A R Wills Limited have been growing tomatoes in Romsey for 91 years and Peter has been a staunch supporter of the TGA since it was set up in 1997.
Peter was persuaded to write a few words about the history of the company, plus you will find a few bits of pieces from A R Wills nursery which might be of interest to growers. If you are interested please contact Peter direct on arwills@tiscali.co.uk or 07799 716851.
For sale: Berg scissor lift trolley, 10 years old, in full working order. It is 1.5 metres long and runs on pipes at 50cm spacing. Also, the sprayer.
A R Wills nursery history
Arthur Reynolds Wills began growing tomatoes at Tadburn nursery in Romsey in 1926. He was much encouraged by Lord Mountbatten who was keen to bring more employment to the town in the midst of the Depression. Another important factor was the proximity to the railway line, and the nursery had its own siding for the coal trucks. The boilers were situated below ground in those days so that the heat was fed to the glasshouses by gravity, and were all coal fired.By the outbreak of the second world war the nursery extended to 15 acres of glass and a range of crops were being grown, but tomatoes were always the main one.
In 1937 land was purchased in Pitmore Lane Pennington where 2 acres of glass were built to make Nethercourt Nursery. The Shelley site at Owner was purchased in 1939, glasshouse erection began but due to the war materials soon became hard to find. The land, some 20 acres became an intensive vegetable unit.
A R Wills died in 1948 and was succeeded by his eldest son A J Wills, his younger having been lost in the war. The 1950’s saw major changes in the infrastructure with stoke holes being abandoned for a central oil-fired boiler house feeding steam to the various glasshouses where calorifiers were located to allow hot water to be used in the houses themselves.
Following a Nuffield scholarship visit to America, A J Wills set up chrysanthemum units. Two acres of spray and one of pots at Tadburn, and an acre of spray and half of pots at Nethercourt. The sixties saw further diversification into poinsettias and house plants, and much rebuilding of the old wooden glass with modern aluminium. In 1966 a further nursery was built and Milford which also ended up at two acres. Through it all however tomatoes remained by far the largest crop.
A J Wills died in 1975 and the company continued to be run by Reg Leeman and Peter Rowlandson. Peter Wills joined the company in 1978. In 1982 things were getting sticky and the bank insisted that Tadburn be sold for building. Most of the shareholders decided that they wanted to get out at this time, so Milford and Nethercourt were sold to their respective managers and Peter Wills took over at Shelley where an acre and a half of modern Robinson glass replaced the wooden houses.
In 2009 faced with another surge in energy prices the company made some staff redundant and continued growing tomatoes in only half an acre. This turned out to have an unexpected bonus. With the lower volume of fruit a large premium was earned in Southampton market for ‘local produce’.
Time passes though and with Peter Wills reaching retirement, 2017 saw the last crop of tomatoes grown by A R Wills Ltd.