CLAVERING ALLOTMENTS

CENTENARY OPEN DAY & BARBECUE

Saturday 18 July: 11 am - 5 pm

The Clavering Allotments are 100 years old this year! They were first proposed in the 1890s but it was not until 28 May 1909 that a public meeting was held by Clavering Parish Council to discuss buying the Hyde field for allotments at a cost of £300. This was a large sum then and had to be borrowed. By 14 March 1910 the first allotmenteers took over their plots.

In recent years there has been an upsurge in interest, with many young families joining the older allotmenteers and about 25 tenants altogether - the longest tenancy seems to be that of Ivan Monk who first took a plot in 1971. There is still space for a few new plots to be laid out if anyone is interested and there has never been a better time to grow your own vegetables (enquiries 550450).

It's a rather special achievement to have allotments for so long, particularly when so many villages have none so the allotment holders are celebrating by inviting the village to have a look around the plots, talk to the tenants and see all their summer crops at their peak at a Centenary Open Day on Saturday 18 July. There will be drinks and barbecued food on sale and any profits will be used to buy an allotment notice-board. For further information on the Open Day please email jacqueline.cooper@virgin.net.