Queen jokes about plot of tempting strawberries on visit to green oasis in city

The Queen has visited a community open space that has become a haven for children, beekeepers and allotment holders – and joked about a plot of tempting strawberries.

Glasgow gardeners welcomed the Queen and the Princess Royal to the green oasis among the busy residential streets of the city run by the Children’s Wood charity.

The unloved patch of ground has been transformed into a tree-covered meadow space where green-fingered residents grow produce, local schools hold outdoor lessons and residents without gardens can relax.

Keen gardener Quinton Cutts commented on the community spirit during lockdown. He said “nobody’s stolen my beans” as he looked at his young plants.

The Queen quipped “perhaps if you had some beans”, but then looking down at some produce beginning to ripen she added: “That’s tempting too, the strawberries.”

During their tour the royal party met beekeepers looking after hives built into a “Beedookit” – a bee version of a dovecote where the insects enter hives high off the ground and so are not disturbed by the public.

Beekeeper Kathleen Friend told the Queen: “You can sunbathe outside it and they don’t seem to mind.”