Incredible Range Of Local Honey, Cheese And Wine Surprises People At Spike ’19

Published on: 26 May, 2019
Updated on: 28 May, 2019

By Hugh Coakley

An incredible range of local honey, cheese and wine was being sampled yesterday at Spike ’19, the heritage centre in Warren Road Guildford. One visitor said: “It’s hard to believe that this all comes from roughly a 25-mile radius of The Spike.”

Local honey from light golden to a dark treacle colour at Spike ’19.

Around 200 visitors packed into the main hall and could be seen delicately sipping sparkling rosé, comparing cheeses and hotly debating which was their favourite honey.

And the honey came in so many different colours and tastes, all provided by beekeepers from Guildford. It was the sheer variety that appeared to surprise people who attended the show on Saturday, May 25.

Visitors to Spike ’19 sampling and chatting about the different honey, cheese and wine at the local produce event.

Apart from the honey, visitors were also treated to beautiful local cheeses on the Partisan Cheesemonger & Deli stall.  Samples of Tunworth camembert and Old Winchester from Hampshire, Waterloo brie from Shinfield, Wigmore, a goat’s cheese brie from Risley in Berkshire and Surrey’s own Norbury Blue, made on the Albury Estate next to the Silent Pool, were all presented on crackers and homemade rye and wholemeal bread.

The cheese samples were so popular that the Partisan stall sold out after a couple of hours.

A wide range of local cheeses were on offer on the Partisan Cheesemongers stall which sold out after a couple of hours.

And to top it all, there was the Pewley Down still and sparkling rosé and Denbies Surrey Gold white wine, Flint Valley white and Rose Hill rosé to savour as well.

Sampling lovely local produce is a far cry from what the ”undesirable” vagrants of Guildford would have expected when they arrived for their night’s stay at the Spike. The Spike continued to operate as a hostel right up to the 1960s. But it is a special building and it is now a perfect venue for the event.

Malcolm Clarke, Guildford Beekeeper’s Association president, entertaining the Spike ’19 visitors with his talk on keeping bees.

As well as sampling local produce, there were also talks on mead making by local beekeeper and mead maker, Stephen Bowers-Veenman, keeping bees by beekeeper Malcolm Clarke and a demonstration on making very simple beeswax cloths by Marie Coakley.

John Redpath climbing onto the roof of The Spike to inspect one of the two hives that are kept on the premises.

The event was jointly organised by The Spike and the Guildford Beekeepers Association.

Malcolm Clarke, who is the president of Guildford Beekeepers Association and whose Shere honey was the most popular of the around 25 honeys being sampled, said: “The array of honeys to taste was worthy of the National Honey Show.”

John Redpath, the manager of The Spike, a local beekeeper himself and a newly elected councillor for Holy Trinity ward at Guildford Borough Council, said: “It is fantastic to see so many residents from all over the borough coming to enjoy the local produce.”

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