THE SHOP

The members shop at Kirkby Road Allotments was built in the summer of 1981 by volunteers from a number of sites across the city. The planners insisted that the bricks used matched the public toilet on the other side of the hedge. Despite the time and extra cost of sourcing matching bricks the society complied with the council’s requirements but were more than a bit miffed when shortly after the shop opened the council demolished the toilets! I don’t suppose the soldiers trudging back to barracks on a Saturday night with a full bladder were over the moon either.

Bob Luty acquired the shelving from a warehouse which was closing and the [short legged ] table was donated by Roger Satariano who was clearing his parents’ house at the time. Cy Lee from Bondgate kindly gave us the hanging scales which we use to this day to weigh fertiliser and seed potatoes. They were second hand when we got them but still work perfectly so it is unlikely we will convert to metric for some time yet.

Regular shop assistants over the years include Roger Satariano, Bob Luty, Peter Foster and Barry Hall. August Krampf and Malcolm Hutchinson have between them provided the extra muscle needed when Seed Potato sales grew beyond the odd 50kg bag we used to source from a local seed merchant.