WHEN it comes to singing the praises of allotment gardening and food growing there are none better than The Slug Society in Bolton.

Members of this prosaically-named organisation are artists and writers who love celebrating their experiences of gardening on allotments.

In fact, some of them have put together a whole exhibition on the subject called “Allotted” which runs at the neo:gallery27 in The Market Place from Thursday until August 7.

The project emphasises the strong influence of women in modern allotment gardening. Of the 959 plots on Bolton sites, 704 are on sites with an active society and of these more than 60 per cent have female secretaries.

Two of these, Carol Barlow from Sapling Road and Margaret Jackson from Harpers Lane, feature work in the exhibition. Altogether, the work is by nine different artists – Janet Brady, Dorothy Ellin, Jennifer Gilmour, Maggie Hargreaves, Kevin Shipley, Steph Shipley and Susan Syddall – showing a mixture of photography, prints, stained glass, textiles, installations, video and 3D.

Three writers – Ros Davis, Robert Eldon and David Jackson – have also produced a 32-page booklet of essays, stories and poems under the title “The Back of the Seed Packet” which will also be available at the gallery and was financed by the National Allotment Gardens Trust.

There is a launch party for the exhibition on Saturday between 2pm and 4pm when ice-cream made from allotment produce will be available.

Anyone wanting to know more about The Slug Society should call 07767 220391.