Leaving Crocus Valley

[By Lis Watkins in London] A demolition site in the centre
of Croydon has been the unlikely home to a pop-up saffron farm for the last two and a
half years. The heritage project, initially started with a crowd funding
campaign, was kept going by donations and an army of volunteers. It’s been a
real community effort led by Ally McKinlay who had the idea in the first place,
inspired by the legend that the town’s name originated as ‘Crocus Valley’.

These are the drawings I made on
the last weekend before the developers took back the site. All the plants and
containers were given away to community groups and schools with local people
coming along to collect the rest. Some of the remaining gardening equipment and
water tanks are being stored, in the hope that a new, more permanent site can
be found in the future. I’m hoping to continue drawing there and follow the
progress of the new growth on the site, as four tower blocks take the
place of the tiny corms.