We have a 5 pole (126 sq mtrs) allotment in West London. The site is very heavy clay. We've been no dig for 3 years now and are lucky enough to have space at the bottom of our plot for 3 compost bays each of which is two pallets wide, so we are self-sufficient in compost.
We used to have wooden sides to the beds but got rid of those because they harboured slugs. We now use woodchip for paths in between the beds which we replace annually and add the old path to our compost. The layer of compost is now more than a trowel deep so planting out and weeding are both very easy.
