Allotments in Darwen, Lancashire???

[nickson71]

Hi there

I'm new to this place and as you can tell I'm desperately looking for an allotment in or relatively close to Darwen in Lancashire. I work in Preston so place inbetween may be an option also.

The problem is that all the council owned ones are in Blackburn and according to the Council lady most of the sites are full and have significant waiting lists
and give preference to more local people.

Does anybody have any ideas on sites that I may have missed or any associations I could contact

Thanks

Ian

[PAULW]

The Council has to provide allotments under statutory powers.

Although the land is owned by the council the sites are managed by allotment associations. There are around 11 sites in Blackburn.

The plots have water and electricity facilities and have restrictions on their use.

Please note that there are no statutory allotments in the Darwen area.

[Debs]

Memories of Darwen!

Hi Ian,

I was born in Darwen and although I left 20 years ago I do remember a couple of allotment sites! Have had a look on Google Earth today and one does appear to still exist.

The main ones that I remember are sandwiched between Harwood Street and Tockholes Road ( I lived on Tockholes Road and allotments were at the bottom of our garden. I remember one old chap used to rear geese (as Christmas Dinners) on his very large section. Though probably privately owned and run it might be worth your while going along to see if you can spot anyone on site and ask (best viewing point used to be from Tockholes Road).

The entrances to the allotments used to run off a flight of steps locally known as "The Twenty Steps" (there were quite a few more than this and were my short cut to work every morning!). These steps run up from Harwood Street, at the top of Barley Bank Street, up to Tockholes Road.

Hope this is of some help to you (and hope Google Earth is showing relatively recent imagery) !

Good Luck,

Debs

[nickson71]

Thanks for the info

I've got myself onto the waiting list at Ewood but there could be a 12 Month wait........... waiting list of about 11

I also got on to a list at Feniscliffe but there list was longer (25) and they do give preference to the people that are more local to that site

The site that appears to be the biggest and is expanding is the Teak Street site but the council liaison didn't give that number saying that that site are "fussy" and wouldn't take anyone from Darwen as they've been let down before ....... the site is about 7 miles away

When I was wondering around the Ewood allotments I talked to a man on one the plots that said he had a plot at Tockholes to that he used for his chickens but there was no running water. I may have a look into this a bit more.


Thanks again

Ian

[nickson71]

Hi again

Thanks for info on the Tockholes Road site Debs

I've been down to have a look from what I could see most of the plots are totally over grown with the odd one looking a bit tidier .........

The odd tidy ones tended to have a large shed on which I guess is for chicken etc

There was no sign of any veg growing from what I could see

thanks again for taking the time to check with google earth

Ian

[Joe]

I'm also curious as to whether there are any allotments available in Darwen. I was already aware that there are no council ones, perhaps it's time to get on to them to provide some.

In addition to the Tockholes Road ones I think there are a couple of other areas with allotments. Is there not a register somewhere of allotments; council or otherwise?

Cheers Joe

[Joe]

Having done a little research I have discovered that there are some garden areas in Darwen rather than allotments. Unlike allotments garden areas do not have water or electricity available on the sites. The one I looked at has no vacant plots but adjacent to that are some private ones that are vacant although one of the plot holders believe they are reserved for redevelopment for industry.

I will investigate further when the council offices open tomorrow.

[lynda66]

Hi Ian,

I was born in Darwen and although I left 20 years ago I do remember a couple of allotment sites! Have had a look on Google Earth today and one does appear to still exist.

The main ones that I remember are sandwiched between Harwood Street and Tockholes Road ( I lived on Tockholes Road
Debs

I was born in queens park, and lived on Harwood Street ...... small world innit mind you i left when i was about 4 lol

[Joe]

Hi Ian,


The entrances to the allotments used to run off a flight of steps locally known as "The Twenty Steps" (there were quite a few more than this and were my short cut to work every morning!). These steps run up from Harwood Street, at the top of Barley Bank Street, up to Tockholes Road.

I went up 'The Twenty Steps' tonight with my partner. She counted 131 steps.

As Ian noted earlier these 'allotments' are very overgrown and probably aren't suitable as veg growing allotments, unless we send the sheep in first to get the grass down.

[looby lady]

Hiya
I am relativly new to Darwen and am desperate for an allotment. Capita Symonds manage the sites for the Council and they are far from helpfull when it comes to giving info about the sites. I think a lot of the problem is that the money for the sites gets taken each year and even if nobody ever visits the site Capita are happy as they have the money. So there are overgrown sites etc all though Darwen- Tockholes road especially. I am quite offended by the Blackburn with Darwen web site as it clearly states that there are no allotments in Darwen when there clearly are! Very naughty really as they have to provide them if there is a need! Here's hoping that the endless phone calls I make will work out in the end as i am not going to give up!
Looby lady x

[Joe]

There are about 17 garden areas around Darwen, but there is no list of them on the website, unlike Blackburn's allotments which are listed.

Are there any other would be allotment holders in Darwen?

[stephenwithap]

ok dont know if anyone still reading this thread but
harwood street is bein looked at as far as i know by the council
i had my name on that list for seven years and the reason they over grown is because people have left and not told council and the only way they know are vacant is when they send letter to put up rents and as this hasnt happened in three years you can see they are a bit behind coz they have to send certain amounts of letters before they can say yep ok that allotment is free then it has to be offered to next person on list and a reply has to come from them as wheteher they want or not and so on and so forth this is probabbly why when you ring they say all are taken coz on their list they are
the best thing to do is ring blackburn town hall direct and ask for the department that deals with allotments and ask for i think sharon or claire although i could have names wrong lol
now i got intouch last year to see if i had gone up list for harwood street and i had to number5 but it could have taken months or years to move from this so i asked if anywhere else and they said there was some at lower darwen on river i had a look and it was badley over grown but i took two and put into one there are a few more if you want to ask about them or if you want to look at mine to give you idea just contact me through this site or email me i have had mine since last year and council keeps tellin me people have got others but i aint never seen anyone unless the invisible men have moved on lol
it would be good to have a bit of company down there and even start a bit of a gardining club who knows lol

[mogs]

I heard that Capita have taken some additional land at Feniscliffe and are planning to extend the site a fair bit in the near future - it seems you have to register your interest with Cindy at Capita for the new sites

[stephenwithap]

knew ihad got names wrong its cindy i spoke to lol lol
but i spoke to her at blackburn town hall nah just remember they have moved to new offices at preston new road lol
it might be a while before they extend its all down to money again
ive been on to them about the site at lower darwen that they had landscaped for allotments then didnt fence coz according to the guy who runs it they have no money to fence and are still waiting for said cash
now im told by cindy that there are people waitin to move on to these plots just waitin to be fenced off but i havent seen anyone in 12month apart from the kids runnin riot on there and knockin down all the work the council have done all because of fencing
theve fenced mine why cant they fence the other i will never know
but im sure if there are people on these plots then they would say something about fenecing coz they bein charged rent for something they cannot use lol how many people do you know that would do that lol
my guess is there is no one so if you want an allotment ask about lower darwen
steve

[fedfed]

Blackburn allotment waiting lists ?

Have a look at this site. It has a response from the council to a request from the public under the freedom of information act. re waiting lists etc


Allotment waiting list data - WhatDoTheyKnow