|
 |
| Alan
Titchmarsh shows you how to do it! |
|
|
Gardening
is now the most popular leisure pastime in the country, according
to a recent survey. |
|
|
|
|
The great
British Institution, the allotment, is in decline, the land's being
sold off to developers.
This week is National Allotment week. The Guinea Gardens in Birmingham
is a hundred and fifty year old site and is one of only four remaining
in the country, with features so rare, it's been listed by English
Heritage.
But the lease for the Gardens is now due for renewal, and the plotholders
fear for its future.
The
Guinea Gardens are so called because that was how much it cost to
rent a plot. They are Town Gardens rather than allotments.
Allotments were originally set up in rural areas so that badly paid
agricultural workers could grow fruit and vegetables to feed their
families.
Town
Gardens are different in that their boundaries are marked by hedges
and they each once had brick built summerhouses for the families to
spend weekends and holidays there.
They began to appear from 1720 as people from rural areas moved to
towns and cities for work. Landords found it more profitable to rent
their land in this way as there was a big demand for gardens. |
|
|
|
|
|
