London Road allotments celebrate centenary

[dutchman]

Allotment gardeners gathered at Coventry’s largest and oldest allotment site to celebrate its 100th anniversary.


Wal Salisbury, 89 and Fred Cooper, 99, take a breather in the 1911-style cottage garden.

Greenfingered gurus and absolute beginners teamed up to champion the centenary of London Road allotments in Whitley.

Plot holders donned Edwardian costume for an open day and Specials star Horace Panter gave a speech as he opened a new shared garden at the site.

Gardeners have designed a centenary garden to mark the anniversary in the style of a 1911 cottage garden and self-sufficiency vegetable patch.

Organiser Andy McDonald co-ordinated the project with support from wife Mary and fellow gardener Jo Roberts.

He said: “We dished up over 100 Ploughman’s lunches and we lost count of the number of cream teas that we served.

“We had more fruit and veg than a superstore would have - and we sold out.

“We even had the National Allotment Society down, which was a great surprise, and they were amazed at what we had achieved.”