Best Kept Allotment Competition 2008

Prize winners were awarded recognition for their efforts horticultural this year at Huntingdon Town Council’s Annual Allotment Holders Forum in the Commemoration Hall, Huntingdon on Thursday 7^th August 2008.

Mayor of Huntingdon, Councillor Saeed Akthar, presented Mr P Dobson of 24 Tennyson Close with the Best Kept Allotment Award 2008 and runner’s up prize went to Sandra Wilcox on behalf of the Oxmoor Residents Association. With Mr A Adams of 22 Bernard Close receiving third prize, this completed a hat-trick of wins for the Sallowbush Road site, where all three plot holders are tenants.

The award for Best Newcomer was won by Mrs Lisa Moody of 10 Milton Close, who in common with the others received garden vouchers, a small trophy and a year’s free plot rental. Winner Mr Dobson was presented with the Hodson Challenge Cup, which he retains for the year.

Huntingdon Town Council has seen a marked increase in the take-up of allotment plots in recent years, as local families turn to healthy outdoor pursuits and eating as positive lifestyle choices. A rise in the demand for half-plots is considered indicative of the need for particularly younger tenants to balance the demands of work and allotment life. 

Mr Jim Scott is an eighty-seven year old plot holder who insists home grown produce is best and recommends that everyone should have an allotment. He caught the bug very early on at the tender age of eight, helping his father on their plot prior to the start of World War Two. Having taken over his plot at North Street in 1953, his planned retirement on September 1^st 2008 ends a period of fifty five years of comradeship with his fellow plot holders always ready to exchange a yarn, swap surplus vegetables and happily give newcomers the benefit of their advice. The arrival of a water supply, changing methods in growing produce, the arrival of poly-tunnels and of raised beds are all milestones remembered by Mr Scott during his long tenancy.