How Times Have Changed

[Cider Boys]

I am at present completing my annual dog sitting responsibilities having just recovered from dog sitting for 3 Dalmatians at home for my youngest son's girlfriend I now am at Husbands Bosworth looking after daughter's Greyhound. My legs are aching and I feel quite shattered. I usually have a nose at any allotments when I visit a place and came across this snippet from their gardening news leaflet:

http://www.husbandsbosworth.info
GARDENING NEWS
Whilst throwing out some old copies of the Sunday Times, villager Patricia Hobson spotted a snippet of information relating to Husbands Bosworth allotments. In 1846, plot-holders were warned:

“Every occupier is expected to attend divine service on Sundays; and every occupier who digs potatoes or otherwise works his land on Sunday shall immediately forfeit the same”.

A copy of the Rules of the Allotments held in the Historical Society’s Archive collection also adds: “The land shall only be worked by spade husbandry. Two ordinary loads of manure shall be laid every year upon each rood. Not more than half of any allotment in any one year shall be cropped with white grain; the other half to be cropped with pulse, potatoes or green crops, but no turnips or other crop of that kind to be grown for seed. The corn stubbles shall be dug up every year before Christmas”.

I for one completely agree with all the sensible rules above and I don't supposed that they would have put up with any vandalism either in those days, how times have changed (alas not always for the best).

Barney

[oldherbaceous]

Morning Barney, what a wonderful snippet and did make me smile.

Something i did pick on and have also noticed in different articles i have read just lately is, people seemed to follow the physical things that were suggested to them, now it seems much more trivial things, clever old thing this media.

[Primrose]

Very interesting snippet. I bet there arn't many allotment holders who attend Divine Service on a Sunday these days.

But the ban on potato digging on a Sunday is pizzling because back in those days most plot holders would have had to work on Saturday as part of their normal working week so exactly when were they supposed have an opportunity to workn on their plots?

[Motherwoman]

I vaguely remember a programme once which determined that the size of an allotment was such that it could be worked by one hour (?) of work each evening. So having gone to work all day the hirer of the plot was expected to get out there after their tea.

[Primrose]

I suppose in those days people lived and worked far more parochially than they do now with their long work commutes so it was probably easier to pop down to the sllotment for an hour after tea.in the lighter weather. And for poorer families, the crops they grew were a very importsnt part of their survival.

[Shallot Man]

Primrose. I do every Sat and Sun lunchtime. It is held at our local Rugby Club.