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The Bartonian
A team of volunteers write and produce the Bartonian, in collaboration with Barton Town Council, who
have the final editorial approval for each edition. A separate team of 40 volunteers ensure it is delivered
to every house in the town.
This free magazine provides up to the minute information on all local events and happenings as well as
detailed articles outlining the history of our town. Not only does it keep residents informed on every
local aspect, but it also provides an insight into our small North Lincolnshire town, little known to the
rest of the world.
We are very lucky to have this level of community involvement, especially as the Barton Allotment
Society has its own designated slot within each edition written by our Secretary, Neil Jacques.
Below we will include a copy of the latest BARTONIAN article relating to the Allotment Society section.
January 2026 Issue
GET READY, GET SET, GROW!
Welcome to the new growing year. Now’s the time many start to look forward to the new growing season and make plans for planting. This is certainly the case at Field View Nursery where staff and children can’t wait to get stuck into their new raised bed. Built by members of Barton Allotment Society, Jean and Mike Corlyon, the new raised bed is designed to be the right height for the youngsters and is ready for them to plant their potatoes for the Allotment Society’s annual potato growing competition. Initially the competition was just for Primary and Junior schools, but it has recently been expanded to include nurseries, and out of school activities such as the Scouts, and is proving increasingly popular.The Barton Town Mayor in 2024-25, Cllr Neil Jacques, raised funds to support initiatives to get young people interested in gardening, and this initiative by the Allotment Society is a perfect fit. The Mayoral fund was able to provide enough for the materials and top soil supplied by Barton Building Supplies, and the right sized tools for the youngsters. There is still funding available for similar projects, so please get in touch with the Town Council for more details. Meanwhile on the allotments, the heavy rain, 169 mm in November making it the second wettest November since 2002, has delayed preparations for the new season a little. Even if you can’t get outside, January is the time to start onion and shallots sets in an unheated greenhouse, and sow broad beans early carrots, leeks and lettuce undercover. In February you can also start sowing early peas in a guttering sections in the green house. Another method for peas and sweat peas which avoids disturbing their roots, is to plant a few seeds in kitchen roll halves to plant straight into the ground later. (Tip: firm the soil at the bottom to prevent it all dropping out when you move them.) Whatever you grow, enjoy the coming season. Neil Jacques.
Mike and Jean Corlyon with Cllr Neil Jacques and staff and children at Field View Nursery.
September 2025 issue
BARTONIAN REUNITES NEIGHBOURS AFTER 50 YEARS
The 73rd Annual Open Horticultural Show stands out in many ways. Not only was it one of the best in recent years for exhibit numbers and quality, as well as the number of visitors, but it was also the opportunity for former neighbours to meet again after many years. Our guest of honour was Elsie Dent who was pictured in the last edition of the Bartonian receiving the Cookery prize from the then chair of the Barton UDC, Cllr Stanley Clarke, in the1970s. Former neighbours saw that article and came along specially to meet Elsie again and rekindle old memories. Elsie is pictured below handing the Most Points in Cookery cup to plot holder Janet Bee, a prize she had won herself many times in the past. Other highlights of the show must include the Schools’ section, organised by Mike and Jean Corlyon, with 250 pictures on a post card entered on the theme of our Natural World. Ten schools, nurseries and Scouts took part in the potato growing competition, which meant that around 800 young people were involved overall in these activities. Congratulations to Bowmandale on winning the potato competition with their heaviest individual potato weighing in at nearly 500 grams. Puts us plot holders to shame – the heaviest we managed in a competition in June was a mere 179 grams! There were so many more entries into to Cookery classes than normal, that the judge has asked for more time next year to judge them all! We were very pleased to welcome exhibitors from outside Barton and the North Bank, one o whom had the heaviest marrow of over 8 kilos. Their involvement illustrates the point that it is truly an open show. Finally, I am delighted to record our formal thanks to the 9 local businesses and organisations who sponsored the show, and the 16 shops and businesses who donated tombola prizes. A full list is on our website. Their support makes us able to continue to run the show each year which we feel is an important part of Barton’s Heritage.
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March 2025 issue
GROW TO EAT AND SAVE, AND SOW AGAIN
One of the pleasures of gardening is deciding what to grow each year and getting your seed packets sorted. Many gardeners like to keep seed from plants that were successful or they enjoyed the previous year to sow again in the coming months. Not only can you keep growing what you enjoy but it is much cheaper too. Many seeds packets have F1 Hybrid on the label. This means that the variety has been specially created by crossing two parent plants. It also means that if you save the seed for next year, it is unlikely that it will grow true as in the previous year, being less vigorous than its parents. Creating an F1 Hybrid can be an expensive process which is reflected in the price of the seeds. For many common vegetable plants there is an alternative in open pollinated plants. You can save the seed from these and enjoy a favourite year after year. I have been doing this with heritage tomato plants for nearly 25 years now and others are just as easy – lettuce and peas tend to be true to type in subsequent years, while the various bean types tend to more easily cross breed with other varieties grown nearby, but they tend to do well next year too. Many of my open pollinated varieties are Heritage seeds – ancient varieties which are not commercially available. The Garden Organic organisation operates a Heritage Seed Library of around 800 varieties, trying to preserve the true strain of the plants from which many modern varieties originate. Each year members choose six varieties free of charge to sow, eat, save seed and bulk up for future use. Over the years I have many rare tomato andl ettuce varieties and now have quite a store of saved seeds with interesting names and stories behind them – Mr Fearns’ Purple podded Climbing French Bean, Prince Albert peas from 1864, Champion of England peas from 1888, Mr Grief’s Brown Flowered Broad Bean, Northern Queen lettuce, to name a few. If you want to find out more about the Heritage Seed Library contact Garden Organic | The Heritage Seed Library
January 2025 issue
LOOKING FORWARD TO SPRING!
With the festive season behind us, thoughts turn to our plans for next year on our plots and in our gardens. As we plan what to sow and where to grow it, effective pest control without the use of chemicals, is becoming more important.One pest relatively new to the plots is the leek miner, the reddish brown larvae of the leek fly, first detected in the UK in 2002 and moving north as the climate warms. A quick check on the RHS website confirms the only ways to deal with it is prevention. Firstly, by covering leeks onions and garlic in insect proof mesh during the peak flying times March and April and September to November. Secondly practice crop rotation to prevent any pupae that have survived the winter getting into the next crop if planted in the same place. Experience on the plots has confirmed this with leek miner present in many crops, apart from one grown under mesh.Not all pests can be controlled in this way, so the Society is discussing the best way of chemical free gardening at January’s AGM. The suggestion is a hierarchy of pest control from taking a relaxed approach accepting nature’s feeding or disease is acceptable in most cases, careful husbandry, inspecting plants and manually removing pests where possible,and as a last resort the safe use of chemicals. One definite proposal is to ban the use of Glyphosate based weedkillers as it is so harmful to pollinators. If you want to see more details, the full document is on the Society website. www.bartonallotments.org.uk January is often called the hungry gap, but if you have planned well last year there should be plenty to harvest – Jerusalem Artichokes, sprouts, broccoli, winter cabbage, kale and of course leeks. January is often thought to be too early to start sowing , but in an unheated green house or cold frame you can start onion and shallots sets, and sow broad beans, early carrots yet more leeks and lettuce. If you don’t have a purpose made cold frame one of those covered propagators you can get from most gardening shops is a good substitute.When sowing broad beans, especially if you have saved the seed from the previous harvests as many gardeners do, check for signs of the bean weevil before you sow. If there are small holes in the seed, as in the photograph, then it has hatched out over winter. Some reckon that these seeds will usually germinate but if you want to be sure of a good crop, just sow good seed. I might try sowing holed ones as an experiment this year. For more details of the allotments and applying for a plot please contact me or visit our website.
Neil Jacques, secretarybartonallotments@hotmail.com
