history of the allotments society - early history - pre the year 2000
Early days – the 1960s
1961
The first minutes we have go back to 1961, when unlike today, the HUDC maintained all the records and the changing and allocation of plots formed the bulk of the minutes for many years to come. The AGM was held in September and the Chair of Harpenden Urban District Council (HUDC) as it was then known, Mrs West, was present. Mention was made of the many rats and spare plots on Piggottshill. There was no problem about obtaining a plot; in October a Mr Garnold was allocated six plots that were generally considered to be five poles each i.e. 151.25 square yards. Surprisingly, it wasn’t until 2011 that a minute shows that a limit of 30 poles would be imposed on individual holdings.
1962
Although there are no written records for this year later minutes show the main news was that at least 35 plots were to disappear because of future building projects, and that one year’s notice would be given to the plot holders who would have to be relocated.
1963
At the AGM in January 1963 only four members attended in contrast to the 70 people or so who recently came to our annual prize giving. Although it wasn’t noted, the weather must have had an impact as anyone who remembers the winter of 1962-3 will, no doubt, remember. In February it was reported that land on Piggottshill was to be let to the Highfield Model Railway Club; Cravells Road allotments were to be built on; and all unoccupied plots would be ploughed and manured by the HUDC. In May, a well-known name - Percy Bradbury - appeared for the first time on the committee list; he was to serve the society for several decades to come.
As to how much autonomy the society enjoyed, this is encapsulated by the fact that permission was first required from the Council before one could even send out an agenda for the AGM which, incidentally, was held in the old Methodist Hall in Southdown Road at the same time as the rents were collected.
1964
January 1964 is an important date as it sees the formation of the Harpenden Allotments and Gardening Society (HAGS); the meeting comprised six members, including two from the South Harpenden Garden Society, a Mr Stokes and a representation from the Harpenden UDC. During that year the council co-opted the Secretary of South Harpenden Allotment Committee to the HUDC Allotment Committee. There is a hint that the Council committee met every two months but later this was changed to three.
Frustration with the Council is shown when scything of the grass is required but apart from that the minutes and those for many years to come contain page after page of letting information. As to the grass cutting, it appears there was a shortage of labour in the 1960s; nowadays budget restraints and the pressure of work tend to be the reason for non-activity.
Things have progressed a long way from the days when permission was needed from HUDC for any expenditure to be made: one wonders if those worthies could have imagined that nowadays expenses under £100 have been delegated to the Treasurer, which is a big contrast to the early days when the Town Council was solely in charge of any purchase - from the cost of fencing repairs to the issue of a postage stamp.
During the year the question of poorly maintained plots was discussed and the first policy on neglected plots was developed; a first letter was to be sent out, then a second - depending on the time of year and condition of plot - after which there was a month’s grace to bring the plot back to cultivation.
That year an interesting minute from Chairman ‘Ted’ Allen stated that members be encouraged to send surplus produce to the poor and needy. Recently we have asked for donations to the Farmers Market to raise funds for the Society.
1965
The year 1965 must have caused a few heartbeats amongst the die-hard members when the new Grove school was opened in Dark Lane. The Piggottshill Lane site had no fencing and there was a threat that the allotments would be declared an open space. This may explain why the National Association of Allotment Gardeners (NAGS) was called in for consultations. Their suggestion was that the society take out a lease then manage the allotments. The AGM in October 1965 would have been significant because outline plans were made for the plots to be run by South Harpenden Allotments (SHA) guaranteeing security of tenure and payment for fence repairs etc. However, not enough people turned up to vote!
1966
In January there was a motion to discontinue collecting the rents at the AGM and other procedures were put in place.
1967
In 1967 the minutes were still written by hand. An interesting note was recorded that, due to noisy children in the room next to them, the committee meetings were changed to the second Monday in the month.
In June arrangements are made for four visits to the Council allotments committee. Councillor Bond had upset members with his comments that the proposal for housing at the top of Piggottshill ‘is here to stay’. The motion at the council to provide housing caused considerable friction and Mr Bond was obliged to tone down his remarks. By the end of the year plans were in place for a new society to be called the South Harpenden Allotments Society to administer the plots. HUDC warns the committee that some land is going to be used for a refuse collection centre and for housing at Sherwoods Rise and Dark Lane but that fencing and an HQ will be gained in exchange. In the end, the outcome led to the relocation of 52 plots from Piggottshill to Aldwickbury.
An EGM was arranged in December 1967 to consider the new arrangements. The representative from NAGS recommended that the group go to HUDC for the following: a building; secure fencing; and a block lease of land. He further recommended the Society to ‘have ruthless dealings with untidy tenants’!
1968
At a meeting in January 1968 it was mooted that rentals be increased to one shilling (five pence) a pole (five metres) with water extra and that the Society would become a board of trustees. Two months later, in March 1968, the plan was put to a properly convened meeting. The Society would pay £5 rent per annum for the building on a three-year lease with a renewal of seven years. A set of rules was written and an estimate of the next three years’ expenditure. In November, the key to the new building was handed over and a draft agreement converting HAGS to SHAGS became a fact.
At the April meeting a draft income and expenditure account was produced which stated ‘ Income £75 Expenditure £233’. Fuel and repairs for the subsequent three years were estimated at £15; £30; £35 - consider that against modern costs!
The 1970s
1972
Leaping forward a few years in April 1972 it was recorded that plot holders were required to provide their plots with a neat sign indicating the plot number (Rule 6L).
1973
In March 1973 SHAGS was five years old and Richard White became the Secretary. Some interesting figures were recorded: the cost of a plot is 5p a pole and 1p for water! But this went up that year to to 8p and 2p respectively with an administration charge of 15p; 229 plots were let and the grant from the Council was now £348. Rents came to £86 including £9 that was provided by Jack Wellstead, who still had the lease on some land at Aldwickbury, which he vacated in March 1975.
In October 1973 a rule change was brought in stating that tenants couldn’t keep bees; this came about because someone asked if they could keep chickens. A motion at committee sought to change the name of the South Harpenden Allotments & Gardening Society but the vote (four for and 20 against) opted to keep the acronym SHAGS.
1974
In April Richard White took up the joint responsibilities of Treasurer and Secretary which he maintained for several years. The Society was asked by HUDC to consider running of the Harpenden Rise site and the committee decided to do so.
In line with its policy to provide water at convenient positions on each site water improvements were made to SibleyAvenue, Aldwickbury, Churchfield and Topstreet Way.
1975
The committee showed its entrepreneurial spirit when in November the Piggottshill headquarters is offered as a two-hour let to the Harpenden Horticultural Society - for the sum of £1.50. Machinery repairs at this time have amounted for the year to £60.65! In those days, of course, one could hire the rotovator for £1 a day. Compare this with the bill for repairs and fuel 2009 to £3,000! The Society now had 1,890 poles under cultivation; and, there were 290 tenancies.
1977
A significant name comes into the frame – Aubrey Gibbard – who was in charge of the Associated Members list for many years; Aubrey was so successful that at one stage he was told not to recruit any more members as the list had exceeded 550. It was decided this year that rentals for plots would begin on 1st March and that after an arrears period of 30 days it could be assumed a tenant didn’t want a plot. The finances must have been in good shape at this time as in the following January the Trustees offered rent-free allotments for a year to each of the shop helpers.
1979
First mentioned late in 1976, in February 1979 of the scheme to take some of the Churchfield’s site land is made official when the building of a supermarket (Fine Fare) is announced. Since then it has undergone several changes of ownership and now belongs to the Co-operative Society Ltd. Churchfield plotholders got £20 per plot as compensation. Once the Churchfield development had been sorted a hawthorn hedge was planted – the one you see today – along the perimeter fence of the supermarket’s car park. At the AGM that year it was reported that sub-soil and not topsoil had been dumped at the site.
The 1980s
1980
It was decided in the February that SHAGS would be given three acres at Cross Lane and half an acre behind the Plough and Harrow public house to replace Fine Fare’s acquisition of 1.2 acres. That seemed to be a good deal.
Additionally, the Carpenters Arms’ garden (later gone by March 1983) and Heath Close were offered to SHAGS on a lease basis. The committee decided to accept the town Council’s advice and in the next two years continued its improvement plan. It only remained for extensions to be carried out to the water supply at Harpenden Rise and Topstreet Way. The Carpenters Arms' site and Heath Close soon followed although the cost of provision to just the three to four plotholders was high. Fortunately, the Society was able to call upon the expertise of a top plumber who worked for Claridge the builders – Wilf Garratt.
1982
The Fine Fare tale had more to go: at a meeting in1982 Mr Howard Kemp told the Chair that he had discovered a certain amount of concrete, buried on the Churchfield site, over a period of several months. In the end, the Harpenden Council agreed to remove all known debris that had been dumped. The story goes that a ‘cheeky’ dumper driver had asked a plotholder if he wanted any ‘topsoil’. Foolishly, the answer was: ‘Yes’ and the rest is history.
1983
The Piggottshill and Harpenden Rise site representatives gained permission for the planting of 300 Quickthorn hedging plants. This has proved to be a good investment as has the erection of a further building behind the original shop front now referred to as the Ted Allen Room. After his long spell as Chairman Ted started to maintain all the Society’s machinery at very little cost.
1986
Richard White, after twelve years as Treasurer and ten years as Secretary – seven of which were running concurrently – decided to retire. On leaving, he mentions the society now had 557 Associate Members, and an agreement that all Members and Associated Members should reside in the district i.e. have an AL5 postcode.
1987
Regrettably, Ted Allen died in 1987 having been on the committee since its inception in 1961, but his legacy still serves as the Society’s meeting room today.
1988
At the AGM that year it was announced by the Treasurer that the cost of water accounted for 40 per cent of expenditure from the Society’s income: this was an obvious problem that required attention. If we go ahead to the year 2011 the cost of water by then was an annual £2,000! Due to better education about such matters, the Society’s members are not in the same position today but water rates still take a large amount of our income. Nevertheless, 2007 must have presented a headache to the Treasurer as due to a leaking pipe at Cross Lane one third of the total cost of water that year literally went down the drain.
In spite of this, an objective appears on the agenda that each site should be provided with a cultivator; this would have been unheard of a few decades before as cultivators were considered a last resort and expensive to acquire and maintain. Today, some of the equipment we use is not always easy to put back into working mode and specialist action is needed.
At the end of the year moves were made to celebrate the 21st birthday; a sub-committee is formed to deal comprising Mrs Mills, Mrs Port, Miss Giles, George Turner, and the Secretary. The celebrations in 1989 went down well.
The 1990s
1991
In 1991, a new venture took place in the form of a site competition. In memory of the late Chairman, George Turner, an inter-site cup was instigated and a shield for the best plot in the Society. The meeting decided that a neutral observer must carry out the site inspections; Stan Saunders of the East Harpenden Gardening Club was the first to be asked to do so.
1992
Following the death of President Bernard Allen in 1992, Stan White was appointed in the following October. Stan was a colourful character who was tall and rangy and had lived in Harpenden for much of his life. Stan was President when Percy Bradbury was elected to the role of Chairman; the latter didn’t stay for long due to his wish to get away from committee work and procedure. Percy had been a shop steward at the de Havilland aircraft company and knew all the tricks of the trade when it came to negotiation. He often wound people up with his strong trade union views yet, at the same time, displayed a great sense of humour
It is 1992 and Mick Matthews takes up the running of the Associated Members full-time; Mick’s involvement amounts to ten years by the time he retires in September 2000. He still remains on the committee. At the AGM Aubrey Gibbard’s contribution of 16 years in the ‘Shop’ are recorded by the Chair before introducing Roger Gillett to the meeting.
We come to the end of the century and it is obvious that the number of Associate Members had gone into rapid decline due to the competition now presented by the large nursery outlets and the out of town shopping centres gardeners could visit. In 1999, the ‘Distribution Manager’ announces that for the first time in decades the shop might be in deficit. The problem was exacerbated by the fact that the numbers of Associate Members has fallen to 391 despite the hard work put in by Mick Matthews and Bob Shields.
On the bright side is news that Derek Green has accepted the position of Chairman; Derek is to prove to be a great driving force for good in the next few years. It is around about this time that the society’s magazine newsletter The Plot So Far is promulgated.
1961
The first minutes we have go back to 1961, when unlike today, the HUDC maintained all the records and the changing and allocation of plots formed the bulk of the minutes for many years to come. The AGM was held in September and the Chair of Harpenden Urban District Council (HUDC) as it was then known, Mrs West, was present. Mention was made of the many rats and spare plots on Piggottshill. There was no problem about obtaining a plot; in October a Mr Garnold was allocated six plots that were generally considered to be five poles each i.e. 151.25 square yards. Surprisingly, it wasn’t until 2011 that a minute shows that a limit of 30 poles would be imposed on individual holdings.
1962
Although there are no written records for this year later minutes show the main news was that at least 35 plots were to disappear because of future building projects, and that one year’s notice would be given to the plot holders who would have to be relocated.
1963
At the AGM in January 1963 only four members attended in contrast to the 70 people or so who recently came to our annual prize giving. Although it wasn’t noted, the weather must have had an impact as anyone who remembers the winter of 1962-3 will, no doubt, remember. In February it was reported that land on Piggottshill was to be let to the Highfield Model Railway Club; Cravells Road allotments were to be built on; and all unoccupied plots would be ploughed and manured by the HUDC. In May, a well-known name - Percy Bradbury - appeared for the first time on the committee list; he was to serve the society for several decades to come.
As to how much autonomy the society enjoyed, this is encapsulated by the fact that permission was first required from the Council before one could even send out an agenda for the AGM which, incidentally, was held in the old Methodist Hall in Southdown Road at the same time as the rents were collected.
1964
January 1964 is an important date as it sees the formation of the Harpenden Allotments and Gardening Society (HAGS); the meeting comprised six members, including two from the South Harpenden Garden Society, a Mr Stokes and a representation from the Harpenden UDC. During that year the council co-opted the Secretary of South Harpenden Allotment Committee to the HUDC Allotment Committee. There is a hint that the Council committee met every two months but later this was changed to three.
Frustration with the Council is shown when scything of the grass is required but apart from that the minutes and those for many years to come contain page after page of letting information. As to the grass cutting, it appears there was a shortage of labour in the 1960s; nowadays budget restraints and the pressure of work tend to be the reason for non-activity.
Things have progressed a long way from the days when permission was needed from HUDC for any expenditure to be made: one wonders if those worthies could have imagined that nowadays expenses under £100 have been delegated to the Treasurer, which is a big contrast to the early days when the Town Council was solely in charge of any purchase - from the cost of fencing repairs to the issue of a postage stamp.
During the year the question of poorly maintained plots was discussed and the first policy on neglected plots was developed; a first letter was to be sent out, then a second - depending on the time of year and condition of plot - after which there was a month’s grace to bring the plot back to cultivation.
That year an interesting minute from Chairman ‘Ted’ Allen stated that members be encouraged to send surplus produce to the poor and needy. Recently we have asked for donations to the Farmers Market to raise funds for the Society.
1965
The year 1965 must have caused a few heartbeats amongst the die-hard members when the new Grove school was opened in Dark Lane. The Piggottshill Lane site had no fencing and there was a threat that the allotments would be declared an open space. This may explain why the National Association of Allotment Gardeners (NAGS) was called in for consultations. Their suggestion was that the society take out a lease then manage the allotments. The AGM in October 1965 would have been significant because outline plans were made for the plots to be run by South Harpenden Allotments (SHA) guaranteeing security of tenure and payment for fence repairs etc. However, not enough people turned up to vote!
1966
In January there was a motion to discontinue collecting the rents at the AGM and other procedures were put in place.
1967
In 1967 the minutes were still written by hand. An interesting note was recorded that, due to noisy children in the room next to them, the committee meetings were changed to the second Monday in the month.
In June arrangements are made for four visits to the Council allotments committee. Councillor Bond had upset members with his comments that the proposal for housing at the top of Piggottshill ‘is here to stay’. The motion at the council to provide housing caused considerable friction and Mr Bond was obliged to tone down his remarks. By the end of the year plans were in place for a new society to be called the South Harpenden Allotments Society to administer the plots. HUDC warns the committee that some land is going to be used for a refuse collection centre and for housing at Sherwoods Rise and Dark Lane but that fencing and an HQ will be gained in exchange. In the end, the outcome led to the relocation of 52 plots from Piggottshill to Aldwickbury.
An EGM was arranged in December 1967 to consider the new arrangements. The representative from NAGS recommended that the group go to HUDC for the following: a building; secure fencing; and a block lease of land. He further recommended the Society to ‘have ruthless dealings with untidy tenants’!
1968
At a meeting in January 1968 it was mooted that rentals be increased to one shilling (five pence) a pole (five metres) with water extra and that the Society would become a board of trustees. Two months later, in March 1968, the plan was put to a properly convened meeting. The Society would pay £5 rent per annum for the building on a three-year lease with a renewal of seven years. A set of rules was written and an estimate of the next three years’ expenditure. In November, the key to the new building was handed over and a draft agreement converting HAGS to SHAGS became a fact.
At the April meeting a draft income and expenditure account was produced which stated ‘ Income £75 Expenditure £233’. Fuel and repairs for the subsequent three years were estimated at £15; £30; £35 - consider that against modern costs!
The 1970s
1972
Leaping forward a few years in April 1972 it was recorded that plot holders were required to provide their plots with a neat sign indicating the plot number (Rule 6L).
1973
In March 1973 SHAGS was five years old and Richard White became the Secretary. Some interesting figures were recorded: the cost of a plot is 5p a pole and 1p for water! But this went up that year to to 8p and 2p respectively with an administration charge of 15p; 229 plots were let and the grant from the Council was now £348. Rents came to £86 including £9 that was provided by Jack Wellstead, who still had the lease on some land at Aldwickbury, which he vacated in March 1975.
In October 1973 a rule change was brought in stating that tenants couldn’t keep bees; this came about because someone asked if they could keep chickens. A motion at committee sought to change the name of the South Harpenden Allotments & Gardening Society but the vote (four for and 20 against) opted to keep the acronym SHAGS.
1974
In April Richard White took up the joint responsibilities of Treasurer and Secretary which he maintained for several years. The Society was asked by HUDC to consider running of the Harpenden Rise site and the committee decided to do so.
In line with its policy to provide water at convenient positions on each site water improvements were made to SibleyAvenue, Aldwickbury, Churchfield and Topstreet Way.
1975
The committee showed its entrepreneurial spirit when in November the Piggottshill headquarters is offered as a two-hour let to the Harpenden Horticultural Society - for the sum of £1.50. Machinery repairs at this time have amounted for the year to £60.65! In those days, of course, one could hire the rotovator for £1 a day. Compare this with the bill for repairs and fuel 2009 to £3,000! The Society now had 1,890 poles under cultivation; and, there were 290 tenancies.
1977
A significant name comes into the frame – Aubrey Gibbard – who was in charge of the Associated Members list for many years; Aubrey was so successful that at one stage he was told not to recruit any more members as the list had exceeded 550. It was decided this year that rentals for plots would begin on 1st March and that after an arrears period of 30 days it could be assumed a tenant didn’t want a plot. The finances must have been in good shape at this time as in the following January the Trustees offered rent-free allotments for a year to each of the shop helpers.
1979
First mentioned late in 1976, in February 1979 of the scheme to take some of the Churchfield’s site land is made official when the building of a supermarket (Fine Fare) is announced. Since then it has undergone several changes of ownership and now belongs to the Co-operative Society Ltd. Churchfield plotholders got £20 per plot as compensation. Once the Churchfield development had been sorted a hawthorn hedge was planted – the one you see today – along the perimeter fence of the supermarket’s car park. At the AGM that year it was reported that sub-soil and not topsoil had been dumped at the site.
The 1980s
1980
It was decided in the February that SHAGS would be given three acres at Cross Lane and half an acre behind the Plough and Harrow public house to replace Fine Fare’s acquisition of 1.2 acres. That seemed to be a good deal.
Additionally, the Carpenters Arms’ garden (later gone by March 1983) and Heath Close were offered to SHAGS on a lease basis. The committee decided to accept the town Council’s advice and in the next two years continued its improvement plan. It only remained for extensions to be carried out to the water supply at Harpenden Rise and Topstreet Way. The Carpenters Arms' site and Heath Close soon followed although the cost of provision to just the three to four plotholders was high. Fortunately, the Society was able to call upon the expertise of a top plumber who worked for Claridge the builders – Wilf Garratt.
1982
The Fine Fare tale had more to go: at a meeting in1982 Mr Howard Kemp told the Chair that he had discovered a certain amount of concrete, buried on the Churchfield site, over a period of several months. In the end, the Harpenden Council agreed to remove all known debris that had been dumped. The story goes that a ‘cheeky’ dumper driver had asked a plotholder if he wanted any ‘topsoil’. Foolishly, the answer was: ‘Yes’ and the rest is history.
1983
The Piggottshill and Harpenden Rise site representatives gained permission for the planting of 300 Quickthorn hedging plants. This has proved to be a good investment as has the erection of a further building behind the original shop front now referred to as the Ted Allen Room. After his long spell as Chairman Ted started to maintain all the Society’s machinery at very little cost.
1986
Richard White, after twelve years as Treasurer and ten years as Secretary – seven of which were running concurrently – decided to retire. On leaving, he mentions the society now had 557 Associate Members, and an agreement that all Members and Associated Members should reside in the district i.e. have an AL5 postcode.
1987
Regrettably, Ted Allen died in 1987 having been on the committee since its inception in 1961, but his legacy still serves as the Society’s meeting room today.
1988
At the AGM that year it was announced by the Treasurer that the cost of water accounted for 40 per cent of expenditure from the Society’s income: this was an obvious problem that required attention. If we go ahead to the year 2011 the cost of water by then was an annual £2,000! Due to better education about such matters, the Society’s members are not in the same position today but water rates still take a large amount of our income. Nevertheless, 2007 must have presented a headache to the Treasurer as due to a leaking pipe at Cross Lane one third of the total cost of water that year literally went down the drain.
In spite of this, an objective appears on the agenda that each site should be provided with a cultivator; this would have been unheard of a few decades before as cultivators were considered a last resort and expensive to acquire and maintain. Today, some of the equipment we use is not always easy to put back into working mode and specialist action is needed.
At the end of the year moves were made to celebrate the 21st birthday; a sub-committee is formed to deal comprising Mrs Mills, Mrs Port, Miss Giles, George Turner, and the Secretary. The celebrations in 1989 went down well.
The 1990s
1991
In 1991, a new venture took place in the form of a site competition. In memory of the late Chairman, George Turner, an inter-site cup was instigated and a shield for the best plot in the Society. The meeting decided that a neutral observer must carry out the site inspections; Stan Saunders of the East Harpenden Gardening Club was the first to be asked to do so.
1992
Following the death of President Bernard Allen in 1992, Stan White was appointed in the following October. Stan was a colourful character who was tall and rangy and had lived in Harpenden for much of his life. Stan was President when Percy Bradbury was elected to the role of Chairman; the latter didn’t stay for long due to his wish to get away from committee work and procedure. Percy had been a shop steward at the de Havilland aircraft company and knew all the tricks of the trade when it came to negotiation. He often wound people up with his strong trade union views yet, at the same time, displayed a great sense of humour
It is 1992 and Mick Matthews takes up the running of the Associated Members full-time; Mick’s involvement amounts to ten years by the time he retires in September 2000. He still remains on the committee. At the AGM Aubrey Gibbard’s contribution of 16 years in the ‘Shop’ are recorded by the Chair before introducing Roger Gillett to the meeting.
We come to the end of the century and it is obvious that the number of Associate Members had gone into rapid decline due to the competition now presented by the large nursery outlets and the out of town shopping centres gardeners could visit. In 1999, the ‘Distribution Manager’ announces that for the first time in decades the shop might be in deficit. The problem was exacerbated by the fact that the numbers of Associate Members has fallen to 391 despite the hard work put in by Mick Matthews and Bob Shields.
On the bright side is news that Derek Green has accepted the position of Chairman; Derek is to prove to be a great driving force for good in the next few years. It is around about this time that the society’s magazine newsletter The Plot So Far is promulgated.