Events

THE SWEET TASTE OF VICTORY

Alan Lyons, Head of Shows, Bath & West

It has been widely reported that the British public has developed a love of ‘homegrown’ and British produce as a result of the lockdowns experienced in the past year. Two quintessentially British products which have benefitted from this are cider and honey. Indeed, it has been estimated that over 1.1m new shoppers bought cider last year when they were unable to go to the pub.

As people stayed at home during 2020 and their cars remained firmly parked on driveways, air pollution plummeted. This was a huge benefit to the native bee population, which thrived in the cleaner air. Much daily exercise in the hot spring and summer was taken in the countryside, where walkers saw beehives and apple orchards, making them more aware of where their food and drink came from. This was also good news for the thousands of farm shops up and down the country, which saw huge increases in sales as interest in ‘farm to fork’ and the carbon footprint of products grew.

The quality of these products can vary, which is why competitions to find the best honeys and ciders have been going for hundreds of years.

Apiculture; the art of beekeeping, has been practised for thousands of years across the world and the Egyptian pyramids have proven that if honey is packed in beeswax by the bees it will last for at least 3000 years.

By comparing honeys and products of the bee throughout the centuries standards are improved or maintained. In 1888 competition standards were laid down and honey shows were added to different sections until 1901, when the competition in apiculture was given its own section.

The Royal Bath & West Show Bees and Honey Section covers the South West of England and the level of competition is just one step below the National Honey Show.

Up to 400 entries are typically made to cover various types of Honey; ‘Runny’ (which is clear and pourable), ‘Set’ (firmer and cloudy), ‘Comb’ (still contained within its original hexagonal-shaped beeswax cells, and has received no processing or filtering), ‘Sections’ (where small pieces of comb have been drawn and filled with honey and placed into a container), ‘Chunk Honey’ (a piece of comb in a jar filled with liquid honey), and other products like beeswax in several different forms like one ounce and eight ounce blocks, candles rolled, moulded, and dipped, and wax flowers that look almost real. In a normal year there are cake and sweet classes, and mead in its different forms becoming ever more popular again.

Qualified international judges take pride in their task of selecting the best in each section, looking for cleanliness of jar and contents, and the aroma and clarity of honey. Results are eagerly awaited by the competitors in each class as the points for getting a placement card are accumulated to give the best in each

Images: Shannon D'Arcy

group, with the Best in Show taking the Blue Ribbon which gives a free entry to the National Honey Show.

It’s not just honey: agricultural shows have been in the business of organising competitions to identify the very best ciders in their areas for over 150 years. This hasn’t just been for the fun of it – although there is a lot of fun to be had in judging ciders. The competitions were introduced originally to improve the standard of cider being produced on farms across the West of England, a standard which had fallen to a very low ebb by the middle of the nineteenth century, after the imposition of excise duty damaged the urban market for quality cider and farmers focused on making cheap, cheerful but often distinctly rough cider for themselves and their workers.

The Royal Bath & West Cider Championships now regularly attract well over 500 entries from across the country. Teams of judges swirl, sniff, slurp and spit their way through dozens of entries in each of the classes, with the best of the best being short-listed for the Championship judge off.

What are the judges looking for? Bright, cleantasting, fruity ciders and perries, in which you can almost taste the orchards where the fruit was grown. Some of the dry ciders and perries can be sharp, but never vinegary; the sweeter ones unctuous, but never sacchariny. There is no requirement as to the type of apples used – the tradition in the East of England is to use cooking varieties. But the chances are that the Supreme Champion will have been made from a mixture of bittersweet and bittersharp apples, because nothing is more fundamental to a good cider than good apples.

For the winners, there is no greater seal of approval than a prize card from the British Cider Championships. Family cider-makers like Harry’s Cider, from Long Sutton in South Somerset, who won in 2018, have used the accolade to give their businesses a huge boost. And regular judges at the Championships will tell you that the competition is succeeding in its continuing mission to improve the quality of proper ciders and perries, right across the board.

Cheers!

bathandwest.com

___________________________________________ Friday 27th - Sunday 29th August Bath & West Country Festival 2021 The Bath & West Showground, Shepton Mallet, Somerset BA4 6QN Three days of action-packed events for all the family and a haven for all enthusiasts of rural life. Activities, demonstrations and entertainment; including falconry, country skills and dog training, plus fast-paced excitement in the Main Ring and a much-enhanced food hall experience. Tickets are available at bathandwest.com/tickets

TIME WELL SPENT

Nasreen El-Mariesh, Organiser, Wellbeing by the Lakes

The experience-rich Wellbeing by the Lakes Festival returns next month with a carefully curated programme of expert talks and panels, guided meditations, fitness and movement classes, art demonstrations and workshops, sound baths and healing therapies.

While the full festival line-up has yet to be announced, it will include a mix of local and national wellness educators and advocates, from meditation and yoga teachers to life coaches and best-selling authors, illuminating practices to help festival-goers live more mindfully, be healthier, and feel happier.

Building on the success of our inaugural WBBTL in 2019, this year’s event has been extended over five days, with even more practitioners and an even bigger marketplace offering practical tools and teachings across every avenue of what it means to live well.

This festival offers people an opportunity to step away from their busy lives and enter a world of calm and reflection. One where they can discover refreshing

Image: BNPS

new insights and take away tools and techniques that allow them to be more mindful and live well in our fast-paced and demanding world.

This will be a welcoming and relaxed event where people are invited to try new practices and be inspired by new ideas. The aim is to create an enriching and even transformative experience in this beautiful, natural setting.

The ticket price has also been lowered to £12.50 – the standard entry to Sculpture by the Lakes – to make Wellbeing by the Lakes even more accessible. All classes in the Move & Flow and Strong Body tents (including yoga, breath-work, Qoya, Pilates, HIIT & mixed ability fitness, along with sound baths and healing therapies such as massage and reflexology) will be bookable in advance and paid for separately – this allows festival-goers to create their own bespoke programme of sessions and experiences to enjoy.

And that is alongside everything included in the daily ticket price – free expert talks and author sessions, guided meditations, a curated marketplace, and the café and art gallery, as well as the freedom to explore the tranquillity of Sculpture by the Lakes’ 26-acre surroundings and breath-taking sculptures.

New for this year, the festival will be partnering with Happiful Magazine and Yellow Kite publishers, who together will be curating the programming of free talks on the Riverside Stage each afternoon.

Their speakers will include Rachel Bamborough, founder of SUP4, who will talk about the happiness ‘getting on board’ can bring. Happiful writer Kat Nicholls will be chairing a panel on self-worth and sharing actionable advice, and RED’s Hannah Beecham will share how a walk with her mum turned into a nationwide movement that brings positivity to thousands of people every year, while Clinical Hypnotherapist and Psychotherapist Dominique Shipstone will offer insights on how to embrace your true self and stop hiding who you really are.

Yellow Kite Books meanwhile will bring some of their amazing authors to the Riverside Stage – wellbeing and mental health advocates such as Josh Roberts, author of Anxious Man, Poppy Jamie, author of Happy Not Perfect, and Jillian Lavender, author of Why Meditate?, among others.

Wellbeing by the Lakes promises, as before, to be an incredibly calming event, absent from stress and the tensions of modern life, where you can connect with your mind, body, and breath and find your way to more peace, joy, and fulfilment.

___________________________________________ Wednesday 8th - Sunday 12th September 10am-6pm daily Wellbeing by the Lakes Sculpture by the Lakes, Pallington, Dorchester, Dorset DT2 8QU. Tickets are available now for £12.50 - the same cost as standard entry to the park. Unfortunately children under 14 or dogs cannot be permitted due to deep and fast-flowing water at the site. wellbeingbythelakes.co.uk

MARKET KNOWLEDGE

Rob Kellaway, Glenholme Herbs

Welcome to The Sherborne Market! What brings you here?

The Sherborne Market has such a nice atmosphere – we look forward to it each month. Jules does a great job of organising it, so it’s always a pleasure to trade. Being local we enjoy seeing lots of familiar faces as well.

Where have you travelled from?

Not far! We have a herb nursery in Sandford Orcas, just outside of Sherborne.

Tell us about what you’re selling.

Herbs are our speciality – we grow a huge range of culinary and medicinal species. Over the years we have also expanded into pelargoniums, salvias, wild flowers and sempervivums.

Where and when did it all begin?

Our family has been growing plants in Sandford Orcas since 1955, changing from cut flowers to herbs in 2005. The business consists of Alan and Alison Redman, their daughter Maxine and myself, son-in-law Rob.

What do you enjoy most about selling at markets?

We love interacting with our customers and helping them to choose and succeed with their plants. This business came about from our passion for plants, and there’s nothing better than having someone come and show us a photo, or describe how their garden is thriving.

If you get the chance, which fellow stallholders here at Sherborne would you like to visit?

It’s a great market, with so many interesting stalls it’s hard to choose. We often have Viper Gin next to us, they’re lovely people with great gin!

Where can people find you on market day?

Our stall is always next to the Post Office on Cheap Street. Please do come and say hello!