U-boat plan sunk by homegrown movement
Ahundred years ago the number of allotments increased dramatically when the impact of the First World War on food supplies kicked in. By 1917, food stocks were running dangerously low as merchant ships with imported produce were being sunk by German U-boats. Kaiser Wilhelm threatened that German U-boats would “frighten the British flag off the face of the waters and starve the British people”. Poor weather and partial failure of the potato crop in 1916 added to the misery. The politicians saw that the nation could run out of food.
Throughout the country, local authorities requisitioned land suitable for growing more food. Railway companies increased their supply of land for their staff. By 1917 the stock of allotment plots had trebled and within a year there was an adequate supply of homegrown vegetables. The Board of Agriculture and Fisheries appealed to private gardeners to save seed stocks to give to the new allotment plotholders.
Most of the new plotholders had very little gardening experience, giving rise to a plethora of pamphlets and books on what to grow and how to do it. I have a small collection dating back to that period. They make getting a new plot ready for cultivation look like very hard work.
Local authorities requisitioned land suitable for growing more food
Some of the recommended practices, such as trenching the soil by digging three feet deep, are thankfully no longer thought necessary. There are recipes for home-made insecticides using concoctions of toxic ingredients such as naphthalene (mothballs) and boiled shag tobacco.
Merrylee Road allotments in Glasgow is one of the sites established in 1917 with 80 plots. As part of their centenary celebrations they have just published a delightful booklet tracing their history. The initial emphasis then was on growing crops such as potatoes and other root vegetables that could be stored and provide year round food. A plot rent was 4s 3d a year.
Garden historian Twigs Way’s book about allotments has illustrations of allotmentthemed postcards from around that time. I liked the caption underneath the picture of a hardworking allotment holder mopping his brow saying, “Too old to fight, but doing his bit to beat the U-boats”.
My own allotments in Musselburgh date back to 1917, although the site has since been relocated several times in different parts of the town.
Although the popularity of allotments continued after the war, much of the requisitioned land was returned to its original purpose as football pitches and play parks. n Allotments by Twigs Way is published by Shire Library at £7.99.