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Post by wilbarra on Nov 15, 2015 17:50:54 GMT
when i looked at the the horticultral channel and saw the people working their plots it reminded me of some of the
sites i have worked in over the years and the people who worked them.
in america lane when i first started there were some wonderful charictors and i know there are other people down here
who can remember them.
there was JIM SAYERS who blamed everything that went wrong on maggie thatcher
i think he thought that it was her fault even when the weather was against us gardeners.
JOHN PAYNE who was my first plot neighbour moaned about everything and everyone and would soon let me
know if i had any weed growing in my plot and if i didnt sweep the path that ran between our plots he would leave his
broom out as a gentle reminder but was very patient with me when i asked for advice and would go to great lengths to
show me how things work.
REG ELLIS who if you asked for advice from him would say"give me five minutes and i will be with you.
an hour later he would come up and show you and then spend another hour telling you about when he was young.
but i had many pleasant hours with him and learnt a lot about local happenings from him and some of that local
knowledge has been very helpful in latter times.
there was also the wonderful KENNY WHELLER who died much too young and was,without doubt,the best gardener
of all of them.
he used too grow runner beans all the way round his two plots , up the side of the paths and along the top of his plots
and they were always the best on the site.
he used to get the manure for us
not the little loads you get now
eight wheel truck loads for £20 ,KENNY never did anything by halves.
he also seemed to get most things cheaper than anyone else.
there will never be another KENNY WHELLER.
they broke the mould when he died.
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Post by trickymicky123 on Nov 16, 2015 9:14:26 GMT
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Post by wilbarra on Nov 17, 2015 15:02:22 GMT
YOU WERE LUCKY MICK
I WAS ONE OF THE UNFORTUNANTS THAT HAD TO PLAY AGAINST HIM,I WAS ONE OF THE PEOPLE WHO HAD TO MARK HIM.
PRETTY IMPOSSIBLE TASK.
SO PROBARLY PLAYED AGAINST YOU AS WELL.
KENNY SEEMED TO BE GOOD AT EVERYTHING HE DID.
DAMN GOOD GOLFER AS WELL
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Post by Stuart@AmericaLane on Nov 21, 2015 21:31:44 GMT
Its great to hear about the folk that have worked the plots in the past. I didn't know them of course but I can imagine the characters that they were. Hopefully in the future I'll have some tales to tell of my own. I regret a bit that I didn't find allotment life a little sooner. Looking back I should have know I would be drawn to it eventually. It is in my genes I think. My grandad was a great grower and so where my parents. They didn't have allotments but their gardens were big enough to grow what they needed. I just about remember my granddads council house up by the race course in Brighton. In my memory the garden was huge. You did used to get a big garden with those houses but no doubt it wasn't quite as big as my memory suggests. But I do remember the rows of veg and the chickens and him working them. And not just for fun. I am sure it was fun for him but necessary to. Much of what they had to eat was what they grew themselves.
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Post by wilbarra on Nov 22, 2015 10:29:48 GMT
YOU WERENT IMAGINING THE BIG GARDENS STUART.
THEY REALLY WERE BIG AND AS YOU SAY GROWING VEG.IN THOSE DAYS WAS A NECESSITY NOT A HOBBY, MORE OR LESS, AS IT IS NOW.
I MYSELF HAVE HAD A LOT OF GOOD TIPS FROM THE PEOPLE WHO HAVE HAD ALLOTMENTS IN THE PAST.
TIPS THAT HAD IN TURN HAD BEEN HANDED DOWN TO THEM.
THINGS THAT YOU WONT FIND IN ANY GARDENING BOOKS.
SIMPLE THINGS LIKE ONE I GOT FROM REG ELLIS.
ALWAYS WATER CELERY ABOUT AN HOUR BEFORE YOU PULL IT. IT STAYS A LOT FRESHER FOR A LONGER PERIOD IF YOU DO.
ANOTHER ONE I GOT WAY BACK IN THE SECOND WORLD WAR FROM A GERMAN P.O.W. WAS:
WHEN YOU SOW YOUR PEA SEED AND COVERED THE SEED WITH SOIL TREAD THE GROUND VERY LIGHTLY ALL ALONG THE ROW.
THE PEAS GERMINATE BETTER AND GROW STRONGER.
ALL BASIC STUFF BUT YOU WONT GET THAT KIND OF INFORMATION OUT OF A TITMARSH BOOK
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Post by wilbarra on Nov 22, 2015 18:05:26 GMT
LOVED THE PHOTOGRAPH MICK.
HOW MANY OF THEM HAD THE READERS DIGEST INSTEAD OF SHIN PADS TUCKED DOWN THEIR SOCKS?
I PLAYED FOR WORTH SCHOOL ABOUT THE TIME YOU AND KENNY PLAYED.
DID YOU PLAY AGAINST THEM.
I KNOW KENNY WENT TO PLAY FOR ARDINGLY WHEN THEY WERE REALLY GOOD.
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Post by trickymicky123 on Nov 22, 2015 21:25:16 GMT
I played for Haywards Heath, Ardingly, Wivelsfield, and Bentswood United in my day . I don't remember playing against Worth. Not much to do with gardening this is it? But what the hell.
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Post by wilbarra on Nov 24, 2015 18:24:04 GMT
THE MOST INFLUENTRAL PERSON IN MY ALLOTMENT LIFE WAS RUDI A GERMAN P.O.W WHO WORKED ON THE STRAWBERRY FARM NEXT TO
THE ALLOTMENT SITE WHERE I HELPED MY MUM DURING THE SECOND WORLD WAR.
HE SPOKE ALMOST PERFECT ENGLISH AND IT WAS HIM WITH HIS UNLIMITED PATIENCE THAT SET ME ON A PATH OF A LOVE FOR
ALLOTMENTS WHICH I HAVE HAD ALL MY LIFE.
HE TAUGHT ME SO MUCH AND HAD SUCH A WONDERFUL WAY OF EXPLAINING THAT THE THINGS HE TOLD ME HAVE STAYED WITH ME ALL OF
LIFE.
IT WAS AN ODD SITUATION REALLY BECAUSE HE HELPED ME MAINLY ON HIS DAY OFF. A SUNDAY.
WE WOULD WORK QUITE HAPPILY TOGETHER UNTIL SUNDAY DINNER TIME,WHEN MY MUM WOULD BRING A TRAY ACROSS TO THE PLOT WITH A
SUNDAY DINNER FOR HIM AND ON THE TRAY ALSO WOULD BE A BOTTLE OF BEER WHICH ONE OF THE CANADIAN SOLDIERS HAD BOUGHT FROM
THE PUB NEARBY FOR MY MUM TO GIVE HIM.
IT WAS TIME FOR ME TO GO HOME TO DINNER AND SUNDAY SCHOOL.
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Post by murrayc on Nov 28, 2015 8:41:18 GMT
A great story wilbarra, and an object lesson in so many ways, about tolerance, about how we learn things, and your example shows how we repay the patience and respect of others. Gardening teaches us so much about life and how to get fulfilment out of it, not always in showy ways,such as winning competitions, but in finding something within ourselves and satisfying that need. It is a hobby, an entertainment, a source of cheap nourishment, and an arena where friendships can be made and developed. Here is a recording of a song, written by Maggie Holland, that expresses these things well.
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Post by wilbarra on Nov 29, 2015 14:44:43 GMT
another person from the same period as rudi that i can remember was john the painter and his wife vera
quite an eccentric couple.
every morning john would appear from his house his paint pot and brushes in one hand and his chamber pot
in the other.
he would then walk across the small green that separated his allotment from his house and duly poured the
contents over whatever green stuff he had growing at the time.
he would then deposit the chamber pot on a to a little table outside his shed get on his bike
(which he kept overnight in his allotment shed)and ride off to work .
a couple of hours later his wife would go and collect the chamber pot and walk back across the green with
the chamber pot discreetly covered with an old tea towel that proudly bore the immortal words"lyons corner
house".
his green stuff was the greenest on the site and most certainly it never did either of them any harm for
they both lived into their late eighties.
john was easy going and the only time i ever saw him really angry was when he told a fellow plot holder
his birthright for, of all things,letting his dog cock his leg over his cabbages
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