Friday, May 22nd, 2026
Lansdown Residents File High Court Action | Duchy Invests in Affordable Housing | Sexy Lovehoney Garden Wins Gold
🚦Lansdown residents opposed to traffic restrictions on Winifred’s Lane have filed a legal challenge in the High Court, reports the Bath Echo. The Heart of Lansdown Conservation Group says it plans to raise a minimum of £20,000 to fund the legal action. If they win, the Council would be forced to remove all restrictions on Winifred’s Lane and pay the group’s legal costs.
🚜 The Duchy of Cornwall is to sell off 20% of its property over 10 years, reports BBC News. The duchy is a landowner in five areas - Bath, Cornwall, Dartmoor, Isles of Scilly and Kennington in south London. It has plans to provide an extra 12,000 homes by 2040, a third affordable.
💘 A “super sexy” garden, sponsored by Bath-based global sex toy retailer, Lovehoney, won gold at the Royal Chelsea Flower Show - one of many gardens this year aimed at younger audiences, reports the BBC.
💗 The New York Times does the story justice - exploring not only the garden, but our unique national obsession with flower shows.
🍯 Lovehoney is no ordinary company. Based in Bath, the ‘sexual wellness’ company has transformed the image of sex toys and grown from a start-up in 2002 to a global giant now. Scroll down to our Sweet Stuff section to read more about Lovehoney, it’s taboo-breaking garden and the firm’s global success.
🛍️ Jolly’s reopening has been delayed until March 2027 as restoration work drags on, reports BBC News.
🧽 The council is planning to remove graffiti spray-painted onto a prominent site in central Bath in what constitutes a ‘heritage crime.’’ But the task is not so simple, reports the Bath Echo.
👧 Council children’s services managers have been on strike this week over changes to pay gradings, reports John Wimperis, Local Democracy Reporter via the Bath Voice.
🏘️ Two new co-chairs have been appointed to lead Twerton and Whiteway’s £20m Pride in Place funding over the next 10 years for improvements chosen by the community itself, reports the Bath Echo.
🛶 You may have spotted Canal and River Trust staff along the towpath fundraising. The government decided to wash its hands of 2,000 miles of canals, rivers, locks, bridges and historic buildings in 2012, when the Trust replaced state-run British Waterways. Today, the charity spends £1 million each year just on repairing vehicle strikes to bridges. The most recent damage in Bath happened at historic Bathampton Bridge, as the Bath Echo reports.
🦿 A local metal recycling scheme has awarded £17,000 to two local charities, reports the Bath Echo. The scheme collects common metal items from crematoriums, such as medical pins, metal plates and artificial joints, with the consent of relatives.
❤️ Students have raised £1,000 for a charity set up to increase awareness of knife crimes after the murder of teenager Mikey Roynon at a house party in Bath, reports the Bath Echo.
Weather
😎 All of our prayers have been answered in this weekend’s forecast. Pack away those vitamin D pills!
🎭 Bath Fringe Festival
📆 Fri 22 May - Sun 7 June
🔴 Bath Colourscape, live music programme
📅 23–31 May
📍 Bath Recreation Ground
🎟 Tickets £15/adult. Book here.
🪐 Family planetarium show at Bath Central Library
📆 Weds 27 May
🚢 Bath Abbey celebrates Windrush Day
📅 22–23 June ⏰ 10 - 5.30
📍 Bath Abbey
🎟 Full programme of talks, exhibitions and services here.
City & Region
🏗️ A small village near the UK’s first gigafactory could double in size in a few years if plans for 1,550 new homes are approved, reports BBC News.
🎓 King Edward’s School has launched a major new bursary campaign aiming to raise £2 million by 2030 to help more children access an independent education, reports the Bath and Wiltshire Parent.
🧱 More young people in the southwest will be able to learn construction skills as part of a new government scheme, reports BBC News. Schools and colleges will receive £5 million to fund courses like bricklaying and plumbing and for employers for providing apprenticeships.
☀️ The recent spike in energy costs, triggered by the Iran war, mean the southwest has seen the biggest increase in solar panels installed by companies, reports the BBC.
Crime
🚨 The Bath Neighbourhood Policing Team started Knife Crime Awareness Week by carrying out searches in and around Snow Hill and Kensington Meadows, reports the Bath Echo.
🔪 A 23 year-old man has appeared in court for knife and public order offences in Walcot on 7th October, reports the Bath Echo.
Transport
🚂 For the first time in 23 years, passengers can travel direct between Bath and Oxford, reports the Bath Echo. The quickest journey time is one hour 11 minutes with trains running every two hours from Monday to Saturday.
Sweet stuff 🍯
🏃♂️ Last week we mentioned the mum running three marathons interspersed with comedy gigs to raise money for charity. Well the BBC have done a proper piece on the extraordinary story of bike accident survivor Klaire Alexander from Corsham. We dare you not to laugh at her truly terrible joke below.
🐏 Love famous animals? After the story about the Somerset sheep who stars with Hugh Jackman, the BBC reports on other west country animals who made it to the silver screen.
🇧🇬 Enjoyed Eurovision? Don’t miss the Somerset connection to the stage that hosted winner Bangaranga, as reported by the BBC.
❤️🔥 Oh, so you made it all the way down to the end, eh? Go on, read more about the lustful, sensuous plants that won gold at Chelsea, courtesy of the Guardian.
🎙️ My ex-BBC colleague Laurence Knight travelled to Lovehoney’s factory in China to chart their rise back in 2018 in this radio documentary.
👑 The Queen even gave one of its vibrators an innovation award back in 2016 and you listen to its founders telling their own story to the BBC in 2018 here.
🎩 Top posts from last week’s Bee:
👮🏽♀️ Plans to open a new police station in Bath.
🙏🏽 Welcome to Bath’s Loving the Indie series features real local people and their jobs.
🆘 The RUH’s emergency department is under-staffed and over-crowded.