We both had grandparents who had allotments! Barbara’s grandad favoured roses and clematis [see photo]. A Nellie Moser clematis was around the family home’s front door and in Barbara’s wedding bouquet. Tony’s grandad often turned up at the house on his way home from the allotment with a wheelbarrow of vegetables and eggs to share.
We’ve lived and worked in towns and cities and on urban issues pretty much all our time together. It’s been London since 1976 and commuter-Central Line Loughton since 1993. But Barbara tended our house’s garden from 1999-2024.
Since August 2024 we are in our flat with its garden [see photo]. So we brought many pots with us, the largest being our small olive tree. Here we are getting used to trees, squirrels, a bird feeder, flowers and bulbs we didn’t plant, bright sunshine and a new fence.
We still watch Monty Don and BBC ‘Gardener’s World’! He, amongst so many, are passionate about gardens. This is not only for personal wellbeing but as part of environmental action that seeks to resist climate change and its dire effects. We are pleased to read and see initiatives contributing to the planet’s health: we think of work on new forms of energy, tree planting, rewilding, establishing wetlands, protecting animals and birds and prioritising biodiversity.
Meanwhile we wait for spring in our small garden and we hope that world leaders will make decisions that combat climate change.
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