There are few still who grow simply for food ..some of the single mothers ..but most come simply for the pleasure

Gilbert Clark

And the movement was given a boost by wartime shortages, such as during the submarine campaign in 1918 when many food ships were sunk.

But times have changed, according to Mr Clark.

He said: "There are few still who grow simply for food ..some of the single mothers ..but most come simply for the pleasure.

"Now I'm retired I grow far too much for my own use and give it away. I sell quite a bit of my surplus crop to help Christian Aid."

Allotments are under threat from developers and in particular housing developments.

Mr Clark said: "When you are being offered �30,000 per plot it is very difficult to save them from mammon."

Commercial threat

And in our commercial world some might see allotments as distorting the market economy.

Rents can be as low as �5 a year for concession holders like pensioners.

But Mr Clark said that is the way it ought to be: "Some people, like single mothers need help and shouldn't be changed.

"It is a little bit expensive to run the allotment itself. Not many get away with less than �50 a year.

Gilbert Clark - hard work, but worth it

"The main cost though is time - four hours in the right kind of weather clearing your land for winter is worth 40 hours in the spring when weeds are tumbling and everything is growing quickly."

But for Mr Clark it is all worthwhile. "It's a tremendous pleasure, particularly when one is working hard to come up here in the evening and sit in such beautiful surroundings and watch the rest of the world, a complex world, working.

"Look at these bees, there must be 50 bees and wasps working away there.

"What could be better than to sit and contemplate the wonders of the natural world - even more wonderful than Edinburgh itself."