| Description | Black Country Allotment Society is a Multistory commissioned publication by Susie Parr, author of the critically acclaimed ‘Story of Swimming’. Susie writes about the lives and experiences of plot holders from eight allotments set in the heart of Sandwell, using the wider Black Country as context. Her closely observed stories are a celebration of community, resourcefulness and ingenuity, beautifully produced in a box of delights. In nine essays, Susie explores the allotment sites, introducing us to their history, cast of characters and quirky differences. Focused on the everyday and the ordinary, she reveals the extraordinary endeavour and achievements of the plot holders, tracing the seasonal changes, the relationship between allotment people, plants, bees and animals and the cycle of allotment activities, from sowing to reaping.
Susie’s project introduces us to the hidden, but thriving, allotment society at the heart of the striking post-industrial landscape of the Black Country where people unite across cultural and generational barriers in an endeavour to make their plots beautiful, orderly and productive, as the seasons pass and the years roll by. Multistory also commissioned local film-maker, Chris Keenan, to make Bee Movies, a film that tells the story of Black Country beekeepers, a community that is growing rapidly as more people become fascinated by bees and try out beekeeping for themselves.
The nine essays are presented in a specially designed box together with a series of postcards, two maps, a commemorative allotment society pencil, plant markers, wildflower seeds and the Bee Movies DVD. This extraordinary, celebratory publication has been gifted to all of the allotment holders and beekeepers who took part in the project. |