RETURN TO BUCKFAST ABBEY

Currently making mead - elbow deep in honey at present and trying to perfect my recipe, which hopefully will turn out a medium-dry mead, say a specific gravity of 1010 (for those of you who make their own wine and beer).

The work is in preparation for a new ebook that has been commissioned.  As part of my research, off we travelled to Buckfast Abbey at Buckfastleigh in Devon.   It was here, in 1996 that we met the world-famous Brother Adam, part of the team of Benedictine monks, who was himself perfecting his latest book on the wonderful Queen Bee. He was a penpal of mine and all we wrote about was yeast culture and the best type of honey for Mead.   I had the audacity to bring him some of our Essex honey, which he opened and pronounced as "very good! - think it was rape blossom!

A year or two earlier, I had won the Essex Federation of Amateur Winemakers silver cup for mead-making, so that gave me a little more confidence to visit this legendary monk who had devoted his almost 100 year life to breeding the perfect honeybee.

Father Christopher with Jenni at Buckfast Abbey

Although he is no longer with us, I did manage to meet some of Brother Adam's fellow associates and here is Father Christopher with Jenni.  Father Columba showed us around and brought me up to date on the work going on at this lovely abbey deep in the heart of the Devon countryside.

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