In the very beginning

I trained as what was then known as a 'mental' nurse in the mid 1970s. In those days, in the big Victorian asylums, there was always the remnants long unused hospital farm. But in those days, I got to hear about how important it was for the in-patients to go and work on the farm, in order to provide food for the hospital, a sense of purpose and occupation, and to have a break from the ward environment. Nowadays, those large Victorian asylums have long gone, they've either been knocked down, or converted into flats and modern housing projects, like the nearby Charlton Down on the outskirts of Dorchester. And of course, it wasn't just the Victorian Asylums that had their farms. Grand country houses had their walled gardens, and during WWII, people dug up their lawns in order to grow vegetables.

But people in any setting, and that includes myself, need to be in touch with the land, to get dirt under their finger nails, and perhaps to have the satisfaction of producing food, even if its on a relatively small scale.

The allotment movement has, in recent years, grown enormously in popularity. People are growing their own vegetables, reducing their 'airmiles' carbon footprint, they are producing and sharing VERY fresh food, are perhaps growing organically, and are benefiting from that sense of purpose an community that can be found in any local allotment society. And in addition to all this, university researchers are beginning to be able to show and highlight that there are quite a number of physical and psychological benefits to keeping an maintaining an allotment.

With all that, and more, in mind, we started to develop ideas about creating a community allotment, so that we (a whole bunch of volunteers and people who would like to just come along and help out) could produce vegetables, or just come and sit in the sun and drink a cup of tea.