Calling East Anglians

[Anonymous]

MY New Allotment (Bluebell North, Norwich) is huge, and there are only two of us to feed, so it's going to be as much a haven as a vegetable plot.
Does anyone have (or know of someone who has) a decrepit horse trailer that I could use as a refuge-cum-studio?

 

[Anonymous]

Best check that you will be able to use a horse trailer and that there aren't any regulations stipulating what you can and can't put there. Otherwise a shed can be bought fairly cheaply I'm sure - worth it to have somewhere to sit and brew and cogitate.

Sooo - joining the world of the dirty fingernail brigade eh? All muck and magic?

Great stuff.

Not too late to get some spuds in - great for clearing ground, wonderful to dig and eat... then start planning what you can grow now from seed. Salad crops are great, the cut and come again sort, and mixed leaves of the type which are a fortune in the shops and covered in chemicals to boot, beans, courgettes... scrummy.

We had our first rhubarb crumble at the weekend - bliss - and it looks as though the plum blossom may have 'taken' and as we have had no late frosts (yet) we may have a good crop of Vics this year. Strawberries I'm looking forward to, herbs are being added to salads... I'm planning a small asparagus bed...

You can collect waste from home and add that to the compost heap, such fun compost making...

You will enjoy it all hugely I know. Well done on making the move!

 

[Anonymous]

From the latest issue of 'Heritage Link'...

Allotments get HLF funding

St. Ann’s Allotments in Nottingham, which date back to 1830, is recognised as being the largest and oldest allotment site in the UK. The fortunes of the Grade II* landscape are now on the up thanks to a £2 million grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund.

The award of £1.992 million will reverse decades of neglect, rescuing the largely intact layout and preserving the remaining historic features which include one of the few Grade II listed garden sheds, plus several Victorian summerhouses and greenhouses.

The allotments were originally created as Detached Town Gardens and were used as retreats by wealthy families before much of Nottingham was built. Times have changed and the allotments now rest within one of the most deprived areas of Nottingham and represent a rare green space in an area of high density inner city housing with over 44,000 local inhabitants.

Explaining the importance of the award HLF’s regional manager Emma Sale said ‘St Ann’s Allotments are a much loved and unique heritage gem in the heart of Nottingham. This funding will vastly improve the gardens and offer it a secure future for generations to come. Historic features will be preserved so that visitors are more aware of its heritage value, and key facilities will be added so that it can function as effectively and safely as possible. The project will truly benefit the local community, improving an already popular space for everyone to enjoy.’ This is the second HLF grant to the site. The first in 2002 for £22,000 funded a Conservation Management Plan was instrumental in developing the current proposals for the full scale restoration.

 

[Anonymous]

Sorry gel, oi ent got a decrepit horse to ave a trailer for.

I reckon a shed's what you need, with a small area given over to tool storage, and the rest equipped with a frayed old armchair, a turtle stove, an old tin kettle, a radio tuned to the Home Service and a stack of old Picture Post magazines.

You might never go home.

 

[Anonymous]

There is a chap near the junction of the B1454 and B1155 just east of Docking who has all sorts of wagons in his field. No idea whether they are for sale, but I should think a knock on his door would be productive.

Jocelyn

 

[Anonymous]

And here's a selection of things to wear in your shed (made in a converted railway carriage and crinkly-tin plotlands shanty near Holt). They used to have a shop in Naarch but, alas! have moved to Holt to jeep up with the London second home owners.


Old Town

 

[Anonymous]

My sister in law was born in a railway carriage (static, converted to a home ...)

 

[Anonymous]

Forgot to mention the important part - Great Western Railway, C19th clerestory roof type.

 

[Anonymous]

Gareth

I suspect that "...to jeep up with the London second home owners" was a mistype - but I reckon that's what we call a Freudian slip!

 

[Anonymous]

I remember when they were in Elm Hill, and their stuff was pretty affordable then (though not so affordable that we could become regular customers). But Holt prices are way beyond the means of we poor municipal allotment holders.
Anyway, I reckon that the wonderful ole boys in the big shed wouldn't approve.
Working clothes come from Naarch market.

 

[Anonymous]

Point taken about the horse-trailer idea.

Does anyone have a clapped out shed that needs a good home?

 

[Anonymous]

I visited when they were in Naarch - very nice, but I have a collection of gardening clothes which it's possibly just as well few see me in...

 

[Anonymous]

Actually Moo, just thought-- yes, I do have a bog standard 'Do-it-All' shed going begging. We dismantled it last summer and have had it stacked in four sections at the side of the house ever since. You are welcome to have it if you can collect. Its about 4ft wide by 7 ft long . We are just starting to pack up for the move.

Give me a call 01328 730327( Chelsea by the sea)---- any time but off to Holt tomorrow morning to sort out an Aga for the new prop!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Jocelyn

 

[Anonymous]

I'm sure the second home owners have not got as far as Holt yet.... maybe for shopping, but not for living in. I reckon Wells by Sea is the next one, seen the prices there?

Jocelyn