This morning I went down to my allotment possibly for the last time.
I had very little to do, basically all I went down to do is pick up a few bits and bobs that I wanted to fetch home.
As I had my mobile phone with me I thought I would take a few photos as I walked around the plot and thought you might to join me as I walked around:
Pic 1
This is the road I have trekked for nearly thirty years, and where I have pushed countless barrows of manure up and lots of fruit and veg down.
Pic 2
This was the first plot I tended
(Plot 6) , I took it on board officially on 13th December 1990 but I actually took access in Spring 1989, this was due to the poor state it was in,and the Council kindly allowed me to use it 'rent free' for the first year.
A couple of years later
Plot 7 become available so I took on and worked both plots.
On January 25th 1994 I gave up
Plot 7 as I got the chance to take over
Plot 20 which have cared for ever since.
Between then and now I have also been the tenant on
Plot 21 which I took on in 25th February 2002 in place of
Plot 6. This meant I had two plots adjacent to each other rather than one on either side of the track.
I kept Plot 21 on until January 2014 then I swapped it with the couple who tended Plot 19 which was a "half plot"
This was brought about because I wanted to cut down a bit and they wanted a full plot, this arrangement was fine by me because it still meant that I had two plots that were adjacent to each other.
I gave
Plot 19 up at the end of 2016 and have only worked one plot since.
So much for the Plot History!As I was in a bit of a nostalgic mood I thought I would take a walk around the plot for possibly the last time ( perhaps you might want to join me)
Pic 3 
This what I saw as I entered the 28ft x 8ft Greenhouse which is actually a 16ft extension to the original 12ft greenhouse as seen in
Pics 4 & 5.Pic 4The middle section
Pic5 The end section
The end area was becoming a bit dilapidated so I converted it into a garden shed. The tools you see are a few I am leaving for the next tenant.
I also removed all the glass from the roof because the timbers were rotting in places and replaced it with a poly tunnel skin.
The skin is much lighter in weight meaning the timbers supported this better than the glass. This also made things much safer as glass often dropped out prior to the conversion.
Pic 6
This is my 12ft x 8ft Aluminium greenhouse part prepared for next years crops.
The next few photos are views from opposite corners of my plot;
Pic 7 Looking across the plot
As you can see I have left my bean frame in place although it is movable to fit in with crop rotation.
Pic 8
I have even given the hedge that I planted a few years ago to keep the tenants of those houses out, a bit of a trim!
Pic 9
Looking up my plot from the opposite corner so that you can see the plot layout including the two greenhouses and fruit bed.
The steel structure is the frame of a "car port" like structure I built to enclose my Dahlias during my exhibiting days!
It now acts as a support for my Apple trees and Raspberry bushes"
Pic 10
The Coldframe....The removable lids are stacked away for the winter you can see then leaning against the big greenhouse wall in the previous picture.
Pic 11
Looking across the Fruit bed!
Pic 12
I have left my 'Planting Layouts' for the last five or six years so that the new tenants can see what has been grown where and this should help them out out with their 'Rotation Plan' assuming they know what this is!
.....and that folks the end of the tour for you and probably the end of the era for me!
I guess I will miss the old place for a while but as they say:
As one Door closes another Opens I have quite a few plans in mind that should fill my time but only " Time will Tell"
