A Walking Tour Guide to Dartford Road Allotments:
Spring 1999 Edition
[Please print out a copy for use as you walk around our site]
Welcome to the largest self-managed allotment site in Dartford.
Your tour begins in the car park at the Devonshire Avenue entrance to
the site. The large huts here are used by the West Dartford Allotment
and Garden Society (WDAGS) to distribute garden supplies to its
members, who include many of the 120 plotholders on the Dartford Road
site. WDAGS membership costs £1 per year, and the hut is
currently open on Saturdays from 2pm to 3:30pm. WDAGS was founded in
the 1940s; Dartford Road Allotments Association (DRAA) was founded
much later, in 1991, specifically to obtain and operate a lease for
the allotment site which you are about to explore, which has been
here for around a century, and which has an area of over 6.5 acres.
Before your tour begins you need to orient yourself. The entrance to
the site is to the east, the WDAGS huts are on the south side of the
car park, and the brick wall besides the bungalow is to your north.
At the entrance to the site you will see a QED sign that is mounted
on a notice board that has been constructed from recycled pallet
material. Now let's begin the tour!
Proceed south down the wide track between the WDAGS huts and the
rear of properties in Somerset Road. There are grape vines along the
fence to your right. At the end of the first plot the track narrows
slightly. From here on you will be on land reclaimed from dereliction
since 1991 by the DRAA. The track becomes more uneven, and there is a
new wire and concrete fence on your left, installed by the DRAA in
part to control rubbish dumping (the track here overlays up to three
feet of composted house and garden debris). Near where the track
swings west, behind Bath Road, you will find a large black object on
the left - not a mine, but a buoy from the Thames brought here many
years ago for use as a water tank. Looking out across the site you
can see many sheds on individual plots, nearly all of which have been
constructed by new plotholders since 1991 from recycled materials.
Opposite the black buoy there is a shed covered in honeysuckle and
clemmatis, and as you walk round the corner, you'll s ee a converted
rocking chair on the veranda. The lawn (!) and pond were new in the
autumn. Take a closer look and you will see an array of tadpoles.
These tadpoles will develop into frogs which will devour any slugs
that happen to be around.
Proceed west to the Gloucester Road entrance to the site, noting
along the way the newly constructed wooden fence, made from recycled
wood and the use of carpet to control weeds. You should soon arrive
at some low bushes of rosemary, lavender and sage on one of our
organic plots, at which point we leave the area reclaimed by DRAA.
Next to the Gloucester Road entrance is the first of three notice
boards, on which minutes of committee meetings are posted on the same
day they are held. In front of this is a triangle of grass, newly
sown this year, connecting the track behind Bath Road to a new track
heading north, also constructed by DRAA. There is a water tank by the
fence at the end of Gloucester Road, with a standpipe in a wooden box
adjacent. There are twelve water points on site now (compared with
four inherited in 1992), and nine have automatic dip-tanks rather
than standpipes. All water is metered, and costs the Association
around £800 per annum. Pause for a while here and take a look at
the plots round about, some of which are very well cultivated, though
others definitely need an autumn dig. Now head north up the wide
track. The second and third plots on the left are reclaimed land
again - this time following bomb damage when a land mine exploded
here during WW2. The damson trees between the second and third plots
are the last remaining sign of the former dereliction. In the trees
you will see a bird box which has been constructed from old pallet
wood. The shed on the second plot on the left has been landscaped
with delphiniums and irises. Behind the damson trees you can see one
of the dip-tanks - go take a closer look. Then head north again up
the wide track to the end of the third plot, where the track swings
diagonally to the north-east. The plot on the left as you take the
diagonal (in need of digging again!) is rented by the probation
service, and next summer will produce vegetables for the meals
service they provide for the elderly in East Dartford. Young
offenders have also been used on a number of reclamation projects on
site. To the right you can see another dip-tank (across another
grassy triangle): go take a look just over the wooden fence opposite,
where you will find another of the small ponds on site, which are
there to encourage frogs. The path due east from here leads to the
Association's own storage shed, a garage building donated by a former
plotholder which has recently been completed.
Return to the diagonal section of the wide track, and proceed past
the notice board to the wall behind the bungalow. So far every track
you have been walking on since you left the back of Somerset Road has
been reclaimed or created by the Association. Now you join the
original main path between Devonshire Avenue and Dartford Road. Walk
north, with the wall to your right and a well-cultivated plot on the
left with flowering perennials at its northern end. Proceed to the
end of this plot, opposite the shed covered in ivy and brambles (a
sensible way of protecting a shed from vandalism and wind damage),
then cut due west, in amongst the plots, first past this shed, then a
quick right-left and on to a dip-tank that has no tap. Time to pause
again. The plot to the south-west next to the fence (with lots of
flower pots on it) is another of our organic plots. By your feet you
will find a fine specimen of mint. See an example of a lean-to shed
construction!!! Now take the narrow path north. Take a closer look at
the row of blue barrels on the right. You'll see that someone's
trying to combat carrot root fly and trying to grow long carrots.
There are fine crops to be seen on the right between here and the
green Anderson Shelter two plots to the north. Note the blue barrels
on the right being used to make compost, compost bins and sheds made
from recycled pallets (the Association has supplied over 1,000 free
of charge to plotholders for uses such as this - and to replace metal
and other materials which have gradually been cleared from the site),
roses being budded, and on the left, the last traces of flowers which
were grown last summer for drying and subsequent display.
When you get to the dip-tank behind the Anderson Shelter, turn
right (mind out - this can be a damp spot) and head back to the main
path. On the way you will pass two of several plots on the site with
an Italian theme: the first plot on the left has globe artichokes and
fennel, and the third on the right (with another Anderson Shelter on
it) has more globe artichokes, and Italian asparagus (much thinner
than other varieties). Plotholders on the Dartford Road site bring
with them the horticultural traditions of many different countries,
including India, Mauritius, Jamaica, Antigua, South Africa, Spain,
Italy and the Republic of Ireland.
Walk north along the main track again for one plot-length, until
the site opens out on both sides of the track. As you continue, you
will see some Indian vegetables being cultivated on the left, Italian
on the right. Another plot-length and you come to a carpeted
embayment flanked on two sides for pallets: this has been installed
to allow for manure deliveries in the winter months and deliveries of
pallets. Another thing confined to winter months is bonfires: New
rules on bonfires were introduced in 1992 to help maintain the
quality of the environment for ourselves and residents of adjacent
properties.
Pause for a while at the embayment, and take a look at some of the
plots around here: there are good examples nearby of water
conservation using pipes to take water directly to plant roots, and
stands of dahlias and chrysanthemums off to the west. When you are
ready, strike east from the embayment at right angles to the main
track. The second plot on your left has a fine set of vines, with
feverfew and chrysanthemums bordering the path itself, while that on
the right is being reclaimed with carpets (some of the carpets on
site have been used on different plots every year since 1992, and are
still usable). Four plots in you come to another dip-tank. Pause to
look at the plots nearby: the plot in the south-east corner looked
particularly attractive from here last summer.
Now take the well-kept path to the north, towards the fruit cage.
After half a plot-length you will see a strawberry bed on the right:
from here to the fruit cage the ground was cultivated last summer by
adults with learning difficulties from NW Kent College, one of
several contributions being made by local allotment sites to the
activities of the QED Health Group. To the left, beyond the fruit
cage, is one of the more individualistic sheds, built last year by
the QED Youth Action group. Look one plot over and you may spy a
bridge (!) over another pond. Continue north two plot-lengths (the
second plot you pass on the left is mine: forgive the mess!) to the
point where there are two sheds on the left: take the narrow past
west between the first shed and a row of raspberries. The compost
bins on the right are home to a colony of sloe worms - a protected
species welcome on this site as a devourer of slugs. Keep going west.
The second plot you cross has a large cold frame with light diffusers
on top: this was used for cucumbers last summer. The shed to your
right looks to exceed the maximum permitted shed size, 5' x 7' at the
base (shame on me, for I erected it), but look again: the front end
has been recessed to meet the specification. There is a nice
grapevine on your left, and the largest asparagus bed on the site
beyond that. Continue west, over another plot with globe artichokes.
One more plot, past a New Zealand compost bin on the right (with a
slatted front), and you are back to the main track. Keep going west.
The second plot in on the left is flanked by lemon balm (smell the
leaves), while the third on the right features a Caribbean mixture of
flowers and vegetables. The shed on the third plot to the left is
your destination: stop here and demand tea if anyone is around! While
you are drinking it, take the opportunity to wander around: there is
a very large compost bin nearby, used to compost the weeds (including
cooch grass) from the nine derelict plots which used to occupy this
corner of the site before the Association had it plowed up in 1992, a
sheltered area beneath buddleia and a morello cherry with access for
a wheel chair, and to the left of the freshly painted brown shed
beside the fence, under the trees, yet another new pond - with
tadpoles.
Dartford Road Allotments are never closed. Come back to see us at
your leisure - and why not in summer, when the site is at its best.
Access is via Gloucester Road, Devonshire Avenue, and from Dartford
Road via the concrete road immediately to the west of the petrol
station.
[Richard Wiltshire]