Chris Hewson’s Story
Plots 62A & 63
Chris joined the society in 1974. Gardening in his blood. His great grandfather and his grandfather were enthusiastic gardeners, and Chris learnt much from his mother from the tender age of 5 years old. In the early sixties Chris can remember visiting the allotments with his mum to buy gardening supplies from the trading hut. He recalls walking across the duckboards which were laid out in the area where the car park is now. If the ground was waterlogged the duckboards used to bob about over the wet and muddy surface. Duckboards are a board consisting of wooden slats joined together so as to form a path; they were used in the First World War trenches.
He started on plot no 8 but after the building of the Shirley Oaks development and construction of Primrose Lane he had to move to his present plots. The rent was then £3 per year.
Len Wilkinson was ground steward at the time. The local chimney sweep used to bring in his soot which was used as a slug repellent particularly for the growing of celery. Chris remembers that the best use of soot was to stack it for two years before use. The soot would prove otherwise much too strong. He recalls that on one plot, not one of ours, the ground was unusable for ten years because of this.
During Chris’s years here he has seen many improvements carried out to the allotment grounds. The tarmacadaming of the main car park was a huge job costing £30,000 and was carried out by Frank Newton’s firm. There was a fire in the tool shed which fortunately did not reach the canteen. The cause of the fire was never found.
Chris and several of his friends used to meet in the public bar at the nearby Cricketers pub in Shirley Road. A pint of beer was 30 pence old money, roughly 12 pence in today’s currency. When the society acquired the social club, formally the old school, Chris and his friends met there instead. Chris played his part in establishing the social club and stayed for fifteen years in its management. Crib was played, social gatherings and firework displays all took place.
He has been on the committee on several occasions, he has helped to keep the grounds well maintained and spent six years managing the trading centre. For three years he helped Dorothy Bull transport goods from the wholesalers to the allotments. Having the trading hut on site has always been an essential asset to the society enabling plot-holders easy access and reasonable prices for their gardening needs. Garden Centres as we know them now did not exist, they were often formed from small nurseries after the Second World War’s Dig For Victory campaign in the 1950’s; lessons had been well learnt on the benefit of growing your own fruit and vegetables.
His favourite vegetables are potatoes, carrots, leeks, and runner beans. His advice on growing parsnips is simple, sow them in May.
At the end of our meeting, the light was fading, and the temperature was dropping, Chris went off to the allotments to feed two cats. He has enjoyed his many years, forty-nine in total, tending his allotment, but the society is equally indebted to him for all his hours as a most willing volunteer.
