Topic: A Debate About Using a Hose Pipe

[Chrispy]

What bugs me is the charge for sewage when you water the garden.

You can claim some back, you have to prove how much of the water you use to water the garden, normally by fitting a meter on an outside tap, so it is only worth it if you use a lot.

[lincsyokel2]

thats only 15 years ago, barely yesterday. In this village theres a family who moved here in 1910, there still called 'the new family'.........

If they keep marrying outside their own family, they'll never be considered locals.

its a lie. 6  fingers and webbed feet is normal, you're the mutant :p

[lilyjean]

Thanx to everyone for your replies. Some very enlightening information, some brilliant ideas and suggestions. I feel a lot more knowledgeable!   :)

[artichoke]

<< If the hosepipe ban was in your rules when you got your plot it's more difficult to argue that the ban is unreasonable, though by no means impossible >>

Nothing about hosepipes in our rules - not mentioned at all, and I have just read them through again. The letter about being turned out for making "unauthorised attachments" was suddenly sent out last year when one of us noticed a leaking waterpipe and told the council. When they repaired it, they noticed the multiple attachments many people were making.

I have always found it easier to set up a syphon than to buy fiddly parts to fit the taps so it hasn't affected me.

Off the subject, but reading through the rules reminded me that we are supposed to "keep every hedge...properly cut and trimmed..."  This is a complete impossibility because the hedge along my plot is about 18' high, mature willows and hazels and blackthorn, fountains of brambles, saplings and suckers marching towards my plot. It's as much as I can do to keep them at bay.

Another rule is "...not to cut or prune any timber...." which perhaps lets me off.

It's quite interesting to have read them again.

[Unwashed]

Off the subject, but reading through the rules reminded me that we are supposed to "keep every hedge...properly cut and trimmed..."  This is a complete impossibility because the hedge along my plot is about 18' high, mature willows and hazels and blackthorn, fountains of brambles, saplings and suckers marching towards my plot. It's as much as I can do to keep them at bay.

Another rule is "...not to cut or prune any timber...." which perhaps lets me off.

It's quite interesting to have read them again.

Willow, hazel, and blackthorn aren't "timber".  Timber in English law means oak, ash, and elm, and maybe a few others locally, that are at least 20 years old.  Willow, hazel, and blackthorn are all underwood.  The distinction was that underwood is a crop that belongs to the tenant, but timber is part of the land itself and to cut the timber is the same as taking away the land itself.

[Robert_Brenchley]

My brother in law is third generation Cornish, and insists he's Welsh.

[artichoke]

That's interesting, unwashed. I suppose it was their using the word "prune" that distracted me, making me think of loppers and secateurs. So I can carry on cutting beanpoles as long as they are not from a oak. I did "prune" some ash to make a grandson a bow, though......

[Robert_Brenchley]

If it's part of an overgrown hedge, I'd have thought cutting it back would be fine, especially if you can point to a rule which requires it! Of course, that wouldn't apply to any 100-year-old oaks in the hedge. We have some.

[lincsyokel2]

That's interesting, unwashed. I suppose it was their using the word "prune" that distracted me, making me think of loppers and secateurs. So I can carry on cutting beanpoles as long as they are not from a oak. I did "prune" some ash to make a grandson a bow, though......

english longbows are made from Yew. You need a piece that has yew heartwood ( the dark bit) on the front edge of the bow and outer wood (the light coloured stuff) on the inner face of the bow. This is what made the english longbow the Desert Eagle of its day. The two dissimilar timbers gave the bow exceptional  power and strength

[Robert_Brenchley]

Except that English yew was no good and they used imported wood!

[lincsyokel2]

Except that English yew was no good and they used imported wood!

English Yew was perfectly good for it, and was used exclusively at first, the problem was the mass production of longbows depleted the number of yew trees in England so extensively that the king passed Statute of Westminster in 1472, every ship coming to an English port had to bring four bowstaves for every tun. Richard III increased this to ten  bowstaves for every tun. The ironic part was that most of this timber came from Germany and Austria.

In 1483, the price of bowstaves rose from £2 to £8 per hundred, and in 1510 the Venetians obtained £16 per hundred. In 1507 the Holy Roman Emperor asked the Duke of Bavaria to stop cutting yew because it was damaging the Black Forest!!!

[artichoke]

Wow! Interesting again.

I read on Wiki "Ash trees are also perfect material for old fashion shafts for bow and arrows", which could well be incorrect, but there is a huge ash tree in the corner of our allotment site, so I went for it.

[lincsyokel2]

Wow! Interesting again.

I read on Wiki "Ash trees are also perfect material for old fashion shafts for bow and arrows", which could well be incorrect, but there is a huge ash tree in the corner of our allotment site, so I went for it.

No ash is ok, but not as good as Yew. Ash makes bloody arrow shafts though, cost the grain tends to be straight. Ash is also good to turn for spade and fork handles, i have a flatbed lathe and turn my own handles, cos then i can make them longer (38" usually) as im tall and the bog standard fork handles give me backache as there too short.

[pigeonseed]

Wow where is this thread going? This is what the internet would be like if they'd invented it in 1490 instead of 1990  ;D

I will chip in on the watering topic, and say I agree with Squash64 that we should all be careful and not waste water, but we can use a hosepipe and still be careful.

I thought the question 'why would you want to use a hosepipe' was funny. Why wouldn't you want to? Water is heavy!

I use one sometimes, I water direct to the roots, at low pressure, and only do crops which need it. It only takes a few minutes. Some people find it hard to carry water to their plot in watering cans, and for equal opportunities if for nothing else, we should allow people to use hose pipes (where it's practically possible. )

I think about the fact that we're producing food - if our crops are less productive, and we supplement from a shop, we have no control over how carefully they irrigate and what resources they might use. So it could be a good investment to use a hosepipe on the allotment.