History

[  Fortunately some of us are good at digging into other things too!  ]

 

The Wollaton allotments site began life as fields and meadows lying adjacent to an ancient watering hole called Martin's Pond, which is itself fed from a pond in the nearby Strelley hills, and runs through the allotment site where it is known as the Bilborough Brook.  Martin's Pond supplies water to the lake at nearby Wollaton Hall.  The developers plan to deviate this Brook to accommodate the new housing and create an area of public open space.

 

The site was latterly bordered to the north by Wollaton Colliery and the Nottingham Canal, this area being developed as a housing estate in the mid-1980s known locally as the Torvill and Dean estate.  Here is the Wollaton Colliery in 1916:-

 

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The whole of Wollaton was originally owned by Lord Middleton of Wollaton Hall, until the great sale in 1925 to Nottingham City Council.  Part of the Allotment site was originally rented by a Mr A Hodgkinson, and it was then sold with the benefit of 'a Right of Way, to Water Cattle and other animals at the Fish Pond (Martins) on the South'.  The rest of what is now the allotment site was sold with a right of way for all purposes along the SE side of NW boundary (Lot 264, most of the allotments); it was sold subject to a Right of Way 25-feet wide with or without horse.  It was also sold subject to and with the benefit of an agreement made 29th August 1919, between Lord Middleton, the Pit, and Mr Hodgkinson, under which the Colliery paid the sum of just £3 per year in respect of a Powder Magazine (belonging to the company) and footpath upon, and carting privileges over.  The powder magazine which is still visible on the site, although now derelict, is the only evidence of the pit's existence.

 

The area including the allotment site was used for the 1928 Royal Agricultural Show and a very interesting insight can be gleaned from original paper work still to be found at the Nottingham Archives.  The following map was reproduced in a fascinating article which appeared in The Lenton Times in Issue No.17, July 2001.  This was before Russell Drive was built; Martin's Pond is in the centre.

 

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Here is an aerial photo from the Britain From Above site, showing the same showground area; in the foreground are the avenues of trees and the kitchen gardens within Wollaton Park, and you can just discern the road through the village at the left.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Acknowledgement/Link:  Britain From Above (1919-1953)

 

Radford Bridge Road Garden Holders' Association have occupied the site since early 1930. They were originally gardening on a rented piece of land closer to Nottingham on Radford Bridge Road, hence the rather confusing name of the site now.  The Nottingham City Council [NCC] planned to develop the allotment land at Radford Bridge for housing and paid the gardeners a princely compensation sum of  £54. 3s on the 7th June 1929 to vacate that land.  Councillor William Hooley offered to rent out the fields now known as Radford Bridge Road Garden Holders Association off Russell Drive, Wollaton.  There were originally only 36 gardeners, but this eventually increased to over 200.  The site was laid out as 192 plots and a Committee was set up for management of the site.  Many of the original gardeners were colliers from the nearby Wollaton Pit.  Originally all shareholders gardened on the site, but obviously over the years the shares have passed through families and now few shareholders garden on the site.    

 

Another Britain from Above image, this time taken in 1947. You will see that the Pembury, Knowle, Welwyn, Ewell loop is not yet complete, and the Russell Drive housing does not yet extend from the Pembury/Russell Drive junction towards Nottingham.  The large paddock behind Ewell Road was acquired by the RBRGHA and is now the allotment area known as P-Block, which will be lost to the residential development.  The route of the Nottingham Canal (with its locks and bridges clearly visible) is now taken by Torvill Drive, and the Old Coach Road is visible with its two bridges over the canal and railway.  The Old Park Farm allotments (NCC) can be seen in the bottom left corner.  Interestingly, Martin's Pond was half reed bed then too.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Acknowledgement/Link:   Britain From Above (1919-1953)

 

In 1985 the RBRGHA and The Nottingham City Council exchanged some land in order to resolve a dispute.   The Association conveyed 3,500 sq yards of their land to the NCC at no consideration, but in exchange for 1,700 sq metres approx of nearby council-owned land.  This enabled the NCC to make a pathway around Martin's Pond and for it to be adopted as a public highway.

 

The above information is in the public domain and is accessible at the Nottingham Archives.

 

We believe that the original group of gardeners was allowed to purchase the land, and that this was done by individual weekly subscription until an amount was reached which allowed the purchase of one share.  The details of this transaction do not seem to be available.  Obviously with the passage of time the original shareholders have transferred their shares, and whereas in the early days all shareholders were gardeners now very few shareholders garden on the site.  

 

In the 1940s the Association purchased an additional block of land to become known as the P-Block.  'P' apparently stood for Paddock, which was the land's previous usage; the area was laid out as 37 plots and the numbering system started again at P1 to P37.  The total number of plots thus reached the current 229.  

 

In 1981 the Association became a Friendly Society.  

 

In the past 20 years there have been numerous attempts by the shareholders of the RBRGHA to sell part of the land [see The Site/Planning and Development].  

 

The social history of the site may go back for merely 80 years, but glimpses of it appear throughout the site.  The avenues were surfaced with boiler spoil delivered to the site from Raleigh, as testified by the various cogs, pedals and other bike parts which still turn up occasionally!   The Council organised deliveries of second-hand bricks from the slum clearances taking place in some areas of Nottingham, and the gardeners put their make-do-and-mend resourcefulness into action building huts so that they and their families had shelter while they were working their gardens; some of these bricks are visible today and many are stamped with the name of the originating brickworks [see Gallery, Buildings].  There are plots where it is clear even today that families actually stayed overnight on the plots either at weekends or for a holiday; most people in the 1930s and 40s who lived in high-density housing did not have a garden, and the plots must have been a complete change for them from probably factory or industrial work with the benefits of fresh air, family time and healthy food at reduced cost.   

 

The allotment site is unique within Nottingham City in that it is the only one that is adjacent to two Local Nature Reserves (Martin's Pond and Harrison's Plantation), and therefore supports a prolific and varied wildlife and also acts as a buffer zone between the reserves and surrounding housing.  In fact in 1987 the  allotment site was designated as a Site of Importance for Nature Conservation (SINC)1; however, this was unfortunately revoked in 2001/2002 due to lack of records following a review of SINC sites in Nottinghamshire following a change in the criteria for SINC designation. 

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1  NCC, Planning Application 13/03099, Ecological Impact Assessment 

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CLAY PIPES FOUND ON P-BLOCK