Between The River And The Railway Track

Gardening writer Steve Neal visits an allotment site in Somerset and finds thriving plots and enthusiastic growers

- Steve Neal

Welshmill is one of the older allotment sites in Frome, established around 1925 as part of the post-First WorldWar allotment expansion. Situated between the river Frome and a railway embankment, where the quarry wagons ship out the limestone from the Mendips, it’s a popular site. There are 64 plots of varying sizes as well as raised beds for less mobile gardeners. Along with another seven locations in the town, the site is self-managed by Frome Allotment Association.

Demand for allotments has shot up in Frome with many new applications during the Covid lockdown. Only a few plots have become available as people have enjoyed the benefit of an allotment. It’s a five-year wait for a plot.

ALISTAIR

“I don’t dig but I’m not a no-dig gardener,” says Alistair Wood. He thinks about it for a few seconds as he ponders the apparent contradiction. “I think no dig is fine if you are on a farm and have a ready supply of compost, enough for two-inch layers. But if you’re not, then you have to source it, ship it, shovel it on, as well as paying for it. It strikes me as a very expensive way of gardening.”

Alistair is the site manager at Welshmill allotments. He’s had a plot there for 14 years. His dahlias and veg were often found next to the First Prize card in the horticultural marquees at Frome Cheese Show and throughout the South West. If plot holders on the site have a gardening question and the answer is uncertain, the advice always is to “ask Alistair”.

So, if he doesn’t dig, what does he do instead? “I harvest the crops such as potatoes, then weed the ground by hand, break down the surface with a fork and ease in some well-rotted compost.”