Introduction
The material on this page was written in haste, as part of a very determined attempt to retain my two allotments, due to be taken from me. I was successful. The material here will be revised and extended.
This is just one of many gardening pages on this site, and one of various pages concerned with Sheffield, South Yorkshire - aspects which have much more than local significance. The Home Page gives ready access to these pages.
There's a supplementary section at the end of this column, not concerned with my own allotments but about allotments which are discussed on this page. This was an issue I brought to the attention of the Allotment Officer at the time, the person who is still the Allotment Officer. I don't name her anywhere.
I believe that there are such things as 'allotment values,' which involve good uses of allotment land. There are other uses of the land which, I'd argue, aren't suitable. The supplementary section has a long title (clicking on the long title takes you to the section):
My view is that the users of this land, two organizations, were treated with incredible leniency, amounting to immunity, almost. I explain why in the section.
The gardening pages include comment on wide-ranging environmental benefits of innovations I've made, providing flexible responses to environmental threats - drought, flooding, excessively high temperatures and low temperatures, and other problems. When I took on these allotments, there was a very old and very large greenhouse in the upper allotment. It collapsed during strong winds. After clearing away the mass of rusting metal and broken glass, I decided to build a greenhouse on the same site, a very strong greenhouse that could withstand very severe weather. I designed and constructed a new kind of greenhouse, not just strong but with many environmental benefits. The polycarbonate panels are removable, with multiple benefits. One is the ability to control the internal temperature with great flexibility. For example, in hot weather, all the panels can be removed to increase ventilation.
When all the panels are removed, natural rainwater can water the crops, so that watering with mains water is often unnecessary. In an era of increasing water shortages, this is a very substantial advantage. At the local level, this innovation can obviously reduce the demand for mains water at the allotment site. There are water collecting surfaces on the structure and more can be added, with the water directed to external storage containers.
In my view, many green roofs have limitations. In this greenhouse, I used a new roofing system for the construction of a sloping roof extension. This is very easy to construct and incorporates layers. At the top layer is a green roof, where the roof plants are vines and hop plants which have climbed to the roof from ground level.
There's information on other pages about the environmental benefits of my innovations in farming - the large scale growing of grapes, apples and other crops - and the environmental benefits of radical new structures and techniques in the construction of doors, windows, roofs and walls. Again, the Home Page gives ready access to these pages. They are based on much more detailed documents which have led to the issue of three Patents Pending in the United States.
The section marked with a cross in the reduced size version above of part of the Home Page shows where to find the very brief introductions to the pages on the Patents Pending, with some of their environmental benefits and links to the pages.
This page is very varied. It includes some material which is practical, material on the benefits of the growing techniques but the emphasis is mainly different. This is a particular story with what may seem a narrow focus, but the wider relevance should be obvious.
This is a story of poor standards, unfairness and more than a little incompetence, the standards shown in this case by a Sheffield Allotment Officer but I don't in the least have general criticism to make of this Allotment Officer or the Sheffield Allotment Office.
I have a page which presents a very concise but very appreciative portrait of Sheffield: Sheffield Dales. More on that page below. There's material on other pages which gives a critical view of some aspects of Sheffield, aspects which are very unenlightened - but I stress the fact that these are failings which are far outweighed by the strengths. I take the same view of Sheffield Allotment Office: warm appreciation outweighing the very mistaken decision taken in this case, and the mistaken handling of the case discussed in the supplementary section.
This is a very critical page, is part. The criticism is largely confined to a single person, who has been able to make misguided decisions in a system in need of overhaul, I think. I emphasize the fact that an individual may well be under pressure, may not have adequate freedom of action, that there may well be extenuating circumstances. The material here has relevance to local government and to matters far beyond the sphere of local government.
I don't claim in the least that this official is generally incompetent and has abysmal standards. I've reason for thinking that she's very conscientious and capable. I'm only making the claim that she can't possibly have observed all the things or many of the things she claims to have observed, that she's misinterpreted the slender evidence available to her. She has missed so many things, for the simple reason that from the viewpoints she had available, it was impossible to see nearly enough. I do claim that in this case, she failed, and failed comprehensively.
The page Sheffield Dales gives a picture of Sheffield, the city where I live, which contains no criticism at all. It shows my warm appreciation of the place. But I'm not in the business of attracting business to Sheffield or attracting visitors to Sheffield - although I think that the material on the page, including the images on the page, won't deter visitors in the least. It should show people from outside the city that this is a remarkable place.
The Allotments here are on a site which I don't name. The allotments are the ones managed by the Sheffield Allotment Office. The specific allotments are the two allotments I've cultivated for twenty years. There are many images, large and small, showing these allotments of mine on the Home Page of the site. The larger images are towards the top of the page, after some text. The specific issues addressed on this page are 'matters arising' from receipt of this notice: FOR THE ATTENTION OF Mr PAUL HURT
I, [name omitted here] Countryside Service Manager, duly authorised agent of the SHEFFIELD CITY COUNCIL (hereinafter called the 'Council') for and on behalf of the Council HEREBY GIVE YOU NOTICE TO QUIT and deliver up on the
19 October 2024
the possession of the plot number 111 and premises with all appurtenances, which you now hold of the Council situated at Morley Street Allotments. [another document with identical wording, except for the numbering of the allotments, informed me that I had to vacate the other allotment, number 112.]
And matters arising from two letters signed by the Allotment Officer. Again, the wording was identical, except for the number of the allotments. An extract:
'I recently completed a formal inspection of the above Allotment site. I observed no significant improvement in the condition of your plot, which remains overgrown and substantially uncultivated, despite previous correspondence. As a result I enclose a formal Notice to Quit your plot due to non cultivation.'
The timing is cause for concern - very much so. The letters were dated 18 September 2024. This is a long time after the original inspections, which took place in June. I carried out all kinds of work but the second inspection will not have taken note of the condition of the allotments in June or early July but the condition in September. By this time, many, many allotments are not looking very good. Foliage is dying or dead, there will have been a great deal of weed growth which will require attention, but which will often be attended to later or much later, during an autumn clear up.
In fact, there was no cause for concern in the condition of the allotments at the time when the second inspection was made. The condition was definitely within the acceptable range. The work I've carried out recently has produced obvious improvements but not very much work was needed to carry out these improvements. To me, the claims made are exaggerated - ludicrous, showing obvious bias.
These very unwelcome documents were received at a time when I'd received not long before other, very welcome documents from the United States, legal documents from the firm of patent attorneys working on my behalf to further my three patent pendings in the country. The documents are intricate and technical and needed very close attention. These patent pending innovations of mine have very wide ranging environmental benefits. The pages on this site where I discuss them are introduced on the Home Page.
These are the addresses of the United States patents pending pages:
https://www.linkagenet.com/phd/vineyard-orchard-polytunnel-growing.htm
www.linkagenet.com/phd/new-window-door-system.htm
https://www.linkagenet.com/phd/new-roofing-walling-system.htm
In the section which follows, I give a copy of an email sent to the Sheffield Allotment Office which outlines my reasons for delaying cultivating the land I rent from the Council this year: principally, the state of my health (I have a longstanding medical condition and I'm in the older age group) and the fact that recently, in the last growing year in particular, there have been evident signs of diminishing returns in terms of the yield and quality of the produce in large areas of the allotment which weren't due to any decline in my skills or my level of effort but which were due to declining fertility, the fact that the soil was rapidly becoming exhausted, due to the fact that it had been cultivated so intensively over such a long period of time. I have the Biological and Chemical and Biochemical knowledge and the practical experience of growing to have very good grounds for this view. I decided that the soil in these areas needed a rest, that it was time to leave these areas fallow for this growing season.
After receiving the warning letter, I sprayed all the growing areas for annual plants with the weedkiller Growmore. The growing areas included areas infested with difficult weeds, such as creeping buttercup and couch grass. I've used Growmore very sparingly at the allotments. For a long time, I gardened only organically, but I came to the conclusion that organic methods are unrealistic in some circumstances. Japanese knotweed can't be controlled adequately by organic methods. Many other weeds can be controlled organically, but only with a massive expenditure of time and effort which would make it impossible to cope with other gardening problems - or the ordinary responsibilities of everyday life.
The application of glyphosate was effective. I can state that none of the growing areas which were used for sowing and planting in previous years, which would have been used this year, if it weren't for the particular circumstances of this year, were overgrown. There has been only a small amount of obvious new growth in those areas.
It's very likely, I think, that if the Allotment Officer were standing on Morley Street, looking from the pavement towards the south , with some - but not all - of the lower allotment visible and some - but hardly any - of the upper allotment visible, only a little of the greenhouse, she will have observed on the left side of the allotment a very vigorous vine growing against the boundary wall which separates this allotment from the school grounds. She will no doubt have noticed that the vine has spread far beyond the wall area and has covered the top surface of a structure I built. It used to be the main composter for the allotment but is now used for storage. It's very likely that she took this to be evidence of the 'overgrown' state. If so, she would be very mistaken.
The vine is 'Brandt,' which is a very useful, very vigorous and very attractive plant. The grapes it gives in such profusion are small but well flavoured, well worth having. The plant takes up only a small area of land but offers many rewards. I constructed a large and strong framework against the wall to encourage the growth of Brandt. When it had grown extensively on the wall, I was pleased and even more pleased when I found encouraging signs that it would be spreading further.
I encouraged the plant to grow towards the wooden structure. After many years of use, the structure was beginning to look rather worn and I wanted the plant to hide some of it - and to give a higher yield of the sweet grapes. I put in place wires leading from the wall area. I installed a curved wire mesh panel on top of the structure to encourage the plant to grow there. I also wanted the plant to grow downwards, to some extent, after reaching the edges of the structure, to hide some at least of the sides.
I was successful, but I knew that the plant wouldn't fail. I now have a much greater expanse of fruit and foliage which to me has visual impact. The impact on the sensibilties of the Allotment Officer will likely have been different, but I see absolutely no reason why the subjective opinions of the Allotment Officer should be the only ones which count. I see no reason why the subjective opinions of the Allotment Officer should have such consequences for myself.
Next to the vine 'Brandt' is a section of hop growth. By no stretch of the imagination can this be called excessive growth. The dominance of Brandt is clear. I planted the ornamental hop simply because I find it a beautiful plant, and because aesthetic values are very important to me, as they are to so many people. Any view of allotment gardening which treats active ugliness as completely unimportant, any view of allotment gardening which treats beauty, attractiveness, aesthetic values as completely unimportant, is a view which I don't share in the least.
I planted against one side of the greenhouse another hop plant, which has practical uses in brewing, although it's less attractive than the golden hop.
More observations on the possible views of the Allotment Officer whilst standing on Morley Street, looking at allotment number 112 - her views as a critic and the views which were possible for her, the things which she could see from this viewpoint and the things which she could not possibly see, or see with extreme difficulty. The view into this allotment from a different viewpoint, the path leading to the gate of this allotment and the gate of the upper allotment, is quite extensive but is blocked by apple trees - apple trees which bear a very good yield of fruit, even if she did not notice it, or chose not to take it into account. The view is not nearly as extensive as the view from the road. The view from the path into the top allotment is so restricted as to make the conclusion of the Allotment Officer - that I should lose the allotment - invalid.
She may not have noticed all the fruit on the apple trees from the road viewpoint, but she couldn't possibly not have noticed the evidence from the path viewpoint. A good yield of fruit, like a good yield of potatoes or runner beans, should certainly be taken into account.
She will have been able to see from the road viewpoint only a little of the large area of open ground which had been treated with glyphosate, with the weeds successfully eliminated. None of this area is visible from the path viewpoint. These are images of potato plants in this area in some previous years. The potato variety is 'Kestrel.' The yield and the overall quality last year were nothing like as good, one of the reasons which persuaded me that remedial action was essential, taking land out of cultivation this growing season for the sake of much better crops later.
She would have been able to see from the road two platforms, smaller and much larger but would have had a view of them which was necessarily idadequate. These are used for container gardening. The smaller area supports only one galvanized steel container, used for growing herbs, the larger area has a much greater variety, at different levels, with containers of different capacities, large and small, differentmaterials, galvanized steel and plaltic, with different uses, for growing strawberries, for growing lettuce, and for the watering needs of these plants, two large water storage containers. Strawberries were growing here at the time of her inspection visit, but were too far away for her to notice. This was one of many facts which falsified her assumption that cultivation was practically non-existent at my allotments.
I think it's very, very likely that she failed to notice, or rather to identify, the hazel trees. These are important, as I see it, for more than one reason. They are in two rows. Both rows are towards the boundary of the lower allotment on the West side. The prevailing winds are westerly, of course, and these trees act as windbreaks. Many gardeners overlook the effects of wind in reducing plant growth, reducing yields. Strong winds can have destructive effects on plants and structures, of course. I'm glad to have the reassurance of the hazel trees' protection.
The hazel nuts produced by these trees are produced in abundance. Their nutritional advantages are very high. Their protein content is far higher than that of any other plant grown in allotments. The nuts need to be harvested early, to avoid large losses from grey squirrels. The trees are easily managed. They have advantages over labour-intensive crops, important for older gardeners like myself. They need to be pruned and often pruned drastically. I carried out pruning before the growing season began this year.
From the road, looking up into the lower allotment, immediately to the right of the long path are two large hazel trees. The lower tree obscures the view to a large extent of the tree just above it on the slope. When I began winter pruning of hazel trees early in the year, there were not two hazel trees here but three. I decided that three was excessive and that the tree in the lowest position here would have to go. I cut down the tree and the stump of the tree is still there, showing the position it occupied. I used the branches of the tree, and its trunk, in the construction of a winbreak at the top left corner of the allotment, where there was no hedge between this allotment of mine and a neighbouring allotment. This windbreak is useful in protection from easterly winds, less common than westerly winds but in winter, far colder.
The important point is that all three trees were quite tall but not very tall at the time of pruning and felling and were easily managed. It didn't take long to prune the trees which were allowed to stay and to deal with the tree which I cut down.
I'm very surprised that the remaining trees have grown so large since then. I'm familiar with the fact that apple trees can grow very vigorously after very hard pruning, and avoid pruning very hard for that reason. I've never pruned the hazel trees very hard. In this case, the pruning was more drastic and has had those results. I intended to bring the trees back into shape, to reduce their height and spread, but not by further drastic pruning.
From the path viewpoint, the Allotment Officer will have been able to obtain evidence of good crops on the apple trees from much more closely - but seems not to have taken the evidence into account at all. She will also have been able to see the extensive growth of Nasturtium plants - edible, a perfectly legitimate part of allotment gardening for food production. I very much doubt that she took this into account.
She will also have noticed from the path viewpoint (or did she?) the hedging that I have been working on, hawthorn hedging on the boundary of the lower allotment and a short length of beech hedging on the boundary of the upper allotment. She may well have misinterpreted what she was seeing. She may have taken the hawthorn and the beech as evidence of nature 'taking over,' interfering with the official privet hedging - which is convenient and very, very common but which has many disadvantages.
She will have found that I installed security fencing as a gate for the top allotment. She will have noticed, almost certainly, that a large part of the lower section has been bent outwards. Obviously, an attempt was made to force entry into the allotment by vandals or thieves, more likely, thieves. The damage would have been caused by use of a substantial tool.
At an early stage, I took great care to improve security here, after the experience of theft and attempted theft: the taking of the petrol tiller I had - I used hand tools for a long time after that - the theft of most of my hand tools, found in another allotment, retrieved after being dumped, and an attempt to remove a strong security fixing on the garden shed, which again will have required a strong piece of equipment.
She should have been able to see easily, just inside the entrance, a redcurrant bust and a blueberry bush - neither rampant or overgrown. She would have been able to see adequately, further away, a row of grape vines (variety: Regent, a red grape variety) growing on a long, neat support which I built.
She will not have been able to see the large and healthy rhubarb plants growing towards the rear of this allotment. She will easily have been able to see the large and healthy rhubarb plants growing at the front of the lower allotment, very near the road. Is rhubarb too humble a plant to be taken into account in the assessment procedure? Rhubarb is far from insignificant for me.
She may just about have been able to see a support and a row of containers, edge on, in the centre, in front of the allotment shed which I constructed, but will not have known that these containers were used for growing watercress.
This is a small allotment. There's space for only one more or less level growing area, used last year for growing courgettes. This is an area infested with creeping buttercup. It was sprayed with glyphosate earlier in the year.
Completely out of sight, at the left boundary, are two trees, a Bramley apple tree and a cider apple tree, variety Dabinett. They were planted only a few years ago but are already giving worthwhile yields.
Although there are security issues at this top allotment, the lower allotment is far more vulnerable, with much longer boundaries. For this reason, I took the decision to have only very limited storage space in the lower allotment - in the structure which used to be a composter, and in a very small part of the small shelter I constructed on the larger platform.
The areas available for storage in the upper allotment are correspondingly greater, in the original garden shed which I bought, which was not large enough and which was supplemented with the storage space available in the structure which I built and in part of the greenhouse which I built, which is made up of growing area, storage area, solar composter area and pond area. The pond area is used by frogs and is useful for water storage.
She will not have been able to see inside the greenhouse as part of her inspection. She would have found that towards the apex there was a long length of vine, variety Regent and just outside this area, vertical growth, giving a very good yield of grapes which are substantially larger than the grapes produced by the Brandt vine in the lower allotment.
Well, I have my allotments - but for how much longer, if the Allotment Officer and Sheffield Allotment Office have their way. [Written before I was informed that the allotments would not be taken away after all.] would not be taking place.]In my allotments, I have orchards, and a greenhouse - which I've built with a concern for harmoniousness, grace and strength as well as for the practical purpose of growing.
An email sent to the Allotment Office
This isn't an exact copy. There are omissions and in the case of some paragraphs, the material has been revised slightly or presented as a paraphrase. The email was a preliminary statement, appearing before the much fuller material on this page.
This statement is lengthy and detailed, including material on my approach to growing. I can easily justify the length and the level of detail, necessary to do justice to the issues ...
I intend to revise and extend the material here, so that I have available thorough documentation. Selections can be made in a form suitable for wider distribution. The choice of recipients is yet to be decided. I could bring it to the attention of selected media operations - from time to time, I have contact with the local and national media - but this is unlikely.
The Star newspaper published an article on my allotment activities which can be viewed at
https://www.thestar.co.uk/
which, however, is only available to subscribers or those registered to view online content of 'The Star.' The article begins, 'Paul Hurt was born in Sheffield, to a working class family of four children, and has lived in the city most of his life, A city which he says is wonderful for growers like himself.'
I now find that the Sheffield Allotment Department is not nearly so wonderful as I supposed for a grower like myself.
Supplementary, not mentioned in the original email: I grew up in an age very different from this one. We had no bathroom. We used a tin bath brought up from the cellar every Friday night. We had no inside toilet. My first job was as a builder's labourer.
I have cultivated these allotments for some twenty years. In that time, I have taken part in the annual allotment competition on a few occasions, putting forward for judging the lower allotment, the larger of the two allotments, and have a record of success. In one year, this was judged the best allotment on site. In another year, it was placed third in a city-wide category.
The national media have contacted me on occasion for comment and to contribute to articles due to be published, without my needing to approach any of these media outlets myself, although on matters which so far haven't included gardening or allotments. I don't intend to contact the media but I'd draw attention to the fact that one thing can lead to another, wrong decisions can have unintended consequences, bringing adverse publicity to people and to organizations.
The personal circumstances of allotment holders will sometimes be relevant in deciding whether or not to take away their allotment or allotments. I fully recognize that Sheffield Allotment Office has enormous responsibilities, with a very large number of allotments and allotment holders. It would be unrealistic and unreasonable to expect the decisions to take into account personal circumstances in the vast majority of cases but all the same, the procedure should surely make available to those affected a means of making known circumstances in certain cases.
[I provided some information about medical conditions which have played some part in my use of my allotments this year. I decided that it was advisable to provide some fairly specific information. I also gave the information that I'm in the older age group. I took on the two allotments not long before I took early retirement from my place of work.]
This year, I have had health issues which have preoccupied me a great deal ... [Information provided in the email, not provided here.] This is a year when I have been preoccupied by issues which have prevented me from giving to the allotments as much time and attention as in previous years, I have, however, had an overall cultivation plan in mind, details of which will emerge.
...
When I took on the two allotments, they had been unused for a long period of time. It seems that they were not regarded as desirable. If so, this was for good reason. The evidence is that the soil in both allotments, particularly the lower allotment, was infertile. There were brambles in abundance but no profuse growth of weeds, such as nettles. Nettles require fertile soil to flourish.
During the early part of my occupation of the allotments, I cleared brambles, made compost and carried out other action t make the soil fertile and usable for growing crops. [The lower allotment was infested with brambles. I cleared them with a scythe - interesting, exhilarating work. I couldn't have chose a better method. I bought the scythe blade from the factory which manufactures them, down in the Loxley Valley, not much more than five minutes walk from these allotments. I'm always very glad to support Sheffield manufacturers. A significant number of my workshop tools were manufactured in Sheffield.] For year after year, I have carried out all the necessary work to grow crops and I would claim that I have had great success. I have documentation in the form of photographs to show that.
Over the years, I have had few problems with pests. Years ago, I constructed a large pond. This had practical applications - it was convenient to use a watering can filled with water from the pond to water crops growing in that area - and usefulness in control of pests. Year after year, the pond has been used by frogs and very large numbers of tadpoles have swum in the water. The young frogs which have emerged are sure to have had a beneficial effects, by eating a variety of pests, and not only benefits for this allotment. They will have spread far beyond. There's a smaller pond in the upper allotment, again used by frogs, and again with practical uses.
I decided to construct a second large water facility, less wide than the pond, not quite so long, but deep and accommodating a similar large volume of water, this new facility to be used purely for collecting rainwater and water storage, to reduce dependence upon the mains water provided at the site. When there were tadpoles swimming in the water, using a watering can was difficult - tadpoles found their way in, as well as water. I finished excavating the soils, bought the underlay and the liner - expensive, and of good quality - and I intended to install the underlay and the liner this autumn, so that I could begin to use this now water collecting and water storage facility. The materials I bought have been in storage at the upper allotment and now, I am expected to remove them, I am expected to abandon this and other projects. I find that far more than disappointing - deeply unfair.
I have bought a wide range of large galvanized steel containers from agricultural suppliers, with a variety of uses. Some of them are used for water storage, some for container gardening, the growing of herbs, lettuce and strawberries. Other containers have other uses, including the growing of watercress. the Allotment Officer evidently did not see much of what is grown in the allotments - in the case of the upper allotment, practically nothing. She will not have noticed these crops and seems to have not noticed the crops growing in the ground. There are very many of these, as I explain later.
I have undertaken many projects in water collection, at both allotments. Years ago, I and others received the information that water use at the Morley Street allotments was in excess of the water used at other Sheffield allotment sites and that action needed to be taken to reduce water use. I have made attempts to do just that. I installed a framework in a large area to support a temporary water-collecting surface, easily removed, to divert rainwater towards the pond. In the upper allotment, I installed another water-collecting surface, again, easily removed, to divert rainwater to a galvanized steel storage vessel. I found this system so useful that I decided not to install it temporarily but to leave it in place, using the adjacent area for walking instead of what used to be the path.
I have had few problems with pests but, unavoidably, many problems with weeds. The worst cases are in the top allotment, where creeping buttercup has made growing difficult. Last year, the courgette crop which took up much of the available growing area was disappointing. I decided to apply glyphosate to this area and other areas. I have made only sparing use of glyphosate. I used to garden organically, but for a long time, I have found reason to use glyphosate as an effective and realistic control method.
Last year, the largest area in the lower allotment was used for growing potatoes. Again, the crop was disappointing. Again, there is a weed problem, in this case from couch grass.
After I received the initial notice claiming non-cultivation and giving the warning of possible eviction, I did in fact, spray all the growing areas available for cultivation of crops this year with glyphosate. Then there was a waiting period, necessary for the glyphosate to take effect, all this with the sowing and planting time advancing. The weeds were successfully killed. the Allotment Officer will have seen dead weeds in the areas which will have been visible to her - only a proportion of the whole. She seems not to have noticed that this was necessary preparation for making use of the land to grow crops.
The disappointing potato crops last year and other disappointing crops last year, for example, courgettes, were an exception to the successful crops which I've grown for year after year, for a long period of time. I came to the conclusion that it was possible or likely that it was the intensity of cultivation over this period which was part of the problem. A tactic which may well be needed to grow crops with a good yield is to rest the soil as part of a plan to restore soil fertility. I have studied the evidence. Farmers make use of 'fallow' conditions, not growing crops for a year or even longer, to restore the soil. Farmers lose income for making use of this technique. I have no income whatsoever from this land, of course, and can afford to take the land out of cultivation for a growing season.
For many years, not every year but often, I've had manure deposited on an area adjacent to the road of the lower allotment, bought from a farmer who uses a tractor with a bucket at the front to unload the manure. The last time I used this service, it took me a long time before I was able to obtain the manure. This year, I've made determined attempts to obtain manure. I wanted to spread manure in the extensive areas where the weeds had been killed. In my planning, I took account of the fact that these areas would be unusable for quite a long time, since seeds cannot be sown, crops not planted, in areas with fresh manure. There is a waiting period to allow for breakdown of the manure. This confirmed my decision that the land would have to be rested this year and soon, the period for successful sowing and planting of most crops had passed.
So, what has been assumed to be 'non-cultivation' is instead a determined effort to bring back the soil to a condition in which crops can be successfully grown, with yields similar to those which I have obtained over the years.
As well as growing a wide range of food crops in the obvious areas, I have also made use of marginal or sub-marginal areas. The Allotment Officer is sure to have noticed the cheery flowers of Nasturtium growing on a large and steep North-facing bank of the lower allotment. These can easily be seen from the path leading to the gates of the two allotments. She may not be aware that Nasturtiums are also food plants, and can be used as salad vegetables and in cooking.
The Allotment Officer has obviously overlooked many, many crops which should have been obvious, most obviously the apple crops. There are also the many, many crops which were out of sight but which fuller acquaintance would have revealed. Almost all the apple trees I planted provide apples which are late season, harvested in October and November. The fact that I am due to lose almost all this substantial crop, after working so hard to tend the trees, to prune the trees, is a big blow.
I have a strong interest in fruit growing, and in an activity which is far less common but, in my view, very rewarding, nut growing, hazel nut growing. When I planted apple trees and plum trees and hazelnut trees, a fig tree, redcurrant bushes, raspberry bushes and blueberry bushes - and grape vines - this was the result of an interest but as time has gone on, I have found an advantage which was not apparent at the time. Fruit trees and fruit bushes and hazelnut trees are managed in general more easily than is the case with annual crops such as potatoes, courgettes and salad vegetables. (Tomatoes are different of course. Their growing is time-consuming.) To someone in the older age group, this relative ease or lesser degree of difficulty, is a very important consideration.
I pruned these trees and bushes during the dormant period last winter, as always. The weather of this year's growing period has been in general disappointing, in terms of well-being, but the growth of these trees and bushes has been very vigorous and many or most have lost their compact size.
However it was possible for the Allotment Officer not to notice the abundant evidence of the fruit crops I've no idea. The apples on the apple trees and other evidence were available but obviously not taken into account. Some of the apple trees produce dessert fruit but all of the apple varieties grown can be used for making fruit juice and cider. This seemed to me the best use of the apples. The yield is far too high for the apples to be used by me for eating. At an early stage, I converted my apple press, operated by hand, to hydraulic power and since then have designed and constructed different hydraulic presses of much larger size, to make use of the high yield. I also have an electrical juicer.
To deprive me of the use of the allotments has severe consequences for me in terms of equipment uses: no use for the hydraulic equipment I've constructed or this electrical juicer. I bought a whole range of new equipment to replace equipment which was old, or, in the case of a petrol-driven tiller, stolen from a shed in the upper allotment a long time ago - I've used hand tools for digging and other purposes since then.
I've paid a lot of money to buy a Mantis powered tiller, equipment for hedge trimming and equipment for grass cutting. All this equipment is so new that I haven't had the chance to use it often. These are items to be added to the large galvanized steel containers and other items to be added to the long list of outgoings, things bought, with no compensating advantage of gains, the crops which would amply justify the cost of these things.
I intended the hedge cutter to be used less and less, for smaller and smaller lengths of hedge. One project which I began was replacement where possible of privet hedging with native hedging plants which have greater aesthetic value, need trimming less often, and have greater value for wildlife. I've planted hawthorn hedging, blackthorn hedging and beech hedging. I've spent money and time on a project which I believe was worth carrying out.
The grape vines were planted only a few years ago. The yield has been steadily increasing but has not reached maximum production. The loss of these grape vines, to be deprived of what are after all the fruits of my labour, is obviously something which will not have been taken into account in the decision of the Allotment Office, but I certainly take it into account. I take the view that the loss isn't at all a minor one.
As it happens, I have a strong interest in growing grapes for various reasons, but one of them is this: for a long time, the vineyard at Renishaw Hall, just outside Sheffield, was the most Northerly vineyard in Europe. Since then, with increasingly warm growing seasons, vineyards have spread north and can now be found even in North Yorkshire. This pleases me so much. I have felt privileged to be able to grow a crop which is so rewarding, so evocative, which has so many suggestions of the warm South at these northerly latitudes.
I have taken my interest in growing grape vines further. I have developed a new system of supporting grape vines which has very substantial, wide-ranging environmental advantages, mitigating the effects of drought, extremely high temperatures and very low temperatures, conserving water, and also benefitting the welfare of workers, incorporating facilities for transporting heavy loads.
I have three Patents Pending registered in the United States. The New Vineyard System is at an advanced stage. The other two patents are concerned with buildings - roofs, walls, windows and doors, again, with substantial, wide-ranging environmental benefits.
I also have a strong interest in the cultivation of hazelnut trees. Their growth is vigorous but they are kept in check by pruning in the dormant period. At the time of planting, I had never seen a squirrel in the allotments but they eventually moved in. The loss of nuts from the ravages of squirrels can be prevented by harvesting the nuts early, a disadvantage, but not outweighing the benefits: the nuts are easy to grow and have outstanding nutritional value. This is one more loss for me, to add to all the others.
When I visited the two allotments for the first time since I received the initial letter concerned with alleged 'non-cultivation,' I saw that the plant growth on the path leading to the gates of the allotments was profuse and off-putting, in particular, the brambles. I would point out that almost all of this growth was not my responsibility. Almost all of the total length of the path, from the junction with other paths to these gates, was bounded by allotments other than mine. The growth, including the brambles, came from these allotments. In the short section which is bounded by my allotments, upper and lower, is a length of the hawthorn hedging, two small lengths of privet hedging, with some vigorous but not excessive growth and a length of beech hedging, at a very early stage. I used my new hedge cutter to make a great deal of the privet hedging less profuse.
I did a great deal of weed clearing in that long section of path but decided not to do any more, since, I've already explained, it was not my responsibility. If the Allotment Officer found that the very act of approaching my allotments was difficult, then as I see it, the blame was not mine.
I think it likely that there are many people who take on allotments not, primarily, for growing food plants but for other reasons, such as encouragement of wildlife or wild flowers. I always put the emphasis upon growing food plants. At the same time, I've made a great effort to encourage wildlife and wild flowers and I have a record of success.
The large pond in the lower allotment attracts dragonflies - to be exact, one per season. The territoriality of dragonflies excludes the possibility of more. There's an abundance of damselflies. This year has been by far the best for growth and flowering of the native British water lily, Nymphaea alba. The flowers of these plants are of astonishing beauty.
In the grassy area between the two productive rows of hazelnut trees, there are now bluebells in the spring. I've planted many wildflowers outside the growing areas and others have found their way here, a source of great joy for me. This is an incomplete list of the native British wild plants to be found in these two allotments (in the case of Pilosella aurantiaca, widely naturalised rather than native.) There are photographs of all these in rows on the Home Page of the site.
Cardamine pratensis (Lady's Smock), Persicaria bistorta (Bistort), Malva moschata (Musk Mallow), Campanula rotundifolia (Harebell), Succisa pratensis (Devil's-bit Scabious), Ulex europaeus (Gorse), Chrysanthemum segetum (Corn Marigold), Linaria vulgais (Common Toadflax), Iris pseudacorus (Yellow Flag), Typha latifolia (Common Reedmace), Primula vulgaris Primrose), Comarum palustre (Marsh Cinquefoil), Mentha aquatica (Water Mint), Humulus lupulus (Hop), Lythrum salicaria (Purple Loosestrife), Leucanthemum vulgare (Ox-eye Daisy), Verbascum thapsus (Great Mullein), Silene dioica (Red Campion), Pilosella aurantiaca (Orange Hawkweed), Agrostemma githago (Corncockle), Filipendula ulmaria (Meadowsweet), Alliaria petiolata (Garlick Mustard), Caltha palustris (Marsh-marigold), Eupatorium cannabinum (Hemp Agrimony), Digitalis purpurea (Foxglove), Myosotis scorpioides (Water Forget-me-not), Myosotis sylvatica (Wood forget-me-not), Geum rivale (Water Avens), Lonicera periclymemum (Honeysuckle), Lysimachia nummularia (Creeping Jenny).
I have a very strong interest in swifts, to me, the most astonishing of birds, threatened, with steadily declining numbers in Sheffield and virtually everywhere. The city now has more people than ever concerned with swifts. This year, I designed and constructed swift boxes which are radically new - easily constructed and easily placed. Unlike conventional boxes, they do not require working at a height, drilling holes for the fixings which secure the boxes.
I intended to use one box in the next season at my own house, attached outside a bedroom window and one box at the lower allotment, attached to the top of the boundary wall separating the lower allotment from the yard of the neighbouring school. This is a further project which has been dealt a blow by the completely unnecessary, radically flawed decision to deprive me of my allotments. It will be evident that I intend to vigorously contest the decision, that I have already taken the first steps to do so.
I have shown very strong commitment to these allotments for so long. I have worked long and hard, day after day. During one winter, I did not miss a single day, except for a very few days when there was snow on the ground. In the very hot summer of 2023, I remember a day when I visited the allotments. By then, the temperature had reached 40 Celsius. I am dismayed by the receipt of those letters giving me notice to quite - to be frank, disgusted.
It will be necessary for me to contact you again. I have other material which I would like to bring to your attention.
And other emails
[For the time being, there are formatting issues affecting the material in this section. These will be addressed. They do not affect the content.]
The Allotment Officer's seeming lack of action with respect to these two organizations can be contrasted with her decisive action in my case. I take the view that she allowed Council land to be used in ways which were manifestly impermissible, such uses as the dumping of hazardous rubbish - or rather, did nothing to rectify the situation and to apply sanctions. She apparently made no attempt to warn the users of the land when they had failed to use more than a minute - a negligible - part of the land for the growing of food crops. She apparently raised no objections to hedges which were something like 8 metres high. I take the view that she was operating a 'two tier' policy, with some users given I
plot holders at a statutory allotment, or rather more than one allotment (the group was granted 4 allotments) has failed to adhere to the terms of their tenancy. In granting permission to a religious group to use
to a standard of reasonable care while performing any acts that could foreseeably harm others.
It is the first element that must be established to proceed with an action in negligence. I assume that these considerations are applicable to the case of the Lower Walkley Community Group and
the Morley Street Garden Church and assume further that the Garden Church's proposal to make use of the land raises legal issues but again, I stress the limitations of my legal knowledge. Obviously, you'll have access to far more informed sources of legal opinion.
If, as I hope the decision is that Church events can't go ahead, I won't have to spend time on this particular matter. I'll be able to give all my attention to interests and activities which are more congenial and more rewarding to me.
in its own right. These recent photographs of sections of the long pile of rubbish at the Lower Walkley Community Group garden surely show shocking neglect. Why didn't the Allotment Department do something about it long ago - the pile has been there for years? I know that my own allotments and the allotments of other people have been inspected regularly, including inspection of the state of the hedges. Why was the Lower Walkley Community Group garden not inspected, including inspection of the state of the hedges? The heap is still there. The privet hedges are still
enormously high, blocking the light to the plants in the allotment space.
5 October 2021
https://www.facebook.com/
'We look forward to welcoming you on the 17th October where you can find out more
about our community garden and how to get involved.'
Is this land newly acquired by the Garden Church?
'Cobden View Community Garden.' The group showed seemingly no concern for legal issues,
legal realities. Sheffield City Council had a very different view: the land was not a public open space
or right of way and the Cobden View Community Group wasn't entitled to assume that the land was theirs to use.
but which need to be reinforced. The Garden Church Facebook page mentions at one point the use of the land to promote what is referred to as 'mission.' The word has a special meaning for Christians. This is a commonly cited definition:
'A Christian mission is an organized effort to spread Christianity to new converts.'
The Facebook Page of the Garden Church has a photograph of an existing 'allotment church,' showing Jill Duff, the Bishop of Lancaster, with adults and children. Three of the children and one adult were baptized by the bishop at an event at the 'allotment church.' It's completely clear that one of the main aims of this allotment church is to convert non-Christians. This is how Sharon Collins, who is associated with the 'allotment church,' describes the 'mission' of the allotment church. She moved to an estate and then
' We
began prayer walking in
earnest around the estate,
laying hands on and claiming
places for
Jesus and just crying out,
when we got given the use of
a disused allotment in the
community, which
means we could once again
meet to worship and we
became a very public and
visible church.
"It's a
very strategic position that
God has thrown the doors out
for us. So it is wonderful
to be there.
There's some fencing that
surrounds the allotment and
we use that as well for
mission.
[Bold print supplied by
me.] So we often put posters
up with Bible verses on them
or with words of
encouragement on them.'
As I've pointed out, Sheffield City Council is under no obligation to make land available for 'missionary' work. Its obligation is very different - to supply allotment land to those wanting to cultivate it for (primarily) fruit and vegetables. People who take on allotments will have a wide range of views on religion and related matters.
It's completely
unfair to allow a group with
one particular set of views
to make allotments into a
temporary church.
The garden church at Morley Street may post photographs of a babbling brook and other peaceful scenes of nature but it shouldn't be supposed that the garden church is to be simply a place for reflection and admiring nature.
In any
case, this is an allotment
site after all and anybody,
any group which rents the
land from the Council should
be expected to follow the
Council's rules on allotment
use, such as using three
quarters of the land for
growing fruit and
vegetables, and keeping the
hedges to a reasonable
height. As I've pointed out,
Lower Walkley Community
Group seems to have been
excused from adhering to
these rules over the years -
over many years.
The Garden Church has invited people attending the inaugural event planned for October 17 at Morley Street to
'explore' the garden. As I've already pointed out, there are hazards in the garden. The Garden Church hasn't thought
things through, has failed to recognize difficulties. I've already pointed this out. I drew attention to the unsafe working
practice
shown in one photograph on
their Facebook page, the
garden fork with the
upturned tines.
One matter which I haven't already mentioned in emails to you. The Garden Church events, if they take place, are intended to last for two hours. This is at the time of year when the weather is so often very poor. Of course, at any time of year, the weather can be very poor here. What happens if there's a heavy downpour, torrential rain, and, in winter, a blizzard?
It has been made clear to me that the Garden Church will meet (if meetings are permitted, that is) no matter what the
weather.
It has been specifically
made clear to me that rain
and snow will not stop the
events. Children, of
course, will be permitted to
attend the events with
adults. Adults may choose to
tolerate the weather, any
weather, but it's alarming
and clearly hazardous if
children are exposed to
these conditions, and for up
to two hours.
I see it as important that a decision in this matter should take into account argument and evidence. I've provided
a great deal of evidence in my emails to you. I've no knowledge of what information has been provided to you
by the
Garden Church or any other
Christian group in Sheffield
...
I was very disappointed that a decision as to whether these events could proceed wasn't taken in time for the September meeting of the Garden Church, which, as I've previously mentioned took place at another venue, a field belonging to a Sheffield Church. Since the Garden Church Facebook page makes it clear that the Garden Church has every intention of holding an inaugural event on October 17 I hope that the allotment office will be
able to announce a decision soon. As always, I appreciate the demands on your time. Given the fact that Christians
have so many venues available to them, there was absolutely no need to contemplate setting up a Garden Church
on allotments, as I see it. However, people at the Garden Church will see things very differently - the Garden Church would give opportunities for 'mission,' they hope.
1 October 2021
The garden church has an entry on this Facebook events page:
The page includes this, 'Come and join us to celebrate our first service. There will be a chance to explore the garden,hear the parable of the seed and share some cake.'
I wouldn't dream of allowing members of the public to wander over my allotments. If the plotholders of the Lower Walkley Community Garden are happy to allow members of the public to wander over their
In a previous email, I gave reasons for my concern that the Lower Walkley Community Group seems to have been treated in a very lenient way in its use of the land it has rented and continues to rent. They seem to have been excused from adhering to the very reasonable requirements of the Allotment Handbook, or some of them. To mention another instance now, the hedges of their allotments are enormously high. They've had many years to carry out
the necessary work
but have failed to carry it
out - even though they
announced many years
ago that they had expertise
in traditional hedge cutting
methods. This may not
be directly relevant to the
issue of the garden church,
or perhaps it is - low
hedges allow a good view of
the allotment
interior, enormously high
hedges may hide security
risks, such as intruders
...
28 September 2021
Supplementary: The bizarre and deeply disturbing involvement of South Yorkshire Police after I gave my view that allotments near my own allotments weren't a suitable place for a garden church. Issuing of a Community Protection Notice - Written Warning.
There are extracts from an extensive page on the issues:
www.linkagenet.com/themes/fefe-christianity-south-yorkshire-police.htm
On 15 February, 2022, there was a knock at the door. Outside, two members of South Yorkshire Police. Once inside, I made them welcome and offered them chairs - the offer was refused - and I asked them what the visit was about. The visit was about just one thing. All they wanted was to issue me with a 'Community Protection Notice Written Warning' Discussion was out of the question. The two may well have been instructed not to allow it. The document included 'Details of the conduct.' That should read, 'Details of the alleged conduct'
I had sent an email to Lu Skerratt-Love, a member of St Mark's Church and employed at the time by the Church Army in Sheffield. I sent the email to her Church Army email address because I couldn't find any other email address and because, after all, the Church Army exists to promote evangelism, by a variety of methods, including garden churches and my email was about the proposal to set up a garden church in allotments near to mine. Lu Skerratt-Love was actively promoting the garden church. I was concerned about security issues and a range of other issues. There's a copy of the email, a courteous one, below. Lu Skerratt-Love never received the email, for the reason that it was blocked. I'd already sent an email with the same information to Tim Ling of the Church Army and he didn't want this employee of the Church Army to receive it. Lu Skerratt-Love has never received a single email from me but in the list of allegations (not the name given in the Community Protection Notice, which uses the term 'Details of the conduct) she claimed that she had. Details of the conduct includes this: 'When you write these emails and letters it causes great upset to Lu and her colleagues at work. This is not fair and certainly not right to do so. It is important that you realize how much you are upsetting / distressing Lu with this conduct.'
I found out later that the person who wrote all this and who took the decision to send out not one but two police officers to my house - they were here for an hour, not a good use of police time, I would have thought - was a Sergeant who was a member of the Christian Police Association, a hellfire-for-all-but-Christian-believers organization.
What was the penalty for sending a courteous email which never even reached the complainant? Quite a drastic penalty:
'By this Written Warning you are required to cease this conduct immediately.
If from this time and date, the conduct is still having a detrimental impact on the quality of life of those in the locality [What locality? The locality where I live? I've had no detrimental impact on this locality or any other.] you will be served with a Community Protection Notice. It is a criminal offence not to comply with this Notice ...
The email which she never received but which caused her so much distress that she contacted South Yorkshire Police - who took action.
Dear Lu Skerratt-Love,
'I have two allotments on the Morley Street site
in Sheffield. I was dismayed to find that the Forest Church is planning to
hold this event at Morley Street this Saturday. [11 September 2021]
The plan is disastrously misguided, surely. These are
some objections:
'The place where it is planned to hold the event
is rented land. These are Sheffield Council allotments and as such, are
subject to allotment law. The allotments are rented by Lower Walkley
Community Group (LWCG). The group's decision to give permission for the
Forest Church to hold the event was very misguided but I have evidence to
show that throughout, the use of the land by LWCG has been incompetent.
'[You are] seemingly unaware of the legislation applicable to
allotments which is intended to protect the safety of the public and the
issue of legal liability. Allotments do have hazards, and in the event of
injury to a member of the public attending the event at the 'Forest Garden,'
there could easily be severe legal consequences.
A very striking , and very off-putting feature of the garden is the very large heap of rubbish, very long as well as high - discarded plastic, rubbish of many, many kinds, with further rubbish in some Council Wheelie bins. If it's assumed that this was all left by fly tippers, it can't be the only explanation. I think these must have been left by the Group itself. [I've since received information from a reliable source, a person who has an allotment near to my own allotments, that the fly-tipping was the action of a member of the Community Garden Group. Amongst the discarded plastic containers are ones which once held organic seaweed fertilizer.
The only reply I received was this:
Delivery has failed to these recipients or groups:
Your message wasn't delivered. Despite repeatedattempts to deliver your message, the recipient's
email system refused to accept a connection from
your email system.
Lu Skerratt-Love went ahead and contacted
South Yorkshire Police, falsely claiming that
a polite email she never received was
evidence of persecution by me. South
Yorkshire chose to believe Lu Skerratt-Love,
obviously took no care to carry out proper
checks, and sent two police officers to my
house on a time-wasting errand. But the harm
amounted to much more than time-wasting.
.
