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| View from the allotments over the Mudchute Farm |
I remember earlier in the year and the TV slot the allotment
myself and Lottie featured in. Being constantly bounced from one day to the
next, both before filming and once it was in the can. Ten minutes of fame and exposure
then you’re gone.
I was approached to do a live radio interview on allotments. Ten minutes
on COVID-19 , mental health and allotments. You must think twice as it’s easy to accept, then
what? You rarely have journalists beating down your door, there are no
lucrative book deals, and you are definitely not going to be booked on prime
TV. Lottie my faithful whippet has already starred on the Apprentice, well she
looked beautiful as she was given a pedicure and grooming whilst at her dog
hotel.
So you scribble down a few points to help get messages
across and then one hour before showtime you get bounced because Peter
Suttcliffe has died. Can you do Monday at 1400 instead and you say yes and
wonder if anyone will die on Monday morning or another news story will prevail?
Fifteen minutes to go, you sit down, check your phone and wait
and wait and decide to have a cup of coffee. You take a quick drink with less
than five minutes to go and burst into a small coughing fit.
The phone rings.
You compose yourself. Am I live? Am I on mute? Cough again
and hope this will stop and is off air.
The programme is in your ear and they are finishing an
interview and you are waiting to hear the segue, the introduction, and the next
thing you hear is your name and a question you were not exactly expecting.
You have to think on your feet and in the ensuing minutes
you find yourself covering many different areas; waiting lists, the history of
your site, the diversity and ethnic mix, the pandemic and covering plots, the security
we have attained with our 99 year lease, ACV and statuary status and poisonous
plants!
You have finished and they go straight into the music ‘Summer
in the City ‘ The Lovin Spoonful, and you can’t help but wonder where that link
is in the middle of November.
The coffee is cold, the phone is quiet and then the
researcher from BBC Radio London says thanks and that’s it.
For all those who missed it, sorry. For all those that heard
it, I wish it had been longer, but the radio conveyer belt was running on, and
no doubt the next person was coiled waiting to be released.
To listen to the interview https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p08ws0vw?fbclid=IwAR1YUr4-Wewg_Wiu7Suxlx0IfrKqM0a4vIq_l9GO3Na28Wat_9gVTkQzrLk and skip to 38.39 mins in and the interview finishes 45.50
