What a lovely memory. Crab apples are such brilliant pollinators and were also grown in traditional mixed orchards to provide root stock for grafting experiments. I once saw a photo of a gorgeous orchard planted only with crab apples, of every flower and fruit colour. Oh to have the land!

I believe cooking apples, but the jury is out

Thank you for your kind words.

Very true

The consensus over on Twitter is that this is indeed Herbert and Edith Bryant!

Of course, but where plots are given up, for example by elderly people who have been struggling to keep them in good order, many Councils now lack the funds to clear and rotavate them as they used to ready for new tenants. This is a way in which some sites gradually fall into disrepair.

I agree with your second paragraph, but to claim that allotments are not under threat suggests to me that you're not an allotment holder and this is an area about which you have limited knowledge. Increased funding is (understandably, given other pressures) not filtering down to allotments!!

Wonderful to be able to put potential names to them!

Thank you!

Similar in the towns and villages near me!

They really are! I wonder if they've never caught on in the US because (outside the major cities) land is so much more readily available and affordable than here.

On what are you basing your assertion that they're not under threat? They certainly are in places in my area (East Midlands). Some sites have fallen into serious disrepair because of impoverished councils being unable to afford the upkeep, but nationally demand is at a record high.