In a converted garage behind the vicarage of the Church of St John the Baptist on Green Lake Lane, Aldford, a group of women known as the Busy Bees gather on Tuesday mornings with wool, fabric, biscuit and stories.
What began as a simple idea of Su Jones, wife of the associate minister, the Reverend Karl Jones, during the isolation of Covid, has grown into a vibrant craft collective.
‘I thought it’d be nice to bring everybody together,’ says Su. ‘They meet to sew, knit, crochet, quilt, chat and laugh. But more than anything, they meet to stay connected.’
One of the Busy Bees’ first projects was for a commemorative banner created in the 1980s by Aldford Women’s Institute, which had been stored in a cupboard and forgotten about for more than 30 years. The group mounted the piece and it is now displayed in the village hall. From there on, the ladies have worked together in their little crafting hut, selling their creations to raise money for local hospices, children’s charities and community projects.
Their creations include chickens, snowmen, rabbits, pocket bears (to give comfort to those who hold them) and knitted connection squares for babies born prematurely at the Countess of Chester Hospital.
At the Busy Bees sessions, the room is alive with the hum of sewing machines, clicking knitting needles and conversations weaving through topics as varied as quilting techniques, local road closures, family histories and the price of chocolate.
‘It has been a way for me to meet people, after I moved to the village when I was widowed,’ says Christine Talbot.
The group is a cross-section of the village with lifelong residents, newcomers and retirees, and new members are welcomed.
Along with their shared love of making, the Busy Bees have created a unit where members show up for each other, whether to share a cup of tea, a spare ball of wool, or to knock on the window to check someone’s OK. Get-togethers are also a chance to exchange tips on quilting, crochet, jelly rolls, paper templates and bamboo batting (the term for quilting wadding)..
The Busy Bees have a stall at the Aldford Village Fete on the village field at the back of the Grosvenor Arms pub on Saturday, June 20, from 2pm
