NEXT month sees the introduction of National Allotment Week, with the intention of getting more people interested in this active and enjoyable pastime.

Not only is the exercise and fresh air good for you, but, according to nutrition experts, vegetables and fruit which are straight from the ground taste better than those from the shops.

In Basingstoke there are some 1,000 allotment plots on 39 sites, with the sites varying in size to meet the needs of the allotment holders. Most of the allotments have facilities for growing plants including water troughs, which are essential for watering the many produce which the owners wish to grow.

These facilities are provided by the local council, which owns the allotments, but it works with the local allotment association representatives to achieve a better understanding of the requirements.

The local council issues an information pack to anyone interested in acquiring an allotment, the contents of which include a map of the many sites around the town.

Last month, the local allotment holders were told that fees would be increased to rent an allotment plot but, after an appeal, this was abandoned as it was thought that pensioners who enjoyed growing their own food would have to give it up.

Allotments were inaugurated in Britain by Sir George Cayley (1773-1857) at Brompton in Yorkshire in 1805. He was also known for his land reclamation methods and other ideas, and, in 1808, flew a glider and became known as the pioneer of aviation.

In 1819, Lord Braybrooke allotted small portions of land to poor families to allow them to grown their own food. Thus the word allotment came into being.

By 1910 there were some 58,000 allotments in Britain, but this suddenly increased to 130,000 by the end of 1914, due to the outbreak of the First World War.

As German U-Boats surrounded the country and sank cargo ships full of food from the various countries that supplied Britain continuously, so the Government asked the population to provide their own food.

Local authorities were given power to acquire, by compulsory purchase, areas of land to be converted into allotments.

By the end of 1920 there were 1,330,000 allotments in use, even though the war ended in 1918! Even then, there were still 44,736 dissatisfied applicants waiting for land to cultivate.

Various Parliamentary Acts between 1908 and 1926 stated that allotments must be provided by borough or district councils, and it was laid down that an allotment may not exceed an area of five acres (an acre is 4,840 square yards or 4,046 square metres).

When the Second World War broke out in 1939, the same crisis of ships carrying food being sunk by German U-Boats led the Government to request that people “Dig for Victory”, which became one of the wartime’s greatest slogans.

In October 1939, the Agriculture Minister, Sir Reginald Dorman-Smith, broadcast to the nation for every able-bodied man and woman to dig an allotment or garden in their spare time. Much-loved lawns and flower-beds were dug up and converted into vegetable patches.

Some people even reared chickens, rabbits and pigs in their allotments and gardens.

This valuable source of food helped to get the country through the most difficult years of that war, and Basingstoke helped achieve this.

After peace was declared and Britain returned to normal, the Government began a look ahead at developing the towns around London, and Basingstoke was one of them.

An earlier planning act of 1932 stated that every planning scheme must make provision for allotments, so when the 1961 Development Scheme expanded the town over the following years, many more allotments were provided. But housing construction in the town meant the loss of several large allotments as well.

For example the South View estate, comprising Queen Mary Avenue and various roads leading off from it, led to the loss of 17 acres of allotment land in 1946. The area between Russell Road (and its pathway) and Hackwood Road lost 20 acres of allotment land when private homes were built there, while 26 acres of allotments were buried under the Worting Road housing estate between Downsland Road and the cemetery.

Nevertheless, the town has still a large amount of land for people wishing to use allotments. Over the years, improvements have been made to them, including the addition of toilets, sheds and other facilities. They are available to both young and old, so if you are bored with the television in the long summer days, then get outdoors and enjoy yourself in the allotment. There is nothing better than creating something with your hands and reaping the benefits.