allotment ovens over at The Guardian's gardening blog today? I saw it and immediately thought of you...
Have you seen Cleve West's piece on allotment ovens over at The Guardian's gardening blog today? I saw it and immediately thought of you...
30/04/09 @ 14:12
Comment from: Simon [Member]
Thanks for that VP, it looks very resourceful. I had the stove going this morning - it's raining too hard to do any digging. I'm going back for another sit in my shed this this afternoon.
30/04/09 @ 14:30
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