Sherborne In Bloom!

Archive for June, 2009

The Almshouse of St John the Baptist and St John the Evangelist

In mediaeval times and later it was the custom, every Midsummer night, for a garland to be hung at the door by the Almsmen and watched until the next morning in memory of St John the Baptist.

Thanks to a bequest of the late Lady Margaret Thornton this custom has been restored and a garland of fresh flowers is hung in the courtyard of the almshouses on the 24 June, St John the Baptist Day.

(research by Brian Haigh)

Sherborne Abbey is a favourite venue for summer weddings and the flower arrangements for these events are always spectacular.

Here’s just one example of the exquisite blooms on show in the Abbey this week:

Abbey flowers are arranged by Vera Fermin and her talented team of flower arrangers. Well done to them all!

It’s not only worms to be found in compost bins: this one in a back garden in St Catherine’s Crescent had been occupied by a swarm of honey bees!

The bees had taken up residence and were already in the business of furnishing their new home with wax honeycomb:

A team of volunteer beekeepers arrived to repatriate them to a more amenable environment:

The bees were gently moved out of the hive using a dustpan and brush (traditional beekeeping equipment!)…

… and into a straw skep ready for transporting to their new home:

Two of the beekeepers in the picture were beginners and this was their first experience of collecting a swarm. After this unusual initiation into the craft of beekeeping the pair took the bees away in the skep and introduced them into a nice comfortable beehive sited on their nearby farm.

Happy endings all round!

Pictures by Gillian Gunner.