By 1912 a total of 190 plots were under cultivation yielding a rental income of £115.11.9d a year, collected quarterly in December, March, June and September. Three additional acres were added on March 25th 1913, comprising another 34 plots. (Ref.1)
For a standard plot of 400 yards the cost per quarter to a member was 3/6d (about 17p in decimal currency) and pro rata with new members paying 1/‐ (around 5p ) each to join. The charges were reasonable both in terms of the wages of the times and by comparison with today’s charge of £33 for 200 yards and £66 for a double (still one of the lowest in the area). One currency converter estimate translates 3/6d in 1910 to a value of £14 now.
Financial records from the times tell of items familiar down through the decades. Messrs Warr and Bradshaw (the latter having owned a nearby field pre War) were paid in 1912 for ‘repairing fence by Simcox Piece’. And organics weren’t in fashion as ‘spraying charges’ were made such as the £3.1.0d to ‘Messrs Wood for Potato Sprayer’. Seeds were obtained in bulk, as today, with £3.15.2d paid to the Federation for Small Seeds and £6.0.8d to the Federation for Seed Potatoes in 1919. A pay box was bought in 1912 and