History of the Plot

The land that our site occupies belongs to the Nathaniel Newton Charitable Trust . The monies from our rent goes toward the terms of the trust that was set up as part of Nathaniel Newtons Will and made provision for the education of young people of Hartshill.

If you have a look at the Nathaniel Newton school badge you will see it has a boy & a girl on it and the numbers 2&6. This represents the 2 girls & 6 boys who had their eductation paid for.  These days we don't have to pay for education in the same way as in Newtons time so now anyone who is living within the parish can enter a submission to get a grant towards there eductiion (eg books if they are at University).  Hopefully this means we are as safe as it is possible to be these days.

We have 66 plots on our site and as of the 1st of January 2006 we only have 5 vacant.

Like a lot of sites, it went into a bit of a decline a few years ago and it was kept ticking over by a few stalwarts, but now with the resurgence in growing your own it is starting to fill up.  A couple of years ago we had water laid on to the site and there is a stand pipe about every 3 plots.  So we have as much as we can carry in cans - But no use hosepipes I'm afraid. Up to two years ago there was a trading hut, but with the decline in numbers it became uneconomic.Good news - the shop's back! The opening hours will be 9:30 - 11:00 every sunday it is run on a non profitmaking basis but it is self financing or it will be if we all use it.

A couple of the plots were in a bit of a state with old sheds and greenhouses that have collapsed and are now covered with Brambles, nettles and general rubbish, but these have been taken on by a couple of very enthusiastic people and are now clear.

 We all look forward to the good times that are ahead.