The land has seen much change during its long history and was once under threat from tower block plans
Members of Greenbank Allotment Society including Helen O’Gorman(centre) who has written about it’s history(Image: Photo by Andrew Teebay)
A century-old Liverpool oasis where relics from our city’s past are unearthed was earmarked as the site for a tower block. Luckily Greenbank Lane Allotments which sit on six-acres and continue to be a hub for gardening and vegetable growing were spared.
But the story of the site, located in Greenbank Lane in Mossley Hill, in between Greenbank Park and Sefton Park, and its surrounding area goes back much further – and looked very different to what residents and visitors see today. Back in the 17th century, it was home to a grand hall on what was then rural land.
Allotment holder and historian Helen O’Gorman, originally from East London, moved to Liverpool in 1981 and has had a plot at Greenbank Lane for almost 30 years. As part of the Liverpool ECHO’s How It Used To Be series, we spoke to Helen about the lost buildings on the land, how the allotments came to be and what life is like at Greenbank Lane today.
READ MORE: 30 baby names for boys and girls that were popular 50 years agoREAD MORE: Supermarket ‘walk of shame’ that Liverpool kids avoided
The mum-of-two told the ECHO: “It’s got a long history and the first bit of information we found was from around 1769 – somebody growing a cucumber that had been brought back from Turkey. I thought, it’s absolutely just right for the allotment to be able to say cucumbers were grown there in the 18th century.
“But on the site, there used to be a really big house with lots of outbuildings. It was just so much more rural here.
Greenbank Lane Allotment Society is on Greenbank Lane(Image: Photo by Andrew Teebay)
“It belonged to a series of merchants associated with the slave trade. There were butlers, gardeners – 10 domestic servants is quite a lot. There was like a little cottage so they probably lived on the site as well and the house itself was very grand.”
By the early 20th century, allotment gardens were becoming more established in towns across the county, particularly in urban areas. During the wars, they became vital when communities were experiencing food shortages and rationing.
Helen said it is difficult to say precisely when the Greenbank Lane Allotments first launched but she found references from as early at 1917 featured in the Liverpool ECHO. Helen said: “Some people were really for the allotments but other people thought it was a blot on the landscape and didn’t like the idea of the manure.
READ MORE: Lost Liverpool city centre pub that was ‘different in character’READ MORE: Liverpool’s Old Dock that’s still hidden beneath the city centre
“As it was using land that had been used for cricket and recreation, they thought it wasn’t a very good thing. But then during the war, because it created so much food that was needed, people came round a bit to it.
“In the 1930s, Liverpool gave over a thousand plots to unemployed men because of the recession – so it really was a big, a big movement in Liverpool. It was under threat in the 1960s when they were building all the tower blocks that went round Sefton Park and they wanted to build tower blocks where the allotment was. There was a public inquiry and in the end it was saved.”
The site has experienced a lot of challenges and gone through many changes over the decades but well over a century on from its humble beginnings, it continues to welcome generations.
Helen O’Gorman has had a plot on site for nearly 30 years(Image: Photo by Andrew Teebay)
Helen said: “There’s probably about 60 plots here – it’s quite big. Then there’s another one on the opposite side of the road which is Sefton Park Allotments and there’s probably about 70 or 80 plots there as well.
“People have always been friendly and, when you first get a plot, people give you advice and tell you what to try and what their tips are. We’ve got people of all ages. We’ve got a communal plot so if people are older and they don’t want to feel that they’ve got to look after a big allotment, they can go there.
“We’ve got some little raised beds and people can come and just do some work on the communal plot. We’ve got a little table with art supplies so children can come in the open air and do their drawings – that’s a lovely side to it.”
READ MORE: ‘Rite of passage’ Liverpool nightclub was like an ‘adult funhouse’READ MORE: Lost city centre store that was ‘one of the top names’ in Liverpool
Through the years, Helen has brought her two daughters to the allotments and now regularly brings her six grandchildren. With such an interest in the history of the site Helen has now published a book looking back at its fascinating past.
Researching census records and local newspaper reports to discover more, ‘Cabbages or Cricket? A potted history of Greenbank Lane Allotments in the 20th century’ takes a look at the life on the pre-allotments land and how it came to be.
Greenbank Lane allotments are over a century old(Image: Photo by Andrew Teebay)
Together with the Greenbank Lane Allotment Society, more than £400 has already been raised from sales of the book and the group plans to use the money for well-needed upgrades, as well as to make it a more communal space to host workshops and events for visitors of all ages.
Helen said what she loves most about the allotments is the friendship and camaraderie and the society hopes more people can come and see it for themselves. She said: “It always a lovely thing, sharing and swapping ideas here.
Helen O’Gorman with her new book and granddaughter Bella, aged four(Image: Photo by Andrew Teebay)
“Quite a few people who are here have wondered what it was before or I’ve wondered what it was like. A few people have found old clay pipes on the ground or old coins.
“It just does make you think about people who were there before cultivating it and what they were growing. It is a fantastic feeling.”
‘Cabbages or Cricket? A potted history of Greenbank Lane Allotments in the 20th century’ can be bought at Greenbank Lane Allotments for £3.50. To find out more about the allotments, click here.