The Curious Case Of Beeston’s Bananas

For the last year or so early in the morning on the second day of every month a plate of between fifteen and 20 bananas has been carefully positioned on the corner of Abbey Road and Wensor Avenue opposite the church in the Nottinghamshire town of Beeston. They are always freshly bought, peeled and seem to be drizzled with a sweet substance rather like honey. The mystery is no one seems to know who is putting them there or why.

The bananas are left there to go mouldy and even the local wildlife seems to eschew them. Their presence has sharply divided public opinion in the area with many local residents regarding a plate of rotting bananas as damaging the a-peel of their street. One, a local volunteer litter picker, has even put up a sign, saying “Please, respectfully, no more bananas! The uncollected plates and rotting bananas leave such a mess. Wishing a happy new year to all”. Nevertheless, on January 2nd another plate appeared.

The most likely reason for the strange deposit, locals believe, is that it is some form of religious offering. In Hinduism, offering bananas to deities is common practice, the fruit representing abundance, fertility, and good fortune, while honey is often added to bring natural sweetness and nourishment to offerings.

I am agog to find out whether another plate appears on February 2nd.