So it kind of depends on what kind of time you have – if you’ve only got a little bit of time, you can have a small plot and plant a few things, but everyone can do it. You can come and either do stuff quietly by yourself or you can just say hello to people in passing.” Here's my final song, to guide you to the light and hopefully bring some comfort to your family and friends. Until we meet again.Bye sweet Robert." Betty Farrugia, long-long-time Secretary of Walsall Road allotments, has purrsuaded Robert, the internationally acclaimed allotment cat, to write his meow-memoirs of his life and times in merry Perry Barr. I’m a bit of a gardener, I’ve got a nice garden at home, but I’ve always wanted to have an allotment,” she says.

Hopefully, it should add some context for any of Roberts new followers who might want to find out a bit more about his friends. So it was a way of having a little space outdoors for me, and also I wanted to start growing more of my own food. I’ve always liked having gardens, and then I moved into a flat and I didn’t have any outdoor space at all,” she says. And she says that having her plot to turn to in the current climate has been an "absolute saviour" for her – though she admits that she came across the allotments completely by chance. Co-ordinator Nicole, on behalf of the branch, presented the allotment-holders with a ‘special memorial planter’– and says: “It is fitting that Robert has his very own plot. He made the world a better place.”Not a lot of people get the opportunity to get that bit of fresh air and exercise. And even though we’re socially distancing you’re still keeping in touch with the people at the allotment, you get used to the faces of the people that should be there, what their routine is, and it’s quite good to stay in touch with people.”

She said the allotment users would be happy with access at limited times of day. Other allotment users have said they are unsure about using a shuttle bus service due to Covid fears. The map for Alexander Stadium shows Church Road in Perry Barr will become permit-only during the Games. Separately, there will be days when the users of the Walsall Road Allotments can access the allotments even though the permits are in operation on Church Road. The allotments have been invaluable over the past couple of months. I haven’t been working, I’m a supply teacher and the school is closed, and if I didn’t have the allotments to come to I’d have gone stir crazy I think. Plot holder Kate Millington at the allotments - image courtesy of Kate MillingtonYou can get different sizes of plots, you can get quarter plots, half plots – I’ve got a plot and a half. Can you imagine? I’ve been born and bred in this area and didn’t even know it was there. They just happened to have a tiny plot available that became a half a plot, so I think it was meant to be. The new plot holders are absolutely fantastic. There’s one chap who’s taken over a really badly overgrown plot, and in three weeks he’s dug it from one end to the other. It’s encouraging to see that people want to get out into the fresh air and grow their own fruit and vegetables. I was just driving past one day and there was a huge poster on the fence saying ‘Save Our Allotments’, and I thought "there’s allotments there?"