Allotments are like many public and private gardens. There are times which show intense activity and times where they can look almost abandoned.

Public gardens such as Martineau Gardens always active with peaks in the warmer months. Educational and Social activities continue throughout the year, staff and volunteers continue to repair and rebuild, ready for Spring.

Allotment sites can be very empty for prolonged periods during the colder seasons, activity tails off with the autumnal harvest, such as pumpkins. This emptiness is punctuated only by the die-hards (who have the neatest plots) and poultry keepers who visit regularly to check and tend their birds.

As chicken keepers we include the latter and visit regularly. I sometimes bring my camera and wander around the site, walking up and down the communal paths.

I have an open ended approach to photographing as I walk around the site, although themes and motifs surface; from abstract images to small areas resembling stage sets or still-life arrangements. Other images show a wider view noting the site at rest, a sense of peace and stillness. Still other views offer evidence of use; resources gathered and stacked or leaning against the sheds , pots, chairs and of course wheelbarrows.

Polytunnels abound on the site providing the opportunity to extend the project further and also gave rise to a break-out project called Poppy. This was my lockdown project and was completed in the Spring of 2020. There is a separate gallery for this project on my Website.