All organisations have their unsung heroes, the ones rarely seen and barely known-about without whom the whole thing would fall apart. For STAA, it’s always the volunteers, and most particularly the management committee; giving up their evenings – and often a lot, lot more than that – to make sure budgets balance, procedures are adhered to and that staff are free to get on…
I’ve been watching a documentary on TV about Kensington Palace and was interested to note that the visiting public are not shown around by Tour Guides, but by Explainers. I know that job titles are forever being changed, but I never thought that Guides would be replaced by a more descriptive word. At STAA, we guide visitors around St Ann’s Allotments, but most of our…
I have previously written about summerhouses on St Ann’s Allotments during the 19th century. They provided gardeners with shelter, along with partying and storage facilities. Shortly before the outbreak of World War II a shelter proposal under the Hungerhill Gardens, rather than over them, was suggested. In a city that is on the edge of a mining area, where thousands of men are living who know all…