| "A new infants school is needed in Barwick, no-one denies that. But,
sadly the most suitable site is 1.25 acres of allotment land off Chapel Lane.
The tenants of the 14 or so allotments affected are mostly pensioners and they
are sad at the prospect of losing them. There are about 42 allotments in all
and, ironically, the best tended are amongst those to be sacrificed for the new
school. Some of the old folk spend the better part of the day on their
allotments. The soil is rich with memories of war-time dig-for-victory efforts,
of prize crops carefully nurtured through the seasons. And there are
essentially practical considerations. Home grown food helps a pension to
stretch further and is of first class nutritional value. Perhaps of equal value -
growing things gives a feeling of fulfilment and purpose. Huts on the allotments also provide meeting places for old folk with nowhere else to congregate. The cosiest belongs to Mc Walt Lovett, who lives a stones-throwaway in Chapel Lane. In autumn and winter, when it is too cold for the old folk to be out in the open, smoke spouts out of the tin chimney and pensioners whose ages total several hundred years, meet for a quiet chat and smoke. The tiny room is lined with cardboard and logs crackle on the old stove which fills the place with friendly smoke. And, of course they look through the window and discuss the progress of the crops. At this bleak time of the year - cauliflower, brocolli, spring cabbage, early potatoes. Good wholesome stuff. Mr Joe Walton of the Boyle and Mr Ephraim Lovett of Elmwood Lane, were chatting in the hut when our reporter called this week. Both said that they did not know what they would do when it was pulled down. 'We'll just have to find somewhere else,' said Joe. 'The parish council own the allotments and perhaps they can help.' Soon they were joined by Mr Harold Lambert and Mr Albert Lincoln, both of Welfare A venue. They had both been allotment holders for over 30 years and the news that they were to lose them came as a blow. Seventy -year-old Mr Lincoln who was chief gardener at Killingbeck Hospital, is down at his allotment from 8 am to 4 pm, nearly every day of the week. 'There's not a weed in sight,' he says proudly. And that over an area of land 76 yards long. A satisfying wedge of it is turned over and manured ready for the spring sowing. On the rest of it are sprouts, broccoli, raspberry cane and polyanthuses. During the Hitler war he raised rabbits for food and received special rations for them from the Ministry. And he also trained messenger pigeons 'for the government.' In his spruce hut he showed our reporter a letter he and about 13 other allotment holders received from the West Riding County Education Authority. It explains, sympathetically, that the land was the 'most suitable' for a new school which is included in the 1969-70 building programme. But that doesn't stop them feeling bitter. Said 73-year-old Mr Lambert: 'We have just got our allotments to perfection and now this news. What in earth will we do with our time? Despite the heavy rain, Mr George Oldfield aged 81 of Chapel Lane was on his way to his allotment. 'We spend all our time down here,' he remarked ruefully. 'It's sad that nearly all the allotments to go are tenanted by pensioners. Digging keeps us active and the fresh air does us good and it's the only place for old folk to go for a chat.' Mrs Elizabeth Nutton, of the Boyle, is one of the lucky ones. Her allotment is outside the site required. But she is sorry for her old friends who are losing their land. Mrs Nutton who is 74, still looks after the allotment which was once her late husband's. 'I have a lot of flowers down there and I'd be sorry to see them go. I know the pensioners spend a lot of time on their allotments and it's a shame a school site could not have been found somewhere else.' The allotments tucked away behind Chapel Lane are now hemmed in on two sides by modem bungalows and houses and soon a new school will eat up a third of them. Sentiment cannot stand in the way of progress that's true. But it's particularly unfortunate that a vulnerable section of Barwick's community should have had to suffer. The lives of these pensioners will be poorer without their allotment." |