Spring Clean – Sunday 14 April

As part of the Community Spruce programme we are hosting a Great British Spring Clean to help tidy up our allotments, and the areas near our entrances.

As well as a general tidy up and litter pick, we will be giving the clubhouse, toilets and office a good clean and a lick of paint.  We will be pricking-out and potting-on of plants for the Open Day on 19th May.  Our resident horticultural expert will be giving demonstrations for those new to growing from seed.

Children can help too – many of the seedlings ready to be pricked-out were sown by children at our March Community Spruce event.

Members will be able to dispose of non-recyclable waste in a skip that will be available on the day.

We look forward to seeing you on Sunday!

 

Pooh Corner is famous!

Pooh Corner – the story of a toilet block

One of the things that makes Dorset Road Allotments special is Pooh Corner. For those in the know, that’s the name of our toilet block.  We were one of the first allotment sites to have a proper flushing toilet and we certainly appreciate it! And it looks like we are not the only one.  Our Secretary Donna came across this fascinating blog which features Pooh Corner (scroll down to the ‘not pubs’ section).

 

toilet block

We’ve been lucky enough to have our ‘proper toilet’ since the 1990s. Some of you may remember the newsletter article I wrote back in 2011.  I had been talking to Phil (who I’m sure many of you will remember) about what the allotment site used to be like and we got talking about toilets.  I was curious to know what people did before ‘Pooh Corner’ was built, so Phil told me about the little-used chemical toilet, the difficulties getting permission from the council for ‘proper’ toilets and the hard work digging the drainage and plumbing them in. But the real gem was the original diagrams he still had in his note book.

Diagram for pooh corner

Diagram for pooh corner

Phil (pictured below with his mobility buggy) played a major part in Dorset Road Allotments over the years, including holding elected roles on the committee.  We have him (and the other committee members) to thank for our wonderful facilities including the clubhouse and the toilets. Unfortunately Phil is no longer with us, but his legacy lives on. Thank you Phil!

Phil

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