What's making that buzz buzz buzzing noise?

Billy with their friend, the artist Pam Smart

It's the sound of Billie the Bilberry Bumble Bee and his friends! Billie has a bright orange tummy and he lives on the moors high above the town. He and his friends like to visit the town to eat the pollen from flowers in our gardens.

But Billie and his friends need our help. Sadly there aren't enough flowers to feed all the bees. We can help by planting lots more flowers and not cutting the grass too much because the wild flowers in the grass have lots of tasty nectar that the bees love.

In July Billie is visiting Buxton and he is going to be living in Potters department store and he'd love it if all the children came to see him!

What's more, lots of Billie's friends will also be in town; you can follow a trail to find them all.  Pick up a bee safari leaflet from the Pump Room, The Crescent,  if you would like to draw or make your own bee you can copy the photo below of Billie with his best friend artist Pam Smart.

While they are here on holiday, Billie and his friends are going to feast on all the orange flowers that the Buxton Fringe and our friends have been planting around the town. Can you spot any of the orange flowers?

We would love to see your drawings and your photos of bumble bees or orange flowers. Ask Mummy or Daddy to post photos and tag us in at @BuxtonFringe and #FriendsofBuxtonStation.

Carole

Buxton Fringe

Website: www.buxtonfringe.org.uk
Facebook: buxtonfringe
Twitter: @buxtonfringe
Instagram: @buxtonfringe

Painting the Town Orange

Buxton's floral displays might have more than a hint of Fringe orange this year
(credit: Stephanie Billen)

Yes you read that right; I know it's more traditional to paint a town red but this is Buxton and we like to do things a bit differently here! 

I think everyone would agree that we can all do with a bit of cheering up this year and the Fringe has come up with a simple and fun way to do this - by encouraging shops, businesses, care homes, public spaces and residents to create “Orange Hot Spots” across the town throughout July.

The Fringe has joined forces with a number of local groups to organise displays of orange flowers, orange bunting, flower pot people with orange hair, orange-bottomed Bilberry bumble bees or even just orange Fringe posters. The Bilberry bee is a very special bee. It lives high on the moors surrounding Buxton and it helps to pollinate lots of plants but sadly it is in danger of extinction. So let’s give it a helping hand by planting lots of orange flowers to give it a feed and keep it going. You can also support the Buxton Garden Trail (24-25 July) at the same time by purchasing marigold and fuschia plants from them - contact buxtongardentrail@gmail.com.

Everyone can get involved including the kids. Good and easy orange flowers to grow include Nasturtiums, Marigolds and Calendula but there are lots of others. And what’s more, by planting flowers, even one or two on a small windowsill, we can help encourage butterflies, insects and especially bumble bees. 

Don’t have green fingers or any outside spaces?  Create your own display for your window with tissue paper, coloured pens and paints or Fringe posters, or have a go at drawing the Bilberry bee with its distinctive orange bottom! Contact fobs.buxton@gmail.com if you would like further information on making or displaying the bee!

So what are you waiting for? Grab your paintbrush or gardening gloves, get creative, have some fun and let's turn Buxton Orange!

Carole Garner

Buxton Fringe

Website: www.buxtonfringe.org.uk
Facebook: buxtonfringe
Twitter: @buxtonfringe
Instagram: @buxtonfringe

Zi-Zi Taah Taah Taah - Who’s making a noise at this year’s Buxton Fringe?

photo credit: The Wildlife Trust

Calling all wildlife lovers, poets and conservationists. You won't want to miss this!

Live at this year's Fringe, Yorkshire poet, writer and conservationist Steve Ely will be sharing his poems dedicated to two of the UK's fastest declining species, the Willow Tit and the European Eel.

Steve will read from his books Zi-Zi Taah Taah Taah (the words to the willow tit's song for the uninitiated) and The European Eel at the events, which are sponsored by Milners Law, who  have offices in Leeds, Harrogate and Pontefract.

Also a big Ted Hughes fan, proud Yorkshireman Steve will reveal how his home county shaped the work of the former Poet Laureate.

For full details of these events see the full press release below. With entries starting to build up, we hope to bring you the inside stories on a host of other shows in the coming months. In the meantime don't forget to check out the Fringe website.

Carol Garner

Press Release: 

Yorkshire poets and poetry at Buxton Festival  

Poet and writer Steve Ely will be sharing some of his passions with  audiences at this year’s Buxton Festival Fringe. 

The European Eel and the Willow Tit are two of the fastest declining species  in the UK. Their populations have crashed by 95% in 50 years. As it happens  Willow Tits do relatively well on some brownfield, former industrial sites and  Steve Ely lives close to a former coalfield in Yorkshire and is able to monitor  bird numbers locally. 

He published a small volume of poems Zi-Zi Taah Taah Taah: the song of the  Willow Tit three years ago. This year sees publication of his book-length  poem The European Eel. For the Buxton event Steve will read poems from  the books and talk about how autobiography and interests in conservation  and literature came together in their writing. 

Steve’s observations of the natural world sharply inform his writing and this  is evident in a further collection published this year, Lectio Violant - ‘profane  readings’ that were the result of contemplative study of parts of the New  Testament in the King James’ edition. 

Steve also teaches creative writing at University of Huddersfield where he is  Director of the Ted Hughes Network. Hughes - who was poet laureate from  1984 until his death in 1998 - was born in the Calder Valley village of  Mytholmroyd and the moorland landscapes where he was born are often  associated with his writing. Hughes moved to live in the South Yorkshire  industrial town of Mexborough between the ages of 8 and 21. 

Steve Ely published a study of this period of Hughes’ life and the place  where he wrote his first poems. Steve argues that it was Mexborough that  formed Hughes as a poet. It was the place where he encountered the  influences that shaped him as a poet, leaving a lasting impression on his  personality, sensibility and practice. For the Buxton Festival Steve will reveal  this still too little-known story. 

These two Buxton Festival Fringe events are sponsored by Milners Law, who  have offices in Leeds, Harrogate and Pontefract. 

   

Notes for editors

The Buxton Festival Fringe was established in 1980 and takes place every  July. This year’s Festival runs from 7-25 July when hundreds of events  embrace the visual and performing arts. 

Steve Ely will be at the United Reformed Church on Tuesday 13 July. His Eel  and the Willow Tit is from 3-4pm and Made in Mexborough: Ted Hughes’  South Yorkshire from 5-6pm.