Issue 11 - Volume 18 - Mendip Times

Welcome

HEDGINGcompetitions and point-topoint meetings herald the start of Mendip’s busy social calendar. We have pictures from both, as well as from many other local events and festivals.

With spring in the air, Chris Sperring welcomes the first arrivals of swallows and chiffchaffs. Katy Beauchamp offers us an Easter feast and we have a Spring focus on Cheddar.

In contrast we continue to remember the Big Freeze of 60 years ago; we meet a milkman who used a toboggan to get supplies through.

We also remember the terrible tragedy of the Swiss Air Disaster 50 years ago, which claimed the lives of so many local people. Journalist Ian Tabrett knew many of them and recalls the effect on local villages.

Phil Hendy reports on a find of Romano-British pottery in caves on Mendip, while a Saxon axe head has been discovered in Frome.

In sport, we focus on rugby and a special soccer match in Shipham. With all of our regular contributors and features, welcome to another packed issue.

May 2023 deadline: Friday 14th April

Published: Tuesday 25th April

Editorial: Steve Egginton steve@mendiptimes.co.uk

Mark Adler mark@mendiptimes.co.uk

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Lisa Daniels lisa@mendiptimes.co.uk

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Publisher: Mendip Times Limited Coombe Lodge, Blagdon, Somerset BS40 7RG

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all enquiries, telephone: 01761 463888 or email: news@mendiptimes.co.uk www.mendiptimes.co.uk

Broadway buy-out is complete

CAMPAIGNERS who fought for an area of open space in Frome to be protected from possible development are celebrating the completion of the £24,000 purchase of the land from Mendip District Council.

Broadway Community Gardens is now owned by the town following the sale to Frome Town Council and the community group Save our Spaces. Save Our Spaces will eventually take on stewardship following work later in the year by the town council to make the area accessible.

Local resident and campaigner, Mendip councillor John Clarke, said: "I would like to thank the town council, Save Open Spaces Frome for their support but especially and most of all, those who have fought so hard over the last four years to achieve our goal of saving this open space.

“Now we have the opportunity with the people of Frome, to create a special place where the community can come together, benefit from nature, helping to create a strong community where people’s health, physical and mental wellbeing can be enhanced, a friendly, welcoming safe space for all to enjoy."

Town councillor Fiona Barrow said: “Run differently and complementary to our allotments, it will be a different sort of growing space. The mental and physical health benefits of growing your own collectively are so important – everyone who wants should be able to get their hands dirty and reap benefits. Ultimately our thanks must go to the two-campaign group as it is their hard work that achieved this – a community growing space saved for the whole town to benefit from.”

For details, visit: www.broadwaycommunitygardens.com

Cycling hub steps up a gear

FROME Community Bike Project has announced plans to create a dedicated cycling hub in the town.

If planning permission is granted, the site, which will feature a workshop space, could be up and running within months. In the meantime, FCBP is running a series of free community events from now until September after receiving National Lottery funding through the Together Fund funded by Sport England and distributed by Sustrans.

All profits from the project will go to local charity Frome’s Missing Links to support their campaign to link up traffic-free routes in and around Frome.

Emma Parker from FCBP said: “We’re so grateful to have received this funding and we'll be putting it to good use offering free events to the community. From bike repairs and teaching bike maintenance skills to teaching cycle confidence classes and

Carnival –German style

MENDIP Morris have returned from a visit to Clevedon’s twin town of Ettlingen in Germany where they took part in the Fasching Festival, a winter version of carnival.

The side joined in parades in Konstanze and Ettlingen. The parades are huge affairs taking a couple of hours to pass with spectators wearing fancy dress, creating a real

atmosphere.

leading bike rides that explore some of our beautiful countryside and routes along the Sustrans National Cycle Network.” Their next Dr Bike session will take place outside Frome Library on Saturday, April 1st where they will also have a selection of refurbished bikes for sale.

For details, visit: www.fromebikeproject.org

carnival

Dancing in the streets during the festival

Mendip Morris in Ettlingen

A previous Dr Bike session in Frome town centre

Down to earth fun at “mini-museum” day

DOZENS of families enjoyed an open day at the Somerset Earth Science Centre at Stoke St Michael, meeting fossil experts and taking part in geology-based creative activities. In the coming months, the education centre – run by a charity – is hoping to increase the number of events it holds, including specialist talks.

For details, visit: www.earthsciencecentre.org.uk

Protest walk for wildlife

CAMPAIGNERS opposed to the proposed reopening of Westdown Quarry, near Nunney, staged a further protest on disused workings next door which would be used to store waste if the plans go ahead.

Hanson, which operates Whatley Quarry, wants to reopen Westdown to extract 160 million tonnes of limestone at a rate of two million tonnes a year. Westdown has been disused for more than 35 years.

Concentration on the craft table

Anna with a fossil of a 140-million-year-old coral found near Bath

Examining part of the extensive former Kingswood School fossil collection donated to the SESC Charlie with some fossils dug out of sand

Protestors gather at the entrance to Asham Void

Hanson donation provides woodland access for all

A DONATIONof aggregates from Hanson’s Whatley quarry near Frome is providing people with mobility needs the opportunity to access a secluded woodland in North Brewham, Somerset.

The company has donated 560 tonnes of scalping material to the Olga’s Community Wood charity project, which is being spearheaded by Whatley resident Paul Williams in memory of his wife, who dedicated her life to the health and wellbeing of others.

The project on Pinkwood Lane was set up to provide a fully accessible woodland for individuals and groups to use as a place to reconnect with nature and interact socially.

The material provided from Whatley quarry has allowed the group to construct a 1,500-metre circular pathway through the wood to allow access for wheelchairs and pushchairs.

“Without Hanson’s support, the project would not have come to fruition,” said Paul Williams, founder of Olga’s Community Wood Paul Williams.

“There are simply not enough words to express my gratitude to the team at Whatley quarry for this exceptional contribution to the community which enables access to this local woodland for all to enjoy, from school children with additional needs through to the elderly.

“With the help of various groups we’ve planted 6,000 indigenous British bulbs including native bluebells, snow drops, wood anemones and lily of the valley, and we still have another 10,000 to plant so hopefully there will be a real splash of colour next spring.”

Hanson operations manager Vincent Pitt added: “We are committed to making a positive contribution to the local community and this is just the sort of project that we are delighted to be involved with: one that uses our essential

More than 70 people gathered to walk around Asham Void, which Hanson also owns and wants to use to store waste materials from Westdown whilst at the same time carrying out a gradual restoration of the area to encourage wildlife.

The 79-acre Asham Void sits next to Asham Wood – a SSSI since 1963 and open to the public. Natural England, Somerset County Council’s own ecology experts and Somerset Wildlife Trust have all objected for a second time to the proposals. There are also more than 500 objections from local communities, and a 2,000+ signature petition. As well as protest walks at the quarry, campaigners have staged a demonstration – complete with samba band – in Frome town centre.

Richard Mawer of the Stop Hanson Expansion at Westdown Quarry campaign group, said: “I’d like to say a massive thank you to all those who joined us for the protest walk and to the fabulous samba band who performed in Frome so brilliantly. There are many ways people can get involved with the campaign – it’s not too late to stop these dreadful plans.”

building materials to provide a real benefit.”

In the last 12 months Hanson has supported 29 community initiatives in the East Mendips with pledged donations totalling almost £40,000. Applications are prioritised within the BA11 postcode, particularly those within a three kilometre radius of the company’s Whatley and Westdown quarries. Details of how to make an application for funding, materials and/or volunteer support can be found at: www.hansoncommunities.co.uk/en/whatley-and-westdown-quarrycommunity-page/supporting-the-community.

l An open day at Whatley Quarry – postponed from last year due to the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II – is due to be held on Sunday, April 23rd. It comes with a date – possibly in May – still to be confirmed for Somerset County Council’s Regulation Committee to decide whether Hanson can re-open Westdown Quarry.

Access for all: Hanson project manager Justin Collis (left) with Whatley team member Beki Devine (right), project volunteers Kate Chadwick and Pete Thomas and Olga’s Community Wood founder Paul Williams (centre)

Richard Morgan has penned a song about the feared impact on Asham Wood

West Country’s biggest new wood

THEWest of England’s largest new wood is being planted just outside Pensford. The Great Avon Wood was officially launched by Metro mayor, Dan Norris.

The charity, Avon Needs Trees, and the Forest of Avon Trust have worked together to secure over 100 acres of land near Publow.

Over the next three years, hundreds of volunteers will help to plant and care for 40,000 trees supplied by the Woodland Trust. Great Avon Wood will consist of three linked woodland sites. Both charities are now inviting people across the region to help plant this new woodland.

The charity’s director, Dave Wood, said: “The interest and support we’ve already received for Great Avon Wood has been quite astonishing.

“We’ve had the first handful of planting days fill up almost immediately, as well as groups from Black2Nature and local universities getting involved.

“We are still looking for as many individuals to get involved as possible or make a donation. We’d also like to hear

from local companies who want to get involved.”

Dan Norris said: “More trees please! The West of England will need more woodland areas if we are going to reach our

ambitious net-zero-by-2030 targets locally and address the biodiversity emergency here in the West.”

Avon Needs Trees is also planning new woodland near Shepton Mallet.

Volunteers inspired to “bee bold” at open space

WORK is underway to transform a disused part of the Southfield Recreation Ground on the edge of Radstock into an ecologically friendly community space.

Radstock Town Council was awarded funding from The West of England Combined Authority “Bee Bold” Pollinator Fund to create the Southfield Community Garden on the former play area.

The fund has been created to support community-led ecology projects that enhance biodiversity and pollinator habitats across the West of England region and the council is working in

partnership with Radstock in Bloom.

An educational classroom area will be installed and there will be extensive planting of a wide variety of nectar and pollen-rich flowers and shrubs with a focus to ensure the planting covers the whole year with particular emphasis on spring and summer.

Volunteers are being encouraged to join work parties and schools and other youth groups are also due to get involved once the ground is cleared of brambles and rubbish.

Radstock in Bloom volunteers Jean Hopegood, Jo Kelly, Pam Young and Royston Knight with Cathy and Sean

Royston clearing cuttings

Pictured (l to r) Alex Stone, director Forest of Avon, Dave Wood, director Avon Needs Trees, Metro Mayor Dan Norris, local councillor Paul May and Rosie Walker, Woodland Trust

Putting the spotlight on young farmers

THEFederation of Young Farmers Clubs has existed since 1932. The first club was established in 1921 as a calf rearing club for children of milk producers near the United Dairies milk factory in Devon. As well as rearing calves, there were competitions and prizes for those achieving the highest standards.

Over the following decade more clubs were set up to provide education with the focus on keeping and rearing calves, pigs, poultry, bees and gardens. As a result, they all combined under the umbrella of the federation as a voluntary, selfgoverning and self-generating organisation.

Along with the scout and guide movements, young farmers are the main mass movements for young people in Great Britain. Things move on and as well as the original livestock activities young farmers do many other things.

Every year, each county has a rally of some sort where all the clubs in the county come together and compete in different competitions. Handicraft competitions run alongside lawn mower

racing, alongside It’s a Knockout challenges, alongside tug of war and anything else the host group can dream up. Rivalry is put aside in the evening for a huge social event.

North Somerset YFC is in good health and as well as having a thriving membership has a programme of activities to keep everyone involved for the coming year. As well as all the “normal” farming activity, they have visits planned, a tractor rally starting out from Lye Cross Farm at 10.30am on April 16th and a summer disco at Stepstones Farm in June.

The club are very friendly and welcome any young people between ten and 26 with an interest in the countryside to join them. Just because it’s called Young Farmers you don’t have to be one to join. The social activities are often fundraisers.

North Somerset YFC have recently donated a total of £8,000 to local, national and international charities. Good friends, good causes and very good fun.

If you are interested in finding out more you can contact chair Jay Alvis 07788 201715 or vice chair Alice Joyner 07714 300821. l Wedmore YFC’s spring show will be held at the George, Wedmore on April 15th.

With NICK GREEN

Nick Green is Farms Director for Alvis Bros Ltd based at Lye Cross Farm. As well as the business, he is involved with a number of local and national farming charities.

Farming community reaches out

MORE than 1,200 Key Stage 2 pupils are expected to descend on the Royal Bath & West Showground at Shepton Mallet in April for the return of the Field to Food Learning Day.

Back for the first time since Covid, the fifth event – already fully booked – will be a day packed full of interactive activities and demonstrations, educating children about the process of field to fork, giving them the opportunity to look, hear, smell and get their hands dirty – one of the most effective (and fun) ways to learn!

Lilanie Self, from the Royal Bath & West Society, said: “We are really looking forward to welcoming local schools back to our Field to Food Learning Day. Thanks to the generous support of local businesses, we have been able to provide some brilliant hands-on demonstrations for the children to really get involved in.”

Alongside the event, the society is due to launch a brand-new online education hub at the end of March, providing resources to teachers, parents and home educators that can be used to learn all about British farming and the process of field to fork.

The resources have also been created in line with the National Curriculum, with links to “living things and their habitats”. l The education hub can be found at: www.bathandwestsociety.com/education-hub Schools wanting to know more about future Field to Food events should email: hello@bathandwest.co.uk

offers

THE163rd North Somerset Show at Wraxall on the May 1st bank holiday has a packed programme sure to appeal to visitors of all ages.

The very best of livestock and horses will be showcased, alongside rural crafts and food. There’s also popular tractor pulling and a competition to find North Somerset’s strongest man.

The main arena will be busy with a range of events while the countryside area is always busy, with a number of rural crafts competitions.

Show jumping starts at 8.30am and goes on all day and there will also be a display of heavy horses. With 260 trade stands and a wide range of food and drink options, it promises to be a great day out.

Mendip Times will have a stand there so pop by and say hello.

Remembering Finn Christenen

FAMILY and friends from all walks of life gathered in person –and online – to celebrate the life of Pilton farmer Finn Christensen, who has died aged 85.

Mendip Crematorium was full of mourners for the funeral of Danish-born Finn, who came to Somerset in his 20s as an agricultural student. Many more gathered at the Crossways Inn at North Wootton to watch the service live streamed.

For the past 50 years, Finn and his family have run Steanbow Farm, next to the Glastonbury Festival site, and much of the land is used as part of the event. But his first job on arriving in England was on a farm at Alhampton.

Building up successful dairy and pig herds, as well as a poultry business, Finn served on many agricultural bodies such as the Milk Marketing Board – later Milk Marque – the Royal Bath & West Society council and the Mid-Somerset Show, of which he was a former president. Finn was also heavily involved with the Dairy Show at the Royal Bath & West Showground and introduced the idea of the annual Dairy Show Dinner.

He was also an enthusiastic members of, firstly, Shepton Mallet Round Table and then the Rotary Club of Shepton Mallet where he served as both chairman and president.

Proud of both his Danish and British heritage, the Union Flag flies at halfmast at Steanbow Farm

The funeral cortege leaving Steanbow Farm

Finn Christensen

Show

so much to see and do

A right rural day out

FINE weather greeted the 2023 Mid-Somerset Agricultural Society hedgelaying competition, tractor run and Land Rover meet.

As 22 entrants in the hedgelaying novice and open classes set to work on land at Hill House Farm at Launcherley, near Wells, more than 50 tractors headed off for a run, which included passing through Wells High Street to the delight of Sunday lunchtime shoppers.

Hedgelayer Chris Chivers, of Radstock, was crowned champion after winning the open class; Rob Shumey won the novice class.

Chris Chivers (right) with outgoing society president Paddy Gordon

Bruce, in the back of a vintage Land Rover

Clive Gibbons, of Shepton Mallet, in the novice class

Laura Hawker gets to work at the start of the day; competitors had five hours in which to complete their length of hedge

The tractors make their way down Wells High Street

Reggie, aged 18 months, on run organiser Rod Gillard’s tractor

Wrington and Burrington

THEsociety held its 191st hedging competition at Stepstones Farm, Wrington, courtesy of Alvis Bros Ltd, with 40 competitors taking part.

First find your hedge

Casting an expert eye, Dave Keedwell (left) and Charlie Patch Keith Lintern, West Pennard, before . . .. . . and after

One of the beginners, the Rev William Feay from Saltford

The winners (l to r) Beginners, Andrew Whitcombe, East Harptree, Improvers, Josh Pearce, Clevedon, Open, Rob Sturmey, Honiton, Over 60s, Mike Reed, Chew Magna, John Alvis, who presented the prizes, and champion Steve McCulloch, Crediton

Preparing lunch

Add shortcuts to your home screen

ADDINGa shortcut to your home screen varies a little with each system, but the basics should be as below.

To create a desktop shortcut to a website using Google Chrome, on your laptop, go to a website and click the three-dot icon in the top-right corner of your browser window. Then go to More tools > Create shortcut. Finally, name your shortcut and click Create For a Mac, you will see a Finder window pop up after you click Create . All you have to do is drag the shortcut from that Chrome Apps folder to your desktop.

To create a desktop shortcut for a website using Safari, first resize Safari so you can see your desktop in the background. Then open the website you want. Click and hold on the URL (the www bit in the address bar) and drag and drop it onto your desktop. You can change the name and icon as well.

On your phone, to add a website to your Android home screen, open Chrome and go to the website. Open the three-dot menu at the top and select Add to Home Screen Confirm, and it will appear onscreen. On an iPhone, open the website you you want and tap on the Upload icon, then Add to home screen.

The Mendip Mindbender

ACROSS

1 The point at which the Moon is furthest from Earth (6)

5 The hard upper shell of a tortoise (8)

9 Meat preserved in brine and sold in tins (6,4)

10 River that flows through Rugby, Warwick and Evesham (4)

11 Log craft movement to carry wood and iron (4,4)

12 Go by (6)

13 A competition to find the fastest (4)

15 A portable computer smaller than a laptop (8)

18 A residential institution where old people are cared for (4,4)

19 Sodium carbonate (4)

21 A pet animal that is supposed to bring good luck (6)

23 Mademoiselle sat next to you ,but you still didn't quite make it (4,4)

25 Laszlo Jozsef ...., –inventor of the ballpoint (4)

26 Fatigue, extreme tiredness (10)

27 A unit of length equal to one hundred millionth of a centimetre (8)

DOWN

2 Snap (5)

3 Bend a knee to the ground as a sign of respect (9)

4 Cause to be loved (6)

5 Village near Bath that has recently adopted 20 mph speed through the village (7,8)

6 Throws back light or sound without absorbing it (8)

7 United States shopping area (5)

8 This traffic system near Axbridge lent its name to a nearby village (9)

14 Having one American and one Asian parent (9)

16 A common element that is not considered precious (9)

17 Pump, trainer slingback or sabot (8)

20 Make a higher offer for a property than already agreed and so gain possession (6)

22 Name of the village referred to in 8 down (5)

24 Southern cereal shown with contempt (5)

By greendandelion

Clues in italics are cryptic

Submitted for I.T. for the Terrified by Lynne Duckett. Although we have stopped our one-to-one tuition, we will continue with this column to keep the name alive. This article is for guidance only, and the opinion of the writer. I.T. for the Terrified - it4ttcvh@gmail.com

28 Weston-super-Mare are to have nearly a hundred of these, manmade, ninety year old structures removed from their countryside (6)

This month’s solution can be found on page 86

Nature recovery –how you can help

HOW could you help nature recover across the Mendip Hills in spring? One of the simplest things we can all do is adjust where we visit and how we visit special places across the area. Many of the favourite sites are Nature Reserves that are springing into life now with adders basking and skylarks nesting on the ground.

Why not make your visits to these areas special treats rather than weekly for the next month or so? When you are visiting, please keep dogs under close control and minimise disturbance off the paths.

Working with Water

Through the Farming in Protected Landscapes fund we have been working hard with farmers and landowners to implement projects that mitigate climate change, whilst improving and creating habitats.

One project was a new wetland created by the Bristol and Avon Rivers Trust with the landowners on the northern side of the AONB. This will create a wonderful new habitat for birds, invertebrates and other wildlife whilst also helping to regulate droughts and flooding by keeping more water in the landscape.

They also installed several leaky dams into one of the streams which feeds the River Chew, which has poor water quality and has been

known to flood downstream. Leaky dams are a natural flood management technique which mimic natural obstructions caused by trees and branches falling into rivers.

These can help slow down water flow, enabling more water to be stored in the soil and reducing flood risk. Using natural flood management techniques such as these across the water catchment can really make a difference to water quality and flooding.

If you would like help developing any projects on your land within the Mendip Hills AONB that could benefit the climate, nature, people and place, please get in contact.

An Easter feast to celebrate spring

The Easter holidays will be with us soon and – hopefully – accompanied by some fine spring weather to allow us to get outside and maybe enjoy our first alfresco meal of the year. Both the starter and main dishes are fresh and tasty and the pudding is great fun for all ages – and none will break the bank if you’ve got a crowd coming round!

GRIDDLED PEARS WITH BLUE CHEESE AND WALNUTS

LAMB BIRIYANI

PAIN AU CHOCOLAT PUDDING

This

METHOD

Peel and quarter the pears, then griddle them on a high heat until you have toasty brown lines on either side. If you don’t have a griddle pan, you could use a normal one or grill them. Heat the cream in a pan and crumble in the cheese. Mix until melted, add salt and pepper to taste. Drizzle over the pears, sprinkle with walnuts and serve on a bed of salad.

It’s traditional to have lamb at Easter but, as it’s so expensive, I’m using lamb mince to create this deliciously fruity biriyani which you can make the day before.

METHOD

Fry the lamb mince and onions for 20 minutes, add the paste, chilli and garlic and cook for a further five mins. Add the fruit and veg and cook for another five mins. Meanwhile cook your rice (I do mine with a stock cube and turmeric). Mix the rice though the meat mixture then stir through the coriander. Eat straightaway or place in an ovenproof dish, cover and heat through when required. I also made some quick naan bread using equal quantities of self raising flour and plain yogurt. Season and dry fry until cooked.

INGREDIENTS

(Serves six)

900g lamb mince

Mug and a half of rice

1 chopped red onion

2 heaped tbls of your favourite curry paste

INGREDIENTS

(Serves two)

2 firm pears

60g Stilton or other blue cheese

100g single cream

30g walnut pieces

Salt and pepper

2 tsps minced garlic

2tsps fresh or dry chilli

400g chopped veg of choice (frozen will work well)

150g chopped apricots

150g chopped dates

Large handful of roughly chopped coriander

A pudding with a melting surprise

A lovely, easy dish to make, you could also use leftover hot cross buns instead of the pain au chocolat. The mini eggs create a lovely surprise, you crunch through the shell to delicious warm liquid chocolate inside!

METHOD

Cut the pain au chocolat in half and lay in an ovenproof dish cut side up. Make sure they are quite tightly packed. Heat the cream in a saucepan. When warm add the essence, sugar and salt and stir until dissolved. Beat the eggs and whisk them into the warm cream. Pour over the pain au chocolat and let the dish sit for a least half an hour. Cook uncovered at 180°C for 35 minutes. As soon as it comes out of the oven, sprinkle over the eggs and let them melt inside for about a further five mins before serving.

INGREDIENTS

(Makes six)

6 pain au chocolat (packaged ones that have a long shelf life are fine)

440mls double cream

4 eggs

2tbs caster sugar

Vanilla essence

Tsp salt

Large pack of mini eggs

With KATY BEAUCHAMP

A fresh and zingy starter

Lamb biriyani made using mince

is a deliciously fresh starter zinging with flavour.

TEA

North Widcombe, West Harptree, Bristol BS40 6HW

Sunday 2 April: Spring Flowers & Leafy Greens Foray

Sunday 9 April: Spring Flowers & Leafy Greens Foray – Fully Booked

Sunday 1 October: Autumn Fungi, Fruit & Nuts Foray

Sunday 15 October: Autumn Fungi, Fruit & Nuts Foray

Tea/coffee & biscuits on arrival, seasonal wild food foray, a cook up and tasting of our finds, followed by a light foragers lunch. Adults £65 per person, under 16’s £25 per person (all under 16’s must be accompanied by a full paying adult).

Book on a foray and receive a free copy of Adrian’s forthcoming book: Wild Food and Mushroom Foraging: A beginners guide to foraging in the UK.

WILD FOOD

Souper wild food

With ADRIAN BOOTS

GARDEN FOOD

Purple sprouting

I MIGHThave set the bar a little high with the above title but this really has to be tried to be believed, a real tasty treat. What am I talking about? Well its non-other than stinging nettles made into a delicious spring soup. There are real health and wellbeing benefits from using spring greens and in my opinion nettles are a super wild food.

They contain more iron than spinach, more protein by dry weight than any other wild plant, are full of vitamin A and C and contain elements of nitrogen and phosphates needed for healthy muscle tissue and bones.

Plus, when other spring greens run out, nettles keep going but only if they are cut back. Forget lettuce, these are the original cut and come again greens. But it’s not just the health benefits we are interested in, it is what it tastes like in a dish too.

Stinging nettle (Urtica dioica) is an erect perennial, 50 to 150cm in height, covered in fine stinging hairs. Leaves in opposite pairs up to 10cm long are heart or spear shaped, pointed and regularly toothed.

Flowers are tiny, greenish in colour, hanging in clusters like thin catkins, flowering June to September. Stinging nettles are abundant, look for them along hedgerows, verges, waste ground, gardens, woodland etc –anywhere that the ground has been disturbed or extra nutrient has been added.

But how do you improve on such an already healthy and tasty soup recipe? In my opinion the only way is with the addition of one other springtime ingredient, wild garlic. I would even go so far as to say it’s a marriage made in heaven.

You’ll need four good handfuls of nettle leaves and one good handful of garlic leaves. Remove any nettle stalks and rinse. Fry an onion until translucent, add two diced potatoes and simmer until the potatoes are cooked.

Reduce the heat then add your nettle and wild garlic leaves and at least one litre of seasoned vegetable stock. Without burning oneself on scolding hot green lava, carefully blitz until smooth. Serve with a dollop of sour cream.

And now a shameless plug – anyone booking a spring or autumn foray will receive a free copy of my forthcoming book: Wild Food and Mushroom Foraging. A beginners guide to foraging in the UK. There are a few places left on the 2nd April foray, the 9th April foray is now fully booked!

Adrian Boots is a Landscape Ecologist and expert forager running wild food forays, events and activities. Please visit: www.hedgerowcottage.co.uk for more information or email him at: hello@hedgerowcottage.co.uk

With JAKE WHITSON

IT’Sbeen a funny year for purple sprouting broccoli and many other brassicas - the cold snap we had in December was so severe that it damaged our plants, which left them rotting at the base. Nevertheless, a few pulled through and are producing florets now. I love purple sprouting and make the most of it while it’s around.

I love it on the side of a main meal, with perhaps a knob of butter melting into it. But I also like to have it as the main event, with perhaps some boiled potatoes or crusty bread on the side.

One recipe I turn to time and time again is Hugh FearnleyWhittingstall’s chilli and anchovy dressing, which is made by blending together a tin of anchovies, 150ml olive oil, 2 peeled garlic cloves, 2 tsp cider vinegar, 1 tsp mustard, half a small red chilli, black pepper and some basil leaves if you have them.

Tossed with freshly steamed purple sprouting, it is sublime.

A more unusual recipe I’ve discovered recently comes from Fuchsia Dunlop - a Chinesestyle broccoli in ginger sauce. The sauce is deceptively simple but incredibly savoury and delicious.

Start by blanching around 400g broccoli in plenty of boiling salted water until just tender but still a little crunchy. Drain, and if you plan on serving it later, refresh in plenty of cold water.

Add 2 tbsp cooking oil and 2 tbsp finely chopped ginger to a pan and fry until fragrant, then add 1 tbsp Shaoxing wine, 1/4 teaspoon sugar, a pinch of salt and 1 tsp cornflour diluted in a tablespoon of water.

If you are using cold refreshed broccoli, add this along with another 2 tablespoons of water and put a lid on so it can warm through. If using still warm freshly blanched broccoli, simply toss this in the sauce. This makes a lovely meal served with fresh steamed rice and perhaps a richer dish of tofu or meat.

Jacob Whitson is a chef, food writer and smallholder –he divides his time between the Mendips and Pembrokeshire.

The Penscot Inn offers a warm welcome

GRAHAMAndrews and his wife Cheryl are the new hosts at the Penscot Inn in Shipham, having previously run a pub in Pewsey, Wiltshire.

With barmaid, Emily, and chef, Ethan, they have quickly established a reputation for their friendly welcome and traditional, reasonably priced food.

Main meals cost around £11 or you could opt for the Penscot Monster Burger at £17.95. That wouldn’t leave much room for traditional puddings like Spotted Dick at £5.95. Baked potatoes and other bar snacks start at round £5.

The extensive menu also has half a dozen vegetarian options. They have been getting 5-Star reviews for their food.

Graham said: “We offer basic pub food which is good quality and much of it locally-sourced. Our meats come from Hansford’s, the butchers next door.”

As a free house, they also have an extensive range of beers, including Tribute and Butcombe, with other guest ales, lagers, a range of ciders, spirits and wines.

With its open fire, relaxing bar and dining room, the pub has a pool table, darts board and shows BT Sport.

They also offer B and B in en-suite rooms and are on popular walking routes. And it’s dog friendly, they can supply Sunday lunch for dogs! They are planning to have karaoke evenings and

discos in the future.

The pub is in the heart of the historic village of Shipham, so ideal for exploring Mendip and the wider area.

Graham said: “We cater for locals and visitors alike, whether they want a meal or a game of pool, whether they are regulars or walkers doing the West Mendip Way.

“We are open all day every day and look forward to welcoming people to our historic pub.”

You’d be a fool not to visit Tucker’s this April!

THE diary at the legendary Tucker’s Grave Inn at Faulkland is looking full for April with live music and more lined up to entertain locals and visitors alike.

Since buying the 200-year-old inn five years ago, the Watts family have opened up a barn for bands and parties whilst also building The Old Parlour and Café which offers a modern, airy alternative space as well as adding a campsite.

With doors opening onto a verandah and the garden, the space is ideal for sunny spring and summer days whilst underfloor heating keeps it warm in winter. Both the barn and parlour –along with the skittle alley – are available for hire.

Time has stood still inside the pub itself, with many first-time visitors taking photos of the unique interior – there’s no bar as such!

Saturday, April 1st sees a day of fun and music to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the national charity Children’s Air Ambulance. Amongst the attractions will be an Easter egg hunt, cake and craft stalls, a raffle, face painting and more with The Original Barn Finds playing in the evening.

The Easter weekend itself sees more live music, on both Saturday night and Sunday afternoon.

On Saturday, April 29th, Tucker’s will host another of its hugely successful afternoon tea parties in aid of the Bowel

Movement charity – expect tables absolutely laden with homebaked treats.

The team at Tuckers say: “If you haven’t been to Tuckers for years, you may not know that it’s exactly the same inside and it’s surviving while many other pubs are having to close. The addition of the campsite and The Old Parlour Cafe have created a space for customers.

“We employ 10-15 local people, our camping is cheap, our drinks are cheaper and our staff are the best.

“Tuckers is a legendary pub and hopefully it will still be here in another 200 years. So, a big thank you to all who have supported us and those who don’t, please come and see what you’re missing; you might be pleasantly surprised!”

What an eventFUL April we have lined up for you!

Saturday 1st – Children’s Air Ambulance Fundraiser: 2-10.30pm

Saturday 1st – Live band: THE ORIGINAL BARN FINDS*

Good Friday 7th – Live band: THE B SIDES

Saturday 8th – Live band: COYOTE COUNTRY

Sunday 9th – Live band: MONOS NEWWAVEBAND

Saturday 15th – Live band: LILA J

Saturday 22nd – Live band: OPEN ROAD

Saturday 29th – The Bowel Movement Afternoon Cream Tea: 2-5pm

Saturday 29th – Live band: ZERO HOUR

* £5 admission to live music in aid of CAA • Bands 8pm except Monos Newwaveband 2-6pm

Pizzas served Fri 6pm – Sun 6pm

Old Parlour Café and Bar open Fri and Sat 8am-11pm (Sun 8am-5pm)

OPEN: Noon-11pm (Mon-Sat) Noon-10pm (Sun)

Tucker’s Grave Inn, Faukland, Radstock, BA3 5XF.

T: 01225 962669

E: info@tuckersgraveinn.co.uk

W: www.tuckersgraveinn.co.uk

The Original Barn Finds – playing live at Tucker’s on Saturday, April 1st

l Venue Hire l Camping l Holiday Cottage

Death of Alan Denham Mining tributes start to appear

RADSTOCKand Midsomer

Norton Lions Club has paid tribute to its president Alan Denham, a former district governor, who has died aged 88.

Alan was also treasurer for Paulton Royal British Legion until it closed in 2020 and was a valued volunteer driver with Swan Transport. He and his late wife Jean used to have a shop in High Littleton.

Welcome to Wells

THE first of many steel miner sculptures to be installed around East Mendip to commemorate the Somerset Coalfields have been installed in Coleford and Holcombe.

Created by Dave Speed in his forge near Litton, the plan is to install miners around all the villages and communities with a mining connection.

The sculptures have been funded by the Somerset Miners Welfare Trust as part of the planned commemorations this September of the last coalfield – in Writhlington – to close.

THE Wells Ambassadors are back on their beat after their winter break. The team of volunteers boost tourism – a huge part of the economy – by welcoming visitors, handing out maps and point out what there is to see in the city.

Charlie Sutton, one of the ambassadors, said: “It is hugely rewarding to help people see the best of the city and it’s interesting to meet people from across Britain and the rest of the world.”

Loco makes its debut

Alan Townsend, a member of Coleford Parish Council, said: “I think they are a great addition to the history of the village; it’s important to maintain our heritage.

“The parish council is very grateful to the trust for the work they are doing.”

Mo Duery, one of the charity’s trustees, said: “Sadly, in a few years’ time there won’t be any miners still around and statues like this will serve as a reminder of the area’s coalmining history.”

Alan Townsend (left) with SMWT trustees Dennis Chedgy, Bryn Hawkins, Mo Duery and Selwyn Rees at the first of the statues to be unveiled at Coal Barton

Dave Speed and Kate Powell install Coleford’s second statue to commemorate the Newbury and Macintosh Deep Pit

Wells Ambassadors outside the tourist information centre

EX-GWR Large Prairie engine 4110 takes on water after completing its first passenger-carrying run since restoration during the East Somerset Railways’s season-opening steam gala

Blagdon on parade

Flipping good fun

NEARLY £600 has been raised by children at Stanton Drew Primary school who celebrated Pancake Day with a sponsored pancake flip. The money raised will be spent on extra books for the school.

COUNTLESSlanterns of all shapes and sizes were on display at the Blagdon Lantern Parade, organised by the Blagsaey Arts CIC team.

From turtles to seahorses and all kinds of sea creatures in between, Blagdon went underwater for a night!

Pancake lunch

SHROVETuesday

Pictured (l to r) Pete Jameson, May Witt, the Rev John Hayes, John and Maggie Bone and Mel Jameson

was celebrated in Chew Stoke with the popular pancake lunch, which was held by Chew Stoke Methodist Chapel in the chapel hall, raising £225.

Details: Facebook: blagdonlanternparade Instagram: blagdonlanterns

Maggie Patch (left) and Denise Cutlan preparing the pancakes

National Acrylic Painters’ Association

The Wells and Mendip Museum Exhibition Room

8 Cathedral Green Wells, Somerset BA5 2UE

TUES 4th APRIL –SAT 15th APRIL

Free entry to exhibition

Closed Sundays and Mondays

Celebrating art in acrylics

THE National Acrylic Painters’ Association has chosen Wells and Mendip Museum as the venue for its 2023 annual exhibition showcasing work in the media.

NAPA was formed in 1985 and evolved from the concept that, unlike oil and watercolour, acrylic paint is still largely unrecognised in its own right.

A spokesperson for NAPA – a professional organisation – said: “It is the only medium that is capable of the widest range of approaches in technique and methods, thus stimulating creativeness and fresh thinking in theory and art ideology, and as such demands that maximum expression should be sought through its versatility.”

l The exhibition runs from Tuesday, April 4th to Saturday, April15th.

Exhibition piece inspires new work

SPRING is a time for renewal, encouraging fresh ideas and an enthusiasm for the excitement and challenges in the year ahead.

Sculpting must always have those features for me. I believe that creativity must be stimulating and interesting to the artist as well as the viewer. This is why I am always seeking new materials, working experiences and new ways of approaching the sculptures I create.

Light Bearer Night Sky

Crescendo, one of four sculptures Ian is exhibiting at the Cotswold Sculpture Park in their exhibition that begins in April

Last year, a group of us in the South West region of the Royal Society of Sculptors were involved in Together We Rise, an exhibition at Chichester Cathedral curated by Jacquiline Cresswell. One of the sculptures I included for that exhibition featured a glass panel held aloft by stainless steel.

It was a combination that I felt had more to offer, so this winter I have been exploring new works that incorporate those two materials. This exploration has led to the new series of works called “Light Bearer”. Each sculpture in the series contains a panel of toughened and laminated glass set in a frame that radiates light.

The glass panels vary in size and pattern, all with vibrant colours that merge, swirl, and rise; their patterns moving like molten lava or the aurora in the northern skies. They embody movement and transition that can be both graceful and striking. Each sculpture has its own name that reflects the image in the glass.

IAN MARLOW

Wallpaper wins the day

CLEVEDON

Salerooms held their Spring Specialist Fine Art Sale on Thursday, March 9th. Having generated a great deal of pre-sale interest, lively bidding was in evidence with impressive results achieved throughout the day.

Unused wallpaper isn’t the sort of fare normally couched to get valuer’s pulses racing but when it’s Chinese hand-painted wallpaper it can be a different story.

This was certainly the case with the discovery of 14 rolls during a routine valuation at a North Somerset country property, which turned out to be one of the day’s star lots.

Unused and still in its packaging, as it had been from the day it was bought 50 years ago, there was initially nothing to excite. Unrolled, however, a freely painted panoramic landscape of trees and mountains was revealed. Offering, as it did, decorative flair combined with a strong appeal to the bullish Chinese market, hopes were high. The saleroom’s photographer surpassed themselves with no fewer than 45 online images which really showed this extraordinary artwork to its full advantage. Reliable online images give buyers the confidence to bid high and in this case their hard work certainly paid off as strong commission bids, vied with fevered online bidding and four telephone bidders. In the end it was the internet that won out with the gavel going down at an estimate

smashing £7,200. Decorative appeal was also the key to the day’s best performing lot; a rare early 19th century satinwood trio of Pembroke table, and two demi-lune card tables. Heralding from an address in Clifton, each piece retained its original painted and gilded floral decoration and after some spirited bidding the handsome threesome left their estimate standing to sell for an impressive £8,000.

Clevedon Salerooms’ next Quarterly Specialist Sale, for which entries are now invited, will be on Thursday, June 1st and will include a major consignment of early oak furniture and other artworks from historic Barrow Court in North Somerset.

Free valuation days are held at the saleroom every Monday (except Bank Holidays), together with regular Bristol valuation days at Stoke Lodge.

With CHRIS YEO

Chris Yeo is a valuer at Clevedon Salerooms and regular expert on BBC’s Antiques Roadshow Please

Guild artists fit for a king

BY royal appointment? Not quite, but a very pleasing invitation to join in the coronation celebrations in Wells for three members of The Somerset Guild of Craftsmen.

The Mayor of Wells, working with Wells Cathedral, is organising an exhibition of work by local arts and craftspeople in the cloisters from Monday, May 2nd until Friday, May 12th. Guild members Alicia Merrett – textiles – Chris Walters – kiln fired glass – and Simon Eeles – pottery – will display work specially made for Art in the Cathedral Cloisters.

Their work can be seen at the guild’s gallery at 23a Broad Street, Wells. The guild has more than 100 active members with diverse craft skills and approaches to chosen materials. Tanith Tothill, gallery manager, said: “I’m constantly amazed by the range and standard of work received from our members. It’s lovely to highlight some great work through Art in the Cathedral Cloisters; that’s just a small sample of what we always have on offer.”

Chris Walters at work

Why sell silver and jewellery at auction?

Tom Killen explains the benefits

AT Killens, our experts at the Mendip Auction Rooms work hard to achieve the best prices for our vendors. Selling at auction is always the best way to realise the true value of your silver and jewellery. Live internet and timed auction bidding, social media marketing, targeted advertising and mailing lists ensure that we attract buyers from across the globe.

One main advantage of selling by auction is that buyers come to do just that: buy. Whether they attend in person, leave absentee bids, get involved over the phone or bid online, their intent is to buy.

The very nature of an auction house means that buyers are willing to compete to win the items they’re most interested in, which can lead to back and forth bidding – which means you see bigger returns!

We often get asked why selling at auction is better than selling to a private dealer. Well, a dealer will be seeking to make a profit in agreeing a purchase price and you are also putting your trust in him or her on what the selling price

should be.

We are also seeing an increase in auction houses staging valuation days at which they buy items directly. At Killens, we are regulated by the RICS and such activities are a clear conflict of interest.

So if you have silver or jewellery to sell, we want to hear from you. As part of the local community we want to do the best for you. We can place your items into one of our specialist auctions and advise you on the straightforward selling process.

The beautiful and unusual as collection comes to auction

COOPER and Tanner Salerooms at Standerwick, near Frome, are delighted to present a superb single owner collection from a former antique dealer with particular interest in interior design, from the local area.

The sale includes period paintings, objet d’art, ceramics and furniture. The sale will take place at the Standerwick sale rooms on Wednesday, April 5th, starting at 10am.

There are a range of beautiful and unusual items in the sale. In the furniture section highlights include a pair of 19th century Sienna marble and bronze Grand Tour urns on pedestal bases with an estimate of £400-600, an early 18th century walnut tallboy (£800-1,000), a 19th century papier mâché and abalone inlay table (£150-250) and an 18th century style walnut low armchair, with needlework covers (£600-800).

The collector had a particular interest in painted furniture and chinoiserie style

interiors and there is a good selection of these items within the sale.

Also included in the sale is an interesting selection of ceramics and decorative objects including a painted wooden architectural folly, in the form of a Tempietto (£200-300); a large 20th century majolica figure of a seated boy (£200-300); a 19th century sailor’s valentine seashell display (£150-250) and a 19th century tortoiseshell and ivory inlaid box (£300-500). There is also a good collection of Chinese and oriental items included in the sale.

Some of the most impressive pieces in the sale are oil paintings, including a large oil on canvas circle of Jan Victors, Portrait of a young gentleman wearing a turban, 134cm x 104cm (£3,500-4,500); a 17th century English School, Portrait of a lady, 72cm x 60cm (£700-1,000) and a 17th century Italian School, The Raising of Lazarus, 74cm x 61cm (£8001,200).

Passionate about programmes

AVID football fan Jonathan Fowle is just as passionate about another aspect of the sport – matchday programmes and other memorabilia.

Jonathan, a lifelong supporter of Kent side Gillingham, has amassed some 8,000 programmes and other items of football

The sale can be viewed on Monday, April 3rd and Tuesday, April 4th, both days 9am-5pm.

The salerooms have free valuation days at their Standerwick office every Monday and Thursday 10am to 4pm, and no booking is required. Dates for upcoming sales are as follows: 26th April Antique, Collectable & Interiors Sale, 17th May Antique, Collectable & Interiors Sale, 24th Specialist Jewellery, Silver & Gold Sale, 21st June Antique, Collectable & Interiors Sale.

interest at his Mendip home but is always on the lookout to add to his private collection.

He believes programmes, in particular, shed much light on our social history from players’ hairstyles – programmes from the 1940s and 1950s tend to contain photos of players sporting a great deal of Brylcreem – to fashion trends and fluctuating economic times.

Jonathan scours auction sites and dedicated programme websites as well as looking for items in charity shops and other outlets. He is particularly interested in pre-1980 material. He said: “It’s a hobby for me, but a full-time job for some. I just find programmes fascinating.

“The sad thing is that many are simply kept in boxes in the attic and people either don’t think they’re of interest or don’t appreciate they may have some value.”

He added: “Sometimes, the most valuable programmes are those from matches which have some unexpected significance –perhaps something unusual happened which caused the match to be abandoned. Others – such as World Cup final programmes –are clearly important and some are simply very rare.”

Portrait of a lady –17th century English School. Estimate:

Rarity and quality

Lee Young, Head of Asian Art and Managing Director at Dore & Rees, shares his thoughts on the Asian Art auction market.

2022 saw a continued trend for high prices throughout the Asian Art world, with some strong results coming outside of the top three auction houses, and whilst the market has evolved considerably following the “explosive” start of these extraordinarily high prices back in 2008, what continues is an appetite for rarity and quality.

To give some context, until the early 2000s the Chinese art and porcelain market was dominated by Western buyers, then we witnessed a shift to Chinese buyers entering the market, following the economic upsurge in China. Wealthy Chinese began buying the finest examples with a desire to repatriate these ancient Far Eastern treasures and they now make up for 80 percent of items sold at auction today.

Unfortunately, what we have seen in the ensuing 15 years since is a vast number of fakes appearing onto the market, this to a large extent is driven by a desire to make, in some cases, huge financial gains at the cost to unsuspecting buyers. Whilst many auction houses have tightened up on such material ever entering the open market through investment in their own Asian Art teams, sadly we do still see large quantities of “new” Asian art appearing in online sales.

So, what do you need to do to safeguard yourself against falling foul to these modern copies? Due diligence has become a common phrase amongst the world’s senior Asian Art specialists.

What does that look like in practice? Provenance has become such an important part of selling good pieces today, and in some instances, it is probably worth as much as 25% more than a piece without such historical documentation. If you are considering selling or indeed starting out with your own collection, make sure you check out the auction house’s reputation for selling such pieces, and probably –more importantly –the specialists within. Interestingly, damage was once the “kiss of death” when it came to Chinese ceramics but, with a shortage of the finest Imperial examples on the market today, buyers have become far more tolerant of damage on the best items, and they are now enjoying strong results when they appear on the open market.

My pick for 2023? Ceramics and paintings will, I'm sure, continue to lead the line but, with some strong results for bronze censer and archaistic vessels during Asia week in November in 2022, my hunch is that these will continue to impress.

Keep a close eye too on Chinese furniture made from such exotic woods as Zitan and Huanghuali!

APRIL AUCTIONS

AUTOMOBILIA AUCTION:

Thursday 13 April at 10:30am SELECT INTERIORS AUCTION: Wednesday 26 April at 10:30am Check doreandrees.com

The highway authorities’ duty to maintain the highway

WINTER weather conditions can play havoc on roads with ice and water producing surface cracks and potholes often leading to damage to vehicles and injury to road users. What recourse do you have if you find yourself the victim of a highway in a dangerous state of repair?

The highway authority is responsible for maintaining highways and ensuring they are safe and accessible for road users. The duties of a highway authority include:

1. Regular inspections: The highway authority must carry out regular inspections to identify any defects, damage or hazards on the road. This includes inspecting the road surface, road markings, drainage, lighting, and other safety features.

2. Maintenance and repairs: If any defects or hazards are identified during inspections, the highway authority is responsible for repairing them promptly to ensure the safety of road users. This includes repairing potholes, replacing damaged road signs, and fixing any other issues that may affect the safety or usability of the highway.

3. Winter maintenance: During the winter months, the highway authority is responsible for keeping the road clear of ice and snow. This includes gritting the road surface and ploughing snow to

ensure the road is safe for drivers.

4. Communication with road users: The highway authority must communicate any road closures, diversions, or disruptions to road users in a timely and effective manner. This includes using signs, social media, and other channels to inform road users of any changes or issues affecting the highway.

Overall, the duty of a highway authority is to ensure that the highway is safe, wellmaintained, and accessible to road users. If the highway authority is in breach of its duties you can pursue a claim against them for compensation for your losses.

Photographs showing the highway defect which caused the accident should be taken as soon as possible. You should promptly report the accident to the authority. Always keep receipts to support your losses. Always bear in mind that the burden is on you to prove the fact of the accident and that your losses arise from that accident.

Even if you have proved the accident was a result of the dangerous state of the highway it remains open to the authority to defend the claim on the basis that it had taken such care as in all the circumstances was reasonably required to secure that the part of the highway to which the claim relates was not dangerous for road users. However the onus is on them to prove,

usually by the production of records of inspection and maintenance, that they had a reasonable system of maintenance in place which was properly implemented by competent individuals.

If they are unable to do that their defence will fail. The majority of claims of this nature are settled through negotiation but if that fails the claim can be pursued through the courts. If you are in any doubt as to your position, you would be wise to seek legal advice.

EDWARD LYONS

clients.

Making sense of the budget

AS I write, the Chancellor (still referred to as The New Chancellor, and who can blame us?) is still on his feet in the Commons, putting forward his Autumn Budget Statement.

It is a fulsome piece and there will be many hours of debate around it over the next few days. The inboxes at Probusiness will be pretty full of a wide variety of explanations of the Budget – essential kit for accountants everywhere, who spend their daily lives working with and interpreting the financial laws of this country.

Now this comment isn’t designed to make us all seem too smart for our own boots – far from it! When the chips are down in other areas of business, we instantly revert to seeking help from a host of experts in whatever field we need them in.

However, the moral of this little tale is that in this particular instance, your accountant and financial adviser is probably just the person best placed to help you manoeuvre your way through the intricacies of this budget statement.

There are always “winners and losers” and, at this moment, it is too soon for us to be able to give anyone a clear idea of

who they might be.

If you are in business you may well receive multiple budget summaries from various sources because there is a whole industry which concentrates on selling instant reports for those in the financial world to send to their clients.

We don’t subscribe to this approach but will tell our clients about any changes that affect them at the appropriate time and what we hope for is that our clients will call us with their particular queries and concerns so we can discuss their individual circumstances with them.

Well, this short piece is going to have to wait upon the chancellor completing his speech, after which we shall be checking carefully the full impacts the budget might have on you. That is, after all, what we are here for!

I hope you are a “Winner” whoever you are, and if we can help our clients, free of charge, well, you know where we are!

Take care

JANE BOWE PROBUSINESS

Plan now for the future you want

MAKINGa Will is not high on our list of priorities, after all none of us want to dwell on what would happen if we weren’t around –but if the last few years have shown us anything life can certainly be unpredictable. So, it’s never too soon to think about putting safeguards in place to protect you and your loved ones in the future

Making a Will is easier than you

think

Depending on your circumstances, starting to make your Will could simply be a matter of listing what you own along with instructions as to which of your loved ones you would like to receive them. Taking the first step is important and our team of experts are here to help you start the process and please remember that any one 18 and over can make a Will.

Make sure you choose who looks after your affairs when you can’t.

A Power of Attorney is

a legal document which enables you to appoint someone to manage and make decisions about your affairs in the event that you are unable to do so.

There are different types of power of attorney for different purposes but most well-known our Lasting Powers of Attorney (LPA). There are two types of LPAs: One for property and finance and one for health and care. We would be happy to discuss the various options with you to ensure you put in place the right one for you.

One of the benefits of having an LPA in place is the reassurance of knowing that in the future, if you are no longer able to make decisions for yourself, you have appointed someone you know and trust to make those decisions for you, giving you and your loved ones peace of mind.

If you want to take control of your affairs and plan for your future call our specialist wills, trusts & probate team today on 0800 533 5349 and let’s get things sorted.

Cara Burr

Middlewick’s successes continue

JULY 2022, and The Middlewick Farm Shop and Café opened its doors, providing delicious home cooked breakfasts and lunches to local customers as well as the many people holidaying at the Middlewick’s accommodation at the farm behind Glastonbury Tor.

Nearly a year on, the bustling café is still going strong and Jill Barker, owner of The Middlewick and all that it encompasses, is delighted: “We have had a really busy year up here at The Middlewick.

“As well as continuing to welcome guests from all over the world to the holiday accommodation, we have also been running the Spa, offering guests and visitors luxury treatments and spa packages. Then on top of that the farm shop and café have been running smoothly, at times being swarmed with customers trying out our menu, which changes with the season and uses local ingredients.”

Beautifully located in the village of Wick, all The Middlewick has to offer can be enjoyed within 16 acres of field and farm, encompassing beautiful views and wrapped in the sights and sounds of nature.

So, whether you are looking for a Somerset break, you want to catch up with friends over brunch, or relax for a few hours in the unique spa, The Middlewick has something for everyone.

Bridges and viaducts are the keys to greater access

A NEW section of path beneath a former railway bridge in Shepton Mallet is being hailed as a sign of new co-operation between several key organisations and landowners to improve access to traffic-free corridors for all.

Mendip District Council has opened the new section next to the Shape Mendip Campus which provides a link between Collett Park, the Tadley Acres housing state and East Shepton residents to the Townsend Retail Park and West Shepton. It forms part of the Strawberry Line project to connect Shepton Mallet to Clevedon as well as the 76-mile Somerset Circle route.

Representatives from National Highways, Somerset County Council, Shepton Mallet Town Council, Greenways & Cycleroutes and volunteers from The Strawberry Line project attended the opening.

Now campaigners working to open a disused stretch of the Somerset and Dorset railway track above the town from the edge of Croscombe to the Showerings Cider Mill – and possibly beyond – as a multi-user route hope the success of the Shape Mendip Campus project will hasten efforts to open the Bath Road Viaduct – currently blocked by steel barriers – to the north of the town.

One of the two Windsor Hill tunnels has already been opened and parts of the trackbed leading to the Ham Wood viaduct have been cleared of dead ash trees and undergrowth in anticipation of permissions being granted to create the new route.

Leader of Mendip District Council, Councillor Ros Wyke (who has campaigned for traffic-free paths for two decades), said: “This is an important and significant day for us. We have been campaigning with partners, volunteers, and government at all levels, for many years to get this going.

“I would like to thank everyone involved for their contribution to make this happen. This is a pivotal point in our determination to make multi-user paths part of our everyday life.”

Hélène Rossiter, head of the National Highways Historical Railways Estate programme, said: “We’re proud to have played a part in the creation of this new active travel route. This path offers a safe passage for people crossing the bridge while connecting walkers and cyclists to other active travel routes in Shepton Mallet.

“We care about our structures, the history they represent, and connections people have with them. By preserving and enhancing the unique Cannards Grave Road Bridge, we can maintain it for future generations to enjoy.”

Hélène Rossiter (left) with Annie Maw, former Lord Lieutenant of Somerset, Ros Wyke and new lord lieutenant of the county, Mohammed Saddiq

Ros and Hélène open the new path

One of the Windsor Hill tunnels is now open

A view of Shepton Mallet from the Bath Road viaduct, currently closed

Remembering the Basel air crash

Fifty years ago this month, villages right across the Mendips and beyond were shattered by the cruellest of events, one that became known worldwide as the Swiss air disaster. Ian Tabrett, a journalist living near Axbridge, knew many of the victims and those who helped at the emergency centre set up after the crash.

IN A blinding snowstorm an airliner which had left Bristol airport a couple of hours before, tore into a dense forest on a mountainside near the town of Hochwald, killing 108 passengers and crew. Incredibly, 37 survived despite the terrible conditions.

Most of those on board that April morning in 1973 were mothers and children from Axbridge, Cheddar, Congresbury, Wrington and Yatton, happily looking forward to a day of shopping and sightseeing in Basel.

But the blizzard, faults in the plane’s navigation instruments, mistakes by the pilots who in the end had no idea where they were, and confusion in the airport control tower led to the terrible crash.

One teenager managed to free himself and, finding signs of life among the wreckage, pulled his mother and six others to safety. But because of the appalling weather, several hours passed before rescuers arrived.

They could only use 4x4 vehicles, but even they had to be pulled by tractors or pushed by hand.

Communication with the outside world was, to today’s world, primitive and slow: no mobile phones, satellite links or computers. Certainly no social media. It all had to be done by old-fashioned telephone lines connected by operators, or by what was known as telex – the equivalent of today’s emails.

For people back in Somerset, facts about what had happened and who had survived or died were scarce to come by, and because of the communication problems, were sometimes wildly inaccurate.

Yet very quickly members of local Rotary, Round Table and Lions International clubs came together to set up an emergency co-ordination centre at the Oak House restaurant in Axbridge Square.

The small army of volunteers then began an operation that was to go on round the clock for months, and to a lessening extent, for years. Their first and main concern, and most urgent task was the welfare and needs of the survivors, the stricken families back home and the 80 or so children affected.

When the centre was finally run-down almost three years later, a little-publicised report was drawn up by the full-time secretary Margaret Tucker giving an hour-by-hour account of the unbelievable workload, the heart-breaking decisions, and the care and love which was needed by all those involved.

The tasks facing the volunteers – the report reveals they received some help from the professionals, but never enough –were immense. Priority was given to the identification and repatriation of those who had died, plus arranging for relatives to fly out to Switzerland.

Money and offers of help poured in. They had to organise dozens of home-helps, buy washing machines for those who didn’t have them, arrange school meals. One unexpected job was distributing a donation of Easter eggs.

The report admits to mistakes and occasional tensions, and recommends actions in case of future such events. There have been memorial services, but the painful memories have never gone away.

That brave teenage rescuer perhaps best summed up feelings in an interview a few years ago: "We came back physically alive, but part of us didn't. We're still there. The mountain's scarred and we're scarred, and that won't go.”

Various events are planned to commemorate the crash.

Some of the headlines and a page from the emergency centre’s final report

The memorial set up at the mountainside crash site in Switzerland

(Photograph courtesy of Christian Kleis)

Learn a new skill –sewing classes in Cheddar

BRINGout your sewing machine and dust it off because Pretty Sitting in Cheddar are running new sewing classes. Simple Sewing Projects for the Home is a programme of classes throughout the spring/summer months designed to give everyone confidence to make soft furnishings using their own sewing machines.

Scatter cushions, bench seats, roman blinds and more –but starting off is a class designed to simply get the best from your sewing machine.

All their tutors are experienced professionals and their class sizes small. It is a fun way to learn to make lovely pieces for your own home and classes are suitable for the complete beginner.

All their sewing classes are held at their commercial workshop at Barrows House, Tweentown, Cheddar BS27 3HU. Pretty Sitting runs courses throughout the year in sewing, upholstery, soft furnishings and interiors.

Details: www.prettysittingvintage.co.uk/classes Instagram and Facebook

Theatre date

April 23

MULTIaward-winning storyteller Debs Newbold brings professional theatre to the Kings Theatre in Cheddar on Sunday, April 23rd, with a beautifully created family story involving paint and pigeons!

Recommended for ages 16-plus, Lost In Blue contains references to drug taking, occasional adult language, and a brief description of a road traffic accident.

Local volunteer, Beccy Lloyd, has teamed up with Take Art and the Cheddar Vale Lions Club to present the show.

Take Art, based in South Petherton, runs one of the UK’s most celebrated rural touring schemes, along with countywide projects that focus on supporting artists, children, young people and communities. It is corefunded by Arts Council England, South Somerset District Council and Somerset West and Taunton Council. Additional funding from Seed Sedgemoor has made it

possible to present this work in Cheddar.

Cheddar Vale Lions will be raising funds at the performance for local good causes by providing refreshments and hosting a raffle.

Beccy Lloyd, who has worked in youth and community arts and theatre venues for over 20 years, said: “As a volunteer, I’m excited to discover Take Art and the rural touring scheme, which means we can bring live performances to where we are.

“Rural touring makes professional theatre accessible and affordable by bringing it to our doorstep. This is really important to me, especially at this moment in time, as many of us are struggling financially and public transport in and out of Cheddar to venues where we might usually see things like this is even more restricted.”

Tickets are £11/£8 concessions, with the performance starting at 7.30pm.

Details: Tickets from Katie Boo, Union Street, Cheddar, or online www.takeart.org

Debs Newbold

Gorge visitor centre opens for new season

Community picnic to celebrate the coronation

FOLLOWINGthe success of the Platinum Jubilee picnic last year, Cheddar Parish Council is organising another community picnic to celebrate the coronation of King Charles III. The picnic will be held at Sharpham Road Playing Fields on Sunday, May 7th, 12-4pm, and entry will be free.

There will be free entertainments for all ages, including storytelling and music with Theo the Duck for younger children, face painting and colouring, and organised games for children of all ages, including dodgeball, tagging and old favourites like tug o’ war and relay races.

Older picnickers can enjoy live music throughout the afternoon. Guests are invited to dress up for the occasion, and there will be a parade of fancy crowns and red, white and blue fancy dress with prizes for the best children and adults.

VOLUNTEERSwere out in force at the Cheddar Gorge visitor information centre to spring clean the building ahead of reopening for the new season. The centre is open seven days a week from April 1st to the end of September.

The centre has a wealth of walking guides, maps and information on activities in and around Cheddar and also stocks a range of local merchandise. Local businesses are invited to provide small quantities of leaflets for display. There are also opportunities to have video clips on the centre’s display screen.

The centre is being managed and staffed entirely by volunteers and anyone interested in helping should get in touch. All that’s required is some local knowledge and an interest in helping visitors to the gorge make the most of their visit. New volunteers are given training and teamed with experienced members to start with.

Last year was the first full year of operation since the local community took over the facility from the National Trust. Over 15,000 visitors came through the doors from all corners of the UK and all parts of the world. Even more are expected in the coming year.

Details: cheddargorgevic@gmail.com

The bar will be open in the community pavilion and the Lions Club will also be selling teas and coffees. Car parking space is limited, and guests are asked to take their litter away with them at the end of the afternoon.

Details: clerk@cheddarparishcouncil.org 01934 743217

Wessex Learning Trust

GAVIN Ball is head of the Wessex Learning Trust, based in Cheddar, a £40 million operation with 1,000 staff serving 17 schools with more than 6,000 pupils.

It’s now the largest trust in Somerset – and looks set to grow further. Crispin School in Street is the latest to join and there are discussions about new hubs there and in Frome, Wells and Shepton Mallet.

Gavin Ball was born in Paulton Hospital and went to Somervale School in Midsomer Norton, where he was chair of the sixth form committee. He struck up links with Norton Hill’s sixth form, where his wife Julia was a pupil.

He said: “That’s really how the idea of collaboration between schools began.”

He didn’t go into

teaching immediately. His first job was with NatWest in Frome. By the age of 22 he was a manager at Clark’s shops up and down the country.

He said: “That was an excellent grounding. I was in charge of people much older than me and being in charge made me focus on finding solutions to our own issues.

“But I knew I didn’t want to do this for the rest of my life. I loved the chance to develop people. They would volunteer to come in on Saturdays for training. I did some aptitude tests and teaching came up.

“I was told there was a shortage of teachers in business and economics, so that’s what I studied at what is now the University of the West of England in Bristol.”

Various senior roles followed at schools in Ferndown, Dorset, Chew Valley, Kingdown, Warminster, Gordano and Nailsea, before he became principal of Frome College in 2012.

It was in danger of being classed “inadequate” by Ofsted but was judged “good” 15 months later, after tremendous efforts by both staff and pupils.

He said: “We wanted everyone to be proud of their school and proud of their town. It was the students who asked for new, smarter uniforms. They were fed up of being second best to Writhlington. It was a tremendous achievement.”

He moved to Cheddar in 2017 as head of Kings Academy before becoming full-time chief executive of the trust, which had eight schools at that time.

He said: “I’ve been living the dream, with every single school in the Cheddar Valley catchment now a member of the trust, as well as Nailsea.

“We have 6,000 pupils and another 360 in ten pre-schools, with pupils aged from six months to 19 years. All our schools benefit from the support and collaboration provided by the trust.

“We can recruit the best teachers and buy in expertise in areas where it is needed. For example we are planning to recruit an educational psychologist.

“Each individual school in the trust is encouraged to maintain its own distinctive ethos, be at the centre of their community and raise aspirations and achievement.

“This is achieved in two ways: firstly, through excellent teaching to inspire curiosity, unlock talents and realise potential; and secondly, by ensuring high quality care, guidance and support that ensures the personal development and welfare of each child.”

Gavin Ball

Community awards

CHEDDARParish Council is inviting community organisations to apply for grants of up to £1,000 for projects which benefit people living in the parish. Funding is available to voluntary and community groups, registered charities and schools.

The council will support a wide range of applications, including schemes which meet a gap in local services, provide new opportunities or activities for people, environmental projects and schemes which help to reduce crime or the fear of crime.

Council chairman, Derek Bradley-Balmer, said: “Last year grants were provided to a number of projects supporting youth activities in the village including Cheddar Community Partnership, Girlguiding Cheddar, The Space and Cheddar Platoon.

“Funding was also provided to CHAFF towards the Cheddar Arts Trail, Cheddar Arts Quarter for Window Wanderland and Citizens Advice Sedgemoor for costs to provide information and advice for the people of Cheddar and the surrounding area.”

The deadline for applications is May 3rd.

Details: www.cheddarparishcouncil.org/community-grantapplications-now-invited/ clerk@cheddarparishcouncil.org

01934 743217

Cheddar challenge

TRICheddar is a brand-new triathlon event taking place on Sunday, April 2nd in Cheddar. The event village and base will be at Kings Leisure Centre, where the pool-based swim will take place along with the transition, finish line and registration.

It is offering two distances, The Sprint which consists of a 400m pool-based swim, 20km bike ride (Cheddar Gorge climb) and a 5km flat run and The Super Sprint which consists of a 200m pool-based swim, 12.5km flatter bike ride and a 2.5km flat run.

Thatchers Cider are sponsoring the event with their alcoholfree cider, Thatchers Zero. Martin Thartcher will be presenting the prizes.

Organisers say they want to make it challenging for the seasoned athlete whilst also making it accessible for triathlon first timers with the ultimate emphasis on having fun.

Details: www.tricheddar.co.uk

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Cheddar Gorge & Caves gears up for Easter

CHEDDAR Gorge & Caves is hoping for a busy year, finally throwing off the effects of Covid, which forced it to close during the entirety of the pandemic.

All of its main attractions are now open and the fun starts this Easter when youngsters can take to the caves in a hunt for Easter eggs. Other events are planned throughout the year.

May half-term will see Spring into Nature, with various activities for youngsters. On Coronation Day Gough’s Café will be open for people wanting to gather to watch the big event.

In the summer cavemen will take up residence in the museum garden – just one of the activities being planned.

Covid also stopped vital rock safety work in the Gorge. The road through the gorge was closed for six weeks last year once work was able to get back underway. More is planned in the next six months, but with no road closures expected at this time.

But closure also meant new additional lighting could be added

to the caves, showing even more detail of this magical underworld.

April will also see the reopening of the Escape Rooms, underneath Gough’s Café, offering a choice of challenges. Caved In lasts one hour or The Vault is a 30-minute challenge. It’s popular with adults as well as older children.

And Freefall is back. This involves a walk through Gough’s Cave to the stunning Black Cat Chamber – and then a leap into the unknown. Rock climbing and caving activities are also running and are bookable online.

Cheddar Individuality project

CHEDDARwill see 1,000 small ceramic figures appearing around the village this summer. Various community groups, organisations and individuals are working to create them, with workshops being held throughout the area.

The idea was inspired by the artist Anthony Gormley’s Field installations. The project, supported by Seed Sedgemoor, focuses on “individuality” to celebrate that everyone is different and everyone is special, so each figure is unique.

The project is being led by local artist Bridget Hemmings with ceramic artists Ella Phillips and Lucy Brown. The figures have been created out of six different types of clay to reflect society today.

There will be an exhibition to display all the figures on May 21st at Cheddar Catholic Hall. Then a walking trail of the figures around Cheddar will be launched on July 9th.

Details: cheddarindividualityproject@gmail.com

Singing for hospice

CHEDDAR Valley

Singers raised £400 for Weston Hospicecare with their preChristmas concerts. They sang in a large barn at Nyland Christmas Fayre, went into the caves on Cheddar Festive Night and finally found the warmest spot with Winscombe Community Singers at St James' church hall.

Details: Kate@cheddarvalleysingers@gmail.com or Facebook

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Pottery and ritual finds in Mendip caves

INTERESThas recently been aroused in a small site on Western Mendip. This is a narrow phreatic rift in a hillside, with two passages superimposed above. The lower passage lies beneath what was once a cliff. The rift itself shows some fine phreatic features in the walls, which are covered in places with cubical crystals of galena, the sulphide ore of lead. The narrow fissure entrance leads to a small chamber, perhaps three metres wide, before the passage narrows.

At this point, the investigating cavers were surprised to find a quantity of broken pottery, which has been assigned to the Romano-British period. Oddly, there appears to have been no attempt to mine the galena, although the Roman lead mining industries at Charterhouse and Priddy are well known, and there is evidence of mine activity in other nearby fissures. There are known Roman sites in the immediate area.

There is no evidence that anyone in the past has entered the passage beyond the narrowing and the presence of pottery at this point is intriguing. It cannot be determined if it was broken deliberately or if it simply deteriorated over time.

Some, at least, had been used, as certain sherds show blackening by fire. It is rare indeed for archaeologists to find a complete pot of any age, although some which have been used to bury hoards have still been intact, or at least held together by the surrounding soil.

The fact that this pottery lies at a significant narrowing of the passage suggests ritual and from other contexts it can be supposed that it was to form a boundary between the

entrance chamber and what lay beyond.

The presence of such ritual closure or protection is wellknown from the discovery of various so-called witch marks on doors, widows and chimneys in old buildings. They are found in caves as well. At the end of the entrance gallery in Goatchurch Cavern, the passage narrows and descends steeply down the Giant’s Staircase.

Careful examination reveals an “M” or upside-down “W” etched into the wall here. There is a similar marking in Long Hole at Cheddar and those in Aveline’s Hole at Burrington are reckoned to be so important that they have been protected behind a steel gate.

In Wookey Hole, the Devil’s Chimney was once notorious for the sudden appearance of a cold draught and there are witch-marks here a-plenty.

Deposits were often made in the prehistoric period not only as a form of protection from unknown, possibly malevolent forces, but also to ritually close, or retire, a feature. Such finds have been made in abandoned dwellings and other places.

They were often of some value to the community and were almost always broken or damaged beyond further use. Pottery is common, but flint and metal tools are also found. Most have been deliberately damaged.

So it is likely that the pottery found in the rift has been intentionally broken, probably to keep in anything undesirable that lay in the passage beyond, although there is no indication that the cave was ever inhabited, or worked for lead ore.

The cavers have now withdrawn and it is hoped that archaeologists can shed further light on this pottery.

With PHILIP HENDY

Phil has been caving for more than 50 years and is a member of the Wessex Cave Club. He has been involved in producing several caving publications and until his retirement was a caving instructor at Cheddar. His main interest is digging for new caves

The “witch mark” in Goatchurch Cavern

Insects and the elephant in the room

APRIL brings us hope of rising temperatures and sunny days – not many of those in March – and, if this happens, many familiar birds will start to re-appear across our open grassland and woodlands. So, who will see the first swallows? Who will hear the first chiffchaff? These are just two birds to look for or listen out for on those warmer April days, along with the classic wildflowers and insects; for me all are signs that spring is fully upon us.

By CHRIS SPERRING MBE

Swallows, as we know, overwinter in South Africa and begin their journey north in February, an almost two-month trip which will see them stopping off at many places en-route to feed.

Chiffchaff is a member of the warbler family and is easily recognisable by its song which it sings normally from scrub or woodland edge; a clue to its song is in its name. We mostly hear the two notes delivered at high pitch and quite rapidly; to me the song always reminds me of the sound of “Newton’s Cradle”. Many people, particularly on the warmer Somerset Levels, will now know chiffchaff as a bird that stays for the winter. But I wonder if, like blackcaps, these wintering chiffchaffs have come from more northerly breeding areas and coupled with the fact that our winters (not springs) are so much milder they just don’t need to keep moving further south?

The chiffchaff, like the swallow, is insectivorous and they will take flying insects. But your best chance to see a chiffchaff before the leaf canopy of late spring closes over is now as they will literally comb the bare branches of trees on sunny days looking for insects. Occasionally you might see them hovering as they attempt to catch a flying insect.

It's said that male chiffchaffs arrive ahead of any females and

begin singing to mark their territory. Then, of course, the song is used to attract the female once they are back. You may be lucky enough to witness a male using his display flight of exaggerated bat-like flutters in front of his potentially mesmerised female.

Whilst chiffchaff will be operating amidst the vegetation, the swallow will be hunting low across the fields in the open countryside. April can be cold at times so these swallows will be desperate to feed up and get ready for the breeding season that, for them, hasn’t started yet.

The many farmers I visit throughout the year are often proud of the swallows that nest in their buildings, some even keeping notes on nesting numbers and how many broods.

So, your wildlife homework throughout April is set; all you have to do is find and listen out for chiffchaff, observe if you can, and also watch and marvel as the swallows return from their epic journeys; also try to catch them hunting.

Where is the elephant in the room? One thing over the past few years that farmers have unanimously agreed with me upon is that swallow numbers are down. I suppose it's unsurprising when we think logically about the demise of insects, particularly flying insects; just think about your car journeys 20 years ago compared to today and how 20 years ago you might have had to stop to wash the insects off the windscreen?

If you have a garden, don’t forget to do something to attract insects; these birds depend on them. Although this article’s about two species of bird, it’s also about that large elephant of climate change and loss of habitat.

l My next Shapwick Moor walk is on Friday, April 28th at 10am. The theme for this walk will be birdsong and spring flowers. Booking is essential via: https://members.hawkandowltrust.org/Event-Search

Listen out for the distinctive song of the chiffchaff

Farmers report that swallow numbers are declining

Changing scenery on this reservoir walk

WONDERFULviews are the highlight of this peaceful, rural circle from Hinton Blewett. But that’s not all – add in two adjoining lakes, a small common and an ancient trackway and you have the ingredients for a great walk to put Spring into your step. We walk through and around the village taking in one of the greatest viewpoints in the area and then drop downhill to the reservoir. The second half of the walk includes a gentle climb, flat walking through fields and then a steeper climb for a while on the way back

to the village where a great village pub awaits. There are no stiles. After rain there is likely to be mud particularly in one or two parts on Hollow Marsh Lane. There are glorious trees to see and wild flowers as you go.

PARK: In Hinton Blewett, a village up high above the Chew Valley. Find a parking layby opposite the Ring O’ Bells and by the small green, the Barbary.

START: Go up across towards the Ring O’ Bells, passing an information board about the Barbary. Turn left (facing the pub) and follow the lane as it bends round and passes the entrance to the village church. All Saints is a lovely little building well worth a visit. I liked the verse about bells near the font. Then continue along the lane, past houses. At one of the gates is a glass-fronted box with books which are offered to you, free – a nice touch. Bend right on the lane.

1. FARM

At a farm and a left bend, go right on the track by the farm – a bit muddy at the start. Then follow it left. Further on, just before it starts to rise, it turns left again. Stay on the track. It drops down to a wet and stony area, so negotiate it with care. The track leads out to a lane and the

wonderful viewpoint Prospect Stile.

2. PROSPECT STILE

There’s a seat here and an information board. From where your track met the lane at Prospect Stile, turn left on the lane. Ignore a left turn and keep on. Don’t turn right. Just continue down Coley Hill, bending left in the Hinton Blewett direction and then take the next right turn, Hook Lane.

3. HOOK LANE

Along here, pass the entrance to the playing field and just after this take the marked footpath (the Butcombe Trail) through a kissing gate (KG).

4. COLEY HILL

Head diagonally left across the top of Coley Hill towards a line of trees. Go through past the remains of an old stile and maintain direction across the next. Go through a KG in the far hedgeline. Follow the fence straight on, getting some great views south across to Mendip. Keep on, leaving the fence, and continuing across to another KG. Once again, maintain your direction and as you carry on, start to get a glimpse of Litton Lake (Litton lower reservoir) below. Don’t stay up left in this field but go a little more in the middle and pass to the right of a large oak, going

With Sue Gearing

down the field’s full length. After going through a gap cut across to yet another KG. Now, change direction and drop down right towards the right-hand end of the reservoir where a KG takes you over into the lake area.

5. RESERVOIR

Turn left on the Tarmac drive along the edge of the lower lake.

This lake and the one above were built by Bristol Water Works to supply ‘compensatory’ water to the Chew Valley when the powerful head springs at Chewton Mendip were harnessed to supply the City of Bristol in the 1850s. This was considerably earlier than Blagdon Lake that was created at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. More recently they have been used to rear fish. Keep your eyes open for the “unauthorised” fishermen in the form of cormorants that sit in prominent positions on the lake hoping for a meal! You may also spot other water birds such as swans, herons, mallards and tufted ducks.

Continue along and then go uphill towards the Upper Reservoir and reach another dam. The drive ends here at the house and you go straight on along a path between the house and lake. Follow this all the way along the reservoir edge. Near the end on the left reach a very difficult stile to cross. If you can manage it, go up across to a KG. Or, a little longer but much easier, go out of the reservoir and immediately turn left through a KG on a path going up and back across the field parallel with

where you were. This leads up to the same KG as on the harder shorter section. Go through the KG, across a small, long field to another KG. Go straight over a drive and through onto Shortwood Common – a rather special Open Access area.

6. COMMON

Ignore the footpath going up left but instead bear diagonally up and across heading towards the wall of the house set above the common. Cross a small common road and then go ahead parallel with the house wall, still on this very peaceful common. Go through a gate, leaving the common and maintain direction.

Reach a gate, drop down steps, cross a lane and up steps on the other side. Head across with the valley down below. Go to the left of the power pole and across, then through a metal gate and follow the arrow going diagonally down across.

We continue through this very tranquil rural area with beautiful solitary trees, no roads, and very few signs of habitation –what a treat.

Go into the next field, staying up parallel with the top edge. A KG takes you into the fourth field to head down the full length of the field to the far corner where you get access onto an old track – Hollow Marsh Lane.

8.

Follow this hedged track to the left and later turn left on a narrower path for a total of 0.7 miles. (There may be a muddy area which has been bypassed by a path up on the right bank.) Eventually come out onto a lane.

9.

Turn right and follow the lane along, past the village hall and up to the green in Hinton Blewett.

7. FIELDS

HOLLOWMARSH LANE

LANE

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West Countryman’s diary

THEmonth of March is said to come in like a lion and out like a lamb and certainly seemed to be doing just that – just waiting for the lamb bit now. I had only recently made comment that all “Mendipers” know if there’s going to be snow, March is when it comes. With that, it did, but it wasn’t long hanging around. As we head into April, Mendip is telling us winter isn’t over just yet.

Daylight hours are the key to success and it’s this and not temperature that starts the growth process within the plant world. I must admit to being just a little thankful that things are being held back. I still have pruning to finish and am relying on the cider apple varieties holding back a little.

No sign of “Herbie” the hedgehog yet; I can only hope that it’s still a little too early or he’s having a lie-in. Hibernation normally ends in April before the breeding season. Those that have survived the winter months will be eager to put on some weight, so the foraging will begin.

The end of hibernation is also a critical time for the adder and us. Warm April days will find them basking on the walls, soaking up as much heat as they can to get moving again. This is when they are at their most vulnerable and possibly their most dangerous! Not having eaten all winter the venom will be particularly strong.

Their normal method of defence is to move away from trouble, but if threatened and cornered they will strike.

Every year I repeat this message at springtime – please look before you sit and put your hand on the wall or on the ground. Make sure your dog is not exploring the scrub and rough areas where the adders might be resting.

Easter falls early in April this year. This is the time when most people start to think about getting out and about. Sue Gearing has been exploring the landscape of Hinton Blewett and Litton in her walk this month and in doing so she crosses Shortwood Common.

Commons are probably the most misunderstood land in the realm, so I thought I would dig into one of my articles from way back in 2005 to explain this quintessential English institution.

“Common land” is owned by someone be that private ownership or an organisation such as the National Trust or county council. It is also amongst the most tightly controlled land in the realm. Our own Burrington Commons which include Black Down and Burrington Ham have 36 byelaws that relate to their use.

These commons have their roots in the manorial system of the Middle Ages, when villeins or serfs were tied to the Lord of the Manor. Villeins (tenant farmers) occupied a social standing somewhere between a freeman and a slave.

Their life was not their own and they owed service to the manor. The good land within the manor was used for crop production and although our villeins had some land allotted, the majority was that of the lord.

The waste land unfit for crop production came into common grazing where those who held rights could keep some livestock.

To this day certain properties around Burrington hold grazing rights. Other rights existed depending on the common, for example the right of pannage allowed the holder to turn pigs onto the common in search of fallen beech nuts and acorns. Estovers allowed for the collection of small branches and under wood for firewood and repairs.

Each of these rights was carefully controlled to prevent over-use and so it was that the manorial system, for all its faults, was a selfsufficient agrarian economy. Those within it were there from birth to death.

That was until the arrival of the Enclosure Acts of the late 1700s and early 1800s. Through various Parliamentary Acts of Enclosure, landowners could bypass the ancient Rights of Common and enclose the land.

This enclosure meant more income to the landowner as sheep and wool production became more profitable. So it was that the only thing to sustain the rural poor was removed from them. There was no longer a place for fowl or beast in the life of the rural poor and those who chose a little “free enterprise” through poaching were severely punished, even to the point of deportation.

So when you next look at a common such as Shortwood or Burrington give a little thanks that they have survived and spare a thought or two for those who have kept them going.

Meanwhile within my garden the springtime power struggle of breeding and territorial rights continues. A couple of male pigeons vie for the dominance of my shed roof. They sidle up to one another and one begins to slap the other about with his wing.

It’s most comical for me but no doubt not for them as they don’t look at one another as these bouts proceed. Once they have finished a pair of male blackbirds take the roof-top arena and chase one another around.

After watching these antics, I give thanks that I don’t have a pair of cock pheasants to deal with. These fellas get so “pumped up” they think they can take on anything or anyone. Then there’s the little owl who will dive bomb anything or anyone who enters into what he considers to be his territory.

This spring thing is all very demanding and tiring, perhaps I had better go and take a lie down!

This month’s photo is Red Devons grazing on Burrington Ham as part of the Rights of Common. The lights are on but I don’t think anybody is at home!

With LES DAVIES MBE

Choosing potting composts and using water wisely

IT is important to distinguish between the compost we make in our compost heap from garden and kitchen waste and the composts we use for potting up seedlings and young plants and filling containers and hanging baskets. Garden compost is generally not suitable for use in containers for potting seedlings and young plants, due to the potential for fungal diseases.

With the sale of multi-purpose composts containing peat due to be banned for amateur sales in 2024, and brands needing to find alternatives to peat, the challenge is on to find a suitable substitute.

Sphagnum moss peat, as opposed to the darker, more decomposed sedge peat found on the Somerset Levels, has been the ideal growing media for the last 40 years or more, taking over from the loam based composts devised by the John Innes Institute in the 1930s.

Sphagnum peat is sterile, contains very little nutrients, holds water yet has a structure that allows good drainage leaving air spaces – what we call “air filled porosity”. It is interesting to note that commercial growers will not be banned from using sphagnum peat-based composts, as no really satisfactory alternative is currently available.

This leads one to surmise that amateur gardeners are facing a lottery of which compost to purchase. So, what materials go into composts as alternatives to peat?

For many years coir fibre has been promoted. This comes from coconut husks and must be imported and as such is not a very sustainable product. Those who have tried growing in coir composts will probably agree it is far from ideal. Water flows straight through, but combined with other materials it is often used.

Wood fibre is being increasingly used. Old pallets are broken up, shredded, and composted to make a fibrous medium which again is best mixed with other products. This material is often the cause of tiny toadstools appearing in your pots and trays, as the wood fibres are broken down by fungi. These are usually harmless to the plants but cause concern to gardeners who see them.

Composted shredded bark is proving one of the most useful materials and one which is certainly sustainable. It has many of the ideal properties of sphagnum moss peat, holding moisture, but draining to leave good air spaces. Trace elements and major nutrients are added.

Composted green waste (CGW) is made from the contents of your green bin/bag. It is shredded and composted to high temperatures hopefully to kill off seeds, pests, and diseases but the composting process may not degrade weedkiller residues, particularly the selective weedkillers used on lawns, and I have experienced several cases of hormone weedkiller damage on plants growing in a compost containing CGW.

So, I am very wary of branded composts that contain it. I would like all compost brands to declare on the bag what it contains.

Wool waste is another material making an appearance in potting composts, sometimes mixed with bracken and comfrey, claiming that there is no need to feed your plants. I think this is rather a rash statement, the nutrients will certainly be very slowly available to plants as they are broken down into the basic chemicals that plants are able to absorb.

This may be fine for short term crops such as tomatoes, but for longer use I have reservations.

Although February was unusually dry this year, we still recall the very wet spell before Christmas and last summer’s drought, so planning for watering in case of anther dry year is important.

Water butts are excellent but have a nasty habit of being empty when water is required and overflowing during rainy periods. So, understanding how, and when to water will enable gardeners to use this precious resource carefully.

Plants in containers need to be kept moist by hand watering, or using one of the many automated dripper systems which work extremely well. Plants in the ground can vary in their demand for water.

Newly planted trees, shrubs or perennials will all need to be watered during their first year of establishment. Transplanted vegetables and bedding plants need care during their early days, whilst their roots explore the soil. Thorough watering after planting and the addition of a 5cm (2”) surface mulch will help enormously.

Vegetables vary considerably in their demand for water at different stages of their growth cycle, so an understanding of this will enable valuable water to be applied where and when it is most needed.

Leafy vegetables like spinach, lettuce and cabbage need a constant supply, although cabbages are more tolerant than the others. Root crops, such as carrots and parsnips, tend to split if they are dry for any period and then the rains come.

Runner beans need water at the point of flowering and bean development. However, French beans are much more tolerant of drought and are also self-fertile so they set a good crop even if the bees are having a holiday.

The hybrids varieties of Moonlight, Firestorm and Snowstorm are runner beans with French blood, making them the perfect combination for a reliable crop. They grow, look, and taste like runner beans.

Potatoes need water when the baby spuds are roughly the size of marbles. The most cantankerous vegetable to grow is the cauliflower. The slightest check in their growth at any stage results in premature curding and failure. Leave them to the experts and buy the “imperfectly tasty” ones from your grocer.

The one vegetable that is the most adaptable and rarely needs water is the humble beetroot, easy to grow, rarely attacked by pests (other than mice and badgers) and diseases, and they are apparently so good for us. They now come in a variety of colours, and even pink and white stripes to suit all tastes. Roasted, boiled, and even shredded and eaten raw, the humble beetroot beats them all.

With MARY PAYNE MBE

• If you have raised your own plants and your greenhouse is unheated, keep the plants on a bright windowsill indoors for a few more days.

• Sweet corn can be sown in cell trays inside but delay planting out until next month.

• Marrows, courgettes, pumpkins and squashes can be sown in individual pots towards the end of the month. These will need protection if sown outside. Peat pots are very good for this.

• Consider buying a cold frame to ease the strain on space in your greenhouse at this time of the year. It is ideal for hardening plants off prior to planting them outside.

• Plant main crop potatoes. Early varieties may need earthing up to exclude the light from the tubers. Cover shoots with fleece to protect from frost damage.

• Sow more peas and broad beans. Support early sown varieties. Make a first sowing of French beans towards the end of the month. Sow runner beans in pots inside.

• Sow vegetable varieties that have inherent pest and disease resistance.

• Sow perpetual spinach, leeks, radish, turnips, lettuces, carrots, beetroot, Swiss chard and summer cauliflowers outside.

• Protect flowers on peaches, nectarines and apricots from frost. Use a soft brush to hand pollinate blooms and increase chances of a good crop.

Seed swap

THE13th Seedy Saturday in Timsbury’s Conygre Hall attracted almost 400 people from around the area and beyond.

Community displays and expert talks gave visitors a chance to find out about local initiatives, including Cameley and Clutton Toad Patrols, Cam Valley Wildlife, Grow Timsbury, Rockaway Park and bee-keeping.

Timsbury School’s PTA got crafty in the kids’ corner, and the kitchen café was the perfect place for chatting with other gardeners over a slice of home-made cake and a cup of tea.

Timberwork Buildings

Volunteers active

AS you travel along the A37 and approach Temple Cloud you will see that the Temple Cloud in Bloom volunteers have been busy clearing a patch of ground by the village sign and also planting primroses and snowdrops. They meet every Saturday, 10am, at the end of Paulmont Rise.

Pictured (l to r) Lin Paul, Pam Jeffery, Lins Herbert, Doris Gentle, Anne Wheeler, Beccy Angell and Diane Turner

Perfect Pave steps into new local premises!

SPECIALISTSin landscaping and bespoke design, Perfect Pave, have many more strings to their bow than just paving. If you’re looking for a paving company that truly cares about the quality of their work and the satisfaction of their customers, then Perfect Pave is certainly worth a visit.

Perfect Pave pride themselves on their long-standing reputation for exceptional installs and personalised service. Entering its 21st year of business, Perfect Pave has fulfilled its dream of expanding the business into larger premises at Tarnock, along the A38 in Somerset, from its previous location in the heart of Cheddar.

As a family-run business the founders of Perfect Pave, Alex Howley and Simon Bethell, understand the importance of community and building lasting relationships with their clients. It’s just one of the reasons why they only use the highest quality materials and employ a team that take care in their craft. They said:

“Moving to our new premises in Tarnock is an exciting move for us. Whether you’re planning a new driveway, the perfect garden for the upcoming summer, or a paved patio, we understand it can be a daunting journey and Simon, our team and I are on hand ready to help meet and exceed your design goals.”

Providing customers, both domestic and trade, with outstanding and personal customer service has been key to Perfect Pave growing over the years to now a team of 15.

The design and sales team at Perfect Pave are all ex-installers, so not only does this give them greater practical knowledge in the product and installation methods but also means that they are able to advise from the DIY market through to the experienced landscape designer, architect, or installer. With a design team always on hand, customers are supported with their design decisions to ensure they achieve the perfectly designed install.

Visiting the new showroom not only gives access to the professionals but customers can now peruse the wide range of stock in their large 1500m2 yard, seeing and feeling the wide

range of materials available, including slabs, decorative aggregate, cement, tools and accessories.

Being able to physically view the materials that will form a customer’s vision sets them apart from selecting materials only viewed online.

Whether a domestic or trade customer everyone benefits from Perfect Pave’s guarantee of price matching to online retailers, and even provide next day nationwide delivery.

And because every project is unique, Perfect Pave understands that customers don’t want to purchase surplus materials and that is why they are happy to split slab packs and don’t require a minimum size order.

Whether you are planning a driveway, landscaped garden or a paved project, Perfect Pave have the expertise and experience to get the job done right, giving you the confidence that you’re getting the best possible service from a family run business that truly cares about your project.

ROCKY MOUNTAIN NURSERY

TEL: 017 49 8 41014 FAX: 0 1749 84105 5 www.rockymountainnurseries.co.uk

COME & SEE OUR FINE RANGE OF FRUIT TREES, SHRUBS, GERANIUMS & FUCHSIAS

Visit our MASBURY’S CAFE

Open Mon-Sat 9am-4pm (Sun 10am-4pm)

Serving breakfasts until 11.30am; lunch 12-2.30pm; afternoon teas Tel: 01749 841155

NGS GARDENS OF THE MONTH

Children’s allotment

NORTON GREEN

GARDEN CENTRE

SUMMER FLOWERING BULBS

FANTASTIC RANGE TO CHOOSE FROM including BEGONIA, CANNA, DAHLIA, GLADIOLI, LILIES & MANY MORE!

GROW

YOUR OWN . . . SEED POTATOES & VEGETABLE PLANTS –LOTS TO CHOOSE FROM!

GREAT CHOICE OF THOMPSON & MORGAN, UNWINS & COUNTRY VALUE FLOWER & VEGETABLE SEEDS

COMPOST, GRO-BAGS, TOPSOIL, MANURE & DECORATIVE BARK

TERRACOTTA, GLAZED & FIBRE-CLAY POTS, TROUGHS & PLANTERS

POLYANTHUS, PRIMROSES, BELLIS & POTTED SPRING BULBS FOR EARLY SPRING COLOUR IN THE GARDEN!

WELLS ROAD, CHILCOMPTON, RADSTOCK BA3 4RR Telephone: 01761 232137

Open Mon–Sat 10am to 4pm

SKOOLBeanz is a gardening club for children, created by Lara Honnor, to encourage children to enjoy gardening. It started as an after-school club at the local primary school.

The children learn how to grow beautiful vegetables and flowers and how to garden to help nature. The garden is free from pesticides, and a no-dig garden buzzing with life and colour.

Address: Little Sammons Allotments, Chilthorne Domer, BA22 8RB.

Opening dates and time: Saturday, April 15th, Saturday, August 12th,11am-5pm.

Admission: £3, children free. Cashless payment available.

The Downs Preparatory School, Charlton Drive, Wraxall, BS48 1PF, Friday, April 8th and Saturday, 9th, 10am-4pm.

Watcombe, 92 Church Road, Winscombe, BS25 1BP, Sunday, April 24th, 2-5pm.

The Yeo Valley Organic Garden, Holt Farm, Bath Road, Blagdon, BS40 7SQ, Sunday, April 24th, 10-5pm. l The NGS volunteers responsible for Bristol and South Gloucestershire are looking to recruit someone to look after press, publicity and social media. Details: Su Mills at su.mills@ngs.org.uk 01454 615438 https://ngs.org.uk/vacancies/volunteering-opportunitiesin-bristol-south-gloucestershire/

To see more gardens open for the NGS, see The Yellow Book, or Local County Leaflet, available from local Garden Centres, or go to: https://www.ngs.org.uk

Pancake races

THEEast Harptree Shrove Tuesday

Pancake Races raised £176 towards the upkeep of the village’s children’s playground.

The children of the village nursery and primary schools ran races in their year groups and were rewarded with chocolate egg prizes.

Organiser, Jenny Cruse, said: “The adult races were no less competitive with Lydia Yiend winning the women’s race and Gill Alexander a close second.

“The men’s race was won by Jon Greenhalgh, hotly pursued by Chris Kay,

who was not slowed down by losing a shoe at the start of the race!”

Axe head throws new light on town’s Saxon history

A METAL detectorist has unearthed a Saxon axe head dating back some 1,500 years on land on the edge of Frome, overturning current beliefs about the Saxon incursion into the West Country.

Mike McGuinness happened upon the find when surveying land at Oldfield Hall in Spring Gardens. The axe was buried 19 inches deep in one of the water meadows at Oldfield and Mike immediately recognised it as a Francisca, a throwing axe used by the Saxons in their battles against the Romans.

The axe has gone on show in Frome Museum which has reopened for its 2023 season. The design of the axe dates it to between 450 and 550CE, a date confirmed by experts at The British Museum. Current thinking is that

the Saxons did not reach this far west until the middle of the 7th Century.

Oldfield was called Aldefeld by the Normans, a word which in Saxon German translates as an “area of open country cultivated over a lengthy period”. This supports that idea that the Saxons may have settled in Aldefeld long before St Aldhelm founded Frome in 685CE.

The axe forms part of a new display tracing the history of Frome both chronologically and thematically. Many of the new exhibits have not been available to visitors in the past. Frome Museum is open Tuesdays to Saturdays 10.00 am to 2.00 pm.

Admission is free, but donations are welcome.

New research reveals true age of boat

CARBON dating has revealed that a log boat known as the Godney Canoe dates from early medieval times rather than the Iron Age as commonly thought.

The canoe was discovered in 1892 during ditching work, as one end of the canoe projected out into the ditch. The canoe is in a partial state of preservation and is five metres long and 600mm wide. The canoe was made from a mature oak tree, more than 150 years old.

The fact that it was found just 100 yards from the Glastonbury Lake Village led historians to believe it was much older. A canoe of this size could probably accommodate up to a maximum of three paddlers. Reconstructions of the slightly larger Shapwick canoe have shown that it could accommodate four adults.

The canoe – dating from the 6th or 7th Century – is the only known example in Somerset and is owned by the Glastonbury Antiquarian Society which has taken on the lease of the Glastonbury

Tribunal, where it is on show. It opened the tribunal as the Glastonbury Museum last May. However, the building – owned by English Heritage – is currently closed for essential repairs. A date for reopening has not been set.

The society owns all the artefacts which are on display in the tribunal –including finds from the village lake –along with many boxes of pottery and other artefacts which are in store with the

Preliminary work and a short report on the boat was carried out on behalf of the society by Richard Brunning, from South West Heritage Trust, and funded by the Somerset Archaeological & Natural History Society Maltwood Fund. Radiocarbon dating was carried out by Scottish Universities Environmental Research Centre.

For details, visit: www.glastonburyantiquarians.org

Somerset Heritage Trust in Norton Fitzwarren.

The Godney Canoe sits in the Glastonbury Tribunal

The Saxon axe head sheds new light on Frome’s past

Delivering through the snow –the milkman’s tale

THEsevere winter of 1963 was one of the worst winters on record. The snow started falling on the Saturday about 4.30pm at the end of December ’62 and within a few hours most roads were impassable with the deep snow drifts plus freezing conditions.

I became stranded at the Priory Road Bus Station, Wells when all buses were cancelled at 5pm. I rang Pullins Dairy at Chewton who I worked for and Colin Pullin came down to Wells to fetch me.

We drove up the Bristol Hill from Wells on the wrong side of the road on the pavement. Snow was drifing across the road, about six feet deep at times. We got back to Chewton about 6pm.

A group of local lads from Chewton tried to drive out of Wells on the Bath Road and became stuck in the snow drifts at Haydon. They took refuge at the Slab House Inn and spent the night sleeping on the floor of the pub.

The landlady gave them breakfast and they went back to get their car a few days later.

The next day, Sunday morning, I walked down to Pullins Dairy, the only vehicles moving through Chewton were tractors.

Pullins had a van in Wells at Gunnings Garage for service. John Bartlett at Ford came to the rescue with his tractor and trailer. We loaded the trailer with crates of milk and set out for Wells and got the van from Gunnings to make the deliveries around Wells.

Later in the day myself and Arthur Sheldrake left Chewton with an A40 pickup fitted with snow chains to try to reach Gurney Slade and Oakhill from the Radstock road. Part way across Chewton Plain we hit a snow drift which must have been seven foot deep.

We were in total darkness. It took us over an hour to dig the van out and get back to the dairy. And that was the end of milk deliveries that day!

The snow storm that started at the end of 1962 was still causing problems six weeks later. The strong winds were blowing the deep snow still in the fields on to the roads, causing large drifts to

appear every day.

Conditions on the Mendips were so bad three Diamond T trucks with snow ploughs were brought in from an American airbase in Lincolnshire and they were working day and night to keep the main roads open.

They were so large they took up more than half the road and with the front blade of the snow plough standing about eight feet, other vehicles gave them a wide berth.

Another snow clearing machine was shipped over from Canada, it was bright orange, double the size of a JCB and called Madame Butterfly. It had a large telescopic ram that extended out at the front with a large pointed blade, plus at the back two large spikes that dug into the ground.

The first double-decker bus that arrived in Chewton from Bristol reached the village. The driver and conductor took refuge in the Waldegrave Arms. The next bus parked behind the first. Some time later a single-deck bus arrived and they all headed back to Bristol leaving the first two buses in the High Street.

Conditions all over Mendip were really bad, with trains stranded on the S&D line near Masbury and on the Cheddar Valley line at Draycott. The RAF were dropping food into Priddy.

The A37 from Ston Easton south to Shepton Mallet was restricted to essential

vehicles only. In places a single lane was cut through the drifts with the wall of snow each side standing over eight feet. There was also a lot of abandoned vehicles left in the drifts.

Delivering milk for Pullin Bros was difficult, it was several days before we reached some customers. When we did, we left three days’ supply – it was frozen solid anyway!

I put milk on the train at Binegar station for the next station at Masbury for customers to collect. I collected the money a week later and we never lost a penny.

We were using Austin A40 pick-up vans which were well built and were ideal for driving in the snow and ice with snow chains and the weight of 45 crates of milk on board. It was a winter I would never forget.

One incident always sticks in my mind. We reached Binegar on the second day of the snow as far as the Horse & Jockey Inn. The road was blocked with snow and we had to leave the van.

We set off for the Dallaston Estate with three crates of milk on a toboggan, the snow was waist deep. We arrived one hour later, knocked on the first door of a Mrs Spratt and were greeted with:

“And where did you get to yesterday?”

Bob Powell Chewton Mendip

Bob Powell with a car stranded on Chewton Plain, January 1963

Singers support school

Curbing the school run

CHEWStoke Church School has won a top award for the second year running for encouraging sustainable and active travel to and from school. They are South West winners and now go through to the Modeshift Stars national awards in London later this year.

It will help fund those Year 6 leavers who couldn’t afford to go on the Year 6 leavers camp at the end of this coming summer term.

Two families have already received help from this donation so their children are now able to go on this formative event. The money was raised at the choir’s Christmas concert last December and members voted to support the school.

Details: www.winscombecommunitysingers.co.uk

Head teacher, Ben Hewett, said: “We are so proud of how the children have embraced the project, and we have seen more and more children coming to school in a sustainable way.

“Not only is this the green thing to do but it has also made the roads around the school safer.”

The school has seen a significant reduction in cars parking outside the school, with families that need to drive choosing to “park and stride” instead.

WINSCOMBECommunity Singers are pictured handing over a cheque for £267 to Lorna Richardson, headteacher at Winscombe Primary School.

Sexey’s School celebrates “Good” Ofsted rating

STAFF and students at Sexey’s School in Bruton are celebrating after it was rated “Good” in its latest full Ofsted inspection. The positive report raises the school’s education grading to “good” in all five areas of the inspection framework and is the third “good” report the school has received following their Ofsted Social Care and SIAMS judgement.

Inspectors said: “Pupils thrive at Sexey’s School. They are happy and safe. Staff know them well as individuals. Pupils recognise and appreciate this. The school has high academic expectations of all pupils. Staff start from the position that all pupils can succeed.”

Inspectors praised leaders for working very successfully to improve the school and highlighted that they “have an ambitious vision for the curriculum, a clear rationale for the way it is designed and have developed a shared view of the best way to teach it”.

A key highlight of the report was the school’s achievements in the English baccalaureate and recognised this as being “at the heart of the school’s academically rigorous curriculum, with nine out of ten pupils going on to acquire qualifications in this range of subjects”.

Inspectors also praised the Sixth Form for its “impressive range of courses for students to choose from” and that “students achieve

well and move on successfully to the next stage of their education or into employment”. Having joined the Quantock Education Trust in 2021, the report highlighted that trustees and trust leaders have a strong understanding of the school’s strengths and areas for development, particularly sixthform provision.

Headteacher, Helen Cullen, said: “I will be forever grateful to the Governors and staff who put their trust in me to lead the school through the last four years, I am in absolute awe and filled with immense pride for what the Sexey’s staff team have achieved.

“To work relentlessly to move a school from Serious Weaknesses to Good, in all categories whilst also juggling a pandemic with school closures affecting teaching and learning, is no small achievement.”

The meaning of healthPlop the Raindrop

AREyou healthy? How would you know? Do you even know what health means? We spend trillions globally pursuing the mirage of “health” which – like love and beauty – is very hard to define. Ask a hundred people and you’ll get a hundred definitions, with “not being ill” or “feeling ok” near the top of the list. Gwyneth Paltrow would doubtless have us all putting scented candles in every orifice to be healthy, but that’s not without its risks.

I’M in a water droplet heaven. A place where I can change in seconds to any watery form I like. The name might give you a clue: Iceland.

By DrPHIL HAMMOND

No-one I’ve ever met defines health in the same way as the World Health Organisation – “Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.”

When did you last feel like that, outside of an orgasm? The WHO is slavishly pursuing “health for all”, but wouldn’t it get a bit boring after a while?

Besides, we humans need variation, the ups and downs and ebbs and flows of life. They fire our imagination. Would we have great art, literature, music and comedy without the driving forces of impotence, alcohol, disappointment and melancholy?

A simpler definition of health is our fitness for purpose. We decide what our purpose is in life at any particular time and then try to be fit enough to do it – with or without the guiding hand of a health professional.

Health could also be defined as “doing what you want to do and being who you want to be”. But that isn’t quite enough. We can’t just leave Putin to do what he wants to do in the name of health.

I think defining health is complicated, but must encompass the idea that we’re all going to die. I use the acronym FADE. Our health is our:

FREEDOM to live a life we have reason to value, that also values others

ABILITY to avoid and recover from harm

DUTY TO CARE; for ourselves, other species and our planet

EXPERIENCE AND EXPECTATION OF DECENCY; decent living standards, decent community services, decent fellow citizens, decent politicians, a decent environment and a decent death

Dr Phil will be doing a comedy consultation in the Regen tent at Valleyfest on August 4th, 17.30-18.15pm. Please bring a sample.

There is lots of ice. There are caves made completely of ice in glaciers, where you can imagine trolls might live –there are apparently trolls living in Iceland, although I haven’t seen one yet.

I have met lot of my relatives and old friends in the melt water flowing from the glaciers towards the sea and we’ve been having a great time! Some water droplets have been stuck in glaciers for thousands and thousands of years.

They’ll probably end up next in a frozen lake with seals sleeping on them.

I arrived fairly recently in a snowstorm which blocked almost all the roads.

The world seems safe and comfortable to me, when it’s quietly covered in a thick white blanket of snow. The human beans also seem to enjoy this white icy world – do you like playing in snow?

The edges of the glacier look like white splinters of teeth, bathed in piercing blue sunlight. Where the glacier ends there’s a thick black sludge, the remains of ancient volcanoes ground into dust.

But the glaciers are melting and have retreated by more than 8km in just a few years. I wonder why?

Did you know that Iceland was made by volcanoes and some are still active, with lava still warm after boiling from the earth?

The old extinct volcanoes are huge mountains, like giant pimples all over the place, with old, cold lava fields stretching for miles and miles pushing back the sea.

There is a constant threat that the next eruption could happen just about anywhere at any time, so humans have invented a warning system in case people have to move quickly to get out of the way.

There are places where water comes out of the ground really hot, so that the streams steam in the freezing air!

These waters run into warm lagoons, where a lazy water droplet can snooze away for days - except that noisy human beans like to splash in them too.

So in Iceland I can be rain, snow, ice or steam, and sometimes all within a few seconds!

There’s one thing I forgot. The hot thermal springs also produce a thick, gloopy mud, which some human beans stick on their faces. Can you believe that?

I have to stop now. I’ve been swallowed by a reindeer.

MENDIP GRANDAD

Taking history on the road

A PILOT project called Museum to You has been launched to increase people’s access to museum collections by taking artefacts into care homes and day centres.

Suzannah Cook and Fran Webb have partnered initially with Wells and Mendip Museum’s Search Project to try to reach care home residents and people with other difficulties who cannot physically visit venues due to issues such as additional needs, staffing shortages and costs.

Museum to You has forged links with homes including Court House, near Cheddar, Crandon Springs and Torr Wood – both in Wells – along with the city’s Lawrence Day Centre to hold informal sessions to spark people’s memories.

In the first of the events, Suzannah and Fran have borrowed photos of Wells shops from the museum’s Phillips Archive along with everyday items.

Suzannah, who lives in Evercreech, said: “We’re not doing presentations, standing in front of people, but sitting amongst them in small groups to chat and to listen to their stories and memories.”

Fran, from Bath, said the pair – who are friends – were inspired by a visit to Wells and Mendip Museum and realised other

people were not so fortunate. She said: “We want it to be an immersive experience.”

Museum creator, David Walker, said: “We’re delighted to be working on this project. Anything which can open up our collections to more people to enjoy is to be welcomed.”

Museum memories: Fran (left) and Suzannah with museum librarian Stuart Andrews (seated) and curator David Walker

Curo’s Independent Living Service brings peace of mind

IF you or a loved one needs support, Curo’s Independent Living Service can help to put your mind at rest. From just £4.70 a week, the service lets people carry on living at home with bespoke help from experienced support workers. It can support anyone over the age of 18 who lives in Bath & North East Somerset, Bristol, South Gloucestershire and North Somerset.

Support workers can help with everything from applying for benefits and grants, to doing the weekly shop. They can also help to manage medical appointments and transport customers to and from appointments.

The service is flexible, offering a package tailored to each customer – so if you need help with something else, just ask.

What’s more, you and your loved one will get the added reassurance of a pendant alarm service which is monitored 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. These life-saving alarms use the latest technology and are installed free of charge.

But what really makes the Independent Living Service stand out from similar services are its dedicated support workers. They really care about their customers, getting to know each one as individuals with specific needs.

Whether for you or one of your friends or family, call Curo on 01225 366135 or email ILS@curo-group.co.uk to find out how the service can help.

Get two weeks FREE of charge. Quote discount code ILSMEN (Offer valid until the end of May 2023)

Return of the bells

ST LAURENCEChurch in East Harptree hopes to be back in action at the latest by the Coronation weekend in early May following a huge restoration project.

The six church bells returned on March 1st from Bridport where they were renovated by Nicholson Bell Engineers. They were quickly put back up the tower, but all the associated running gear took longer to install and the bells rang again on Friday, March 10th for the first time in a year.

Playtime in the park

HUNDREDS of youngsters raced through the gates to enjoy the new-look play area in Shepton Mallet’s Collett Park on its opening day.

Funded by the town council and charitable donations, the £200,000 scheme’s centrepiece is a six-metre-high rope climbing frame, but the design team say they have created a facility for children of all ages and abilities, including those with limited mobility.

The area features some innovative designs

Enjoying the climbing frame

Legion’s centenary

Earthquake appeal

WRINGTONRoyal British Legion celebrated their 100th anniversary by having the new pennant for their standard dedicated at the Family Communion service in All Saints' Church, Wrington by the Rector, the Rev David Gent.

Later a Sunday lunch was held at the Mendip Spring Golf Club attended by 28 members and guests, including Robert McDonald, the Somerset County chairman.

Mr McDonald proposed a toast to the legion and to Wrington branch, including to the success of their standard bearer, John Gallop, winning the recent South West Regional competition, from which he will progress to the national competition in May. It was a very happy occasion tinged with sadness for the loss over the past two months of their President, Albert Owers and past Standard Bearer and fundraiser, Mike Wool. A spokesman said: “They had both given so much time and energy to the branch over the years that they will be greatly missed.”

Churches combine

THE 500-year-old church and parish of St Nicholas, Radstock and its 70-yearold neighbour, St Peter’s Church and parish of Westfield, have combined to become the Waterside Benefice.

The Rev Ian Rousell, who has been the priest-incharge of St Peter’s for the last six years, was licensed as the first Rector of the Waterside Benefice.

The service was conducted by the Rt Rev Mike Hill, the retired Bishop of Bristol, who is pictured with the area dean and church wardens of Radstock and Westfield.

Belly dancing

BANWELL WI proved they are always up for something new to learn by having a lesson in belly dancing and members aged from their 40s to 93 all took up the challenge!

Next up is a barn dance –so more dressing up and fun to be had.

YEOVale Trefoil Guild held a cake sale in Blagdon village club which raised £670 for the Turkey and Syria earthquake appeal.

Rainbow, Nettie, aged six, who made cakes for the sale

It was all about the village at Crispin Hall

STREET Parish Council hosted a Discover your Community event which saw a gathering of community groups which support residents of Street and the surrounding areas. Visitors were able to find out what services the groups offer with many of the organisations represented keen to attract more volunteers.

The event, at Crispin Hall, was opened by local writer Alison Knight. Alison is currently researching a saga about the lives of Clarks workers during WWI.

Organisations taking part in the day ranged from Street Quakers and the Salvation Army to Merriman Park Community group which is fundraising to improve facilities at the open space. The park celebrates its centenary in 2033.

Also present were a team from the Alfred Gillett Trust, which is planning to build a new museum – with education and community spaces – looking at the history of the Clarks shoe empire.

Awards for “dedication, hard work and selflessness”

LOCAL heroes from across Somerset have been recognised at the latest Somerset County Council Chair’s Award for Service to the Community.

The 43 recipients were nominated by their parish and town councils in recognition of their outstanding contribution to their communities and were presented with a signed certificate and gift by the chair of Somerset County Council, Councillor Mike Best.

Amongst those celebrated was Compton Dundon’s “great friend to the village”, Leslie Taylor, who passed away recently and whose grandson, Harvey, accepted the award on his grandfather’s behalf. Les was an active member of the community and formerly the chairman of the parish council, village hall committee and cricket club.

Amongst the other award winners were: Claire Chettoe (Wells), Vanessa Clarke (Bruton) Rosie Darlaston (East Brent), Andraea Dawson-Shepherd (Lullington), Geoffrey Francis (Mark), Lyn Goodfellow (Cheddar), Jennifer Newton (Evercreech), Matthew Paul (Chapel Allerton), Christine Steadman (Godney) and Iona White (Babcary).

Alison Knight (centre) with event organiser Danielle Price (left) and Laura Wolfers, chair of Street Parish Council

Pictured from the Merriman Park Community Group are (l to r) are Val Appleby, Simon Carswell (chair) and Wendy Woods

Crispin Hall was packed with stalls and visitors

Live samba music in the library garden

Harvey accepts the award on behalf of his late grandfather, Leslie

Snowdrop festival attracts fans from Europe

ENTHUSIASTS from the Netherlands, Belgium and Austria were amongst the hundreds of people who enjoyed the annual Shepton Mallet Snowdrop Festival.

Visits to the Yeo Valley Garden, the 70-acres of gardens at Downside Abbey and the privately-owned Compton Court, near Shepton Mallet, were all fully booked and families enjoyed snowdrop-themed sessions at the pop-up Create#8 arts venue in the town centre.

The community-run festival celebrates the life and work of James Allen, the Victorian “Snowdrop King” who was born and lived in the town and hybridised wild snowdrops.

Wassail welcomes spring

FROME’S delayed community wassail event at Weylands has finally gone ahead after being postponed in January due to bad weather.

Led by Frome Street Bandits, a wassail bard and a group of mummers playing “tree guardians, dozens of families joined in the celebrations at the orchard of fruit and nut trees planted next to the River Frome in November 2022.

Families gather for the start of the celebrations

The wassail bard

Crunch time for Lucas (left) and Lena

Snowdrop fans from the Netherlands and Belgium in SS Peter and Paul church

Preparing to head off on a snowdrop-themed tour organised by Shepton Walks

Walkers pass a mass display of snowdrops at Downside Abbey

Raising the bar for 2023

AWARD-winning Huckyduck Carnival Club is appealing for new members to join them as it aims to top last year’s county championship-winning entry.

The club, based in Coleford, was founded in 1977 and switched to tableau entries in 1980. Since then it has won the County Cup overall championship seven times – sometimes sharing the title with Masqueraders CC or Gremlins CC – but was the sole winner last year with its black-and-white entry When Movies Were Movies.

The club has already started building this year’s cart; once the theme is chosen it remains a closely guarded secret and is not widely known until carnival programmes go on sale in October.

Members are also working on costumes along with organising vital fundraising efforts such as its hugely popular jumble sales. As with many other clubs, Huckyduck will also provide stewards at the Glastonbury Festival.

A spokesperson for the club said: “We’d love to welcome some new members in 2023. We are lucky to have a committed team

who strive to produce the best entry possible. We take great pride in doing as much as we can ourselves be it carpentry, electrics, model making, painting, costume making, the list goes on.

“Recently we have seen some of our ‘more mature’ members deservedly retire from appearing on the cart (although they remain active with building and fundraising), but it is great to see the youngsters filling their places on the cart.”

For details, find Huckyduck Carnival Club on Facebook or call Mark Collis (chairman) on 07738 134077 or Tracey Young (secretary) on 07890 499346

Where the money went

SHEPTON Mallet Carnival has been able to donate a massive £13,950 to 50 local charities and good causes this year.

They range from local hospices to the Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance, Shepton Mallet Men’s Shed and Huckyduck and Shambles carnival clubs. The carnival committee would welcome more members.

Members of the carnival committee – new members would be welcome

For details, email Tina Edwards at woodhill.cottage2@yahoo.co.uk or Peter Davey at davey.np@gmail.com

The cast and ground crew with last year’s winning cart

Preparing to welcome shoppers at the first of this year’s three jumble sales in Coleford RBL Hall

Looking for a bargain – the next sale is on Saturday, April 22nd at 2pm

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CONSULTANT motoring specialist and auctioneer Nick Wells is pictured amongst the lots in the viewing marquee on the Cattle Market car park in Frome ahead of the Dore & Rees Classic Car Spring Auction.

X-Pack Volante which went under the hammer for £220,000.

Top prize for club

WELLS Classic Motorcycle Club won the much sought-after “Best Club Stand” award at the Bristol Classic Motorcycle Show. Club members displayed 15 classic motorcycles ranging from 1914 through to the late 1980s.

The club organises the popular Tortoise and Hare Motorcycle event at which much-needed funds are raised for the Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance and Freewheelers.

The club is an active one and new members are always welcome.

Details: www.wellsclassicmotorcycleclub.weebly.com

Charities day

BANWELLwill be holding a charities day on Saturday, April 22nd in the scout hut opposite the primary school, 10am-2pm.

Some of the charities taking part will be Hearing Dogs for the Deaf, Young Lives vs Cancer (formerly CLIC), Cheddar Valley Lions, Prickles Hedgehog Rescue, National Autistic Society, Diabetes U.K and hopefully Great Western Air Ambulance.

Entry is Free and refreshments will be available throughout the event.

Details: Laura Batt 01934 863679

Iceland trek

A TEAMof supporters of Frome-based cancer charity We Hear You (WHY) have raised £11,000 with a three-day trekking challenge in Iceland.

The team included chief executive Lucy Kitchener and fundraising manager, Ruth Knagg. The charity is planning another Northern Lights trek next March.

Details: https://bit.ly/northern-lights-2024 www.wehearyou.org.uk 01373 455255 email info@wehearyou.org.uk

Siobhan’s fundraiser

CYSTICFibrosis sufferer, Siobhan Coles, raised more than £500 for the Cystic Fibrosis Trust with a coffee and cake event at her home in Keynsham.

Siobhan, formerly of Pensford, said: “Thank you all for your incredibly generous donations that will help fund that all important cure that will allow us to live a life not limited by Cystic Fibrosis.”

Co-op supports BillyChip

BILLYCHIP,the homeless support charity, has received a massive boost from Central Coop, which has adopted the scheme across its 250-plus stores in the Midlands, Yorkshire and the East of England. The scheme allows customers to buy £2 BillyChip tokens for homeless people, who can exchange them for food and

drink at any Central Co-op store.

The tokens were due to be made available from March 27th, marking the fifth anniversary of the death of Billy Abernethy-Hope, from Bishop Sutton, who came up with the idea before his death in a motorcycle accident.

His sister, Meg Abernethy-Hope, co-founder of the charity, said: "BillyChip is about giving someone who is sleeping rough compassion, connection, and choice.

“We are so proud to be partnering with Central Co-op, a business we know is built around supporting its community. This is an incredible partnership and we are beyond excited to see where it will take us in the future."

Hannah Gallimore, Social Change Manager at Central Coop, said: "BillyChip is such a simple way to spread kindness to those who need it, and we are pleased we can make that possible in our stores.

“We have seen the great work that BillyChip is already doing, and we're always keen to support kind initiatives that make a real difference, especially as times get tougher for everyone."

l Southern Co-op members have donated £75,000 to support foodbanks across the area, including Fair Frome.

Lenka Grimes, Fair Frome co-ordinator, said: "Fair Frome Food Bank is seeing an increase in the numbers of people accessing their services, with the cost-of-living crisis and rise in food costs.

"Many Families are struggling to pay fuel bills and 40% of those coming are in work but on low wages that don't cover their bills.”

Meg Abernethy-Hope

Cycle challenge

DORSET and Somerset Air Ambulance has announced the launch of their latest fundraising event - Race from the Base at Henstridge Airfield on Saturday, June 10th.

It is an ultra-cycling challenge with three different distances to choose from: 30km (The Circuit), 60km (The Cruise) and 100km (The Climb), all starting from the airfield, where the service is based.

With a total of 500 places available, it will suit serious cyclists and those using it to have fun and exercise. Anyone getting a place is asked to raise a minimum of £50.

Details: www.dsairambulance.org.uk/race-from-the-base

RUH staff Walk of Life

BAZ Harding-Clark, orthopaedic practitioner in the emergency department of Bath’s RUH, will lead a team of colleagues in the Walk of Life on Saturday, May 28th to remember their colleagues Julie and Kelly.

The walk, up to 26 miles of the Kennet and Avon Canal, raises funds for the hospital’s RUHX charity.

Baz said: “I first took part in 2021 when my colleague asked me to sign up with her. I ached a lot afterwards and had to work a 12 hour shift the next day, but I caught the walking bug and have been involved ever since.”

The Walk of Life offers a 26.2 mile and ten-mile option along the canal. This year also marks the launch of the Walk of Fun, a 1km accessible challenge for adults, parents and children. RUHX is asking those taking part to raise £100.

Details: https://ruhx.org.uk/events/walk-of-life/

Bargain

hunters

help fund computer lab

SALES at the SOS Africa charity shop in Shepton Mallet have helped finance an IT laboratory offering computer access to hundreds of children attending a primary school in the Western Cape, South Africa.

The shop, on the High Street, is known locally as “Aladdin’s Cave” and will celebrate its 10th anniversary in April. SOS Africa was founded by Shepton Mallet student Matt Crowcombe during his gap year to South Africa in 2003.

Lin Veale, the shop manager, said: “We are so proud of the impact made by our shop over the past ten years! It really is the definition of a team effort with staff volunteers and customers from Shepton Mallet and beyond all working together to help better the lives of children in desperate need of our help.”

Each year, the charity runs a fundraising abseil from a famous landmark such as Wells Cathedral. The venue for this September’s event will be announced in April.

For details, visit: www.sosafrica.com

(Photograph courtesy of Jason Bryant)

DSAA crew members Tom Gee and Amy McGufficke

Shop staff and volunteers: Lin Veale, Ann Crowcombe, Anne Dunford, Dave Crowcombe, Kim Williams, Kaz James and Rich Long

Ambulance cheque

Young farmers raise £1,000’s

MEMBERSof Chelwood Bridge Rotary Club visited the Great Western Air Ambulance Charity, at Almondsbury, to present a cheque for £1200. The money was raised at an online auction run by the club last November.

Rotarian Colin Robinson said: “Whilst there we learnt that in the first two months of this year the GWAAC has been called out 308 times and on average they treat five patients a day.

“We also had a tour of their training facilities and were shown over the helicopter.”

Second marathon

FROME Young Farmers Club has donated £5,000 to two charities after holding three fundraising events last year.

At their meeting in March, club members handed cheques for £2,500 each to Hannah’s Willberry Wonder Pony and the Farming Community Network raised from its Frome YFC Summer Barn Bash at the West Woodlands Showground in July, the Frome YFC Annual Charity Hand Car Wash at the Bell at Standerwick in November and the Frome YFC Annual Charity Tractor run at the West Woodlands Showground in December –when 144 tractors took part.

A club spokesperson said: “We could not have raised these funds without the tremendous support of those that attended the 2022 fundraising events, our generous sponsors, and the hard work of the Frome YFC club members that volunteer to run these events.

“We are extremely proud to support these charities and the incredible work that they do.”

AMANDAPalmer from Congresbury is running the London Marathon for the second year in a row to raise funds for Parkinson’s UK.

Amanda, aged 49, has been an avid runner her whole life and she ran the London Marathon – her first ever marathon – last October, after being diagnosed with Parkinson’s in December 2021.

She said: “When I was first diagnosed with Parkinson’s, I was so close to cancelling my place in the London Marathon 2022, but I have an amazing support network around me who helped me realise that a Parkinson’s diagnosis isn’t the end of the

world and that this was my chance to show Parkinson’s that I was still in control.

“I really enjoyed running the marathon and I benefit greatly from the positive impacts keeping active has on managing my symptoms and my mental and physical health. I enjoyed it so much I signed up to run this year too!”

Parkinson’s is the fastest growing neurological condition in the world, and currently there is no cure. It affects around 145,000 people in the UK and every hour two more people are diagnosed. There are over 40 symptoms, from tremor to pain to anxiety.

Amanda has set herself a fundraising target of raising £2,100 for Parkinson’s UK.

She said: “It’s so important for me to raise awareness and funds for Parkinson’s UK because I want to show people that if you are diagnosed with Parkinson’s, you still have a future and do things that you enjoy. There is a light at the end of the tunnel.”

This year, 200 runners will be running the London Marathon to fundraise for Parkinson’s UK. It takes place on April 23rd.

Details: https://events.parkinsons.org.uk/fundraiser/amandapalmer/london-marathon-2023 parkinsons.org.uk/fundraising

Frome YFC members with Miles, a trustee of Hannah’s Willberry Wonder Pony, and Charmain and Matthew, South West regional support officers for the Farming Community Network

Lodestone Property –every home is individual

THE secret to Lodestone Property’s selling success is not only the work of a dedicated team, and good communication, but innovative marketing that allows the story of each individual home to be told, so that those looking to buy have more than a synopsis.

Just like the special wild narrative of Sunnyside Farm, set on aptly-named Wilderness Drove – a walk away from Ham Wall Nature Reserve on the Somerset Levels. The perfect home for someone looking to immerse themselves in and continue to help conserve nature, this unique property has been expertly built and curated by its current owner, designer Adam Williams, so it works in tandem with the local environment and its stunning historical landscape.

Built to last – it sits on 25 engineered piles driven 22 metres down into the ground – the house is raised above ground for pure stability. Adam said: “It’s not unusual to spot herons, giant and little egrets as well as peregrine, sparrowhawks and barn owls. There’s no need to sit in the

cabins of the Avalon Marshes; Sunnyside Farm offers a private all-year round viewing gallery for wildlife and weather spectacles – making it a very special place to call home.”

Sue Macey, Managing Partner of Lodestone said: “Our storytelling online, on social media and in print gives potential buyers a greater insight into what our properties offer as a home – the fit has to be right and this will often result in a successful sale.”

Lodestone Property have selling and letting experts across Somerset and Dorset who can help. Contact them for all your property needs: www.lodestoneproperty.co.uk

Sunnyside Farm, close to Ham Wall Nature Reserve

Yellow is the colour

HAPPYEaster everyone. The Chew Valley is awash with yellow at the moment. In fact someone said they had seen more of our signs than they had daffodils! That is nice to hear, but whilst it is a bit of an exaggeration I am pleased to say we have had a lot of instructions to sell brilliant properties in the last three months and many of those signs have got the vital word “Sold”.

Sometimes the first you know that a house is for sale is when you see the sold sign. That is often because we have found a buyer without it ever appearing on the open market. Here’s how it works. Someone decides to sell their house through us so they can benefit from our watchwords of Dedication, Imagination and Delivery. My team work tirelessly to give you the best possible experience, throwing all their energy into your sale, working out the most creative marketing strategy and then concentrating on achieving the outcome you want.

But that’s only part of the story. Because we are so determined to help you get on the move, we not only focus on your sale, but we also turn our attention to finding your next home.

It is an important part of our total service because so many people in the Chew Valley want to remain in the area and they know it may not be easy to find a suitable property so they can be reluctant to offer their house for sale. Our vendors are able to avoid that worry because they have the huge advantage of getting advance notice of properties that are coming on the market before anyone else finds out.

That means they could find themselves having first refusal on a property, not necessarily getting it at a cut price, but having the chance to secure their ideal home. This month alone we have had two clients who have enjoyed that service, not only selling their own home but finding a local property they love.

Being able to provide such a fully

connected service doesn’t come about by chance. It is the result of hard work and commitment by a small team who have a deep understanding of this area.

You only have to look at the success rate statistics for agents based outside the Chew Valley to appreciate what a tremendous benefit local knowledge brings and why our signs so often display “Sold” which means another satisfied client is on the move.

Why don’t you give us a call today and the next one on the move could be you.

JOANNA TILEY

Low-cost loans for energy schemes on offer

HOMEOWNERS in the Bath and North East Somerset Council area looking to reduce the cost of heating their properties and cut carbon emissions may be eligible for finance to help spread the cost of home energy improvements through a council-backed loan.

B&NES has partnered with Lendology, a social enterprise lender, to offer the energy loans. The partnership has been in place since 2005 and has lent more than £800,000 to homeowners across the authority.

Owner occupiers and landlords can apply for a loan of between £500-£15,000, with a repayment term of between six months and 15 years. The interest rate (4.2% APR) is fixed throughout the term of the loan.

Homeowners who qualify can use the money to help spread the costs of installing energy-saving improvements such as solar PV, low carbon heating or insulation.

In the period April 2022 to March this year, £50,861 of energy loans were approved for B&NES residents.

For details, visit: https://www.energyathome.org.uk/grants-and-support or: https://www.lendology.org.uk

Eventing season gets underway

THEEventing season has begun at last, but as usual the unpredictable and erratic weather patterns are already causing cancellations and abandonments. It’s always such a massive disappointment for competitors and everyone involved when after months of preparation and hard work, it can all go wrong literally overnight.

Can you imagine the frustration on the evening before the big day…the weather looks dodgy, there is an announcement that a ground inspection will take place at 7am, but you know that by then you will be on the motorway heading miles across the country to get to the venue in time for your dressage, only to discover that it’s all off. Gutted doesn’t come close!

Then, because it’s still early in the year before Spring has really sprung, you head off for another attempt somewhere else the following weekend, only to arrive in total darkness, and have to walk the cross country course with a torch in temperatures which make you shiver. What dedication/madness!

Eventing is a gruelling sport. When you watch the professionals at the toughest horse trials, they can make it look amazingly effortless as they put in faultless performances in all three phases of the competition.

The enormity of the hard work it takes to get to that level or indeed any level of the sport, is difficult to convey. Both horse and rider have to be finely tuned athletes and that doesn’t happen overnight; it takes months of training.

Jason Hobbs is one of our local eventers who runs a competition yard at Ham Farm Yatton, courtesy of Mrs Denise Crossman. Together they seek out and buy young horses to train and have had many successes over the years, taking horses to the top levels.

This year will hopefully see their team compete at three and four star level, as well as the younger horses who will do the novice classes before moving up next year. This year, one of the horses Jason will be riding is Shanbeg Legacy.

Last year they had several successful placings, two of which were at international events. Timmy, as he is known at home was fifth at Osberton International Young Horse Championships and is on form to progress in what promises to be an exciting year for him. Watch this space.

Also working at Ham Farm and competing, are Catherine Fear and Tom Sloper. Both have been members of the Ham Farm team for several years. Cath will be competing her own Etoile la Vie (Jasper) in the Novice Championships at Gatcombe Festival of Eventing in August, having qualified last year and Tom will champion his own Do Remember Me.

It takes many years, a lot of luck, sweat and tears to get to the

top level of eventing, and there will be many young riders at the lower levels who are starting out with determination and enthusiasm. There is a huge amount of support for those who are prepared to put in the work and make the sacrifices necessary to succeed.

They have to learn very early on that there can be highs and lows, peaks and troughs, wins and losses, sometimes all in one day. That’s horses for you.

British Eventing, the organisation that regulates Affiliated events, has ruled this year that any venue hosting Unaffiliated events cannot run a BE competition. Sadly this has meant our local Pontispool Equine Centre will not run a BE event.

They have chosen instead to support the Unaffiliated Cotswold Cup competition which provides a very exciting opportunity for amateurs in the sport to have the advantage of competing at top class venues, so although a loss to British Eventing, it’s a win win for everyone else in our area who is up for a challenge. More about this competition in the months ahead.

Meanwhile the Cheltenham Festival is in progress as I write. The new whip rules for jockeys have caused a few heartbreaks for those who have fallen foul however inadvertently, of the new rules, and one or two will miss prestigious rides at Cheltenham as the result of being temporarily banned.

However, in the interest of the horses, ongoing improvement and concern for their welfare and safety has to be paramount. The new rules are to be welcomed.

Once again, Badminton Box Office is open for ticket sales and camping bookings for the Horse Trials in May. Like last year there will be no tickets sold at the gate, it all has to be advance purchases.

The list of entries will be out any minute, so hats off to everyone who has qualified. Acceptance alone is to be applauded. Respect.

With JANE PATERSON

Jason Hobbs on Shanbeg Legacy

Horse riding –a funny old world of words and phrases

Pat Bishop, who runs Divoky Riding School at Downhead, near Shepton Mallet, offers some words of advice to newcomers.

DECIDING to learn to ride a horse can be both daunting and confusing, if it is a world that is new to you.

Right from the start, there are forms to complete and questions to be answered and it is easy to give the wrong response that can get you in a right old pickle. The first you will be asked is: what level are you? This isn't meant to be a trick question; however, you might be given a form which gives suggestions such as: “complete beginner, beginner, novice, intermediate or advanced”.

This refers to your skill level. In the non-equestrian world, the word “novice” will indicate someone who is new to something, but in the equestrian world a novice is actually quite accomplished as a rider, usually able to walk, trot and canter unaided with some degree of steering and style.

So easy to use that word to describe your skills but it really will put you, the horse and the coach in a tricky situation if you use that description and are actually very new to riding.

One of the terms I often hear young coaches use – without explanation – is: “Put your leg on.” What your coach actually wants is for you to use your heels to gently squeeze the side of the horse – this helpfully will cause a muscle reaction that moves the horse's legs and off you go!

Welcome to Glyn

MENDIP Bridleways and Byways Association has welcomed Glyn Edwards as Somerset County Council’s new warden for part of the area.

Glyn is one of seven wardens covering the county. The new structure was introduced in February this year. He covers an area stretching from Pawlett to the west, Long Load in the south east and the edge of Shepton Mallet in the north east.

Clare Haskins covers the rest of the north east of the county, Chris East to the north west and Eve Wynn in the south east.

When we get onto – and off – a horse we always choose the left side. This is a throwback to military times when the cavalry rode with swords. Getting on the left side means your sword won't be a hazard on the way up or down (please don't bring a sword to your lesson, we don't use them anymore unless we are training stuntmen or actors).

Next term: “Change the rein”. This has nothing to do with the tack (saddle and bridle), it means you will be changing to the opposite direction. In a group session, your coach might give the command “whole ride” that means you all go at the same time, and the rider at the front is referred to as “lead file”.

Riding can be a blessing; it raises the spirits, lowers the blood pressure and gets you out in the fresh air. There are risks, of course, but if you are keen to give it a go find a good BHSapproved riding school and try it, you will be so pleased that you did.

Glyn and dog George with MBBA’s Ginnie Jones on a bridleway near Shepton Mallet

Olive and Viroflay are Cheltenham-bound

A DOMINANT run at the Blackmore and Sparkford Vale Pointto-Point meeting has landed jockey Olive Nicholls and her horse Viroflay a place in the final of the Ineos Grenadier Mixed Open Championship at Cheltenham in May.

The Charlton Horethorne circuit was one of 16 chosen to host a round in the series, with the winner of each going onto Cheltenham to contest the championship finale during the course’s May evening meeting.

Olive is the daughter of Ditcheat trainer Paul Nicholls, coowner with John Bolton of the horse who has won French flat races as well as over UK hurdles. Just days before her success at the BSV, Olive had won her first meeting under rules at a meeting at Wincanton.

Isobel Radford Jones, 13, who won the first pony race on Ladies Day

All smiles in the paddock with victory for Olive and Viroflay

Will Biddick on Sea God clears the last fence to win the opening race

Clearing a fence during the Manor Farm Partnership Maiden Race

Making friends with one of the hounds in the paddock

Celebrations for jockey Tom Bishop after winning the Longman Cheese Hunt Race

Seventh heaven at Ston Easton

OWNER Pat Bryant and trainer Caroline Keevil had every reason to raise a glass to A Little Tipple after the nine-year-old mare won the final race at this year’s Mendip Farmers’ Point-toPoint fixture at Ston Easton.

In her previous six races, A Little Tipple, who’s stabled at Chesterblade, near Shepton Mallet, had finished second. But jockey Chad Bament rode her to victory in the three-mile RM Penny Maiden Race. A delighted Pat said: “She’s always been the bridesmaid!”

Although fields were quite small, the bookmakers were out in force

A Little Tipple takes the lead on the final circuit before jockey Chad Brament and owner Pat Bryant receive the trophies from Catherine Penny (below).

Sherri Gardner (second left) and friends enjoying the afternoon by the parade ring

Jockeys in the two pony races which ended the day at the prizegiving

Stuart Jarrett (left) receives the Allen Perpetual Challenge Cup from Philip Tincknell after Glancing Glory (pictured over the final jump) won the Tincknell Restricted Race. Stuart’s wife, Wendy, had given him the horse as a birthday present

Round the velodrome

ON a bicycle one of the most important things that you really want to rely on are the brakes and the thought of riding without them would seem frankly stupid. But that’s what I did when I ventured into a velodrome for the very first time! When one of my daughters had asked me what I would like for Christmas my thoughts turned to cycling and the velodrome experience seemed like an exciting challenge.

So fast forward a while and there I am approaching the Lee Valley Olympic Velodrome in London, with a little bit of nervousness. The building is impressive, its curved roof resembling a giant Pringle and it remains to be one of the more successful legacies from the 2012 Olympics.

Before my session there is a chance to walk around the spectator area. I head for one of two steep curved banks at each end of the arena which are pitched at almost 45 degrees.

Knowing that I would soon be having a go on it is both thrilling and daunting. I watch the previous group finish their session in impressive style before I head to the changing rooms.

Emerging from the tunnel into the middle of the velodrome is breathtaking. The vastness of the track really hits you and the banked sections now look like walls.

There are nine of us in the group, a mixture of young and old, male and female and we all have one thing in common – it is our first time on the track.

We collect our track bikes and adjust the saddle height to suit. The bikes have no brakes and a fixed rear gear, that does not freewheel, meaning the pedals will keep turning whether we want them to or not.

The session starts with a short briefing from the instructor and some important messages. The main one is, don’t stop pedalling otherwise you risk flying over the handlebars. Then, keep straight and check over your shoulder before overtaking.

And finally, build up enough speed before going into the steeper sections and don’t lean - let momentum do the work.

With the briefing over it’s time for action. Because the pedals will keep turning once the bike is moving, it’s easier to clip our shoes onto the pedals while stationary, holding onto the handrail. Then we push off and do a couple of gentle laps to get used to the fixed gear.

I think it’s fair to say that everyone is a bit nervous and I just keep thinking “don’t stop pedalling”.

Soon the instructor blows his whistle, which means it is time to practice stopping the bike. Because there are no brakes, we slow down by gradually resisting against the pedals and lowering the

cadence in time to reach the point where we need to stop.

Then, at the last moment it’s a desperate grab for the handrail. We all manage to come to a halt without tipping over, although some are a bit more graceful than others.

With the basics done, it’s time to get back on the track and build up speed on the lower part of the track, which is the start of the slope. The instructor then gets us to move further up the slope as we pass him.

Now it’s not the thought of having no brakes on the bike that bothers me. I’m a bit more concerned about the steep curved sections at each end of the track.

On road bikes you would slow down for bends but on the track you need to accelerate into them and gain momentum. The first few times I start to go round the steep curves I am convinced that the bike will slide down, but it doesn’t and with that confidence I move higher and higher on each lap.

My target is the adverts painted on the top of the track. From up there you can really see how high you are and you can’t help but think “surely this isn’t right, it’s like defying gravity”.

It’s all to do with the laws of physics but we don’t need to know the details here. The important thing is to maintain a certain level of momentum.

It is surprisingly hard to keep pedalling hard all the time and if you ease off too much the pedals will give you a kick back.

Dropping down from the top of the bank is amazing. You can feel the added acceleration and a rush of adrenaline.

After many more laps of practice and just racing around, we end the session by taking it in turns to do a flying lap. The first lap is used to build up maximum momentum using the steep banks before racing down into a timed lap along the sprinters line at the lowest part of the track.

Our finishing times are displayed on the same scoreboard where Olympic winners saw their names!

Coming away from the velodrome I reflect on the experience. The track and the fact that there were no brakes initially seemed sightly terrifying, but now it is something I want to do again.

I would encourage anyone to try track cycling – you don’t need any prior skills, just the ability to ride a bike, and the courage to try something new!

n.b. the closest velodrome is the Geraint Thomas National Velodrome in Newport, Wales.

CYCLING with EDMUND LODITE

ACROSS: 1. Apogee 5. Carapace 9. Corned beef 10. Avon 11. Golf cart 12. Elapse 13. Race 15. Notebook 18. Rest home 19. Soda 21. Mascot 23. Near miss 25. Biro 26. Exhaustion 27. Angstrom 28. Pylons. DOWN: 2. Photo 3. Genuflect 4. Endear 5. Chewton Keynsham 6. Reflects 7. Plaza 8. Crossroad 14. Amerasian 16. Basemetal 17. Footwear 20. Gazump 22. Cross 24. Scorn

APRILCROSSWORDSOLUTION

Fighting Parkinson’s disease –in the boxing gym

Words and pictures by Mark Adler

IT’S a chilly March afternoon as the first of a small group of people arrive at the SJ Fitness Gym – home to Radstock Amateur Boxing Club – in Radstock, some walking slowly and purposefully as they climb the few steps to the entrance.

Inside, the walls are covered in hundreds of photographs and posters featuring legends of the sport as well as some local boxers who are progressing up the ladder. A ring – no-one is going in there today – takes up one corner of the gym whilst gloves, sparring equipment and weights are all around and punchbags hang from the ceiling.

Gym owner Sean Jenkins is all smiles and jokes as the group members, each clutching water containers, prepare to be put through their paces by him in an hour-long session.

But these are no aspiring kings – and queen – of the ring; they are all suffering, to some degree or another, from Parkinson’s Disease. The different boxing exercises help to address Parkinson’s symptoms such as tremor, balance, posture and strength, as well as increasing fitness levels.

The regulars come from all over Mendip; such as Pete, who is from Shepton Mallet, Jim, a painter and decorator from Faulkland, and Chris and Jane, who are from Frome. Most were introduced to Sean through a regular Parkinson’s Disease coffee morning in Frome.

Jane, who shares lifts with Chris, said: “It’s as much a chance to socialise as it is to train.”

Pete has since bought some training equipment to use at home: “You definitely feel better after a session”, whilst Chris, who is in his 70s, delivers newspapers in Frome and is a keen supporter of the Parkinson’s Society.

Sean started the weekly sessions after meeting Dennis Stinchcombe MBE, a boxing trainer who runs something similar at the Broad Plain Boxing Club in Bristol. The Radstock sessions began in 2019, only to be curtailed by the pandemic; numbers are only now slowly beginning to rebuild.

The session begins with gentle warm-up exercises to loosen the muscles before some of the group don headbands from which hang tennis balls for them to gently punch whilst Sean runs through a cricket-style throw-down to encourage hand-to-eye coordination.

Then it’s into the fitness suite next door for a session on the resistance equipment before they put on their own sparring gloves to tackle the punchbags. Each works at their own pace; there’s no competitiveness just gentle mutual support – and certainly no match-ups.

Sean said: “It’s great to be able to make the gym available for these guys and although they can have good days – and not-sogood days – they all say they feel the benefit afterwards.”

Sean (left) with (l:r) Steve, Jane, Chris, Pete and Jim

Jane doing the tennis ball exercise

Mike (left) and Jim

Chris with a photograph of Mohammed Ali in the background

Shipham supports refugees

RESIDENTS of the Holiday Inn, Wrington recently enjoyed a football match against Shipham on their village pitch known as The Slope.

The asylum seekers, some of whom have been left in the hotel waiting for a Home Office decision for nearly a year, were really pleased with the opportunity to play a game and were overjoyed with the 2-2 draw.

The hotel residents struggle with boredom as they have to entertain and clothe themselves using a £10 a week allowance. Many are suffering from trauma after escaping from violence and persecution in their home countries.

As a result, a group of local residents, organising themselves via WhatsApp, have been providing lifts, clothing and days out.

Jeff Brewster, who organised the match, says it is important for the group that they are not stuck in the hotel all day and that they have a chance to experience a small piece of village life.

Shipham residents were also pleased to be able to meet the newcomers at a meal provided afterwards in Shipham Village Hall.

The team would like to play more matches but are struggling for kit, particularly football boots. They would therefore be delighted if any Mendip group has spare kit.

For details, contact Jeff Brewster at jeffbr@btinternet.com

Trail race is right on track

A NEW trail running event is coming to Shepton Mallet on Sunday, May 14th taking in some spectacular railway landmarks.

The 8½-mile Runaway Train race starts on the edge of town and follows footpaths across countryside, first to Ham Woods, then down to Croscombe and up to Maesbury Castle before returning to Shepton along former railway tracks, including a section over the Ham Wood Viaduct and through the Windsor Hill Tunnel. There is also a shorter three-mile running race and the option to walk.

Entries will be limited to 200 for this first year and are expected to sell out quickly. The event is being organised by Mendip Hills Hash House Harriers, who also stage the Uphill to Wells Relay every September.

Martin Berkeley, one of the organisers, said: "We have an exciting route that offers to both challenging terrain and some of the best scenery on the Mendips.

"Runners will enjoy muddy lanes, ancient woods, a distant hill fort, a dark railway tunnel and two towering viaducts."

Everyone will gather together after the event in Shepton Mallet Market Place for a lunch-time street feast.

For details, visit: https://runawaytrain.org.uk

Rugby derby is a thriller

THESomerset U-14s rugby cup final involved a local derby between Churchill and Backwell schools.

On a a wet and windy afternoon, the ground was heavy and the going tough.

Backwell started well with a try in the corner, but was unable to convert. Churchill hit back with two tries one in the corner and one under the posts which was converted, the score 5-12 to Churchill.

Backwell kept the pressure on and Churchill defended well but Backwell finally broke through with a converted try to level at 12-12 at the final whistle.

It was looking like there would be extra time until Gary Townsend from Bristol Bears Academy, who had watched the match, pulled up the official rules on his phone.

This stated U-14s cannot play extra time. So it was declared a draw!

Meanwhile Churchill’s Year 11s beat Holyrood Academy, Chard 38-0 to retain the Somerset Cup. One proud parent commented: “Congratulations to Churchill Academy’s years 9 and 11 for upholding the game’s core values, making parents and teachers very proud.”

Anyone for croquet?

CAMERTONand Peasedown Croquet Club starts its beginners’ course with a free session on Sunday, April 2nd, 2-4.30pm.

There’s then the option of four further coaching sessions for £20, with the money refunded if you then join the club.

The club’s membership continues to grow and a new, larger pavilion will be completed shortly.

Backwell

Churchill

Churchill Year 11s

Another successful season for Chew Valley

CHEWValley Rugby finished second in their first season in Regional South West 1 with a 69-19 victory over Old Centralians from Gloucester. Camborne won the league and will play National league rugby next season.

Playing at Level 5 in the RFU structure is the highest level Chew Valley have achieved. They are currently the highest ranked amateur club in the South West and very likely in England.

The foundation for its success is the junior section founded in 1994 by the current President and Chairman at the time, Andrew Tanner. The bulk of the senior men’s playing squad have come through the junior ranks.

The Waddington brothers Will and Tom as founder members are still turning out on Saturdays, Tom as a former club captain playing at wing forward for the 1st XV and Will in the second row for the club second string captained by James Stone. His squad have won their league in an unbeaten season.

For those wanting social rugby while rarely being seen at training the 3rd XV captained by Matt Flanagan have enjoyed a mixed season but included a number of 40 somethings who are still putting the boots on.

It is accepted in rugby circles that forwards win matches and the backs decide by how many. In a back line that sparkled throughout the season, fullback Tom Bryan for the 1st XV was the standout performer with 27 tries over 22 league games, in addition to his conversions and crucial penalties to win tight games away at Ivybridge and home to Devonport Services.

Chew Valley Cats the ladies team captained by Ally Stevens, have an enthusiastic squad rebuilding and sit mid-table in their league while the junior section continues to prosper.

The U-16s are in the finals of both the Somerset Cup and the Bristol Combination Cup. Those transitioning to senior rugby having turned 18 have experienced academy rugby with

Rugby

clubs

Bristol Bears and Bath Rugby. They can look forward to high quality coaching and a high standard of rugby at Chew Valley.

Recognised by the RFU as one of the top ten clubs in the country post Covid, Chew Valley says it owes its success over the last three decades to a succession of committed volunteers and to local businesses that have provided financial support.

The club now provides a form of rugby for all ages, including walking rugby on Tuesdays, with food and drink in the clubhouse afterwards. The poster girl for the group is Wendy Crowley, the former licensee of The Bear and Swan, Chew Magna, which was the social base for the club until the clubhouse was built in 1997.

Somerset Cup and Bristol Combination Cup Rugby will provide continuing entertainment on Saturdays at Lobbingtons until the end of the season.

unite to support 100-mile walking challenge

FORMER Nailsea & Backwell Rugby Club player Tony Perfect has raised more than £5,000 for a sporting charity in memory of a friend who died from cancer.

Originally aiming to raise £1,000, Tony’s three-day walk began at Thornbury RFC and passed 34 other clubs ranging from Dings Crusaders and Keynsham to Yatton, Clevedon and Gordano. Tony arrived at Nailsea & Backwell’s ground in time for their match against Avonmouth OB.

Tony was raising money for Somer Valley-based charity Sporting Family Change, in memory of his friend Cheryl Reed, from Bristol, who died from cancer last year.

He said: “I coached Cheryl and Ian’s son, Joe, and the couple were hugely supporting to our club. Cheryl was a great supporter of Sporting Family Change too, so I wanted

to do something in her memory.”

Sporting Family Change uses sport to empower, inspire, and motivate people into making positive long-term lifestyle changes. The charity was set up in 2014 by Jimmy Deane, a former Bath rugby player, and has grown significantly over the past two years, working with individuals and families disproportionately affected by the impact of Covid-19.

Jimmy, who joined Tony for part of the walking challenge, said: “We are really grateful to Tony. As a charity we are privileged to support children, young people and adults. Despite our name, it’s really not about being super sporty or super fit – it’s about bringing people together from all walks of life, having fun, enjoying activities and meeting new people.”

For details, visit: https://sportingfamilychange.co.uk/

Prop Dean Brooker playing at No 8 for the day scored the last try of the league season

MUSIC

Theatre group’s 50th

TIMSBURYTheatre Group will celebrate its 50th birthday with a special show this summer. Back in 1973 a small group of people got together in the newly-built Conygre Hall to put on a show to entertain the village.

Today they produce an annual pantomime, a spring play and summer shows of comedy and music. Hundreds of members have been involved including some who have gone on to work in professional theatre, television and film.

For this year’s celebration they plan to look back at five decades of entertainment and are inviting former members to take part.

They promise an evening of nostalgia, fun, music and laughs, with food and drink served around tables.

Details: www.ttg.org email timsburytheatre@gmail.com

Rotary musicians

A season of singing ahead

MENDIP Male Voice Choir has announced a series of Saturday summer concerts including some involving collaborations with other choirs.

The season opens on May 13th at St Nicholas Church in Radstock, where MMVC will be joined by the choir from SWALLOW, a charity that supports teenagers and adults with learning disabilities.

The MMVC started in 1919 as the Timsbury Male Voice Choir and has around 60 members, performing around 12 concerts a year.

YOUNG musicians aged 12-17 from Somerset and Dorset gathered at Kings of Wessex Academy in Cheddar for the Rotary District 1200 Young Musician competition. Winners and runners-up will go to the regional final in Taunton.

It practices most Mondays from 7.30-9.30pm at St Marys’s School, Timsbury. New members are welcome.

For details, visit: www.mendipmen.co.uk

Students sing their hearts out

MUSIC students from Frome College were joined by pupils from Selwood Academy for this year’s Frome Busks festival. The college students played and sang across seven venues in the town centre whilst the Selwood youngsters enjoyed a

dedicated Showcase Stage outside the Cheese & Grain. As well as offering a chance to entertain passers-by, the event raised money for extra-curricular clubs, future productions and equipment.

Sandcastles –2002

The Carnivores – post-16 students at Frome College – perform at the Boyle Cross Bands Stage

Millie (left) and Bella – two Year 11 performers

Priddy Folk Festival headliners announced

PLANS are well advanced for this year’s Priddy Folk Festival –the 30th festival to be held – from Friday, July 7th to Sunday, July 9th.

It promises a great line-up covering a wide range of folk genres from the traditional to the more avant-garde (taking in shanties, bluegrass and klezmer on the way).

Headliners this year are The Jeremiahs and Dervish from Ireland, Fara and Kris Drever from Orkney and Tim Edey. Other top bands include The Rin Tins, Mishra, Bonfire Radicals, Opa Rosa, The Often Herd, Amadou Diagne, Honey and the Bear, Tarren and home-grown favourites The Drystones. Add in many more exciting bands, shanty groups, the Free Fringe, Children and Dance Festivals and it is definitely a weekend to put in your diaries now.

The festival is a not-for-profit event run by volunteers with surpluses ploughed back into the local community and environs and into promoting folk music and the arts. Last year’s event provided funds for music tuition in the village primary school and folk workshops for Blue School pupils to hone their skills for this year.

For details, visit: www.priddyfolk.org

Fun and falconry

A RANGE of family-friendly activities will be taking place at the Bishop’s Palace in Wells over the school holidays.

The holiday fun kicks off with a “Let’s Bug Out” trail (April 1st–14th) where intrepid explorers can scour the 14 acres of gardens in search of bugs, creepy crawlies and a special prize on completion!

On Tuesday, April 4th and Tuesday, April 11th, storyteller Beth Webb will be asking if creepy crawlies are cute or ugly by telling how a lonely bug with six skinny legs and wiggly things on his head found true love. There’ll be colouring and poetry-writing too.

On Thursday, April 6th and Thursday, April 13th, families are invited to craftie workshops and, for the Easter weekend, (April 8th-10th) a special Easter Egg trail will lead visitors through the gardens looking for hidden Easter eggs.

Raptorcare will be hosting flying falconry displays on Easter Monday at the palace’s popular Medieval Falconry Day. Tony, the master falconer, will be staging displays at 12pm and 3pm which will illustrate how these birds would have been used in medieval times and why.

Family Easter activities are all included in standard admission – pay once for 12 months of return visits on any normal sightseeing day.

Buffet open every Sunday from 10:30 to 15:30

WICKHAM RIDES

Wickham Wednesday trolley rides 5th & 12th

April 10:00 to 15:30

Makeover for station office

VISITORS on the opening day of the season at the Somerset and Dorset heritage railway at Midsomer Norton were greeted by the sight of a refurbished former ticket office and waiting room thanks to the hard work of dedicated trustees and volunteers.

Hot Cross Buns, Easter

Biscuits, Egg Hunt, Punch & Judy on Sunday

Magic Shows on Monday

Check

www.sdjr.co.uk

A new floor has been laid and shopfittings and display units, salvaged from a closed shop in Weston-super-Mare, have been installed. There are also plans to reinstate the ticket office window.

Roger Burfitt, from the trust, said: “It is also a meeting place where volunteers like to congregate, especially on cold winter days when the roaring open fire is especially welcome. In addition, it is a busy corridor to and from the car park and the platform.

“With all this activity in what is a small station building that was never expected to see the volume of visitors who come through, even on days when the trains are not running, it is no wonder that it had become rather tired and shabby.

“All of us on the retail team are delighted to have the shop in pristine condition ready for the new season.”

Does your mother know?

Wells Film Centre and The Bishops Palace are proud to announce details for their seventh joint annual venture, on Friday, April 28th.

Mamma Mia (PG) tells the story of a bride-to-be trying to find her real father told using hit songs by the band.

The palace drawbridge opens at 6.30pm. The pre-show entertainment (to be announced) starts at 8pm followed by the film. Tickets are £25 each and include a hog roast supplied by South Devon Hog Roast, a drink and a goody bag.

Sally Cooper, Wells Film Centre proprietor, said: “We are really excited about returning to The Bishop’s Palace again this year. Tickets have been selling well already and the event looks to be shaping up to be a fun evening.”

l Tickets can be purchased direct from Wells Film Centre daily (1-9pm), over the phone during those time on 01749 673195 or online (24/7) at: www.wellsfilmcentre.co.uk

EASTER AT THE STATION

THE hit film Mamma Mia – featuring songs by the supergroup ABBA – will be the feature of this year’s outdoor cinema event at the Bishop’s Palace in Wells.

Vikki Batten and daughter, Honeysuckle, aged two, prepare to enjoy a Mother’s Day train ride

We’re happy to list entries for non-profit community groups and charity fundraisers free of charge. Please send them written as a succinct single paragraph, in the format below, to annie@mendiptimes.co.uk Entries sent in as posters or which take time to re-write may be charged for at the commercial rate, £25.

Wednesday March 29th

Backwell & Nailsea Macular Support meeting 1.30 pm Backwell WI Hall. Details: Sheila 01275 462107.

The Mendip Society talk: “What the Roman Army got up to on Mendip” by a Roman soldier (aka John Smith) 2pm Priddy Village Hall. All welcome, visitors £3. Details: 01275 472797. Harptrees History Society: The Romans in Somerset, talk by Steve Clews. Visitors welcome £3. 7.30pm West Harptree Memorial Hall BS40 6EG. Booking essential: info@harptreeshistorysociety.org

Thursday March 30th

Spring market, 6.30-9pm Ebdon Arms, WickSt-Lawrence in aid of village church and charities, entry £2. Details: Facebook stlawrencechurch1

Friday March 31st

Cantilena Choir, Faith, Hope and Love, St John’s Church, Glastonbury, 7.30pm. Cash only tickets £12, children £1, on door or Dicketts Stationers. Details: cantachoir1@gmail.com

Somerset Opera “The Gondaliers” by Gilbert & Sullivan, 7.30pm Edington village hall, TA7 9HA. 7.30pm. Tickets £10. Details: 07850 957615.

Bishop Sutton RNLI Quiz 7.30pm village hall. Teams up to six. £10pp incl. light supper. Cash bar. Tickets: 07769 813489 or email: bob.shapland@btinternet.com

Huckyduck Carnival Club Quiz 7 for 7.30pm Coleford Royal British Legion. Teams up to six. £5pp incl. light supper. To book: 01373 814676 or via Facebook.

Saturday April 1st to Tuesday April 4th

Wells: Bishop’s Palace Easter Holiday Trail “Let’s Bug Out”! 9.30am–5.30pm, included with any standard admission. Details: www.bishopspalace.org.uk

Saturday April 1st

Fashion Show 2.30pm Wedmore Bowls Club organised by Wedmore Friends of Weston Hospicecare. Tickets £10, incl cream tea, from 01934 712089.

Family Quiz night 7.30pm Binegar Memorial Hall. Teams of four, £10/team. Cash bar. To book: 07528 169533 or Facebook: Binegar and Gurney Slade Social Fundraisers.

Axbridge Rotary April Fools Quiz, 7.30pm Shipham Village Hall, teams of six, £8pp. BYO drinks. Details: 07828 153390 or 07973 784635.

Wells & District Wildlife Group walk: “Reptile Ramble” on Mendip with John Dickson, 10am-12.

Details: www.wdwg.org.uk or 01749 677600.

Nailsea Lions Sea Shanty concert 7.30pm Holy Trinity Church, Nailsea. £10. Details: 01275 810067 www.TicketSource.co.uk/NailseaLions

Children’s Air Ambulance 10th anniversary family fun day 2pm-10.30pm Tucker’s Grave

Inn, Faulkland. Daytime events free. Evening with the Original Barn Finds, £5. Details: 07936 044846.

Kingston Seymour Market 10am-12pm Village Hall. Butcher, veg. cakes etc. 07525 040472.

Cheddar Spring Fair 10am-1pm Catholic Hall, BS27 3HU. Many local crafts & products. Free entry. Horsebox café!

Sunday April 2nd

Weston Lions Mud Master Challenge: fundraising for local charities: www.mudmaster.co.uk

Tuesday April 4th

The Arts Society Mendip: ‘Picasso and Cubism: Art is a lie by which we understand the truth’ 11am, Croscombe village hall & Zoom. Guests welcome £6. Details: www.theartssocietymendip.org.uk

Yatton Local History Society talk by Clive Burlton about The Matthew of Bristol, 7 30pm Methodist Church. Details: yattonlocalhistorysoc@gmail.com

Bath NATS talk by Chris Vine, “Our Changing Bird Population” 7.30pm BRLI, 16 Queens Square, BA1 2HN. Visitors welcome £4.

Wednesday April 5th

Bereavement Support Keynsham drop-in first Wed every month, 5.30pm-7pm, Baptist Church Hall, High St. A safe place to meet others who are bereaved. Free, with refreshments. Details: 07776 493221 or bereavementkeynsham@gmail.com Backwell & Nailsea support group for carers, games: scrabble, cards, dominoes etc 2pm3.30pm Backwell WI Hall.

Children’s World Easter Event 11-4.30pm Abbey House, Glastonbury. Crafts with YEAST scrap store, entertainment, easter egg hunt, face painting and more.

Thursday April 6th

Folk Session 8.30pm Red Lion, Paulton BS39 7NW. Sing, play a tune or just listen. Free. All welcome. Details: richardlm397@gmail.com Congresbury Gardening Club talk by Derek Dexter on Fuchsias, 7.30pm Methodist Hall. Plant sale. Visitors welcome. www.congresburygardeningclub.com

Good Friday April 7th

Save the Children lunch 12.30pm Shipham village hall, £5.50: soup & hot cross buns. Come and join us!

Saturday April 8th-10th

Harriet Sandys Oriental carpets, kilims and decorative items from Central Asia and India, open days, 2-5pm, The Barn at The Manor House, West Compton, Shepton Mallet BA4 4PB. Details: www.sandysoreintalcarpets.co.uk

Saturday April 8th

Brent Knoll Bazaar, farmer’s market & café 10-12 Brent Knoll Parish Hall.

Kenn Village Market 10am-12 village hall. Monthly café Stanton Drew 10am-12 St Mary

the Virgin Church.

Parkinson’s NW Somerset Support Group meeting, 10.30-12.15, St Francis Church, Nailsea. Coffee, chat, a quiz and bring & buy. Timsbury Gardening Club Spring Show 10am-12 Conygre Hall, BA2 0JQ.

Refreshments. Admission free.

Coleford Rocks Mad Hatters Charity Tea Party 1pm-4, The Hub, Church Street. £5 children, £6 adults. Details on Facebook or email: Colefordrocks@hotmail.com

Congresbury Book Sale 9am-1pm War Memorial Hall. Good quality books etc.

Sunday April 9th – Easter Sunday

Wessex Daffodil Society Show 2-3.30pm Henton Village Hall. Refreshments & raffle.

Classic Car Meet, Cheddar 10am-2, Petruth Paddocks, BS27 3FS. Free entry. No min/max stay. Antony 07831 336444. Facebook Chew Valley Classic Car & Bike.

Monday April 10th – Easter Monday

Folk Session 9pm Queen Victoria, Priddy BA5 3BA. Sing, play a tune or just listen. Free. All welcome. Details: richardlm397@gmail.com

Medieval Falconry Day at the Bishop’s Palace. Displays 12pm & 3pm.Included with standard admission. Details: www.bishopspalace.org.uk

Congresbury Memorial Hall Club Friendship evening with bingo, 8pm War Memorial Hall. Visitors welcome.

Tuesday April 11th

Frome Selwood Horticultural Society Quiz Night 7.30pm Critchill School BA11 4LD. Details 07776 208531 or jane.norris9@gmail.com

Fosseway Gardening Club talk: Square Metre Gardening by Claire Hart, 7.30 Pylle Village Hall. Visitors £2 incl. refreshments. Details: Jill 07772 008594.

Shipham, Rowberrow & Star History Society

“How I became a 16th century kitchen maid” by Kay Wych, 7.30pm Shipham Village Hall, BS25 1SG. Visitors welcome £4. Details: 01934 260784.

Timsbury Gardening club talk: Garden Disasters by Neil Ross 7.30pm Conygre Hall BA2 0JQ. Visitors welcome, £2.

Wednesday April 12th

Weston-s-Mare Family History Group talk by Lynda Hutchkiss: “Background to nursery rhymes & stories” 2.30pm Lady of Lourdes Church Hall, Baytree Rd, BS22 8HQ.

Blagdon Local History Society talk by Peter Glanville on Mendip cave systems feeding Cheddar springs, 7.30pm Court Lodge (next to village stores). Visitors welcome, £2.50. Details: jackykerly@gmail.com

Kilmersdon Gardeners visit to Old Manor Garden nr Frome. All welcome. Details: www.kilmersdongardeners.org

Thursday April 13th

Wells Gardening Club, hydrangeas with Sally Gregson, 7.30pm Wells Town Hall. Details:

UIDEFOR A PRIL 2023

www.wellsgarden.club

Friday April 14th

Avon Wildlife Trust ‘Working Together for Food Justice’ with Ped Askarian, 7.30pm Baptist Church Hall, High St, Keynsham. Members £3, Visitors £4.

The Mendip Society AGM 2.30pm St James’ Church Hall, Winscombe followed by a talk by Nick Green.

Open-Mic night from 7pm Redhill Village Club BS40 5SG. Details: 01934 862619.

Frome Third Age talk by Michael Danson ‘Antarctica – my journeys to the deep south’, 2pm the Assembly Rooms. Details: www.fromethirdage.com

Saturday April 15th

Claverham Market 10am-12pm Village Hall. Butcher, veg. crafts etc. 01934 830553.

Timsbury Tabletop Sale, 10am-3.30pm Conygre Hall, raising funds for St Mary’s Church. Raffle & refreshments. Entry free. £10 to book a table: 01761 471318.

Panta-Rei dance company from Norway, 7.30pm Croscombe Village Hall £12/£9 (Family 2+3: £35) Details: www.takeart.org

Nempnett Thrubwell Quiz 7.30pm, teams of four, £15 incl. hot supper. BYO drinks. Details: James 07767 244312 or nempnett88@gmail.com

Saturday April 15th – Sun April 16th

RSPCA pop-up shop with lots of bargain buys!

11am to 3pm, RSPCA Brent Knoll Animal Centre, TA9 4B. Details: dawn.pawlett@rspcanorthsomerset.org.uk

Sunday April 16th

Coffee Morning 10am-12 Tunley Recreation Centre, BA2 0DZ

Classic Car Meet Cheddar 10am-2pm Petruth Paddocks, BS27 3FS. Free entry. No min/max stay. Antony 07831 336444. Facebook Chew Valley Classic Car & Bike.

Cheddar Reservoir: Mendip Hills Area SWT walk. Meet 10am Sharpham Rd car park.

Details: www.somersetwildlife.org/events

Monday April 17th

Nailsea & District Local History Society talk: “Grandma’s Garden” 7.45pm Nailsea School.

Details: www.ndlhs.org.uk

Timsbury NATS talk by Kathy Farrell, “A

Wildlife Journey through Florida” 7.30pm Conygre Hall, BA2 0JQ. Visitors welcome £3, U16s free.

Chew Valley U3A 10am Ubley parish hall, Brian Zimmerman from Bristol Zoo.

Tuesday April 18th

Surveying for Reptiles & Amphibians talk by John Dickson for Mendip Hills area SWT, 7.30pm Cheddar Pavilion. Details: www.somersetwildlife.org/events

RAFA Mid-Somerset branch visit to Boscombe Down aviation museum, Old Sarum. Meet 10am for coffee then pub lunch at the Old Castle Harvester Inn. Details: 01458 224057 or Salisbury.rafa.midsomerset@gmail.com

Congresbury Singers start rehearsing again! 7.30pm War Memorial Hall – all welcome, no audition. Details: 07803 040175,

congresburysingers@gmail.com

Wells & District Wildlife Group: Herbal Walk, 7pm to 9pm walk through country lanes with medical herbalist Bett Partridge. Details: www.wdwg.org.uk or 01749 677600.

Wednesday April 19th

Friends of Weston Museum talk: “Trenches to Trams – the life of a Bristol Tommy” by Clive Burlton, 2.30pm Weston Museum, BS23 1PR. Members £1, visitors £3. Details: www.facebook.com/groups/friendsofthemuseum wsm

Henton & District Gardening Club “Slightly Naughty Plants” by Steve Fry of Castle Gardens, Sherborne. 7.30pm Henton Village Hall (3139) Visitors welcome, £5. Details: 01749 674767 or hentongardenclub.weebly.com

Thursday April 20th

Yatton & District Horticultural Society talk Elizabeth Holman “52 weeks of colour in your garden” 8pm Hangstones Pavilion, BS49 4HS. Shipham & District Gardening Club, talk on Climate Change Gardening by Sally Morgan, 7.30pm Shipham Village Hall, BS25 1SG. All welcome.

Friday April 21st

Save the Children lunch 12.30pm Shipham village hall, £5. Come and join us! Somerset Art Works creative director Carol Carey talk at Bridgwater Arts Centre, 10am, tickets £5 for Chandos Society members, £10 guests, for SAW’s charity work.

Saturday April 22nd

Congresbury Book Sale 9am-1pm War Memorial Hall. Good quality books etc. Whitchurch Art Club Spring Exhibition

10am-4pm Royal British Legion, Charlton Rd, Keynsham BS31 2JA. We meet every Thurs 79pm, all welcome to join! Details: avril.csve@gmail.com

Tong Brothers, Piano Duo Churchill Music

19.30 St John the Baptist Church, BS25 5QW. Details: www.churchillmusic.org.uk Tunley Quiz night 7.30pm Recreation Centre, BA2 0DZ. £10pp incl food. Bar. Details: 07849 618221.

Charity concert: Welsh choir Cantorian

Creigiau with Bristol Military Wives choir

7.30pm St John’s Church, Keynsham. Tickets £10 from: rob@chelwoodbridgerotary.com

Windsor’s Royal Free Singers 6pm St Mary's Church Wedmore. Free, retiring collection for the Friends of St Mary’s. Details: 07710 079977.

Somerset group of the Hardy Plant Society annual plant fair, 10am-2.30pm West Monkton village hall, Monkton Heathfield. Entry £1. The Quorum Trio 7.30pm, St Mary’s Church, Yatton, Tickets £10, details: www.yms.org.uk Banwell Charities Day with: Hearing Dogs for the Deaf, Young Lives vs. Cancer, Cheddar Lions, Prickles Hedgehogs, National Autistic Society, Diabetes UK and others, 10am-2pm Banwell Scout Hut (carpark opp. primary school). Entry free, refreshments. Details: Laura 01934 863679.

Spoken word open mic night 8pm Strode

Theatre Foyer, Church Rd, Street. Free. Part of Strode Mini-Book Fest. To enter: openmic.strodebookfest@gmail.com

Concert. Solomon. First performance of 2023 season by Bath Recitals charity. Bath Abbey, 7.30pm. Tickets £15-£35 from: www.bathboxoffice.org.uk or 01225 463362.

Monday April 24th

Mendip Folk Dance Club, 8pm-10, St James Church Centre Winscombe BS25 1AQ. No experience needed. Details: 01934 742853. Wessex Stationary Engine Club meeting 8pm Old Down Inn, Emborough.

Congresbury Memorial Hall Club Friendship evening with bingo, 8pm War Memorial Hall. Visitors welcome.

Winscombe Probus talk by Terry Ransome about Yuri Gargarin, 10.30am Winscombe Community Centre. Guests welcome.

Tuesday April 25th

Chilcompton Gardening Club, talk by Gill Hazell “So you think you know Gladiolus!” 7.30pm village hall, BA3 4EX.

Wednesday April 26th

Folk Session 8.45pm City Arms, Wells. Sing, play a tune or just listen. Free. All welcome. Details: richardlm397@gmail.com

Harptrees History Society, Gina MerrettSmith on “The intrepid Marianne North –remarkable Victorian botanical artist” 7.30pm West Harptree Memorial Hall BS40 6EG. Visitors welcome £3. Booking essential:info@harptreeshistorysociety.org

Backwell & Nailsea Macular Support meeting 1.30 pm Backwell WI Hall. Details: Sheila, 01275 462107.

Thursday April 27th

Cheddar Valley U3A day trip to Stratfordupon-Avon. Details: Margaret 01934 744241 or Mary 01934 743025.

Saturday April 29th

Richard Lennox concert 12 All Saints’ church, WSM, BS23 2NL. Tickets £12 on door, incl. light lunch.

Chelvey Coffee Morning with stalls and an organ recital by Jean Routley, 10am-12 St Bridget’s. Park in Chelvey Court paddock.

Sunday April 30th

Shepton Mallet Spring Market 10am-3pm Market Place, BA4 5AZ. Live music, street food, parking free!

Classic Car Meet, Cheddar 10am-2, Petruth Paddocks, BS27 3FS. Free entry. No min/max stay. Antony 07831 336444. Facebook Chew Valley Classic Car & Bike.

Monday May 1st – Bank Holiday

Shipham & District Gardening Club plant sale on the village green 1pm to 4pm.

Tuesday May 2nd

Yatton Local History Society talk by Jonathon Holt on Architectural Follies of Bristol & Somerset, 7.30pm Methodist Church. Details: yattonlocalhistorysoc@gmail.com

The Arts Society Mendip: ‘A brief history of Bookbinding’ 11am, Croscombe village hall & Zoom. Guests welcome £6. Details: www.theartssocietymendip.org.uk

Floral fun for Easter

FLORIST Jennifer Owen is to officially open her new Goldfinch Floral Studio shop and studio space at Rookery Farm at Binegar with a weekend of family-friendly activities.

Jen is hosting Drop in and Play spring bulb workshops on Good Friday, April 7th and Saturday, April 8th to welcome people to her new venture.

Originally from Cheddar, Jen retrained as a florist in 2019 after a successful creative career with businesses including Clarks and Ecco and began working from home in Wells.

But demand for her work – she specialises in weddings, funerals and gift bouquets – increased so much that she began looking for a dedicated space where she could open her first shop and have room to run workshops and events.

The former wine shop and delicatessen next to Hartley’s Café Bistro has proved ideal and Jen hopes other craft people might want to rent the workshop space to hold their own – not necessarily floral classes – there.

She said: “It’s exciting to have my first shop but I really hope this becomes an exciting and vibrant creative space.”

The workshops cost £7.50 per person. For details, visit: www.goldfinchfloralstudio.co.uk

Win a free day out at the Royal Bath & West Show

WILL you find a Golden Ticket to the Royal Bath & West Show 2023 and win a FREE family day?

Royal Bath & West Show organisers have hidden 50 golden tickets in selected local shops across Somerset and Dorset. Each ticket has a unique code on the reverse, which the lucky winner can redeem for a family ticket to this year’s show.

The lucky winners will be able to enjoy everything which the Royal Bath & West Show has to offer, including the Imps Motorcycle Display Team, Pawsability Dog Agility Display and live cooking demonstrations with celebrity chefs. There will also be regular favourites such as the sheep show, heavy horses, vintage vehicles, and the Bath & West train!

Jess Chiplen, Deputy Head of Shows, said: “Following the success of last year’s Platinum Ticket giveaway, we are really excited to launch our Golden Ticket giveaway for 2023. Working closely with local businesses who support the show, we are delighted to offer 50 lucky winners a free family day out at what we’re sure will be an unforgettable show. Good luck to everyone, and happy hunting!”

The locations where you may be lucky enough to find a golden ticket are: Thorner’s of Somerset, Mole Valley Farmers (Yeovil, Frome and Bridgwater Stores only), Lilley’s Cider and Hall & Woodhouse. The full Terms and Conditions, including a full list of locations, can be found at: www.bathandwest.com/competitions

Golden Tickets will be available to find from April 3rd. For details about the show, visit: www.bathandwest.com

Jen Owen – she has opened her first outlet at Rookery Farm

Fun in the sun at the Royal Bath & West Show