Winsford's ‘secret garden’ opens its gates for centenary event

Over Allotment Association played host to residents at its beautiful Moss Bank site on Saturday, July 27, for an special once-in-a-lifetime version of its annual Open Day.

As well as being a chance to showcase the diverse and wonderful activities going on there, it’s also the time when members get to celebrate their own achievement in the preceding year.

This includes the presentation of the Dempster Cup for best kept plot, which this year went to green-fingered allotmenteers, Jim and Yvonne Kettle.

The cup was donated to Winsford Urban District Council by Edith Dempster, then of Vale Royal Abbey, and was first awarded in 1926, making it Winsford’s oldest existing civic award.

In July, the Association was also awarded a gold medal at the RHS Tatton Show for its long border, called ‘a Gourd Time’, and the Open Day gave them the opportunity to celebrate in style.

Vegetable showcase from members of Over Allotment Association (Image: OAA)

Chairman of Over Allotments Association, Frances Johnson, took the opportunity to thank Winsford Town Council for its ongoing support, as well as plot holders for helping make the Association such a thriving success.

She also thanked the people of Winsford for coming along to the Open Day, which she said helped make it a ‘fabulous spectacle’.  

She added: “When you come through those gates, for a couple of hours, the world stops and the peace is felt. We like to think we’re the town’s secret garden.

“It is the plot holders and their never-waning sense of humour which makes this site the 'happy place' it is today.

The original tenants of Over Allotments Site when it was first established in 1924 (Image: OAA)

“To say we’re proud of this year’s RHS gold medal is an understatement.

“To mark our centenary, we’ve have been making a lot of improvements to the site, and the open day was great chance to show the town there’s more to our Association than growing fruit and vegetables.

“One of our aims is to be totally eco-friendly and we plan to have solar panels in our communal building, the Plotters Rest, up and running in the near future, with help from Cheshire Renewables.

“We can then replace our gas hob with a halogen hob and stop using CPG gas bottles. 

“Later this year, we hope to work with Cheshire West and Chester Council to plant an orchard on the site which will be for the use of the wider community. 

“We also have visits from primary schools who host their nature classes here, then after lunch, they go on a bug hunt with a prize for the person who finds all the bugs first.”

Visitors to the Open Day were given a chance to see the site’s wildlife area, which is home to previously injured hedgehogs, a young family of urban foxes who live safely away from the houses, and a pond which is home to dragon flies and frogs.

They also got to see the Association’s own bee hives, which provide both honey and vital pollination service, and have been thriving under the care of its bee team.

Frances added: “We will be working with Cheshire Wildlife Trust who are going to give us talks on how to maintain our wildlife area.

“We hope this will help us achieve the diversity of wildlife which is required for it to be a huge success.”