Previous tenant

I've spoken to Gerald Trevor, the son of the previous tenant, Les. It seems that Les has had the plot for 30 years and was reluctant to give it up. However his health has deteriorated recently.

Gerald was surprised we had already taken it over. I explained that the Council had repeatedly been in touch with his father, who took his failure to reply and his age as indication that he was relinquishing the plot. Gerald has attempted to work the lot in recent times. However he now lives in Hinckley and, as we talked, seemed to become reconciled that the plot needed handing over to new tenants.

Here are a couple of notes that may be useful. He bought the polytunnel 3-4 years ago as a present for his father. He has installed an overhead sprinkler system in it, but this is not needed every day, as the soil retains moisture well, even in high summer.

He had treated the soil under the tarpaulin with leaf mould, and says its condition is now much better than previously. (That explains the rotting bags of leaves in the polytunnel)

He says they have not experienced flooding of the plot since the Council installed land drains several years back.

Gerald mentioned the rows of remaining potatoes. I said he was free to dig those up at his convenience

Gerald will empty the shed in the next few days.

Geoff and I today (Wednesday) continued the clearing out of the polytunnel. We have potted a few strawberry runners in the hope they might take - and be replanted when we know what to do with the polytunnel next year.

Mike