A good time was had by all.
Despite all the upset with increased rents and conditions of tenancy being imposed by Leeds City Council, the allotment holders of Leeds had a good time at their ‘Allotment do’, organised by the Leeds & District Allotment Gardeners Federation. The Lord Mayor and Lady Mayoress were in attendance to present trophies and prizes to the winners of the ‘Leeds Allotment Competition’. The competition has been administered by the Federation for the Leeds City Council for more than 30yrs.
There was a new trophy, the Alan Gledhill trophy, in memory of Alan who sadly passed away earlier this year. He was one of the leading figures in the formation of the Federation and a founding member of the self-managed allotment movement which brought Leeds to the forefront in the allotment world. It was quite an emotional time as Alan’s wife Brenda presented the trophy with the Lord Mayor to the two most aesthetically pleasing sites in Leeds, Gatescroft Allotments, Calverley, and Swillington Allotments.
It was also announced that next year the Federation will be introducing into the competition a completely separate category for schools in Leeds.
The chairman Ian Wood also announced that following the Federations huge successes at the Harrogate Spring Flower Show and the Great Yorkshire Show with their ‘Techno Allotment’ demonstration allotment garden, achieving ‘Best in Show’ and ‘Large Gold Medal’ plus ‘Champions Certificate’ respectively. The Royal Horticultural Society has invited the Federation to create an allotment garden at the Chelsea Flower Show 2014. This news was greeted with great excitement from all.
All proceeds from this most enjoyable evening at Sheepscar Club will be donated equally between the Arthritis UK and the Neuroblastoma Alliance (helping to fight an aggressive childhood cancer) charities.
Phil Gomersall, LDAGF Publicity Officer