I have an allotment, first proper year this year, doing battle with the evil that is Couch Grass on a daily basis! Luckily here in the North West we dont have a hosepipe ban!
I am looking forward to learning lots from you all, hopefully will be fruit and veg self-sufficient (almost) next year! Well, that's the plan, as long as work and real life don't get in the way too much
I think he forgot you said you were in the northwest! But there's plenty of raspberries and red currants about here, and there will be brambles, too. I even know a "wild" gooseberry bush; shame it's a bit far from here to just nip over... It's a pity fruit bushes and trees take so long to actually bear fruit after you've planted them. My apple trees - nothing in their second year (not even blossom!). My red currant - nothing; Loganberry - nothing; black currant and gooseberry quite good, but still small bushes; and Jostaberry - I discovered two on that one! 
