Urban farming: how the hippy throwback is on the rise

They came with hippy ideals, spades and plans for a good life existence. Wind the clock forward several decades and the Windmill Hill City Farm in South Bristol is thriving.

It's the oldest city farm outside London and after rising from the rubble left by WW2 and council bulldozers, it's now celebrating its 40th anniversary.

It was back in 1976, when volunteers inherited a rat infested wasteland but brick by brick they cleared it and began creating ponds and allotments.

Their wind powered fountain caused a stir on the HTV news, but it fell victim to passing time.

Belinda Sully remembers 20 years ago when she helped organise the place. She recounts how the allotments have come full circle:

250 years ago it was open farmland, then it went through a period of heavy industrialisation. The Second World War put paid to that, bombing destroyed most of it. Until the 1970s when it was put back into production. It's now a much loved thriving green garden in the heart of the city.

The idea of the urban farm has taken root. The pioneers of the 70s have been followed by others, with 60 farms spread around the country and Bristol having more than any other city.