May 5: Up the allotment

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For many people, their passion and escape is their allotment... a small parcel of land to call their own - an escape from the everyday.

Allotments were an interest of a former GA President called Harry Thorpe (President in 1974)

Harry Thorpe was also involved in a government review of allotment ownership. A specific area to be interested in, but allotments have proved their worth for many during lockdown.

The decline in allotments led to a Government review of allotment provision in the UK chaired by Harry Thorpe, Professor of Geography at the University of Birmingham. Thorpe and his committee were responsible for establishing a new vision for post-war allotment provision, a radical shake-up with allotments to be seen as a rewarding, leisurely recreational activity.
As part of the ‘Dig for Victory’ and ‘Grow More Food’ campaigns, allotment holding had peaked during World War II to 1,452,000 plots over 143,000 acres in England and Wales. War time regulations regarding allotments had ended by 1950. The rise of the affluent society, the TV set and the motor car all contributed to the immediate post war down turn in allotments.
During the 1950s and 1960s allotments went into decline as people sought to buy their food from the new supermarkets and convenience stores rather than grow their own. The national decline led to a Government review of allotment provision in the UK chaired by Harry Thorpe, Professor of Geography at The University of Birmingham. Thorpe and his committee were responsible for establishing a new vision for post-war allotment provision in England and Wales.

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