Since lockdown, there has been an outbreak of skips where I live. People have been taking the opportunity to alter or add to their house and garden. Sadly, in one particular case, I noticed that the majority of the content of one skip was top-soil. I didn’t know the people who lived at the house,…
In 1871, the Nottinghamshire Guardian carried an article about St Ann’s Allotments and the joy of manure… “The gardens average 400 square yards, and one of the gardeners told me that he generally bought from 4 to 5 tons of manure each year!… All the crops grow, as it were, in dung; the roots find…
At a time of year when we think more of others, the Nottingham Journal of 28 and 31 December 1867 reported on a court case involving a child… On 28 December 1867, a young boy by the name of Thomas Hogg was brought before magistrates at the Borough Police court. He was 10 years old…
With Christmas approaching, you may be thinking of presents for your nearest and dearest. Five gold rings would be nice, or even a partridge in a pear tree. How about a string of onions? Before World War II, 90% of onions, a staple of British cooking, were imported into Britain, although they could so easily have been grown in British…
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…