We might be taking the word ‘fun’ a bit far here but this event on Saturday certainly sounds bonkers so of course we’re interested. Of the information available by the QR code, the event ‘is grounded in spoken and written and spoken language’ with live performances including a jazz band. This is all sounding a bit New Agey to us, which begs the question of bees actually getting involved in the event. We’re thinking along the lines of synchronised stinging.
Multipolyscripttoscribble (?) takes place this Saturday at Bee Urban in Kennington Park
If you’ve ever seen people at the back of Kennington Park who appear to be cleaning up following a small nuclear accident, they are in fact beekeepers tending to their buzzy brood at social enterprise Bee Urban, and we’re here to tell you about them.
Bee Urban is a secret garden and bee sanctuary located behind the pavilion in Kennington Park. We recently totted over to have a conversation with manager Barnaby to find out more about their good deeds. Bee Urban has at its core a goal of promoting positive, ecologically sound gardening and greening with a focus on farming and the preservation of our buzzy friends. They are particularly skilled in offering courses and training for vulnerable people and kids, but also for the larger community (on our visit they were having a honey beer tasting).
Bee Urban is not only a free lovely refuge from our urban lives but also a place to stroll, contemplate, and to purchase honey and other accessories associated with bees. It’s also a place to get stung by a bee but we’re sure you can avoid that. There are also many ways to get involved on their website. And if you don’t like dirty hands, you can get involved by making (and buying) honey or courses dedicated community gardening and biodiversity. On our visit we saw on sale honey candles, soaps, moisturisers and honey comb. And in a few days it will be high season to buy Kennington branded honey (yes, it’s a thing). The best way to find out about these is via their Insta or Facebook feeds
Apologies for the slight delay in posting but we recently had our annual team building long weekend at Glastonbury. It went off without a hitch other than Phil from accounts who, after grabbing ciders during Diana Ross, claims to have been lost for five hours. We also flew this flag our our MD’s head but we don’t think he was buying it.
We don’t have a great degree of inside intel on the St. Anselm’s Festival, but we are aware that it is this Saturday, 11 September, in Cleaver Square. If it is the new iteration of the Cleaver Square Festival, and we think it is, then it’s certainly a highlight on the Greater Kennington social calendar. Recently this magical and hilarious festival has transported us to some mythical location 200 miles and 20 years from from Greater Kennington. A tipsy Vicar! A tombola! A wholly inappropriate Punch and Judy show! Kate Hoey giving out Brexit Flyers! Posh dudes in Barbour jackets slurring into their fifth Pimms!
But aside from all the side splitting antics outlined above, it looks like the day will feature loads of great stuff for kids, a dog show, music and good food. But most importantly, it will likely feature local small businesses and people selling their wares (Kennington Tandoori and Bee Urban usually pop over) and people selling homemade cakes and pies. The Festival is from 12 to 4, and there is a Festival church service from 10 to 11 at St. Anselm’s itself with refreshments (probably not involving Pimms, but one lives in hope).
Bee Urban is a honeybee-centric social enterprise based in Kennington Park. They also sell the most delicious honey we’ve ever tasted. Beware – it’s so flavoursome that supermarket honey will never taste the same again. You can buy it from local fetes like the Kennington Fete and Pullens Yard Open Studios, or just pop in to Bee Urban and pick some up.
They used to be based in the Old Keeper’s Lodge but since Northern Line extension works began they have moved to a spacious new site behind the cafe in Kennington Park:
There are three great opportunities to visit Bee Urban this weekend as part of Find Your London festival. Tomorrow night, Friday, they’re having a cob oven pizza night from 5pm to 9pm.
Then on Saturday March 19th there’s an open day from midday to 5pm with bees, habitats and cob oven breads.
And on Sunday they’re putting on tasters about honey bees and beekeeping from 11am to 1pm, 1pm to 3pm, and 3pm to 5pm.
Address: Bee Urban, The Hive, Kennington Park, St Agnes Place, London SE11 4BE.
