Floods But No Famine

Plots were falling empty and becoming overgrown. Parts of areas E and F by the Reservoir were pretty derelict. Some of this area was staked out and recovered by Jim Riman and Jak Sheridan.

Jak Sheridan recalls taking an allotment in 1979 and joining the Committee in 1981. Her first AGM was upstairs at the Red House, a pub near the junction of Willes and Radford Road.

‘There were about five people there and they wanted a new Treasurer. I was the only woman present and offered to do it, later becoming the Secretary.’Glebe Place and allotments, 1998

Pete Sands, a postman, was Chairman in the early 1990s and Bob Webb the Secretary. Bob resigned in July 1998 following his request in a Committee meeting for a vote of confidence followed by a ‘heated debate with Mr Harvey’. (He was Chairman in the later 90s with Harry Lee having replaced Bob as Secretary). Mr Harvey and Mr Lee were in office during the devastating flood of 1998 when the Leam burst its banks at 5.30am on Good Friday. This devastated the site with estimated uninsured damage of £40,000. The Meeting Hut was swept away along with greenhouses and sheds. One greenhouse ended up in a tree but most debris was drawn towards the far corner of our site, next to Welches Meadow, as the water rushed through and out. Many plots remained under retained water for some weeks. A further problem was presented by crops being rendered inedible. Harry Lee, the Secretary said at the time ‘the environmental health people are coming down to do a soil test. We may not be able to use the ground for the whole season’. (Coventry Evening Telegraph).