Memories of a plotholder - Jimmy Grenfell

Jimmy sadly passed away in December 2023 and will be greatly missed by all at Cwmgelli Allotments. This article was written following conversations about his considerable time at the allotments.

Our oldest plot holder Jimmy has had an allotment at Cwmgelli for over 70 years. His family have a long association with the allotments with his great grandfather being one of the first tenants when newly formed in 1917.

As a child he visited the plot with his father and grandfather on a regular basis. At that time the allotments were huge, stretching from Cwmgelli cemetery over to Nant Gelli stream.

He remembers the allotments were next to a farm, cows regularly poking their heads over the hedge. There was an orchard where the pigs were kept, although he wasn't allowed to visit them unless he was with a grown up. Quite a few chickens were also kept for eggs with some killed for Christmas dinner.

The allotments were full and very productive, the men used to cart the veg home in wheelbarrows. Jimmy would pretend that he was to tired to walk home so he could sit on top of the barrow as they made their way home down the side lane (Heol Y Cnap) to Brynhyfryd.

Another tradition was to leave veg at the lodge gate for the cemetery sexton who kept an eye on the allotments.

The bank beneath the hedge had cold frames all home made from bits and pieces, everything useful was recycled. Shop fronts with lovely thick glass. There was a shed full of hand tools all with wooden handles. Farmers hooks, kybes, pick axes and bill hooks as well as spades, forks, hoes and rakes.

At the age of fourteen Jimmy was given his own plot near to his dad and uncle. He was taught to double dig and, to dig deep trenches to bury weeds and manure ready for the beans. To this day even in his eighties he is renowned for his digging.

He recalls that he first grew lettuce, radish turnips before progressing onto potatoes - home guard variety, marrows and of course kidney beans. Everyone grew marrows. His grandfather would carve the Lord's Prayer onto a marrow using a pin and that would be used for harvest festival.

Bean sticks would have been taken from the hedge, utilising willow and hazel poles. They were stored at the end of the season in the hedge. One year they forgot to retrieve the poles before the birds started nesting and so had to wait for the eggs to hatch.

Grandfather was not happy there was much shouting and stomping!

His father liked to have flowers and today we still have a rambling rose that his father planted. Cuttings have been taken and they can be found in the hedge which was reinstated in 2005/6.

Nearly everyone would have a small smouldering fire with just a puff of smoke rising, burning pernicious weeds and diseased plants. Jimmy is convinced that this was good practice and swears that there were less problems with disease back then.

In the sixties the allotments started to decline, fewer people were utilising the land and it was gradually returned to the council. Most of the allotment land was sold off to a developer and Gelli Aur housing estate was built.

Fortunately, Jimmy’s dad never gave upon the allotments. Using his own money he worked tirelessly to ensure that Cwmgelli allotments became a statutory allotment site. This means that the allotment site has legal protection and therefore cannot be used for other purposes without the consent of Welsh ministers.

Jimmy is pleased to see the allotments thriving once again, he encourages all plot holders with his words of wisdom - along with gifts of plants, especially lettuce. He is even known to do a bit secret digging on other plots!