Coldharbour Lane · Sheffield · since 1919
Forty plots above the Loxley
Forty plots on the west-facing slope above the Loxley, worked since 1919 and run by the people who work them. There is usually a wait. This page tells you how long it really is, and which plots are free today.
- 40
- plots
- 3
- free now
- 31
- on the list
- 9
- change hands a year
The site plan
Every plot, and who has it
Top field
20 plots · 2 free
Above the path. Drier, windier, and the first to warm up in March.
Bottom field
20 plots · 1 free
Below the path towards the brook. Heavier soil and a late frost pocket at the far end.
- Let
- Being worked. Most change hands every few years.
- Free now
- Being offered to the top of the waiting list this month.
- Being cleared
- Given up over winter. We strim and cover it before it is offered.
What it costs
A year of a half plot costs less than a month of a gym
Full plot
10 rods£42
a year · 253 m²
About the size of a doubles tennis court. Two evenings a week in summer, honestly.
5 on the site · 0 free
Half plot
5 rods£24
a year · 126 m²
What we give most new plot holders. You can take on the other half later.
26 on the site · 2 free
Quarter plot
2.5 rods£14
a year · 63 m²
Enough for salad, beans and a soft fruit cage. Popular with people who work weekends.
9 on the site · 1 free
Association fee
£7 a year
Gate key
£8 returnable
When it is due
Rent runs from 1 October and is due by the end of that month.
Half rent if you are over 60, or on Universal Credit, Pension Credit or ESA. Ask on the form; nobody is asked to prove it.
The rules that matter
Six things, not thirty
The tenancy agreement runs to four pages and you will sign it. These are the six that actually come up, and the only one anyone ever loses a plot over is the first.
- Work it, or lose it
- Three quarters of the plot in cultivation by the end of your first summer. We look in July and write to you first.
- No bonfires before 5pm
- And never in July or August. The houses on the lane have their washing out.
- Hosepipes off the mains
- Cans and butts only. There is one tap per block and it is metered.
- Dogs on leads
- And not on anyone else's plot, however friendly.
- Sheds up to 8 by 6
- Timber, not brick, and no concrete base without asking the committee.
- Take your rubbish home
- The skip comes twice a year. Between times, what you bring in you take out.
The year
What a plot will ask of you, and when
-
01
January
Seed order goes in. Dig over anything not covered, if the ground is not frozen.
-
02
February to March
Chit potatoes, warm the soil under fleece, cut the raspberry canes back.
-
03
April to May
The busy end. Everything goes in, and everything needs watering the week you go away.
-
04
June to August
Two evenings a week, minimum. Pick, water, and give the courgettes away.
-
05
September to October
Squashes and apples in, rent due, and the AGM in the hut with the urn on.
-
06
November to December
Cover the beds, mend the shed, and put your name down for the manure delivery.
Asked at the gate
Before you put your name down
- Can I put my name down if I live outside Sheffield?
- Yes, but Sheffield addresses are offered first when a plot comes free. In practice that adds about a year.
- Can I keep hens?
- On a full plot, up to six, no cockerels, and somebody must be able to see to them every day. Ask the committee first.
- What if I take one on and cannot manage it?
- Tell us. Handing it back in September costs you nothing and saves us a year of clearing.
- Is there water?
- One tap per block and butts on most plots. No hosepipes, and in a dry August the tap is the busiest place on the site.
- Can two of us share a plot?
- Yes, and it works well. One name goes on the tenancy and that person is the one we write to.
Put your name down
There are 31 names ahead of you today and about 9 plots change hands a year. It costs nothing to wait, and you can say no when you are offered one.
The waiting list