Some years ago, when visiting family in Australia, my grandson bought me a plaque to hang on the door of my shed. It says, “GRANDAD’S SHED – BIKES, TOYS AND TREASURES MENDED WHILE YOU WAIT – PAYMENT IN CUDDLES AND SMILES”. The pleasure that gives me is comparable with the pleasure that I get from my garden. This isn’t a new phenomenon, as horticultural therapy, and the ability to explore pockets of green space in our local community, was recorded as long ago as 1835 when the Manchester Times and Gazette wrote of the Hungerhill Gardens that “the amount of enjoyment which these gardens afford to a great number of families is not easily to be calculated – and then the health and the improved taste!”
The health value of gardening was emphasised in 1883 when the Nottingham Corporation considered taking some of the Hungerhill Gardens for the creation of a public park. The Hungerhill Gardeners held a meeting to protest against the proposal and at which a Mr Hickling stated that:
“Although there were some gardens cultivated thirty years ago, there were but a few, and the working men were inclined with dog-fighting, badger-baiting, and other coarse amusements. But times had changed since then. They had Board and national schools and men had become much more enlightened and had taken a liking to cultivating flowers— (applause) — and thus improve themselves mentally and physically. Did the gentlemen who wished to deprive them of their gardens live in close, confined places, and work in them? No doubt they had got fine open residences and greenhouses, and therefore why should they want to take away the working men’s gardens?”
The health value of an allotment on the Hungerhills, particularly to less privileged gardeners, was re-emphasised in 1887 in a letter to the editor of the Nottingham Daily Express:
“It is becoming more and more recognised that persons in humble circumstance sought not and will not be content to toil and live huddled together in thickly populated and dreary localities without breathing space and facilities for healthy recreation being provided… we are in the possession of a vast number of gardens, beautifully situated, and giving healthy recreation to thousands of persons of a class that could not be otherwise provided for – thus producing a good deal of contentment and happiness, which means improved social conditions and better citizens – results of more value than money.”
Gardening brings pleasure to millions and that “contentment and happiness” lasts through the generations. Many visitors to St Ann’s Allotments recall “Grandad’s garden” where they played, and picnicked on summer fruits. On one occasion, two men (cousins) came to Urban Nature in search of their Grandad’s garden, which they remembered from the late 1940’s. One of the cousins came from Newark and the other Australia. They knew the plot number and so we were able to show them where it was. Although it is now a wildflower meadow and hazel coppice, they were delighted to recall the location of Grandad’s shed, his chicken coup, greenhouse and hop plant. The hops, they said, weren’t for brewing but for compost. They were thrilled to see that the hop plant is still there.
