THE CREATION OF THE ALLOTMENTS ACTUALLY STARTED OVER THIRTY YEARS AGO, APRIL 1976 TO BE PRECISE, JUST AFTER I HAD MOVED ONTO THIS ESTATE BUT FOR ALMOST 4 YEARS THIS WAS UNOFFICIAL. HAVING SETTLED IN VERY QUICKLY AND HAVING A SPARE SUNDAY MORNING I WENT ALONG TO MY FATHER-IN-LAW'S HOUSE, HIS NAME WAS GEORGE LEE AND HIS HOME LIKE MINE, BACKED ONTO THIS DERELICT WASTELAND WHICH WAS BEING USED AS A TIP. NOW, ITS FUNNY HOW AN OFF THE CUFF REMARK CAN TURN THINGS AROUND, BECAUSE OUT OF NOWHERE I HEARD GEORGE SAY "YOU KNOW, IT WOULD BE A GOOD IDEA IF WE UTILISE SOME OF THIS GROUND TO GROW VEGETABLES, I MEAN THIS IS A COMPLETE WASTE OF GOOD GROWING SPACE" TO WHICH I PROMPTLY AGREED, SO, WE SET TO WORK ON AN AREA RIGHT OVER IN THE FAR CORNER AWAY FROM PRYING EYES, AFTER ALL, THE WEEDS WERE AT LEAST THREE FOOT HIGH AND WITH ALL THE OTHER RUBBLE LAYING AROUND NOBODY WOULD NOTICE AND WE STARTED TO UTILISE A TWENTY SQUARE FOOT OF LAND, HOWEVER, 1976, IF YOU CAST YOUR MIND BACK WAS AN EXTREMELY HOT YEAR SO NOT A LOT WAS DONE.

UNFORTUNATLY, COME DECEMBER OF THAT YEAR, MY FATHER-IN-LAW, GEORGE PASSED AWAY, COMPLETELY OUT OF THE BLUE.

WITHOUT THINKING OR DWELLING ON THIS LOSS I CARRIED ON WORKING THIS PLOT FOR THE NEXT COUPLE OF YEARS WHEN ONE SUNDAY IN OCTOBER 1979. I WAS MULLING AROUND AND BECAME AWARE OF SOMEONE STANDING BEHIND ME, IT WAS GEORGE'S NEXT DOOR NEIGHBOUR, WHO AFTER THE NICETEES OF THE MORNING SUDDENLY SAID "HEY, I'VE BEEN WATCHING YOU WORKING AWAY EACH WEEK, SO WHY DON'T YOU TRY AND GET THIS LAND TURNED INTO ALLOTMENTS". THIS SURPRISED ME BUT AT THE SAME TIME FIRED ME UP, NOT FOR ME IN PARTICULAR, BUT GEORGE, AS IT WAS HIS WISH TO SEE THIS DERELICT LAND BEING PUT TO BETTER USE.

THE FOLLOWING MONDAY BEING A WHITE-COLLAR WORKER I WAS ABLE AT A QUIET MOMENT TO USE THE PHONE TO CONTACT THE GREATER LONDON COUNCIL WHO WAS AT THE TIME THE OWNERS OF THE WILLOWHALE FARM ESTATE, BUT WHEN I WAS PUT THROUGH TO THEIR AMENITIES DEPARTMENT IT WAS AT THIS POINT I REALISED 'THERE WAS A GOD', FOR THE VOICE ON THE OTHER END OF THE PHONE I KNEW ONLY TOO WELL, ANYWAY, AFTER A QUICK CHAT I PUT THE PROPOSAL OF ALLOTMENTS TO HIM. HIS RESPONSE WAS FAVOURABLE AS THEY HAD PLANNED TO ERECT GARAGES THERE, BUT AS THEY COULD NOT, AFTER EXHAUSTING EVERY AVENUE, ACTUALLY FIND OUT WHO OWNED THIS LAND AND THEREFORE COULD NOT BUILD ANY PERMANENT STRUCTURE ON THIS LAND, SO THE IDEA OF ALLOTMENTS WAS PLANTED AND AFTER CONSULTING WITH THE HIARACHY AT GREATER LONDON COUNCIL HEADQUARTERS IT WAS AGREED AND IMPLEMENTED, ALL I HAD TO DO WAS FIND A MINIMUM OF SIX INDIVIDUALS THAT WOULD BE INTERESTED, IN FACT I FOUND FIFTEEN PEOPLE.

GREATER LONDON COUNCIL WERE TRUE TO THEIR WORD AND EARLY 1980 ARUN DISTRICT COUNCIL ACTING AS AGENTS DESCENDED ON US AND SET TO WORK CLEARING ALL THE RUBBISH AWAY AND MARKING OUT PLOTS WHICH AMOUNTED TO TWELVE SITES, AFTER WHICH THEY FENCED OFF THE AREA ALSO INSTALLING RUNNING WATER FOR US.

THE ALLOTMENTS WERE CHECKED REGULARLY TO SEE IF THERE WERE ANY PROBLEMS, THE OUTER PERIMETER WAS STRIMMED OFTEN AND CLEARANCE OF RUBBISH THAT WAS TOO HEAVY WAS DEALT WITH BY MEANS OF A PHONE CALL TO ARUN DISTRICT COUNCIL.

DOWN THROUGH THE YEARS TENANTS HAVE COME AND GONE, ALAS, THE MAJORITY HAVING PASSED ON BUT WHILST THEY WERE WITH US FRIENDSHIPS WERE FORGED AND THE ALLOTMENTS BECAME AN AREA WHERE PEOPLE MET, TALKED, EXCHANGED IDEAS AND ABOVE ALL, AT MOST TIMES, INFORMATION ABOUT OTHER RESIDENTS AND THEIR WELLBEING WAS PASSED BETWEEN EACH OTHER AND CHECKED ON AS NECESSARY.

PEOPLE FROM BEYOND THE WILLOWHALE ESTATE WHO, FOR WHATEVER REASON WOULD BREAK OFF FROM THEIR WALK AND OFTEN SPEND UP TO AN HOUR PASSING THE TIME OF DAY WITH US, ENQUIRING ABOUT THE ALLOTMENTS, PRAISING WHAT WE WERE DOING OR EVEN SWAPPING ADVICE, GROWING VEGETABLES, IN FACT, BRINGING THE IMMEDIATE COMMUNITY AND BEYOND TOGETHER. AT TIMES MY WIFE ALONG WITH OTHER NEIGHBOURS HAVE MADE BETWEEN 12-16 CUPS OF TEA AND COFFEE ALONG WITH BISCUITS Etc. AND YES, THESE WERE HAPPY,HAPPY DAYS.

ALL SEEMED TO BE GOING WELL, BUT SADLY,THAT IS, UNTIL GREATER LONDON COUNCIL RELINQUISHED CONTROL OF OUR ALLOTMENTS.