Ron, an old shipmate of mine, Jack Robinson, lived on Elms Vale road and used to collect the elephant manure when the Circus was in town, you should have seen the size of his veg.
Many years ago I was a member of the Onion & Leek club which held monthly meetings in the Diamond hotel in Dover. I didn't know a lot about gardening in those days but picked up quite a few tips from the other members who were mostly old miners. They came from all over to attend meetings, Aylesham, Elvington, Eythorne and Deal. We had an exhibition at the end of the season and there were some "whoppers" on show. I didn't win anything myself but I grew some reasonable sizes. I shall have to dig out my old photos.