Heritage and Tradition Archives - Honey Bee Barn

Elm Trees

The elm tree once largely unnoticed, left gaps in our tree lines and hedgerows as they succumbed to Dutch Elm Disease. Towards the end of the 1970’s it became apparent that many of the trees that were part of the canopy of British woodlands were Elm trees. The Elm tree was fast disappearing and leaving…

Beltane or May Day is the Celtic festival that heralds in this time of love aplenty. May Day or Beltane is celebrated on the 1st of May which, in the old calendar is today, the 11th of May. The word May comes from the Greek Goddess Maia. She was the mother of Hermes and the…

British Woodlands

A walk through a British woodland is one of the most relaxing things to do. Our British woodland is a key part of the landscape that we all love and treasure. Just by standing in amongst the trees and being still can bring about a great sense of calm. All around us an unknown world…

When William Shakespeare wrote of love and despair he often turned to the language of flowers to help him. Shakespeare’s flowers lay scattered throughout some of his most notable works and they are contained in some of his most remembered lines. In Elizabethan times flowers and herbs carried with them symbolic meaning. They were used…

Daffodils

A Host of Golden Daffodils. If there is one poem that that we share as a nation then William Wordsworth ‘Daffodils’ must be high on the list. It is such an uplifting poem that begins with that opening line; ‘I wandered lonely as a cloud’ There are moments when we are walking out in nature…

Lambing season is on its way for many parts of the UK. It’s a busy time for farmers as lambing season gets underway. It is one of the joys of countryside living, everyone looks forward to seeing the lambs in the fields. It is a real and certain message that Winter is behind us and…

February, the shortest month of the year and the muddiest. There is a weariness to February. Inside of us a wish that just won’t go away, that Winter was over and the small warmth of Spring was here. But then there is February to contend with. It delivers the cold from the East like the…

Snowdrops

The Snowdrop the symbol of hope. “The Snowdrop, in purest white array, First rears her head on Candlemas day.” The arrival of the Snowdrop is a sign that, although we might still be in the cold grasp of Winter, things are moving forward and Spring cannot be too far away. The glorious white flower always…

An Economic History of the English Garden by Roderick Floud. I picked up ‘An Economic History of The English Garden’ as a result of discovering a whole branch of my family, who, in the C18th and C19th were estate gardeners. Dozens of them were occupied on estates from Hampshire to Ireland. I realized how little…

Goose Markets

The Goose Fair Advent Day 18 In times gone past, Goose fairs were an important part of the agricultural calendar. They were frequently held on Michaelmas Day. Michaelmas marks the end of harvest and many of the goose fairs were also hiring fairs. Labourers released after the harvest would seek employment for the Winter months.…

Mistletoe in the host tree

Kissing under the mistletoe. Advent Calendar 14 Kissing under the Mistletoe is a ritual at Christmas time. Doorways hang with a clump of white berried Mistletoe ready to capture the unsuspecting passerby. For most of the year the Mistletoe plant goes unnoticed. The balls of evergreen hang high in the treetops and not until the…

Christmas Tree

The days are shortening and darkness settles. Time to bring in the Christmas tree! Advent Calendar 12 The Christmas tree in our homes is just part of a tradition witnessed around the world that speaks of a time when light over darkness was a time of celebration. In all sorts of cultures the Winter Solstice…

Hedgerow Berries

So bring us some figgy pudding…. Advent Calendar 10 We would love to bring you some but what is figgy pudding? The earliest reference to figgy pudding is from a recipe from the C14th. The recipe is for a dish called ‘Fygey’. This English recipe is quite exotic. Ground blanched almonds are added to quartered…

Pine cones big and small

Pine cones are Winter’s flowers. Advent Calendar 9 Many of us bring pine cones into our homes in Winter. There is something about the intricate texture and shape of the pine cone that is aesthetically pleasing to us. The cones fall to the ground in the Autumn, September and October are good times to gather…

Mulled Wine

Mulled wine the Winter warmer from Rome. Advent Calendar 8 When the Roman armies marched across northern Europe they carried with them great quantities of wine. Used to the warmth of Italian sunshine the cold bleak weather of the northern lands froze them to their core. So they made mulled wine. They concocted a mixture…

St Nicholas and Oranges

What is the connection between oranges and Christmas? Advent Calendar 6 We take for granted the orange in the toe of the Christmas stocking, of oranges being added to mulled wines and dried oranges added to garlands but why are they in the mix of a traditional British Christmas? Orange or Gold? There are a…

Holly woodland

The Holly tree is one of the most common trees in British woodlands. Advent Calendar 3 It’s November and the gloomiest and wettest of walks is lifted by the sight of the holly tree. It’s presence is there bringing joy and the knowledge that Christmas is coming. The Christmas period is intrinsically linked with the…

Standing Stones

An Island where folklore and landscape mingle so that there should almost be a word to describe it. Our modern disconnect with our landscape leaves us bereft of understanding the tales and folklore that attend to it. Those stories passed from generation to generation may have grown and altered course over hundreds of years of…

Ramblers lost footpaths

Lost Footpaths, the Ramblers Project. The cry ‘if you don’t use it, you lose it’, apt that when it comes to re-discovering Britain’s lost footpaths. The Ramblers group of Britain are passionate about keeping open over 100,000 miles of footpaths in Britain. However many of these footpaths have been lost, they are unmapped. As a…

Halloween with Honey Bee Book Boxes

Why do we carve pumpkins at Halloween? The origins of Jack O Lantern. All across the world children and grown ups alike will be carving grotesque faces into pumpkins and putting a light inside, creating ‘Jack O Lanterns’ but how did this tradition came about? The Jack O Lantern has its roots in Irish folklore…