Don't lose the plot - that is the message in York on the eve of National Allotment Week. MATTHEW WOODCOCK visits urban Holgate to discover the roots of one family's century-old passion.

"TASTE one of those lad - you won't have had better."

I pick off the juiciest looking bramble and nod enthusiastically. John Graham is not someone you would disagree with, not in this environment anyway.

We're standing in his allotment at Holgate, where he is something of a legend among the gardening community.

The Graham family became the tenants of Plot 20 nearly a century ago when the land was first signed over for public use. That is a lot of Sunday dinners.

At 81, John is a Fred Dibnah-like character who is wearing a woolly beanie hat despite the searing heat. He has a passion for gardening that remains undiminished despite painful arthritis in his hands.

He and his son Paul grow every fruit and vegetable imaginable and have become official recruiters at the site to try and fill its remaining available plots.

With Allotment Week starting on Monday, what better authority could there be to explain this most English of pursuits. The first thing you notice about the site is its peacefulness compared to the noise and traffic fumes of nearby Holgate Road. It is an urban oasis. You could be in the heart of rural Ryedale as opposed to a short walk from Woolworths and all the rest.

John is busily cutting out some old raspberry canes when I arrive. His father, a train driver, acquired the plot in 1906 as the family lived in a house in St Paul's Terrace that did not have a garden.

I'm led into John's inner sanctum, a shed that amazingly has stood since those earliest days. And it shows.

Onions hang from every available space and the shed is filled with all manner of junk.

"The shed is on its last legs now and starting to lean over a bit," John admits. "You could call all this stuff junk but you never know when it might come in handy."

Little is wasted among the allotment fraternity - they are master improvisers. John has attached old pram wheels to a wooden box so he can move easily among the raspberry canes without crippling his knees.

Out-of-date bottled Guinness is used to drown the slugs - "a great way to go," John laughs - and one woman gardener hangs a row of CDs over her vegetables to scare off hungry birds with the glare.

But even the most resourceful green-finger cannot guarantee a good crop. Growing vegetables and flowers on an allotment is not an exact science and some years are better than others, John explains.

So far it is a good summer for the Grahams. The new potatoes, broad beans and peas are going nicely, the leeks look good and the corn-on-the-cob has almost ripened.

Not to mention the onions which they can't give away because there are so many.

"We just put stuff in and hope for the best," John says. "What could be better than new potatoes when they're ready? I understand from most housewives that home-grown tastes better."

I can vouch for the blackberry jam produced from the allotment crop by his wife, Jean.

Paul is a builder from Acomb. He joined his dad on the site three years ago to shoulder some of the physical burden, and says the pastime is no longer the sole preserve of pensioners.

"Allotments are enjoying a bit of a renaissance among young couples," he says. "A lot of people are stuck in front of a computer screen all day long and it drives them nuts. An allotment is a great way of getting some fresh air and forgetting about work. It's better than working out in the gym - and a lot cheaper. It's a form of escapism."

Paul says the average allotment costs £30-a-year to rent.

"I caught the gardening bug straightaway," he added. "It's really relaxing in a funny way because although you're working hard it's a means to an end.

"A few years ago you would be waiting ages to get an allotment depending if your face fitted with the secretary."

Audrey Bishop, 74, has worked a few plots along from the Grahams for ten years.

"I love it and I'm here most days," she says. "My best piece of advice is don't get an allotment unless you're prepared to work hard at it. You won't grow something in five minutes."

Angela Poole, City of York Council's allotment officer, said the city's plots are attracting individuals from many different walks of life.

"There is a lovely sense of community building up," she said. "Our older tenants are helping the younger people along. We now get all walks of life including students, young families and single working women. Support is available to those who don't know anything about gardening."

Angela said she was working on schemes to clear up the disused overgrown plots, involving tenants and conservation groups. But the future of allotment land is still far from guaranteed because of the seemingly unquenchable thirst for housing in York.

"There is immense pressure now to use open spaces for housing," Paul says. "Unless allotments are well used it becomes harder to justify keeping them. I believe they form a big part of York's heritage and are well worth keeping. But if we don't use them we will lose them."

Anyone interested in becoming an allotment tenant should contact the council on 01904 553433.

Updated: 16:22 Friday, August 08, 2003