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My Life on a Hillside Allotment
'Every time he appears on the programme we feel that life is worth living. He has that power to lift your spirits.' - Jeremy VineTerry Walton has kept an allotment in the Rhondda Valley in South Wales for over fifty years. He started when he was four, helping on his father's plot on the side of the mountain, cutting bracken and collecting sheep manure to feed the vegetables.He was farming his own plot at eleven and he went on to build an allotment empire, selling his vegetables and flowers to local customers. The proceeds paid for his first car, a canary yellow Ford Popular, when he was just seventeen. Then, in 2006, after half a decade of happy gardening, Terry's allotment was adopted by the Jeremy Vine Show and he became an unlikely media star.In this absorbing and entertaining memoir, Terry documents how the valley has changed over the years, his own conversion to organic gardening, and the colourful characters he meets; interspersing his anecdotes with topical tips, family recipes and quirky line drawings.My Life on a Hillside Allotment is the perfect read for gardeners, allotmenteers and anyone who loves the great outdoors.
304 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2007
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
January 18, 2016
This book was perfect. It was three stories all linked by growing vegetables on the allotment.
The first story was life in the Valleys in the 50s and 60s where people were relatively poor with not everyone having either an indoor toilet or electricity. There was great community spirit though among these mining villages and so people were happy, and from the allotments, well fed on good food. In this story of his youth, the author inveigles the allotment committee into being the youngest holder of a plot. At 12 he has a thriving business growing and selling vegetables and flowers, working outside of school hours during the summer. By 17 he has made enough to buy his own car.
The second story is the years Terry worked in a several factories in the labs, one of them in a pencil factory was an interesting job. Mixing pigments for the leads sounds quite interesting. He rose to a top management position. He married his first love and she carried the flowers he grew for their wedding. They had two sons and throughout this time he drove 5 miles every day to his allotment to provide the family with vegetables although he had given up his business.
The third story is of Terry's third phase. This is where he beings a career working in radio, featured every week on a gardening programme and becomes a media personality. At this time he slowly gives up all fertilizers and weedkillers and goes organic.
At the end of every chapter is a seasonal recipe of the month for home-made foods and alcoholic beverages (squash rum, made inside the squash!) from the author's wife and tips for the garden from the author himself.
Like plants in an allotment, the book grows and matures until at the end, Terry is retired (but not from radio), his sons left home and he is thinking of cutting back. Now he is an author, and he has written a perfect gem, a really enchanting book, and not just because I am from close to the Rhondda myself. I hope he writes some more.
______________
Written when I wanted to read the book.
I'm not from the Rhondda where this book is set. But this is my part of the world and I know the Valleys well. I grew up in a village of about 40 people on the Ebbw river.The author writes of a time that begins earlier than mine and continues for 50 years. There is a word hiraeth and reading of Wales always gives it to me. I want to go home (but I don't really), I long for it.
Wales is part of the UK. South Wales, although not North Wales, is very Anglified and we all speak English albeit with a distinct lilt and grammar, but at the same time, there are a lot of small differences that set it apart especially in the Valleys. We may not speak Welsh, but we all can sing it, hymns and folksongs - Sosban Fach and Cwm Rhondda (aka Bread of Heaven) are known to everyone and always sung at the rugby. That line, always sung in English, 'bread of heaven, Feed me till I want no more' always gets me. And when I think of these things, I feel immense hiraeth. I so want to go home to the Valleys.
Conversely, going down to Wales from London, the instant I cross the 3 mile long Severn Bridge and see the Welsh Dragon and 'Croeso y Gymru', Welcome to Wales, it just disappears and I feel warm and happy, I'm home. But I would never go back to live. I couldn't stand the weather after the Caribbean.
This book is, in part, is about these differences. When I think of it, what I miss most is the cadence of speech and the different way of putting things. Under Milk Wood, Dylan Thomas's genius play in verse captured it best. I'm looking forward to this book about allotments, vegetables and Wales.
The first story was life in the Valleys in the 50s and 60s where people were relatively poor with not everyone having either an indoor toilet or electricity. There was great community spirit though among these mining villages and so people were happy, and from the allotments, well fed on good food. In this story of his youth, the author inveigles the allotment committee into being the youngest holder of a plot. At 12 he has a thriving business growing and selling vegetables and flowers, working outside of school hours during the summer. By 17 he has made enough to buy his own car.
The second story is the years Terry worked in a several factories in the labs, one of them in a pencil factory was an interesting job. Mixing pigments for the leads sounds quite interesting. He rose to a top management position. He married his first love and she carried the flowers he grew for their wedding. They had two sons and throughout this time he drove 5 miles every day to his allotment to provide the family with vegetables although he had given up his business.
The third story is of Terry's third phase. This is where he beings a career working in radio, featured every week on a gardening programme and becomes a media personality. At this time he slowly gives up all fertilizers and weedkillers and goes organic.
At the end of every chapter is a seasonal recipe of the month for home-made foods and alcoholic beverages (squash rum, made inside the squash!) from the author's wife and tips for the garden from the author himself.
Like plants in an allotment, the book grows and matures until at the end, Terry is retired (but not from radio), his sons left home and he is thinking of cutting back. Now he is an author, and he has written a perfect gem, a really enchanting book, and not just because I am from close to the Rhondda myself. I hope he writes some more.
______________
Written when I wanted to read the book.
I'm not from the Rhondda where this book is set. But this is my part of the world and I know the Valleys well. I grew up in a village of about 40 people on the Ebbw river.The author writes of a time that begins earlier than mine and continues for 50 years. There is a word hiraeth and reading of Wales always gives it to me. I want to go home (but I don't really), I long for it.
Wales is part of the UK. South Wales, although not North Wales, is very Anglified and we all speak English albeit with a distinct lilt and grammar, but at the same time, there are a lot of small differences that set it apart especially in the Valleys. We may not speak Welsh, but we all can sing it, hymns and folksongs - Sosban Fach and Cwm Rhondda (aka Bread of Heaven) are known to everyone and always sung at the rugby. That line, always sung in English, 'bread of heaven, Feed me till I want no more' always gets me. And when I think of these things, I feel immense hiraeth. I so want to go home to the Valleys.
Conversely, going down to Wales from London, the instant I cross the 3 mile long Severn Bridge and see the Welsh Dragon and 'Croeso y Gymru', Welcome to Wales, it just disappears and I feel warm and happy, I'm home. But I would never go back to live. I couldn't stand the weather after the Caribbean.
This book is, in part, is about these differences. When I think of it, what I miss most is the cadence of speech and the different way of putting things. Under Milk Wood, Dylan Thomas's genius play in verse captured it best. I'm looking forward to this book about allotments, vegetables and Wales.
March 22, 2016
It's that time of the year when my love of growing things is rekindled. Reading this book has been great, but the real thing is needed. Loved the life story of this man interspersed with gardening wisdom. My advice - read this book and then start digging :-)
September 24, 2009
I thought this would be just an account of allotment gardening over the past fifty years or so in Wales, but it was much more than that. There was a lot about his childhood in post-war Wales, and the privation and social history of that, and all about the men working in the coal mines in the valleys, so it was interesting from a social history point of view too, which I've always found fascinating. There were little gardening tips scattered through the book, and recipes for seasonal garden produce at the end of each chapter, and a lot of the time it was really funny, too. I could have done without the catalogue of TV and radio appearances he's made which dominated the last chapter, but other than that it was superb.
July 20, 2017
Absolutely brilliant ! So colourful a life history with growing your own at the centre ! Loads of tips and well put together recipes ! Wish I could have ten plots and make a living out of it ! 😁! Highly recommended ! ...............
March 16, 2019
Very entertaining!
August 1, 2023
3,5⭐️
February 14, 2024
Nothing to dislike about this easy to read, gentle account of life in the valleys
August 15, 2025
ik wil ook een stuk land om spullen te groeien maar ik zou nooit zoveel moeite willen doen
October 20, 2013
My wife picked this up for me, knowing that I enjoy my vegetable gardening when I am able to make time for it. As I work when the Jeremy Vine show is on (and even when I'm not I can't stand him) I had no knowledge at all of Terry Walton or the Radio 2 allotment.
Terry certainly writes a good book. The emphasis is biography and social history more than allotment gardening but even so it was an enjoyable and interesting read. At first I thought that this was a book I would be Bookcrossing when I had done with it. However before I had finished it I had decided that it would be destined for my bookshelf instead.
Terry certainly writes a good book. The emphasis is biography and social history more than allotment gardening but even so it was an enjoyable and interesting read. At first I thought that this was a book I would be Bookcrossing when I had done with it. However before I had finished it I had decided that it would be destined for my bookshelf instead.
June 5, 2018
I picked this up on the book table in St Brides Church, Fleet Street, as a desperation read. I had run out books and would have read damn near anything!
It was a fortutious selection. A gentle, entertaining memoir of growing up in Wales, gardening, gardening advice and recipes.
Terry Walton's love for gardening took me right back to my childhood with my dad in our garden, which was probably only a little smaller than Terry's allotment. But we grew much the same vegetables and had much the same tribulations, only half a world away.
It won't be to everyone's taste, but the gentle joy that Terry exhibits makes this book a rare treat.
It was a fortutious selection. A gentle, entertaining memoir of growing up in Wales, gardening, gardening advice and recipes.
Terry Walton's love for gardening took me right back to my childhood with my dad in our garden, which was probably only a little smaller than Terry's allotment. But we grew much the same vegetables and had much the same tribulations, only half a world away.
It won't be to everyone's taste, but the gentle joy that Terry exhibits makes this book a rare treat.
October 15, 2012
I tried this book on a whim and am very glad I did. It's the story of one man and his life of gardening on an allotment in the Rhondaa Valley in Wales. It follows his life from birth to current day and all of the changes we endure in life and how they related to his passion. We can learn a lot from careful observation of Terry's journey. It's especially gratifying to see the celebrity he has achieved since his allotment was adopted by a BBC2 radio show. A great read, especially if you have any interest in gardening.
December 20, 2012
I love reading about people with great passion in life because we can learn alot from them. A great account of how the Rhondda Valley has changed over the years. He meets some great welsh characters and has great anecdotes. Its very entertaining for anyone who loves the great outdoors.
February 22, 2014
The life story of a man (who appears on Radio 2 - a UK radio station) dedicated to his allotment.
Reasonably interesting, but I expect only people with an interest in allotments will find it worth reading.
Reasonably interesting, but I expect only people with an interest in allotments will find it worth reading.
June 27, 2012
3,5 star for a lovely book. I found it a bit slow at times, but it also has useful tips and recipes.
June 17, 2012
Very funny with lots of useful hints and tips. Encouraged me to get an allotment.
April 18, 2015
Well written and engaging. A story of one man's passion for allotmenterring over 50 years.
April 28, 2016
This book was an alright read, a useful insight into life working an allotment for those interested in getting one.
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews