lifeisland – Manor Garden Olympic Allotments

The approval of the Olympic Parks and Public Realm Post-Games Transformation planning application was a disappointment for the MGS plotholders whose lovely old site will be replaced by something far inferior in the future Olympic Park.
It is also a betrayal of the thousands of people on allotment waiting lists in the local area, who were [...]

This aerial image shows the blighted landscape of the Olympic construction site – Manor Gardens Allotments was the area by the river in the middle, with the narrow bridge going to it.

Almost all the remaining vestiges of vegetation visible in the image have now been removed.
Before the bulldozers moved in:

BBC2 Documentary to be shown 9pm Wednesday 11th March under series banner ‘Building the Olympic Dream’
Tells the stories of three of the evicted groups as we tried to prevent the land we lived on, owned or gardened, from being bought from under our feet by Compulsory Purchase Order. The footage of Manor Garden Allotments [...]

Meanwhile in early July 2008, the Society gathered to party and to put their heads together and work out what had made the Bully Fen original Manor Gardens site function so well. The current sites problems and the aspirations for any future site were all discussed. Every member present spoke, often very movingly. The sense [...]

In May 08, the Society, funded by The Villiers Park Educational Trust, conducted a survey of people in the boroughs of Newham, Tower Hamlets and Hackney by inserting a flyer in the local papers asking people if they would be interested to have a plot in the Legacy Park. It was time to find out [...]

Heavy rain fell thoughout November 07. It quickly became apparent that the ground at Marsh Lane Field was as it says on the tin – marsh. The allotments, designed and built from scratch, at a cost of £1.3M, by Olympic contractors Birse Civils, had filled up with water, which couldn’t drain away.
On a third of [...]

It’s the beginning of the second growing season sine the community were evicted from the Olympic Site and relocated to Marsh Lane Fields.
Much has happened in the last eighteen months. Those Manor Gardening Society members remaining after some decided they couldn’t start again or wasn’t worth starting again only to be re-relocated in seven years, [...]

In his thoroughly entertaining book “One Man And His Dig” (‘adventures of an allotment novice’), Valentine Low includes a chapter on Allotments Under Threat. He highlights the relentless pressure on allotment sites all over the country and describes the experiences at East Acton, Eastleigh and Redbridge as well as Manor Gardens. He came along to [...]

The award-winning Kitchen Sisters, Davia Nelson & Nikki Silva, came to visit us while making the London’s Gardens: Allotments for the People feature (follow link to listen) for their popular “Hidden Kitchens” slot on National Public Radio’s “Morning Edition”. We were delighted to be featured in this very well-produced story which went out on 27th [...]

Following the recommendations of the consultants’ report, work has been going on this week to attempt to ease the waterlogging problems on 9 of the worst affected plots at the Marsh Lane allotment site.