Where once were gardens
Census returns are first-hand accounts of local life at a given point in time. They are, therefore, an accurate view of the past and of interest to academic and amateur historians alike.
One of the principal firms was Wild and Robbins, whose farm lay near the Sipson crossroads. The business began when Thomas Wild took on Rowland Richard Robbins as a junior partner. The 1901 census shows them in neighbouring houses - Wild, aged 53, and Robbins, aged 28. By 1931, they were growing a variety of vegetables, from cabbages, leeks and potatoes to kale, marrows, spinach and 'chokes'.
East of the same crossroads in 1911, Frederick Jonathan Smith is listed as a jam manufacturer at Wall Garden Farm. His father moved there after becoming bankrupt and set up a jam factory to make use of the area's fruit.