Rewriting the Plot: Photographs and Images

Benefits to the Broader Public ...

Promotion of good health, including opportunities for horticultural therapy for people with physical and mental health problems.

Right: Well constructed raised beds for people with physical health problems at Moorlands Allotments in West Bromwich, Birmingham.

Right: The Mayor of Dartford and other civic dignitaries hand over tools donated by the hardware chain B&Q for use on a horticultural therapy plot at Dartford Road Allotments cultivated by students in the School of Supported Learning at a local college of further education.

 

The contribution of allotments to the provision of "green space", especially in urban areas.

Right: High rise apartment block overlooks plots at Turpington Lane Allotments in the London Borough of Bromley; Below: Stonebridge Pond Allotments, in the heart of Faversham, Kent

 

The focus which allotments provide for a range of community involvement.

Right: Students from the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, quiz two plotholders as part of a social survey training exercise conducted annually at Dartford Road Allotments, prior to a field excursion to Southern India, where their new skills are put to the test. Allotments can also be used as a resource for primary and secondary education.

 

Right: An example of allotments used as a resource in primary education, though not in obvious ways. The QED Great Dartford Pumpkin Competition was a joint venture between the QED Allotments Group, which provided the expertise in making compost from organic wastes in the school grounds, Uplands Allotments in Handsworth, Birmingham, which provided the seeds, the QED Waste Management Group which provided composting starter packs (obtained from the Federation of City Farms and Community Gardens), and Kent Property Services.

Uplands Allotments in Handsworth, Birmingham was the site of the BLOOM 98 "Arts and Allotments" Festival in August 1998, when young artists joined with local gardeners to create a variety of works of modern art around the site (including light shows in sheds and talking rows of runner beans) which attracted visitors from across the city and beyond. The "seedsaluv" range (left) was created especially to commemorate the event, to provide a direct link with individual growers on the site, and to encourage seed saving and sharing.

 

 

 

 

Linking communities across borders: the authors (bottom left and centre at back) with members of QED and the Mie Women's Centre on a visit to Dartford Road Allotments in 1999 to inspect work in progress on Local Agenda 21 projects on the site. The trading hut behind serves the need of allotment holders and many other gardeners in the local community.

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