It was a pleasure to be involved in the fantastic Bee Fayre Celebration at Wootton St Lawrence Church for the first time this year.
The event explored the secret lives of honey, bumble and solitary bees through workshop presentations, beekeeping demonstrations, honey and craft activities and market stalls.
The setting of the village church also gave visitors the opportunity to learn about the history of the local area and its long links with beekeeping. As the author of The Feminine Monarchie, or the History of Bees, Charles Butler was a leading English naturalist and apiarist who also happened to be the vicar at Wootton St Lawrence, and there is a beautiful stained glass window in the church celebrating this link.
Playing an active role in community activities is really important to us so we were pleased to join with the Winklebury and Manydown Community Action Group (WMCAG) and the Bee Fayre organisers to offer a walking route through Manydown to the church to encourage all local residents to join the fayre on foot or by bike where possible.
It was wonderful to see so many people from across Basingstoke enjoying the day and finding out how they can support this important creature, whilst ensuring cars were kept to a minimum at the event.
The strategic advice given to us by Rebecca in organising and growing the event, linking us with other communities, organising the walks to the fayre and helping us to set up social media channels has been invaluable. It was lovely to welcome her and her young family to the event and we can’t wait for next year’s celebration”.
Ken Robson
Organiser of the Bee Fayre and local resident