Plotting Our Path
The Beginning
Nowadays the committee meets once a month throughout the year. However, during the years 1921 and 1922 there were four extraordinary general meetings and twenty-two committee meetings. It is thanks to the endeavours of those volunteers a hundred years ago that we enjoy the amenities we are so lucky to have today. It was during this time that the company was formed, the first of association of its kind to own their very own allotments.
The following year 810 feet of cattle proof fencing was erected to keep out cows as Shirley Avenue and the surrounding roads were still pastures. The brook was cleared, the sleeper bridges were built and the huts put up. 256 plots were allocated and the social section became well established. David Cooper, a past president was responsible for maintaining a wonderful record of the society’s activities since its inception and as such we owe him a huge sense of gratitude. It is on these records that this and future articles are based.
During 1923, which incidentally was very wet, a tennis club was formed behind the present trading centre and a year later a sports pavilion was built. A water supply was laid on from Glenthorne Avenue and new gates erected. The very first dinner of the Society was held at the Cafe’ Royal Croydon and became an annual event. The Annual General Meetings took place at the hut that adjoined St Luke’s Church, Spring Lane, Woodside.
Forward two years to 1925 in which the weather was completely opposite to 1923, by being very dry, that year the Annual Show was opened by the Mayor of Croydon. The Social Club thrived, holding whist drives and monthly dances. The Allotment Society continued to develop thanks entirely to the volunteers of the day who held the same sense of common purpose as we do today, over a hundred years later. We also strive to grow our fruit and vegetables with wet years and then dry ones. We too have volunteers who continue to develop the furtherance of the society and who give their time freely in many different capacities.
Thanks and acknowledgements to David Cooper, a past president for his wonderful records.
We hope you find these short snippets of history telling how the Society was formed and grew into the pleasant place we all enjoy today interesting and informative.
