PUBLICITY Officer

Terry Land is in the

process of updating

the somewhat ne-

glected and over-

grown CLAHA

Facebook page.

Following feedback

from many plot

holders it was felt

this could be a

great forum for us

to dispose of un-

wanted items as

well as pick up bits

and pieces others

may have to offer.

FOLLOWING the

untimely loss over

the last year of allot-

ment holders Gra-

ham Nye and Pame-

la Buck (see ps 3-4)

to leukaemia the

CLAHA charity for

2014 will be Leukae-

mia and Lymphoma

Research.

As the UK’s blood

cancer charity L&LR

not only prevent

more people dying

but researchers

ways to stop people

developing blood

cancer in the first

place.

Their aim is to im-

prove the lives of

patients with blood

cancers such as leu-

kaemia, lymphoma

and myeloma.

More info: http://

leukaemialympho-

maresearch.org.uk/

NEW Chairman of

CLAHA Mike Hel-

liar has pledged

to continue the

good work of his

predecessor –

even if he hadn’t

planned on inher-

iting the role.

Mike (Plot D1A) explained how he first

became Vice-Chairman before inheriting

the hot seat from the previous long-term

incumbent Simon Curtis.

Mike (above) said: “I don’t think there

had been a Vice-Chairman for quite a

while. I hadn’t had a plot for very long so

I didn’t volunteer.

“But then after an AGM meeting I was

talking to Simon about the new role and

said that if nobody else would do it I’d

step in if that would help - not thinking for

one minute that three months later Si-

mon would announce his departure.

He added: “Had I known what was in

the offing I might perhaps have kept my

mouth shut!”

Retiree Mike is keen to pay tribute to the

achievements of Simon.

He added: “I only knew Simon for a cou-

ple of years but I thought he did a very

good job. He was very conscientious

and a hard act to follow. “

Mike is keen to play down any notion of a

committee revolution as he muses on his

role.

He added: “I wouldn’t say I have any

grand plans. However, I think we can do

more than we have done and perhaps

encourage a few more people to join.

“A lot of the members are not active in

any way. There’s a hardcore of people

that always help with anything that needs

to be done.”

And how have things been panning out

so far? “Yes, it’s early days, I’ve got a lot

learn but I think I’ll enjoy it.”

The Dig Issue No1 Summer 2014

ALLOTMENT holders have

been celebrating the life of

popular plot holder Pamela

Buck who died in February

aged 65 just three months

after being diagnosed with

acute myeloid leukaemia.

A big personality, Pam ran

a bed and breakfast busi-

ness in Bury and was well-

known for her near-constant

companion Poppy the boxer

dog.

In a fitting twist of events

Pam’s allotment D5A has

been given to friend and

fellow boxer enthusiast

Debbie Brown and her dog

Mungo (above).

Initially uneasy at the

thought of taking over

Pam’s plot, Debbie quickly

came to terms with the

idea.

She explained: “You can

imagine how I felt when I

received my email and

came down here and real-

ised it was Pam’s plot.

“But I spoke to a mutual

Position on Commit-

tee:

Minutes Secretary.

Plot No: A1A

Years as an allotment

holder?

“11 or 12 years, gosh,

has it been that

long?!”

Favourite thing about

allotmenteering?

“Seeing it all come

together in late sum-

mer as the hard work

pays off. I love looking

at my roses and

Sweet Williams in

bloom.”

And least favourite?

“The digging! I’ve had

a bad back recently.

Unfortunately my plot

became a bit over-

grown and I’m playing

catch-up a bit. But I’m

getting there.”

Cheese or chocolate?

“Chocolate! I can say

that because I’ve just

had some…”

GROWING PAINS

Overheard on our

travels around the

site

I’ll tell you what, that

muntjac’s a real pain

isn’t it?

The what?!

The muntjac - it’s a

little deer.

I’ll say! it’s eaten all

my brassicas…

Seriously though,

they say the breed

are more shy than

the red or roe deer

and were imported

from China.

Does that mean

they’ll go well in a stir

-fry?

Possibly—they’ve

made a right load of

wok for me.

Do say: Fancy some

venison?

Don’t say: Who killed

Bambi?

Friend Gilly and she reaf-

firmed Pam would be de-

lighted at the thought of

somebody she knew taking

it on.

She added: “Gilly passed

the news onto Pam’s family

who responded the same

way. I think she’d be

pleased there’s another

as Debbie explains: “I met

Pamela going around gar-

dens years ago and got

chatting to her because she

had two boxer dogs.

“Instead of looking at the

flowers like everybody else

I was obsessed with the

dogs.

“We both loved boxers. I

met her again a few years

boxer dog sit-

ting on the plot

watching it all

going on.

“It’s almost

fate.”

She added: “I

Feel fine now. If I hadn’t

taken it on it would have

gone to somebody else who

wouldn’t have known Pam

and now I feel happy about

it…

“But I would rather have

been working on an allot-

ment with her not instead of

her.”

The love of boxer dogs

brought the pair together as

later and I had

a new puppy.

Her old one

had died and

Poppy used to

run away and

refuse to come

back so we used my dog

Mungo as a lure to get Pop-

py back.”

Sally Coldrey, D5B, also

spoke warmly of Pamela

and explained the reason

for a funeral party when the

order of the day was every-

body wearing pink shoes.

Sally said: “She always

wore pink and had thou-

sands of different coloured

“I think she’d be

pleased there’s an-

other boxer dog

sitting on the plot”

clip-on earrings of every

over-the-top variety.

“I can’t remember seeing

her in gardening clothes -

she would come down here

in her flimsy skirt and pink

blouse.

“She wasn’t quite as re-

moved from earthy types as

Margot Leadbetter from The

Good Life but I can see an

analogy. She had a jolly

good gardening brain and

she certainly knew what

she was doing.”

Sally also enjoyed a legacy

from Pam in the form of

seeds for her allotment.

She added: “Pam wanted

me to get all of her seeds

she’d ordered.

“When she died it wasn’t

the time to plant out so I

kept them indoors Then

when Debs got the plot

there were far too many

seeds for me and I gave

them to her. Pam’s seeds

are going back onto her

plot.

“We’re both terribly comfort-

able that Debbie has fol-

lowed on from Pam.“

She added: “Pam would

speak her mind but she was

very, very kind, very genu-

ine and had a good sense

of humour. She loved her

grandchildren and it’s a

great sadness she won’t

see them grow up.“

The life of this extraordinary

woman is possibly best

summed up by a man who

appeared at the pink party

dressed in a ballerina cos-

tume. He commented: “I’d

only do it for Pam!”

IF for any reason your

plot has fallen into mis-

use but you wish to con-

tinue cultivating it in the

future please get in touch

with Gill Cook at the

Town Council and dis-

cuss it with her.

The council try to be as

accommodating as they

can about illness,

injury or any of the

myriad other good

reasons why holders

may not keep their

allotment in top con-

dition.

Gill is contactable on

01284 757158 and

gill.cook@burystedm

unds.suffolk.gov.uk