Manicured veg
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Neat, respectable landscaping with clipped lawns, hedges and uniform rows of vegetables were also part of Thorpe's vision for the 'Leisure Garden' of the future.
"Where such land already exists, or is provided in the future, one would expect both the local authority and the plot holder to set high standards in the design, appearance, cultivation and upkeep of Leisure Garden sites so that they formed attractive features of the townscape. This has been presented to the allotment movement as a series of features associated with the “New Image”, and covering particularly good design: beauty, as well as productivity; amenity; respectability; the raising of high-quality flowers, fruit and vegetables; the provision of facilities for the family, expressed in neat little summerhouses where husband, wife and children can enjoy a meal together; and in the availability of a fine community centre where the whole gardening fraternity can meet for lectures, dances, a harvest festival or for a Christmas party for senior citizens who through age or infirmity have had to relinquish their plots."
From: Thorpe, H (1975) The Homely Allotment: from rural dole to urban amenity. Geography, Vol. 60, No.3, pp169-183.
Location: Moor Green, Recreation and Community Services, box 17/5.
