Committee member Ian Robinson turned up at the Allotment supper wearing slings and bandages. We wondered if he thought it was a fancy dress evening but apparantly he did himself a deal of damage after a committee meeting earlier in the week. Apparantly the seed secretary was unable to attend the meeting and Ian had brought his seed order so he decided he would deliver it on his bicycle. I don't know what they had to drink at the meeting but Ian ended up in a heap on the road surrounded by bits of his bike. I am sure that you will all join me in wishing Ian a speedy recovery. Incidentally the bandages and sling did not prevent him from lifting several pint glasses.
Congratulations to Howard Yeomans and his partner Heather who have recently had a baby girl called Elsie Maribel. Howard is well known for the variety if bicycles that he uses around Thornbury.
How long will it be before we see the first bicycle to incorporate a pram?
The Giant carrot shown below has been exposed as a hoax. Tests on the carrot revealed it to be an F1 Gladiator parsnip coated with orange enamel paint. We understand this was the work of a frustrated carrot cultivator, piqued by the success of his allotment neighbour
We have a photo of a suspicious looking person scuttling away from the scene
DIG THIS
I have been sent a photograph asking if this is the biggest carrot to be grown at the allotments this year.
Although not strictly allotment business I am sure you would all like to join me in congratulating Anne Harrison on recently travelling to London to be presented with a medal by the Duke of Kent.
Anne was awarded her medal for services to life saving in particular the training of youngsters on the Rookie programme of the Royal Life Saving association for the last fifteen years. This is a programme that promotes water skills and safety with commitment to the prevention of drowning. Well done Anne this is of real value to the community.
Annes award may also solve the reson behind her husband Mike's (the treasurer) mystery illness. It was probably the thought of having to splash out on a new outfit for Anne that brought on his dizzy spells.
Congratulations to all of our members who were involved in the success of Thornbury in Bloom. Sue Aitken has done a tremendous amount of work as chairmen of the organising committee and she has been assisted by partner Tony Sansum. Sue and Tony do a tremendous amount for both Thornbury and our association in spite of having a very active business to run. Thornbury Litter Busters are a group of people including Kim Webber, Sue ? and two other ladies from plot 5/3 whose names competely escape me(sincere apologies ladies). The litter busters were awarded the Wyvale Cup and an award of "Outstanding Achievement" for their efforts in cleaning up areas of Thornbury, something for which all residents are truly gratefull.
Members who were given local awards were, in no particular order:-
Gill Gilligan Highly Commended Garden in Bloom
Alan Heath Highly Commended Structural Garden
Jennifer Evans 3rd Prize House Frontage
Gill Leaper 2nd Prize House Frontage
Owen Family Highly Commended Scarecrow
Henderson Family 3rd Prize Scarecrow
Sue & Tony Award for Shop Premises
Other members have been involved in many ways and we hope that this years success will lead to more involvement and future successes
A couple of events for you to add to your diaries. Next years Open day will held on July 12th. We are holding another Gardeners Question Time in October. Unfortunately I have lost the piece of paper with all the details. I will e mail them out when the paper re-appears.
Still very soggy on the plots but Dave has returned from his holiday and managed to cut the grass. Daves grass cutting is one of the major factors in Daggs always looking so tidy. Please help him by cutting your edges and keeping nets and stakes clear of the paths. Please make sure that branches, brambles and raspberry canes are cut back clear of paths they can cause nast scratches to people walking by them.
One more word of warning. Our treasurer, Mike Harrison has taken Norman Tebbits advice and got on his bike (courtesy of Tony Lines). I don't know if he has stabilisers fitted but you would be advised to give him a wide berth. Incidentally we still havn't seen a kettle boiling on his new stove.
Looking around the plots this week it is clear to see that despite the awful weather most peoples crops have been really good. As in previous years there appears to be a lot of fruit and veg that is not being harvested. Beans are left to get stringy and old and soft fruit is going rotten. It is such a shame to see this produce being wasted. If you have fruit or veg that you do not need please leave it for someone else at the 'free' sign by the gate. in the case of soft fruit, if you don't want to have the trouble of picking it why not put a note in the notice board offering it to anyone prepared to harvest it.
We have a few new plotholders as usual at this time of year. Please try and talk to them to welcome them into the fold. Recently all of the new plotholders have joined the association and they generally welcome any advice that they can get
We are nearly half way through August already and the competitions, Open day and the BBQ have been and gone and all that leaves us to do is enjoy our gardening. Its strange to think that people have been enjoying the crops from our allotments for hundreds of years although not too many years ago the vegetables were grown as a necessity not just for pleasure. We also probably spend more time socializing than our predecessors and they definitely would not have spent time drinking coffee and eating bacon butties. This brings me on to a new addition at the allotments. Michael Harrison our treasurer has been given a new stove for his birthday, maybe his family thought it would keep him at the allotments for longer. We are all looking forward to plentifull hot dogs, bacon butties and toast when Mike eventually learns how to light the burners.
Beware, the badgers are about. Once again Mr Badger has started decimating sweetcorn. It is advisable, this time of year, to put a strong barrier around your sweetcorn to prevent the badgers rolling on the plants to get to the husks.
It was good to see so many members at the BBQ. Dave tells me that in spite of the numbers that turned up we did not run out of wine. Must try harder next year!! 
(more photos in gallery)
(more photos in gallery)It was good planning that the Open Day was in the same week as the Best Kept Allotment Competition as it meant that the visitors saw the plots at their best. The visitors were interested in all of the plots but naturally seemed to spend more time looking at the prize winning plots. Jean Kendrick was kept busy talking all afternoon as was Mervyn Tout. Diane & Dave Clark and Margaret and Tony Hall down in Crumbly Corner had a non stop stream of people who were looking at what could be grown in a small plot that was overgrown 18 months ago. New plotholders Tim & Anne Hudson were amazed at the interest that was shown in their plot and were able to give a new allotmenteers point of view.
From the new to the experienced, Nick Large sat near his shed talking to visitors and no doubt took lots of praise for his Allotment Sculpture which had won a Special Award in the scarecrow competition
There are far too many people to thank individually for their assistance but Dave and Alison Makepeace, as usual were on the front line for most of the day. The ladies who sold tea, cakes and plants were on their feet most of the afternoon as can be seen by the amount of money they made. James Gregory and Ray Fulker were kept busy seeing to the gazebos, selling entry tickets and transporting water and of course lots of plotholders spent the afternoon ensuring that the visitors enjoyed theirselves
The final act of the day was the one that gave treasurer Michael Harrison the most pleasure - counting the takings. First count showed that the takings were:- Gate:£899.50, Plants & Produce: £175.25, Tea & Cakes: £316.90, Open Garden DVD's: £25, Donations: £10.46 which gives a total of £1427