Allotment Gardening Advice Help Chat
Growing => Grow Your Own => Topic started by: Urbanite on September 08, 2017, 18:37
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A full size plot recently became vacant on our(council run) allotment.I dont officially take it on till January,but was told i could start to get it into shape this year.Most of the plot is in good condition, has been worked and in good order, the front of the plot however is a different story.The previous tenent never worked this area and simply covered it...grit,dpm,old carpet,crazy paving, this is the area ive been concentrating on cleaning up.After the previously mentioned grit,etc came up (along with a lot of rubble)...ive hit this, no idea what it is, only that its at least three courses thick and rendered on the inner edge, Im back tommorrow for further exploration(the blooming polytunnel was supposed to go here).
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There could be a whole building down there yet, you know :wacko:
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Yep have cleared a plot like that before. Wonder if the council would lend you a JCB. Our one time association treasurer dug up a complete Ford Prefect (only lacking the driver) when he took over an allotment.
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There could be a whole building down there yet, you know :wacko:
Notghing would surprise me...ive already built a 12x2x2 rockery/raised planter thing simply using dug up rubble/broken pavers and still have enough for an extention.In one area i took up some uncovered Kerazee paving to find full intact flags underneath...go figure that one out ???
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It would appear it was something the previous tenant was not prepared to unearth. Could be something to do with an old air raid shelter. We still have the odd Anderson shelter on our site, complete with foundations of sorts. Maybe it could be utilised as your polytunnel walkway if not too wide, and then when you leave, the next tenant can scratch their head.
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A landing strip for aliens? A very small Roman road? A prototype for Hadrian's Wall? The remains of an outdoor lavatory?
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A landing strip for aliens? A very small Roman road? A prototype for Hadrian's Wall? The remains of an outdoor lavatory?
I like your thinking but I bet it's the roof of a bank vault... long forgotten but still full! :lol:
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Seriously, you have obviously unearthed the foundations/remains of a building that was there before the land was turned into an Allotment Area, the previous occupant also knew it was there, so used it as a "utility space", I doubt whether you will be able to remove it completely, (or even at all). Personally, I would uncover it completely to find out the area it covers, then use it as, possibly a shed base, or polytunnel base, using raised beds, or compost area , etc, etc, but use it, as you are paying rent for it.
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A landing strip for aliens? A very small Roman road? A prototype for Hadrian's Wall? The remains of an outdoor lavatory?
I like your thinking but I bet it's the roof of a bank vault... long forgotten but still full! :lol:
Alas a bank vault it wasn`t...full or otherwise.
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So, what was it then, please??
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Seriously, you have obviously unearthed the foundations/remains of a building that was there before the land was turned into an Allotment Area, the previous occupant also knew it was there, so used it as a "utility space", I doubt whether you will be able to remove it completely, (or even at all). Personally, I would uncover it completely to find out the area it covers, then use it as, possibly a shed base, or polytunnel base, using raised beds, or compost area , etc, etc, but use it, as you are paying rent for it.
its gone (well still there but now above ground...in big blooming lumps), eight feet long, seven courses wide, four courses deep, whilst "renovating" the front of the plot I also uncovered what i presume was a brick edged flower border, my thoughts are that a previous tenent was "doing a foreigner", used what clean bricks they could and slid the rest off a tipper into a big blooming hole...to be uncovered by myself some years later, just gotta beg the council for a skip now (which will probably be harder work than digging the blooming mess out).
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Seriously, you have obviously unearthed the foundations/remains of a building that was there before the land was turned into an Allotment Area, the previous occupant also knew it was there, so used it as a "utility space", I doubt whether you will be able to remove it completely, (or even at all). Personally, I would uncover it completely to find out the area it covers, then use it as, possibly a shed base, or polytunnel base, using raised beds, or compost area , etc, etc, but use it, as you are paying rent for it.
its gone (well still there but now above ground...in big blooming lumps), eight feet long, seven courses wide, four courses deep, whilst "renovating" the front of the plot I also uncovered what i presume was a brick edged flower border, my thoughts are that a previous tenent was "doing a foreigner", used what clean bricks they could and slid the rest off a tipper into a big blooming hole...to be uncovered by myself some years later, just gotta beg the council for a skip now (which will probably be harder work than digging the blooming mess out).
haha...site won`t let me blooming swear.
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But at least you've done the hardest part of the blood, sweat and tears of getting it out of the ground. Have you managed to gain any usable space after your excavations? Will you be seriously short of soil in that area (hmm - place for compost heap?)
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But at least you've done the hardest part of the blood, sweat and tears of getting it out of the ground. Have you managed to gain any usable space after your excavations? Will you be seriously short of soil in that area (hmm - place for compost heap?)
Space wise, it enables me to put the tunnel were i originally wanted, soil wise, yes i have a big hole, but on my current plot i have three 13`x2`scaffold board raised beds in the tunnel...the contents of which will be coming with me.The rest of the area its freed up will either be a raised strawberry bed or I`ll cobble together a cut flower bed for the time being(probably the latter).
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Not ever dug up 'remains' on your scale , just stones of various sizes , no gold or anything valuable , could the bricks be used as a pathway ?
Good luck.
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On taking over my current plot, I inherited dismantled kitchen units and most of the plexiglass panes from a telephone box. This was stuff more or less above ground.
Six inches under the couch grass was a 10' x 10' grey nylon carpet, so embedded with roots I had to cut it out in sections.
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Well.... congratulations on the unearthing.
I think I would have had to do the same out of curiosity if nothing else. I am not so sure a skip would have been provided as our site was not council run but a local association.
Just think of the level of satisfaction once the space is cleared, recovered and back in use. :)
Happy plotting.
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Just think of the level of satisfaction once the space is cleared, recovered and back in use. :)
Happy plotting.
Yes , agree with that , some ' then and now' photos will remind you when you harvest your crops.
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Well.... congratulations on the unearthing.
I think I would have had to do the same out of curiosity if nothing else. I am not so sure a skip would have been provided as our site was not council run but a local association.
Just think of the level of satisfaction once the space is cleared, recovered and back in use. :)
Happy plotting.
Hi, yes it had to come up,and to be fair on first unearthing it was 50/50 WTF am i gonna do now/mmm...thats interesting.Sadly the soil in this area would take eons to clean enough to gow veg...but it will grow flowers :D and i`ve just ordered enough liner for a 5x3x2 wildlife pond.As for the rubble,my local council is cash strapped(like many others) so dont think i`ll get a skip...but do need a boundry fence so currently looking at Gabion baskets on the cheap.Going down tommorrow,so if i think on,I`ll post a few pics.
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A wild-life pond sounds good as does the idea of using the rubble as a boundary... if you can keep the weeds out from under it.
I bought a preformed fibre-glass pond intending to set it up not too far from my veg plots at home. The "pond" has turned into a 10 foot square, 4 foot deep, raised kio carp pond.... so I still need a spot for my little wild-life pond. worth having I think.
Here's wishing you the best of luck with your plans. (Nice to have the enthusiasm.... I'm trying to recover mine).