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Scaynes Hill Village
My wife is a keen all-weather gardener. I just help out with the lawn mowing and hedge cutting now and again. We only have a small garden so took on an allotment at Gravelye Lane in Lindfield to grow vegetables. It worked really well and we grew potatoes and runner beans there for a few seasons. After a while, we were less keen on going over to the allotment from Scaynes Hill. It somehow didn't feel right that we had to drive there to take tools - sometimes forgetting to take what we needed - and bring the produce back home. I tried cycling - a cycle track could make another article.
New allotments for Scaynes Hill
11 April 2018 Posted by Mark Granger
Having allotments in Scaynes Hill is something that has been talked about for quite a while. The idea was included in the Lindfield & Lindfield Rural Neighbourhood Plan 2014-2031:-
- 4.33 This policy encourages proposals to provide new allotments for the parishes. ……
- 4.34 ….. At present, no long term solution has been identified but this policy encourages new provision in an appropriate location.
It felt like a good idea but the last paragraph gave the impression that it could take quite a while before anything happened. Rumours that some land had been obtained for allotments in Scaynes Hill were confirmed in the Lindfield Rural Parish Council (LRPC) June 2017 newsletter! We registered interest in having one.
The allotments are in Clearwater Lane in a position with a lovely view to the South Downs. They also seem to be in quite a windy position which leads on to the technology employed at the allotments to provide water. Getting the local water company to lay a new piped supply to the site was going to be expensive and would also require on-going payments for the water used. LRPC therefore considered alternatives and, to avoid any need for external service connections (eg water, electricity), decided on providing water from an on-site borehole powered by renewable energy.
The hole was bored about 40 m deep into the underlying water bearing sandstone and pump tested to ensure adequate flow could be obtained without the well drying up. The permanent pump was then installed near the bottom of the borehole and connected to a rechargeable battery in a small cabinet at ground level. A mast mounted solar panel and wind turbine provide sufficient power to keep the battery charged in all weathers so that the water can be pumped into a tank and trough from where the allotment users can take it. The tank contains a level switch, which detects when the water level in the tank falls significantly and turns on the pump. When the tank is full again the level detector turns off the pump, so that no energy or water is wasted. Thus the allotment holders are provided with an almost limitless supply of clean water by means of a fully sustainable renewable energy solution!
Before Christmas 2017 we had been allocated an allotment, signed up and paid the annual fee. We often walk past the allotments so saw developments as they happened - hard standing for vehicles, installing the bore hole etc. Fast tracking to March 2018 and our plot has been dug over, de-weeded and covered with a porous membrane to hold back the weeds from re-growing. A few trips were made to secure the membrane from blowing away - no car needed this time.
Scaynes Hill has a strong community spirit and the allotments have already drawn people together through a chat between digging. I spent a few days helping to put the metal shed together and met a fellow allotment villager in the process. From conversations with others it seems the 'expertise' will be quite variable from experienced gardeners to those who have never done any gardening. Already people are starting to think about how to help each other. A BBQ has already been suggested along with a Facebook allotment group!
The village has a Sustainability Group that meets fairly regularly. The group initiated a fruit and vegetable share scheme in the village where anyone with fruit or vegetables they cannot use puts them on a cart outside the church. Anyone can help themselves at no charge. If we cannot eat everything we grow - we know how we can avoid wasting the vegetables.
On June 9th Scaynes Hill will be running their village Open Gardens scheme again in aid of St Catherine's Hospice. A couple of allotmenteers will be around to talk about their allotment and the renewable energy water solution - plus there will be gardens opening as well. Why not come along?
This article will also appear in the May edition of Lindfield Life