‘Winter can be harsh on the aesthetics of an allotment site’, she said with an apologetic tone when showing me around the site. This particular allotment was neatly sandwiched between a neighbourhood of housing estates and cul-de-sacs and backed on to an old railway line, but looked very much at home there. When I first met the secretary, she was standing buy the metal hut come shop advising a young family about the best way to maximise their cabbage crops. Along with plot owner 65 I very quickly came to the conclusion that between them they were ultimate veterans of all allotment worldly knowledge; an asset for any allotmenteer starting out and confused between their carrots and parsnips.

One particular feature of the allotment site here was the clear focus and integration of the local wildlife (something which the secretary was keen to share with me). After casually passing by most of the allotment plots, I was pointed in the direction of any thriving wildlife on site, including a rather free roaming chicken plot, various ponds and also natural water holes housing newts and frog spawn. Of particular interest was the old railway line, which sat along the side of the site. After a serious case of heavy flooding on site the old railway had developed into a river of sorts, and with it developed a new home for diverse wildlife. Various species of plants and animals now lived quite comfortably between the railway and the allotment. In most cases everyone and everything lived quite harmoniously apart from one recent case of a fox stealing the chicken owners’ prize turkey. Every year a couple of turkeys would live alongside the chickens until Christmas dinner would take them away but on this occasion the local fox got there first and so missed the chance of meeting one.

I found this visit to be striking in my memory for two reasons – firstly because the development of local wildlife was so important to the community of the site, more so than the cultivation in many ways. Secondly the fact that the secretary seemed so concerned that the allotment site wasn’t looking its best for my visit, especially in the winter months. For me the sparsely view of crops and colours only allowed me to focus on the other curious interventions of human nature on the site, with everything from carpet laid manure covers to make shift sheds and huts from old double glazed windows and car parts. Beauty Is in the eye of the beholder after all.