Leisure Studies,

Vol. 23, No. 2, 195–203, April 2004

Book Reviews

Leisure
10.1080/0261436032000163517
RLST100139.sgm
0261-4367
Review
Taylor
212004
24
93203April
and
&Studies
Article
Francis
(print)/1466-4496
Francis
2004LtdLtd (online)

The Art of Allotments: Culture and Cultivation

D. Crouch
Five Leaves Publications, Nottingham, ISBN: 0 907123 78 3, 2003, £10.99, iv +
56 pages, first edition

The academic world has not published much about urban allotments, but the
subject has been widely dealt with on a non-academic level. The ‘ Art of Allot-
ments’ is unique in its approach to the theme of allotments: while most of the
research on allotments is horticultural or historical, its dominant approach is
cultural, and in fact, it mainly deals with the subject of British allotments as a
cultural-spatial phenomenon, and with the art and culture that evolve in and around
the allotment life.
The author’s main purpose in writing this book is to describe the culture of allot-
ments and community gardens both for the people who plot and for those who
simply enjoy them. According to him, ‘The Art of Allotments is where cultivation
is about human experience, self-identity and identity between people, together
with the cultivation of wider feelings about the environment and how people get
on with each other.’ (p. 2)
The book is richly illustrated, and contains nine chapters spread over 54 pages.
While chapters 1–7 refer to allotments from the point of view of the allotment hold-
ers, chapters eight and nine refer to allotments from the point of view of the
surrounding society.
The first chapter presents the cultural expressions of allotments in the arts. The
second and third chapters describe the physical and human activities that take place
at the allotments. The fourth chapter refers to the landscapes of allotments in the
context of environmentalism. The fifth and sixth chapters refer to the emotional
contribution of allotments to the allotment holders. The seventh chapter refers to
the material aspect of plotting.
The context of chapters eight and nine is political; chapter eight is longer and
more data-based than the other chapters. It refers to the historical changes in the
attitude of the British establishment towards allotments: in the 1960’s, the chal-
lenge involved bringing order to allotment land and its use. In the following years
the challenges involved negotiating with environmental groups and handling the
future of allotments within the context of rapid urban development in Britain. The
ninth and final chapter presents the benefits of having allotments for the general
public.

ISSN 0261–4367 (print)/ISSN 1466–4496 (online)/04/020195–09

© 2004 Taylor & Francis Ltd
DOI: 10.1080/0261436042000226372
196 Book Reviews

Throughout the book, a variety of sources are used and include personal inter-
views with plotters, newspaper articles, films, theatre, museum exhibitions, paint-
ings, illustrations, photographs, poems and ballads. Although short and richly
illustrated, this book is in no way superficial. It deals with themes that have never
been dealt with academically in the context of allotments, such as the political issue
of tenant-landlord relations and control, and from that point of view, it is a pioneer-
ing work.
Crouch’s approach is purely qualitative. The reader will not find charts, graphs
and other forms of data representation. The data is arranged thematically (accord-
ing to the table of contents), and is based mainly on cultural representations and the
personal words – at times, even intimate – of several plotters.
One of the unique things about this book is the extent to which the author quotes
and relates the plotters’ words and ideas. They are in fact the true heroes of this
book, and some of their quotes are indeed very insightful.
Almost every page contains some type of illustration; however, in many cases
there is no reference in the written text to the accompanying illustration, and hence
they serve as a black and white or colour ornament. As such they are aesthetic addi-
tions, but the book can be read and understood just as well without them. While
these illustrations are unique, important and meaningful cultural representations,
they require further interpretation.
Crouch has several insightful ideas that are not fully or sufficiently developed in
this book. He is a pioneer in the track he chooses, but quite often, pioneer trails are
unpaved and perhaps this is the reason for the embryonic state of these ideas. For
example, on pp. 21–23 there are hints about possible links between plotting and sex
– accompanied by a photograph and an image – but the interesting idea is only
hinted at and not developed. Another example is the idea that ethnic minorities in
Britain express their identities through plotting. Claiming that ‘Women from
Bangladesh sustain and develop their identity in getting together to work their
allotments in Bradford’ (p. 21) or suggesting that ‘In Nottingham allotments allow
rural Kurdish refugees to keep their hands in the soil’ (p.21) sound more like an
intuitive insight then a well-researched idea.
The likely readership of ‘The Art of Allotments’ is quite varied: thanks to its
reader-friendly format, it could be of interest to the general public – especially plot-
ters and potential plotters – while its political and cultural themes could make it of
interest to all levels of students and researchers in the study of outdoor leisure
activities, cultural representations and relations between city and country in
contemporary Britain.
David Crouch is one of the most productive writers on allotments in the Britain.
His present book, The Art of Allotments, is an interesting and original contribution,
because the existing literature refers usually to the landscape of allotments, while
this book refers not only to the ‘allotmentscape’, but also to the cultural produc-
tions representing it. The numerous insightful ideas in the book could very well
grow from seeds to a mature and developed garden if properly nurtured.

Amos Ron, Ph.D.

Ben Gurion University of the Negev