Issue 9 - Volume 14 - Mendip Times

Mendip Times

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VOLUME 14 ISSUE 9

FREE

Celebrating life on the Mendips and surrounding areas

FEBRUARY 2019

IN THIS ISSUE: • ARTS & ANTIQUES • JACE’S JOURNEY • WASSAIL • RUGBY • RIDING

WIN TICKETS TO THE WEST OF ENGLAND GAME FAIR

Local people, local history, local places, local events and local news

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MENDIP TIMES

CONTENTS

Welcome

WASSAILING and snowdrops have heralded the start of a new year and we have been out enjoying both.

Sport and the great outdoors also feature strongly this month, with Chew Valley Rugby celebrating its 50th anniversary with a push for the league title.

Phil Hendy explores the caves of Hutton Hill, Sue Gearing takes us walking around Blagdon Lake and our cycling expert Edmund Lodite tackles Mendip’s steepest climb.

We hear why a five-year-old was the star at Street FC and also drop in on the more sedentary sport of tiddlywinks.

Gerald Creed and Rachel Clark are among the fundraisers featured in our charity section, while our Reader’s Opinion this month looks at child poverty and the expansion of Bristol Airport.

Mary Payne has a guide to spring planting, while Rachel Thompson gives us her thoughts on riding elegance.

We look ahead to the next big race meet at Wincanton, a curtain-raiser to the Cheltenham Festival.

With the West of England Game Fair just around the corner, we offer you the chance to win tickets.

Welcome to another rich slice of Mendip life!

March 2019 deadline: Friday, 15th February 2019.

Published: Tuesday, 26th February 2019.

Editorial: Steve Egginton steve@mendiptimes.co.uk Mark Adler mark@mendiptimes.co.uk Advertising: Ann Quinn advertising@mendiptimes.co.uk Rachael Abbott rachael@mendiptimes.co.uk Publisher: Mendip Times Limited Coombe Lodge, Blagdon, Somerset BS40 7RG Contacts: For all enquiries, telephone:

01761 463888

or: email news@mendiptimes.co.uk or: letters@mendiptimes.co.uk www.mendiptimes.co.uk Design and origination by: Steve Henderson Printed by: Precision Colour Printing, Haldane, Halesfield 1, Telford, Shropshire TF7 4QQ Copyright of editorial content held by Mendip Times Ltd. and its contributors. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the express permission of the Publisher. The views expressed in this publication do not necessarily represent those of the publisher or its associates.

Front cover: Jace leads out The Cobblers.

Photograph by Mark Adler. See page 90.

8

Taking to the streets – climate change protesters

12

Blessing the orchards – wassail tradition lives on

47

Hoopla – artists create bodies of work for charity

89

Shooting star – Chloe wins a car in national competition Plus all our regular features Environment ...................................6 Farming Mary James MBE ..........10 Food & Drink ...............................14 Arts & Antiques ...........................24 Business.........................................30 Internet and Crossword ..............40 Charities........................................42 Wildlife Chris Sperring MBE .......49 Walking Sue Gearing ....................50 Outdoors Les Davies MBE ..........52

Gardening Mary Payne MBE.......54 Education ......................................64 Caving Phil Hendy ........................68 Health Dr Phil Hammond .............70 Community ...................................73 Homes and Interiors ....................79 Music & Theatre ..........................83 Riding Rachel Thompson MBE.....86 Sport ..............................................88 What’s On.....................................94 MENDIP TIMES • FEBRUARY 2019 • PAGE 3

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Our Services Include: Commercial and Residential Property Wills and Probate Litigation and Personal Injury Criminal and Family Law Agricultural, Business and Commercial Employment Shepton Mallet: 57 High Street, Shepton Mallet, Somerset, BA4 5AQ. Tel: 01749 330330

January is almost over, the days are getting slightly longer and the Spring Equinox is only a couple of months away.

The first two months of the year are often a quiet time for residential conveyancing, but the property market seems to have sprung to life very early this year with plenty of new transactions coming in already.

Most people are thoroughly fed up of hearing about Brexit and, sensibly, have decided that life will go on after March 29th regardless of the eventual outcome.

As we never tire of reminding readers of Mendip Times, anyone who does not have an up to date Will or Lasting Power of Attorney should take immediate steps to put that right.

With that in mind you may wish to know that our Cheddar office will, once again, be participating in the Weston Hospicecare “Make a Will Week” from 11th – 15th February. Under the scheme we will prepare a certain number of simple Wills and donate our fee to Weston Hospicecare to help with the excellent end of life care that they provide to sick people so that is a really good reason to do it now.

Numbers are limited so if you wish to participate please book your appointment well ahead. Also, if you haven’t visited for a while, please remember that we have moved to new, purpose-built premises adjoining the Post Office in Bath Street.

Castle Cary: e Old Exchange, Church Street, Castle Cary, Somerset, BA7 7EJ. Tel: 01963 350888

Cheddar: Bath Street Chambers, Bath Street, Cheddar, Somerset, BS27 3AA. Tel: 01934 745400

Website: www.bgw-solicitors.co.uk

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MENDIP TIMES

Building for the future

PROPOSALS have been unveiled to build a new 420-pupil primary school in Somerton.

Somerset County An impression of how the new school might look Council is to consult on a proposal to build the 14-class school on councilowned land off Northfields. It would replace both the existing King Ina Academy sites at Etsome Terrace and School Lane and will include a double nursery.

Contractor BAM Construction has been awarded the contract.

The planning application will be submitted to South Somerset District Council in February. The aim is to open the school by September 2020.

Faye Purbrick, the council’s cabinet member for education and transformation, said: “This is a much-needed replacement school to serve Somerton for generations to come. The existing sites are at capacity and cannot accommodate the growing needs of the town and surrounding villages.”

The consultation event takes place at King Ina Junior Academy on Thursday, January 31st from 3.15pm to 6.30pm.

Take the sugar challenge

BATH and North East Somerset Council is searching for families who want to reduce their sugar intake and would like support in making healthier choices.

Its public health team is now looking for two families, one from the BA2 area covering Farmborough, Timsbury, Peasedown St John, Wellow, Hinton Charterhouse, Norton St Philip, Freshford, Limpley Stoke, and one from Radstock or Westfield, with children under the age of 16 who would like help to reduce their sugar intake while sharing their story and top tips with other residents throughout their experience.

They will receive support and guidance from community dietitian and health improvement practitioners from Virgin Care over an eight-week period and be given the opportunity to take part in cookery sessions.

Councillor Vic Pritchard, cabinet member for adult care, health and wellbeing, said: “We all eat way too much sugar.

The recommended maximum daily amount of added sugar is seven-and- a-half teaspoons for adults and between three to six teaspoons for children depending on their age, but on average we consume three times this amount. This has serious implications for our health. Our SUGAR SMART family will receive professional advice and support. We hope that by sharing their experience they will encourage others to challenge themselves to be SUGAR SMART and make healthier swaps.” l For details email SugarSmart@bathnes.gov.uk with your name and contact telephone number. For handy hints and information on how to reduce the amount of sugar in your families diet visit: http://po.st/C4LBT

NEWS

Heritage railway praised

A moment of railway history: (front l:r) Stephen Boyce, Lisa Pool, project manager Gary Amos and chairman of trustees Dick Masters with some of the railway volunteers

THE chairman of the Heritage Lottery Fund in the South West has praised the work of the team at the East Somerset Railway at Cranmore after opening their new discovery centre.

The centre has been created in a replica waiting room on the “down line” platform and marks a major milestone in the railway’s long-term ambition to have trains serving both platforms. The original waiting room was demolished more than 50 years ago.

Key to the discovery centre are a series of interpretation panels featuring memories of people who lived and worked alongside the line when it was operational.

The HLF donated £46,500 towards the project. South West HLF committee chairman Stephen Boyce said the oral history project is a vital part of the role the railway has to play in the heritage of East Mendip. He added: “The enthusiasm and skill of the volunteers captured people’s stories and how their lives were affected by the railway.”

The stories were collated by Lisa Pool, the railways education officer, who hopes the new centre will attract more school parties as well as adult visitors. She said: “Their memories provide an external link with the station which might otherwise have been lost. We are still getting people coming forward with their memories.”

The centre will recognise the pivotal role played by the late artist and steam enthusiast David Shepherd in establishing the railway and will be named The David Shepherd Discovery Centre. A stone plaque has been commissioned as part of the project to commemorate David's legacy.

A full inauguration of the building will be held after the new operational season begins in March, to unveil the plaque and fully open the centre to the general public.

HLF south west chairman Stephen Boyce and Dick Masters on a GWR bench on the down platform which is being restored

For details about the railway, visit: www.eastsomersetrailway.com

MENDIP TIMES • FEBRUARY 2019 • PAGE 5

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MENDIP TIMES

Go ahead for coastal link

PLANS to join up a coastal walking and cycling route from Brean to Clevedon have been given the green light by North Somerset Council.

The council’s planning and regulatory committee has approved plans – as reported in December’s Mendip Times – to build a 1.4 km shared use walking and cycling path at Tutshill Sluice, linking Kingston Seymour and Wick St Lawrence. The plans also include a new bridge over the Congresbury Yeo river and a replica of the former Wick St Lawrence Station Halt building.

The path, which follows a section of old railway line, will enable cyclists and walkers to cross the Congresbury Yeo, providing a quiet route between Clevedon and Weston-superMare.

Information boards along the route will give details about the history of the area, the lowlands that the sluice gates protect and local wildlife.

Young photographers

THE theme of Rotary’s young photographer competition was The Beauty of Nature. Nailsea School winners Ciaran Sharp and Amelie Peace now go forward to the district final. They were presented with their awards by Peter Hoare, chairman of Nailsea and Backwell Rotary’s youth and vocational committee.

Big garden birdwatch

THE RSPB’s Big Garden Birdwatch is celebrating 40 years, with 130 million birds counted since 1979. It takes place from January 26th-28th.

Hundreds of thousands of people have volunteered their time providing the RSPB with over eight million hours of monitoring garden birds.

Morwenna Alldis, spokesperson for RSPB Somerset, said: “Thank you to everyone in Somerset who has taken part in our Big Garden Birdwatch over the last 40 years.

Your surveys have helped us create a detailed picture of how our UK garden wildlife is doing and how we can help those species that are most in need.

“Your records are vital to our work and alerted us to a 57% drop in the number of house sparrows since the survey began in 1979. Thankfully, through targeting our conservation, and by you giving more nature a home in your Somerset gardens, in the last decade (2009-2018) their rate of decline has slowed and they have actually increased by 17%.”

To mark the event in Somerset, the RSPB South West is encouraging participants to share their Big Garden Birdwatch stories. How will you #BigGardenBirdWatch? will showcase some of the best examples of how people take part from building their own birdwatching den, baking birdseed cakes and dressing up as Batman to see Robin.

Share your stories and photos on Facebook/RSPBSW or Twitter @RSPBSouthWest – and you may find yourself a star of their social media pages!

The public is asked to spend just one hour watching and recording the birds in their garden or local green space, then send their results to the RSPB. Close to half-amillion people join in the Birdwatch every year.

As well as counting birds, the RSPB is once again asking participants to log some of the other wildlife they have seen throughout the year, particularly badger, fox, grey squirrel, red squirrel, muntjac deer, roe deer, frog and toad.

Details: www.rspb.org.uk/birdwatch

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ENVIRONMENT

Somerset beekeepers and Yeo Valley unite to save pollinators SOMERSET Beekeepers’ Association and Yeo Valley are working together to help save pollinators from the threat of highly destructive Asian hornets.

Yeo Valley has donated more than £3,500 to local beekeepers which will fund county-wide Asian hornet action teams.

The money was raised by visitors to the company’s gardens where hundreds of crocheted bees were displayed among the flowers. The crocheted bees were made by a group of “yarn-bombers” in the village.

Anne Pike, chairman of Somerset Beekeepers’ Association, said: “One of our roles as a charity is to help protect honeybees and we will be directing these most welcome funds to safeguarding bees and all pollinators against the threat of Asian hornets.”

Asian hornets are a non-native species which is colonising parts of Europe and is responsible for the loss of hundreds of millions of honeybees. Although Asian hornets in the UK have only been recorded on a few occasions, it is feared

numbers will inevitably increase.

In the spring the association will watch for Asian hornets which may have overwintered or been brought into the country from parts of Europe where they thrive. Sightings are reported to the NonNative Species Secretariat which deploys bee inspectors to find and destroy nests.

Sarah Mead from Yeo Valley said: “It is so important to raise awareness of the imminent danger to our bees and pollinators from the Asian Hornet. Until I met Anne Pike from Somerset Beekeepers Association I had no idea how serious the situation could become.

“None of this fundraising would have happened without the fabulous ‘Blagsaey’ yarn-bombers whose swarm of crocheted bees appeared at Yeo Valley Organic garden as if by magic. I would like to thank all our visitors who raised an incredible £3,692 for their generosity.”

Anne Pike added: “In the coming months we will be working with Yeo Valley to raise awareness of Asian hornets with their customers and staff. One in three mouthfuls of the food we eat is

Sarah Mead with some of the Blagdon bees

pollinated by bees and other insects and by coming together like this we will all be helping the county’s bees to continue their invaluable activities.”

Details: https://www.somersetbeekeepers.org.uk/

Talking about nature

NATURE expert and TV presenter Mike Dilger will be joining forces with Chew Valley Birdgirl Mya-Rose Craig to give an entertaining evening talk on February 9th at Compton Martin village hall.

Mike, who is well known as the nature expert on BBC1’s The One Show, will talk about The Trials and Tribulations of a Wildlife Presenter.

Mya-Rose, aged 16, will be supporting Mike with a captivating talk, Born to Bird, as she hopes to become the youngest person in the world to see 5,000 birds – almost half the world’s birds.

Her most recent award was the 2018 UK Gilbert White Youth Award for Biological Recording, for bird ringing, nest recording surveys and bio-blitzes which she does at Chew Valley Lake and in her garden in Compton Martin.

The evening event will raise funds for Black2Nature, which Mya-Rose set up when she was just 13 to increase the engagement of Visible Minority Ethnic (VME) people and those from the inner city with nature and the environment.

She said: “These children have often never seen a cow or sheep or even stroked a dog. We have never had a child or teenager attend one of our camps who did not engage with nature in some way.”

Details: tickets £9.99 for adults and £6 for under-18s available from Compton Martin and Chew Magna post offices or on Eventbrite (https://bit.ly/2zsdqx8)

MENDIP TIMES • FEBRUARY 2019 • PAGE 7

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MENDIP TIMES

It’s great outdoors

LOCAL co-operative Shared Earth Learning in Frome has been funded by the Big Lottery and will use this money to expand the offer of taking part in its project Horticulture through Forest School to anyone who needs it.

The course is now entering its third year. After working predominantly with teenagers from local schools it says it became apparent that the need for outdoor activities for all ages is great in Frome.

Co-director Alex Hart said: “The benefits of being outside and not only engaging with others, but with wildlife and nature are huge and we’re really excited to be able to offer a day a week of activities such as gardening, foraging, whittling, cooking or simply being outdoors, to anyone who feels they would benefit from it.

“Training up local people also enables Frome to make better use of its green spaces and achieve better health outcomes.”

Details: sharedearthlearning@gmail.com

A peaceful protest – Glastonbury style

Time to bid for a share of £300,000

ENVIRONMENT

THE Prince’s Countryside Fund is open for grant applications until Thursday, February 21st.

The fund gives out grants twice a year and projects in rural areas across the UK can apply for funding of up to £50,000 in the spring round of funding.

Set up in 2010 by HRH The Prince of Wales, the charity aims to improve the prospects of viability for rural communities and farm businesses. Every year the fund gives out more than £1 million in funding and can support projects for up to three years.

The fund aims to support projects that achieve the following: • Sustaining rural communities • Improving the prospects of viability for farm and rural businesses • Supporting aid delivery in emergency and building resilience Claire Saunders, director of The Prince’s Countryside Fund said: “Our grants help to support a diverse range of projects often delivered by local organisations, such as training vouchers for young farmers, equipment for local abattoirs, overheads and staffing costs for farmer led networks, village shops and pubs, and development schemes for rural businesses.

“We give out more than £1 million in funding each year and are very keen to hear from projects of all types in our rural areas.”

For details, visit: www.princescountrysidefund.org.uk/grants

The protest in the High Street

SEVERAL hundred people marched through Glastonbury to protest about the impact of climate change on the environment.

Under the banner of Extinction Rebellion, they staged a mock funeral procession to highlight the threat to animal species, symbolically placing toy animals in a coffin before parading it around town.

Supporters of the movement are hoping that Glastonbury Town Council will in February follow Frome and declare a “Climate Emergency”. There, the council has pledged to ensure the town becomes carbon neutral by 2030, replacing the existing pledge which was aiming for 2046. Mendip District Council is due to discuss a similar proposal by the Green Party the same month.

Some of the demonstrators were on horse and cart PAGE 8 • MENDIP TIMES • FEBRUARY 2019

Wellhouse is a joint effort The restored wellhouse is a popular local landmark

AN historic wellhouse – the highest in Glastonbury – has been restored thanks to a collective effort by the town’s conservation society and its In Bloom committee.

The well sits at the top of the Old Wells Road in the Windmill Hill area and had been deteriorating in recent years; it was last used in the 1960s.

Members of the Glastonbury Conservation Society adopted the well for one of their most recent projects, rebuilding some of the masonry and repairing the ironwork. The wellhouse – thought to be more than 150 years old – will now be maintained by Glastonbury in Bloom. A planter has been installed and there are plans for a commemorative plaque to be unveiled later this year.

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MENDIP TIMES

Getting to grips with rubbish

With MARY JAMES MBE

MY subject matter this month revolves around four things, farm waste, food waste, rubbish and recycling. They are not exactly riveting subjects but most important ones.

Look at farm waste first. By farm waste I mean the black plastic (and the coloured) used to wrap bales of hay, silage or haylage or to line silage pits. Then there are miles of string and netting and bags that carry animal

feed and fertiliser.

Action has been taken to reduce this waste across the country and we have, in the Mendip area, a farmer who has made a business of collecting this waste, sorting and baling it into one tonne bales then delivering to special depots.

Unfortunately, across the country this has come to a halt as China particularly, and Malaysia have stopped taking this waste from the UK and no-one seems to know why. Terry King (King Waste) tells me he has appealed to North East Somerset MP Jacob Rees-Mogg to try to find the answer. Meanwhile mountains of farm waste are backing up on farms and depots. Recycling black plastic is a real problem.

Farmers have done automatic recycling for centuries. Manure from livestock goes back on the land to produce more grass. On totally integrated farms – and we have some locally – it is a case of spreading manure on the land to produce grass for the cows

FARMING whose milk goes to produce cheese where the waste product, whey, goes to feed the pigs and the manure from the pigs goes back on the land. Food waste in this country is an absolute scandal. Evidently in most developed countries over half of all food waste takes place in the home! Food waste at the retail store level is less than 2% of total food waste, though supermarket practices are directly responsible for much of the food waste elsewhere in the supply chain. Remember the time that farmers who spent time and money to grow cauliflowers for instance were forced to plough the crop back into the land because the supermarket did not want them.

What about the rubbish issue? A visitor to North Somerset declared she had never seen so much rubbish in the hedges and on the roadside plus rubbish dumped in country lanes and in farmers’ fields. Councils are supposed to collect from public places but cuts in their budgets are restricting that. Farmers have to pay to get rid of those sofas and mattresses, builders’ waste and a whole variety of other items.

To cap it all I am told that the plastic we sort at home and put in our boxes ends up in landfill. What a mess – excuse the pun. Now for something more rural and interesting. On Sunday, February 17th there will be a hedge laying competition and vintage tractor run/display at the Royal Bath and West Showground. Hedge layers can enter Class 1; Open or Class 2: Amateur, with a prize for the best over 60 entrant.

For more information and entry forms email: secretary@midsomersetshow.org.uk or call 01749 938044.

Young farmers back charity

Your main Kubota dealer for Somerset and South Gloucester Main Road A370, Hewish, Weston-super-Mare BS24 6SE

PAGE 10 • MENDIP TIMES • FEBRUARY 2019

KIND-hearted Somerset young farmers clubs have raised an astonishing £4,250 solely through carol singing and other events in December.

This money will be distributed locally to charities of their choice.

North Somerset YFC got into the community Weston & Banwell young farmers club chairman Ben Stevens spirit with their local presenting an achievement church at Kingston certificate to club member Jessica Seymour. Harry Billing Watts at a recent meeting reported that four members took part in readings with the whole club in attendance. The club then provided the refreshments back at Kingston Seymour village hall for the congregation to enjoy.

Wedmore YFC held a Christmas bingo at Blackford village hall, which was well supported, and they had a club promotional stand at the Wedmore by Lamplight shopping evening in December.

Other events were held by clubs in Bridgwater, Highbridge, Kingsbrompton, Langport, Polden Hills, Wellington, Taunton, Williton and Rodway YFC based at Bridgwater & Taunton College Cannington.

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MENDIP TIMES

Wrington Dickensian Fair

Chaps in charge of the hog roast MC Jeremy Birkett

Wrington school choir

Yeo Explorer Scouts

Blagdon Wassail

Dancing before the walk to the orchard

Somerset Morris with Wassail Queen Sarah Buffey-Hichins and her dog Yoda

Alan Barwick was on shotgun duty PAGE 12 • MENDIP TIMES • FEBRUARY 2019

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EVENTS

Druids lead abbey wassail

WASSAILERS took part in a traditional ceremony in the orchard at Glastonbury Abbey led by members of Ashgrove Druids.

The ceremony was quieter than other wassails with the Somerset-based druids – members of the Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids – preferring drums, voices and blessings to shotguns.

Ashgrove Druids in the abbey orchard

Passing round the cider

Wassail, druid-style

The procession makes its way round the orchard

Priddy celebrates

The Federation of Priddy and St Lawrence’s schools had a busy week leading up to the Christmas holidays with festive plays and a carol service for all the children, parents and staff in Priddy church.

MENDIP TIMES • FEBRUARY 2019 • PAGE 13

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MENDIP TIMES

Pancakes and true love

THERE may be terrible weather out there, but in here we have lovely things to eat!

A hearty soup is bubbling, full of warming goodness; February 2nd is the Feast of With JUNE Candlemas (and in Brittany MACFARLANE they will be eating buckwheat pancakes); and mid-month we have our own feast for St Valentine’s Day, a celebration of the heart and the cocoa bean.

Snuggle up!

BUCKWHEAT PANCAKES

If chocolate be the food of love . . .

On the Feast of Candlemas in Brittany people take their candles to church to be blessed and the traditional meal is filled buckwheat pancakes, or galettes. Any sort of savoury filling works, but I like smoked ham and Gruyère cheese. You could also try spinach and egg, or cheese and tomato.

METHOD Beat together the flour, salt, egg and (Serves four) 150ml milk. Stir in 100g buckwheat flour the rest of the milk.

Pinch of salt Refrigerate 1 egg overnight. Melt the 300ml milk butter and add to 50g butter the batter. Lightly Oil oil a frying pan 8 thin slices cooked and get it hot. ham Pour a glug of 2 large handfuls cheese batter into the pan Parsley and swirl around.

Cook until tiny holes appear on the surface. Turn pancake and cook the other side. Keep between layers of waxed paper while you cook the rest.

Preheat oven to 180°C. Put two slices of ham in the centre of a pancake, cover with cheese and fold over the sides to make a square. Place on an oven tray and heat for about eight minutes to melt the cheese. Scatter chopped parsley over and serve hot.

INGREDIENTS

French flair with these pancakes

PAGE 14 • MENDIP TIMES • FEBRUARY 2019

CHOCOLATE BARK

February 14th, St Valentine’s Day, marks the next great chocolate occasion. This is an easy gift for all your true loves, or the perfect finish to a romantic meal. Use any toppings you like. Mine include pomegranate seeds for jewels.

300g good dark chocolate Pistachio nuts, sunflower seeds, semi-dried apricots etc chopped.

INGREDIENTS

METHOD Line a medium baking tray with greaseproof paper. Melt the chocolate slowly over barely simmering water.

Pour on to tray and scatter fruit and nuts over. Refrigerate. When completely cold break into shards to serve, or package in cellophane bags as presents.

VEGETABLE SOUP WITH BEANS

Make this basic soup fresh with any sort of vegetables and add more to keep it interesting.

METHOD Chop the onions and carrots and sweat in the olive oil; chop tomatoes and add with the bay leaves. Add the beans and cover with stock.

Simmer. Taste and season. Add the greens and parsley. When greens are tender serve with a scattering of Parmesan and good bread.

INGREDIENTS

Beans means – soup; hearty and full of goodness

(Serves four) 2 onions 2 carrots 2 tbsp olive oil 4 ripe tomatoes 2 bay leaves 2 handfuls pre-cooked borlotti beans Vegetable stock Large handful shredded greens Fresh parsley Parmesan cheese

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What’s new from

Myrtle Farm

Join the Weston Hospicecare Men’s March

FOOD & DRINK

A round-up of events from Thatchers Cider in Sandford

DON’T forget to check out the very first Weston Hospice Care Men’s March, a 10-mile sponsored walk, which starts and finishes at Weston’s Grand Pier on 9th March. You can sign up here: http://www.westonhospicecare.org.uk/ mensmarch/ The walk finishes with a pint of Thatchers Gold and the chance to watch England’s penultimate Six Nations match v Italy.

WASSAIL season is upon us.

From us all at Myrtle Farm we wish you a very hearty Waes-Hael!

Apprenticeship success

AS we look forward to welcoming new potential apprentices to our Young Talent 2019 Open Day on 2nd February, congratulations go to Georgia Haskell who has achieved her Level 3 Accountancy apprenticeship and is now going on to study for a further three years to qualify as a management accountant.

“I always knew I wanted to gain my accountancy qualification in the workplace, and it’s been fantastic to be part of the apprenticeship scheme at Thatchers,” said Georgia.

The entrepreneurial spirit

ENCOURAGING the entrepreneurial spirit is something we’re really passionate about and so we’re pleased to be continuing our support of the award-winning Eat Festivals throughout 2019 with a bursary for nine first-time traders.

What’s on at The Railway Inn

We’ve a great line-up of events planned throughout Spring and Summer – keep an eye on www.therailwayinn.com for details: Valentine’s Day – Saxophone duo “Sax in the City” will perform throughout the evening Treat Mum to a delicious Sunday lunch on Mother’s Day Easter Monday – Live music Somerset Day, May 11th – The Mangled Wurzels, Mendip Morris Men, cheese, cider and so much more!

www.thatcherscider.co.uk • Don’t forget you can also follow us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook Thatchers Cider, Myrtle Farm, Sandford, Somerset, BS25 5RA

MENDIP ENDIPTTIMES IMES••NFOVEMBER EBRUARY 2017 2019 • PAGE 15 M

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MENDIP TIMES

Bakery throws down the gauntlet

CELEBRATE BURN’S NIGHT WITH US

Wednesday, January 30th 7.30pm

Piper

Threecourse meal £15pp

Addressing the Haggis

Booking Advisable

Live Scottish folk music

e Old Down Inn, Emborough, Radstock, BA3 4SA. Tel: 01761 232398 Email: theolddowninn@hotmail.co.uk Website: www.theolddowninn.co.uk

Mandy (right) with her bakery colleague Lisa Maidment, who is gluten, wheat and dairy intolerant

A NEW bakery dedicated to serving people with food intolerances and allergies has opened in Glastonbury.

Pies and Tarts, in the town’s Gauntlet shopping thoroughfare, is part of the Gluten-Free Gourmet Group of Wells, run by Mandy Evans.

CELEBRATE VALENTINE’S WITH US!

Country shopping at its best

Centred around a traditional farm courtyard near Chew Valley Lake – the very best in local produce and gift ideas

Sarah Raven seeds and Spring plants

MEAT SUPPLIED FROM OUR OWN FARM

TEA ROOMS

Hot & cold meals Delicious cream teas Full English breakfasts Come and enjoy our lovely Sunday roast lunches

FUNCTION ROOM AVAILABLE FOR PRIVATE HIRE

Opening times: Farm shop: Monday to Friday 8.30am - 5.30pm Saturday 8.30am - 5.30pm • Sunday 10am - 5pm Tea Room: Monday to Sunday 8.30am - 4.30pm

Wheelchair access, children welcome, free parking, coaches by appointment

New Spring Emma Bridgewater collection

Enjoy a good Sunday roast Treat mum to Mother’s Day with us

North Widcombe, West Harptree, Bristol BS40 6HW Farm Shop: 01761 220067 • Tea Rooms: 01761 220172

PAGE 16 • MENDIP TIMES • FEBRUARY 2019

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GARDEN FOOD

Dried courgettes

WELL, it's February, and at this time of the year, right in the middle of the so called “hunger gap”, there's not a lot going on in my garden.

The purple sprouting is yet to come good, the Brussels sprouts are long gone, and the cold stored carrots and With JAKE beetroots almost over, so now more WHITSON than ever we turn to last year's preserved harvest in the cupboard and freezer.

A surprise hit this year has been the dried courgettes – we made them from the last glut of small fruits before the frost came, sliced thin and laid out on sheets in the dehydrator.

Strictly speaking they were not all courgettes but a mixture of courgettes, straightneck summer squashes and patty pan squashes, however they can all be used the same – even marrows dry well!

After a night drying they had shrunk down and were cracker dry, ready to bag up and stick in the cupboard.

Dehydrated foods, while often slightly more labour and energy intensive in the beginning than frozen foods, save a lot of space in the freezer and can, once finished, sit quite happily in the cupboard for years.

I like to add dried courgettes to all sorts of soups and sauces to add flavour and body. They do not need soaking, in fact I like to add them close to the end of cooking so that they maintain a little chewiness.

They are lovely crumbled into a tomato sauce to serve with pasta or gnocchi, or a vegetable soup with dumplings, or a Thai curry with coconut milk. The flavour is mild, like fresh courgette, though perhaps a little richer as they contain less water.

In Italy they make a dish of dried courgette, bacon and potatoes in a tomato sauce, which I aim to try very soon!

Jacob is a former chef turned food writer, smallholder and mycologist. He divides his time between the Mendips and his nine-acre forest garden project in Pembrokeshire. Details: www.chaosfungorum.co.uk

FOOD & DRINK

WILD FOOD

Keep the beast at bay!

I DO hope this late winter/early spring is going to be milder than last year with its sub-zero temperatures, high winds and snow etc. I don’t fancy another Beast from the East to be honest.

Now I say this not as the inner child who loves all things snowy, you know clear blue With ADRIAN skies, snow ball fights over the hedge with BOOTS the neighbours (you know who you are Neil!), being stuck at home because the drifts were too big in the lane.

No, none of these things. It’s just that when it’s very cold it sets back spring time and delays flowering plants for the forager! Very selfish I know but there you are.

So are there any worthwhile edible wild plants to be found at the beginning of the year, even when it’s cold, frosty and snowy? Not really. But there does seem to be one group of plants that hang on in milder, sheltered areas (and my greenhouse) throughout the winter. And that belongs to the cabbage family of plants, more specifically hairy bitter-cress.

Hairy bitter-cress (Cardamine hirsute) is an annual plant from five to 25cm high, with white flowers two to 3mm across. The leaves are small, rounded and arranged in pairs along stems that radiate out from the base.

When mature they have upright stems topped by erect cylindrical seed pods which explode violently – it’s good fun tapping the seed pods and watching them scatter over a wide area. Appearing from March to December they are widespread, favouring damp ground and are often one of the first plants to colonise disturbed bare soil. It is commonly found in gardens or plantation woodland.

So what does it taste like? You may have guessed from the name that it has a cress-like flavour but don’t let the “hairy” or for that matter “bitter” part put you off as amusingly it’s not particularly hairy or bitter. I would say it’s more akin to a peppery rocket which is a welcome flavour at this time of year.

Its strong flavour cuts through fatty foods and is delicious served on scrambled eggs. If you are able to collect enough how about making a peppery, warming winter soup? Just make your usual soup base, add the hairy bitter-cress towards the end making sure it’s cooked through and then whizz up.

To add a flourish, garnish with a sprig of hairy bitter-cress, a twist of black pepper and serve with hot buttered crusty rolls.

That should keep the Beast of the East at bay! And Neil...

Adrian Boots is a Landscape Ecologist, Wild Food Forager and Adventure Activity provider. You can visit his website: www.gowildactivities.co.uk to learn more about wild food foraging and activities you can do with him on the Mendip Hills.

MENDIP TIMES • FEBRUARY 2019 • PAGE 17

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A L D W I C K V I N E YA R D

A time to every purpose

THE winegrower’s year spins through an unrelenting cycle. Bleak, midwinter February marks a median point for gruelling weeks of winter pruning. Rain slows momentum; fresh cuts to the vine render it susceptible to water-splashed fungal ‘trunk disease’ spores. Pressure With mounts to finish before bud-burst.

ELIZABETH Two months loom before Steve LAVER Brooksbank despatches the eagerlyanticipated 2018 still wines. How bemusing the received notion that a vintner “chills-out” between autumn’s grape pressings and bottling in spring!

The winemaker’s year runs its own demanding course.

Vinification entails constant monitoring, testing, racking, filtering, fining, and maintaining hygiene in the winery. Indeed there may be a lot of glass swirling, sniffing, and tasting involved in the process, but before anyone contemplates a career change, those samplings end up in a spittoon.

Aldwick is but one of Steve’s many clients in Somerset and, being a comparatively young vineyard, not one that can claim decades of loyalty to his talents, as do Wraxall or Oatley Vineyards.

Morale in the field maintains equilibrium in the knowledge that Steve safeguards the transition of grapes we labour to cultivate into quality wines. The work of photo-journalist Paola diBella serves as a reminder. She accompanied Farm Manager Tim Mewton and me on a harvest delivery last October. With her kind permission, the photo of Steve and his son Harry loading our Pinot Noir in the de-stemmer appears below. www.paoladibella.com/project/aldwick-farm-producing-ahigh-quality-english-wine/.

Top school chef

FOOD & DRINK

TASHA Watts, from the Crispin Academy in Street, has won her way through to the South West School Chef of the Year competition.

She is one of five chefs competing in the regional final. The overall winner will go on to represent the whole of the South West School chef Tasha Watts against nine other regional champions in the national final which is to be held on March 7th.

Against the clock and under the scrutiny of a panel of judges, they will have to prepare four portions of a main course and a dessert suitable for serving to 11 year olds in school. They will have 90 minutes and a maximum spend of £1.30 is allowed for the cost of a single meal (i.e. one main course and dessert).

Elizabeth Laver is Vineyard Manager

For wine & vineyard tours visit www.aldwickestate.co.uk MENDIP TIMES • FEBRUARY 2019 • PAGE 19

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MENDIP TIMES

EVENTS

Bless the trees and bless the show

DOZENS of wassailers celebrated in North Wootton at the Mid-Somerset Agricultural Society’s traditional ceremony.

The evening – featuring music, dance and a mummers play alongside the celebrations in the village orchard – is a popular social event in the society’s diary and helps boost funds for its activities. l This year’s Mid-Somerset Show, on Sunday, August 18th, will be the last on the current showground site. It will move to a new location nearby in 2020.

Wessex Purchase fires his shotgun during the ceremony

Enjoying the singing during the wassail ceremony

Alan Stone, wassail master of ceremonies (known as The Butler) (centre)with society chairman Ian Harvey (left) and show president Ted Allen The wassail ceremony begins

Merriment from the Langport Mummers in the village hall

Wassail prince Ben Wilson, aged eight, lights the bonfire helped by Bill Bartlett and places toast in the tree to be wassailed PAGE 20 • MENDIP TIMES • FEBRUARY 2019

Jenny Nichols sips from the wassail mug

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MENDIP TIMES

NEWS

Market returns early

SHEPTON Mallet’s monthly Sunday market will take place in February to coincide with the town’s Snowdrop Festival.

The market would normally not return until March but will be held on Sunday, February 17th. The Sunday markets are in addition to the weekly Friday market.

Suzanne Sharpe, market and events manager from Mendip District Council said: “The Shepton markets are really growing in popularity and becoming established events in the calendar, we were pleased to be able to provide a Christmas market in the town last year.

“We have decided to run the February market to coincide with the Shepton Mallet Snowdrop Festival, which is always a popular community event in the town.”

Bryan Beha (left), vice-chairman of Mendip District Council, at the opening of Shepton’s first Christmas market

A kiss for Santa from stiltwalker Lucy Hartland-Mann

The winners of the Christmas jumper competition

The Sunday market returns on February 17th

Local cider maker Alan Stone, one of the regular Sunday market stallholders

PAGE 22 • MENDIP TIMES • FEBRUARY 2019

Local blues singer John Lime entertains shoppers

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Tel: 0800 097 8611

www.johnhodge.co.uk | e-mail: mailbox@johnhodge.co.uk

WESTON-SUPER-MARE | BRISTOL | CLEVEDON | YATTON | WEDMORE

Arts & Antiques section.qxp_Layout 1 17/01/2019 14:06 Page 24

MENDIP TIMES

Fundraising sculpture for Dorothy House Hospice Care IN the summer of last year sculptor Ian Marlow was asked by clients, Paul and Bernie Hewitt, if he would be willing to donate a sculpture to a raffle to help raise funds for Dorothy House Hospice Care.

Ian, of Buckland Dinham, near Frome, said: “I like to do something for a charity each year and this is a marvellous organisation with wonderful staff providing help, care and support to terminally ill patients and their families, so I was delighted to be able to help them in this way.”

Yvonne Brunton, the charity’s community fundraiser, was very enthusiastic about the idea and it was agreed that the sculpture should be based on the charity’s logo, the pink tulip, but Ian was given free reign in the Dorothy’s Tulip by Ian Marlow – design and making of the raffle tickets go on sale in February

piece. Ian added: “It’s always reassuring when clients have total confidence in your ability and workmanship that they just leave it to you.”

Yvonne said: “Ian had been kind enough to made this wonderful gesture and it was important that this was a work of art by the artist himself, something he designed and made for us.”

The charity logo is a single stylised pink tulip, but Ian felt that a second flower was required to add substance to the piece and make it work as a sculpture. The sculpture, called “Dorothy’s Tulip”, is now proudly displayed in the foyer where it will remain until the raffle takes place during their fundraising events in June.

Others who have been generous in their time and assistance include Colin Knowles who helped with the construction and local firm, Williams and Oakey, who powder-coated the pink flowers.

Tickets will be available from February until the end of May. For details, visit: www. dorothyhouse.org.uk

As seen on television

LOVERS of antiques are beating a path to Shepton Mallet after the town’s Somerset Antiques & Interiors shop was featured on television.

The shop has appeared in a number of antiques-related programmes, including Antiques Road Trip and Flipping Profit, showcasing its extensive range of furniture and collectables.

Somerset Antiques & Interiors has been open in the town’s High Street since 2011 and attracts buyers from across the UK and further afield also, thanks to its internet presence.

Paul Moody, who runs the centre, said: “Many people who come to see us are also interested in the history of Shepton Mallet, especially the prison, so everyone benefits.”

The shop has seen a spike in interest for antique desks – Paul believes that is because more people are now working from home – along with other furniture ranging from 17th century to contemporary, clocks and watches and jewellery.

Paul added: “We pride ourselves on the high standard of our delivery service; we recently sent some items to China!”

Somerset Antiques & Interiors

Antique, vintage and contemporary furniture and collectables to suit all tastes. Offering a quality and personal service.

UK-wide and overseas delivery available.

Opening Times Monday - Saturday: 10:00 - 17:00

Somerset Antiques & Interiors, No2 High Street, Shepton Mallet, Somerset BA4 5AN. Tel: 01749 345468 Email: enquiries@somersetantiques.co.uk Web: www.somersetantiques.co.uk PAGE 24 • MENDIP TIMES • FEBRUARY 2019

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ARTS AND ANTIQUES

A £42,000 reason for contacting Gareth COOPER and Tanner Salerooms have been holding online specialist antiques and collectables sales at their Standerwick salerooms for nearly two years.

In the time they have had these sales they have broken their house record for their top-selling lot on several occasions. In 2018 it was a Cartier single stone ring, selling on the hammer for £42,000. This ring was discovered by valuer and auctioneer Gareth Wasp whilst he was checking through some costume jewellery brought in by a client that was due to go to a charity shop; the client had no idea the ring was even there! The news reached national and local press, alongside local radio.

All antiques sales are fully illustrated and available to view via www.the-saleroom.com This is the UK’s largest online auction platform which attracts buyers from all over the world; they are able

to enquire about lots, request further photographs and bid through this platform.

They have a highly-competitive commission of 15% plus VAT and a £1 lotting fee; no charges are made for photographing items or having them included in the online sale.

The staff take great care in the photography and cataloguing of each lot and they have specialist consultants throughout the UK. The first sale of 2019 is on Wednesday, February 6th and is set to start the year off very well with a good collection of stamps, ceramics, jewellery and coins entered. Entries are now being accepted for the Antiques and Collectables sale on March 13th; this sale closes for entries on February 27th. Please call the office on 01373 852419 for queries.

A hidden gem: this Cartier single stone ring sold for £42,000 – it nearly ended up in a charity shop

SALE ROOMS AUCTIONEER’S HIGHLIGHTS OF 2018

Gillows, after a design by Pugin – a Victorian oak Gothic desk; sold in September 2018 for £2,900

A sapphire and diamond ring; sold in March 2018 for £28,000

Cartier, Santos, a stainless steel automatic bracelet watch; sold in September 2018 for £900

Gordon & Macphail – two bottles of Connoisseurs Choice Highland Malt Whisky 1970 & 1972; sold in October 2018 for £1,600

A late 19th/early 20th century cameo glass vase, possibly by Thomas Webb; sold in February 2018 for £3,600

19th Century Scottish School – two Deerhounds "Roderick and Shelia" oil on canvas; sold in July 2018 for £6,400

Free specialist antiques valuations available by appointment, please contact the office on 01373 852419 to book Gareth Wasp Telephone 01373 852419 The Agricultural Centre, Standerwick, Frome BA11 2QB Gareth.wasp@cooperandtanner.co.uk MENDIP TIMES • FEBRUARY 2019 • PAGE 25

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MENDIP TIMES

New homes found for church pews TIMES are changing and, across the country, churches are being adapted to offer flexible and adaptable space that can help strengthen communities and St Johns Church in Glastonbury is undergoing such a change. The Mendip Auction Rooms were pleased to receive instructions to offer the existing church pews for sale and their antiques sale on January 12th was received with an incredible level of interest, particularly from Glastonbury residents keen to buy a part of Glastonbury’s history.

Their sale helped raise much-needed funds but it is great that so many pews remained in the town to be given a new lease of life. The pews sold above estimate at prices up to £500 each with an oak and pine pew screen with seven gothic tracery panels generating particularly strong interest selling for £2,600.

Lustres were popular in the Victorian times and comprised of a glass bowl or candlestick, often made and sold as pairs, with attached decorative prismatic drops of glass or crystal. Also offered at the January antiques sale were a pair of very fine Bohemian lustres, the bowls set with

PAGE 26 • MENDIP TIMES • FEBRUARY 2019

alternative vignettes of Deutsche Blumen and polychrome portraits of young ladies.

This excellent example caught the eye of potential purchasers in the room, on the internet and on the phone and after strong bidding, they sold well above estimate for £1,000.

Two very interesting Japanese ivory figures also caught the eye of buyers and sold to advantage. Dating from the Meiji period (1868 – 1912), a figure of a Geisha achieved £2,100 whilst a further one of Jurojin, the god of longevity, realised £1,500. A large and very unusual Poole pottery vase made £1,100.

The market for antique furniture has been depressed for some time now as fashions have changed and the preference for flat-pack furniture has grown. Killens are finding however that quality furniture is in demand and a good example was the sale of an early Victorian walnut cabinet, the plain rectangular top over a frieze carved with Laub und Bandelwerk and the pillars decorated with carved acanthus swags that sold in January for £420.

Killens stage three sales each month at

the Mendip Auction Rooms. Two sales are of Victorian and Later Effects including more modern furniture and household effects with a monthly sale of Antiques and Collectables where jewellery, silver, pictures, furniture, collectables, militaria, rugs, clocks and so on are sold. They are delighted to support local charities and good causes by selling for 0% commission.

Expert valuation advice at the auction rooms is provided by Nicky Houston BA (Hons) MRICS GA Cert and Simon Ball MRICS supported by a range of experts.

Valuations are conducted each weekday morning until 1pm and Nicky will be conducting a valuation morning of silver and jewellery at the Wells office of Killens on Wednesday, February 6th. The next antiques sale will be held on Saturday, February 9th.

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Free valuation days

CLEVEDON Salerooms will hold three free valuation days on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday February 4th, 5th and 6th.

February 6th also marks the closing date for entries for the March Specialist Sale.

On the Monday and Tuesday the saleroom valuers will be assessing all categories of antiques, fine art and collector’s items whilst

ARTS & ANTIQUES

the Wednesday is reserved for jewellery, watches, silver and gold.

If you have items you may be thinking of selling why not go along for a free noobligation valuation. No appointment is necessary (see advert for opening times) and you will be assured a warm welcome.

This Chinese blue and white porcelain bowl and cover brought to a free valuation day in a carrier bag, sold at their sale on January 3rd for £4,350

Pigeons take off at Clevedon Salerooms – Pair of Andrew Beer (Bristol 1862-1954) oil portraits of racing pigeons dated 1906. Sold for £6,200.

If you would like to email images of items you may be thinking of selling, send images to info@csrauctions.com

If you have any questions, find us on Facebook – Prowse Antiques and Interiors or call us on 01934 712453 or 07860 837 680

Every lot in every auction, illustrated and sold with live internet bidding

ENTRIES INVITED FOR THE MARCH SPECIALIST SALE (Closing date 6th February)

Fine Art Auctioneers & Valuers

FREE AnTiquE VALuATiOn DAYS Mon 4th & Wed 5th February 9.30am–1pm and 2pm–5pm Held at the Salerooms No appointment necessary

Antiques, Interiors, Collectables & Jewellery Auction Thursday, 14th February

Sale starts at 10.30am On view day before 10am – 6.30pm

Tel: 01934 830111 or 0117 325 6789 The Auction Centre, Kenn Road, Kenn, Clevedon, Bristol BS21 6TT www.clevedon-salerooms.com

Chinese Vase

Sold for £11,400

Banksy Love Rat, unsigned print

Sold for £11,750

Free Jewellery, Watch, Silver & Gold Valuation Day at the Salerooms Wednesday 6th February 10am – 4pm Cartier

Sold for £23,500 On the above date our experienced Valuers will be offering free no-obligation verbal estimates on all items of jewellery, watches, silver and gold at the Salerooms with the 7th March Specialist Sale in mind. No appointment necessary. For further information contact Toby Pinn MRICS on 01934 830111.

MENDIP TIMES • FEBRUARY 2019 • PAGE 27

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MENDIP TIMES

Shepton glows with pride

HUNDREDS of people of all ages took part in Shepton Mallet’s annual lantern parade.

Organisers said the event had once again brought the community together, making lanterns at workshops in the runup to the parade and on the night itself.

EVENTS

The procession makes its way round the lake in Collett Park before heading into town

Jamma de Samba led the parade

The ninth annual procession was the best so far, say organisers

A family selfie as the lanterns gathered in the town’s Collett Park

The procession reaches the Market Place

PAGE 28 • MENDIP TIMES • FEBRUARY 2019

A giant octopus, made during workshops run by the Rubbish Art Project at the Art Bank Café, led the parade

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MENDIP TIMES

Gate company forges ahead . . .

IT’S now two years since Richard Hooper bought Forgecraft Ltd in Cheddar, when his own company, the Electric Gate Company Ltd, outgrew its rented base at nearby Winchester Farm. Both companies are expanding, with new contracts and more employees.

Forgecraft Ltd offer a full range of fabrication services including CE Execution class 2 Structural Steel work to BS EN 1090, beams for builders, gates, balconies and railings, stair cases and stair treads, general welding, loose fittings, one-off prototypes, complete fabrications and full batch production.

Richard said: “We realised there was an opportunity to increase our activity in the local area and that we needed staff with the qualifications and training to take the business forward.”

It works closely with the Electric Gate Company which specialises in electronic security systems. It has also taken on additional engineers and has a new management structure.

The Electric Gate Company Ltd, established in 1984, specialises in the design, manufacturing and installation of automated gates. Over 30 years of experience in the industry, combined with innovative electronic knowledge, ensures that their customers receive the best experience along with cuttingedge electronic access technology that serves their personal needs.

With both companies operating from the same premises, they can cater for projects nationwide and currently have two prestigious projects on the go such as the refurbishment of the

• Design, Manufacture & Install • Automate Existing Gates • Upgrade Automation & Safety • Swing & Sliding Automated Gates

Grand Hotel in Birmingham and a new apartment block in Central London.

Richard said: “We acquired this property and land before we ran out of space. It was the right move. This site gave us the space to expand. We have also invested in staff with the right qualifications and training to take on more complicated projects.

“I have two experienced managers, Julian Coppell and Dan Van Aswegen respectively for each company that are in place who handle the day to day running of the combined companies.

“It’s all worked out very well – it means I only work two days a week.”

That gives him more time to pursue his passion for shooting. l Richard Hooper’s Electric Gate Company is one of the sponsors of young clay shooting star Chloe Applin, who has just won her first big national competition, at the age of 16.

See page 87.

• Bollards, Barriers & Bi-folds • Access & Egress Control • Residental & Commercial

• Wrought Ironwork Specialists • Structural steelwork • Spiral Staircases & Fire Escapes & beams • Balustrade • Design • Gates & Railings • Manufacture • Install

PAGE 30 • MENDIP TIMES • FEBRUARY 2019

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Radford’s new showroom

RADFORD’S Tiling in Cheddar has moved to a new showroom, which means all of their products are now displayed on the ground floor and there’s good disabled access. But they haven’t moved far – just across the road on the Valley Line industrial estate off the Wedmore Road. The new showroom also has good parking.

Nicky Radford runs the showroom, while husband, John, does the tiling work. The couple started the business 14 years ago and have never looked back. They stock a full range of tiles – porcelain, ceramic and natural stone – as well as adhesives, grout and tools to make tiling easy.

BUSINESS

Country Innovation is moving!

COUNTRY Innovation, which has been based in Congresbury for the past 15 years, is moving to its new home in The Stables Business Park on the A38 at Rooksbridge from February 1st. They will be continuing to stock their range of award-winning jackets/gilets, as well as walking boots and Tilley hats etc. Open Monday-Friday, 9am4pm. Please visit as you will be most welcome!

radford’s tile showroom NEW SHOWROOM NOW OPEN! OPEN TO TRADE & PUBLIC Exclusive ranges available in: Ceramic Tiles • Porcelain • Mosaics • Slate • Natural Stone Stockists of: Adhesives • Tools • Grouts Professional design and advice service available We offer a comprehensive fixing service

●

01934 744814

Free Parking. Open Mon–Fri 7.30am–5pm; Sat 8.30am–1pm

1D, Valley Line Industrial Estate, Wedmore Road, Cheddar BS27 3EE

www.radfordstiles.co.uk

LECATCHER MO

NO MOLE NO FEE Telephone 01761 417100 www.mendipmolecatcher.co.uk

Jackets Fleeces ● Walking Boots ● Bags ● Hats, Gloves ● Travel Clothing ●

The Stables, Rooksbridge, BS26 2TT 01934 877333 www.countryinnovation.com

CAMELEY LODGE LAUNDRY

Duvets & Bedspreads washed & dried Sheets and Duvet covers washed and pressed Professional efficient service Collection & delivery service in the Chew Valley

Tel 01761 451787

www.cameleylodgelaundry.co.uk

P & C Logs Call Phil on 07734 098323, or Colleen on 07785 250033 or on Evenings 01934 741941

Friendly prompt service from Phil & Colleen at their farm in Charterhouse Quality seasoned beech and ash hardwood, chopped and split into a variety of load options (with free delivery).

MENDIP TIMES • FEBRUARY 2019 • PAGE 31

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MENDIP TIMES

INDEPENDENT FAMILY FUNERAL DIRECTORS AND MONUMENTAL MASONS

At Curtis Ilott we offer a caring, professional service that provides all aspects of funeral care and arrangements beginning from the moment you contact us.

Whether it is a simple service or a traditional funeral, we will provide you with a totally individual personal service. All our staff are highly professional, compassionate, sensitive and respectful. You are welcome to call or visit our offices at any time or, if you prefer, we can visit you in the comfort of your own home.

We are also very proud to offer our own Memorial Showroom with a selection of Headstones and Tablets on display. Combined with our fully-equipped modern workshop and large stock of memorials, we can provide our clients with the complete service.

l 24 Hour Personal Caring Service l Private Chapel of Rest l Funeral Plans Available l Quality Memorials in Granite and Stone l Showroom with large stocks l Renovations undertaken

A family-run business, serving our local community For further information please contact us on:

01373 452116 Beechcroft, Anchor Road, Coleford, Radstock BA3 5PB 01373 812248 Baywell House, Ellworthy Park, Frome BA11 5LS

Memorial Workshop, 1 Handlemaker Road, Frome BA11 4RW Convenient parking at our Frome and Coleford offices www.curtisilottfunerals.co.uk • info@curtisilottfunerals.co.uk

Mendip Times ONLINE

Free access to all of our recent magazines from our website Free links to all of our advertisers’ websites Free links from our features and editorial pages More information – more enjoyment No annoying pop-ups – Mendip Times pure and simple A new service for readers and advertisers

www.mendiptimes.co.uk PAGE 32 • MENDIP TIMES • FEBRUARY 2019

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Making Tax Digital – there’s no need to panic!

I HOPE this reminder won’t come as a horrible shock to anyone with a small business, but the change to Making Tax Digital is approaching at a rate of knots. Consequently, in a few months all sole traders, partnerships and limited companies who are operating above the VAT threshold, will have to change the way they make their quarterly reports to the tax man.

This will potentially be one of the biggest recording changes in a long while, and it could be (avoiding all Anglo Saxon) a little bit of a nuisance.

VAT-registered businesses with a taxable turnover above the VAT threshold will be required to use the Making Tax Digital service to keep records digitally and use compatible software to submit their VAT returns from April 1st.

According to the government “Making Tax Digital is a key part of the government’s plans to make it easier for individuals and businesses to get their tax right and keep on top of their affairs”.

This statement brings back memories of school days, when every teacher seemed to be convinced that theirs was the only important subject in the curriculum and so homework was loaded on by all of them.

Despite this mild attack of irritation, I should be clear that many professionals are more than ready for the challenge, so worry not, dear friends. Now is not the time, however, to be shy around your accountant.

It would be a good idea to be prepared by ensuring that if you are a small business and do not have a finance department of

BUSINESS

your own, you know that your accountant can deal with Making Tax Digital on your behalf or at the very least smooth your pathway. You may, for instance, already be using software which has been developed to assist you in the preparation of accounts in the correct format. There are a few types of software which have been prepared specifically with this changeover in mind. If you aren’t sure which is best for you, ask your financial professional which they recommend and why.

It is possible that in some cases they will be able to offer you or someone in your company training in how to use it most effectively. I know we have a small group that I call “The Young People” who have grasped this nettle with apparent ease and, having been accredited as trainers, have now trained the majority of our relevant clients or accepted the fact that some would prefer us simply to file the returns on their behalf.

Anyway, the moral of this story, I believe, is don’t put off the inevitable, because where HMRC is concerned, this can lead to nasty little fines and awkward investigations. Simply go to those who are there to help you or do some thorough research on your own behalf.

Oh, and if you’re feeling smug because you are not VAT registered, don’t get too comfortable – Making Tax Digital will be coming to you next!

Ah well, in the words of dear Corporal Jones “Don’t Panic!”

Help is at hand, and together, we’ll get it sorted. Happy 2019 to one and all!

Jane Bowe, Probusiness

MENDIP TIMES • FEBRUARY 2019 • PAGE 33

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MENDIP TIMES

Solar grants available – act now says Solarsense

IF you haven’t installed solar panels yet, now is the time to act. The Carbon Trust is offering up to £5,000 to small and medium-sized businesses or community buildings which could benefit from financial support when buying and installing renewable energy systems.

If you are involved with a small business, village hall, church, school or similar contact Solarsense to see if you are eligible. This funding is allocated on a first come, first served basis and due to end soon so you need to act fast to avoid disappointment.

Solar panel prices have dropped significantly and cost only ten percent of what they did seven years ago. In the last year they have seen returns of up to 16%; with typical residential systems offering a seven-year payback and commercial as early as four to five years.

They say a solar PV system will also protect you or your business from future energy price hikes, whilst considerably improving your carbon footprint.

For businesses, community schemes and schools, there are a number of finance routes available for solar panel installations, including a “free solar” proposition (PPA agreement). There is also financial support for businesses and homeowners looking to install heat pump systems via the renewable heat incentive.

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PAGE 34 • MENDIP TIMES • FEBRUARY 2019

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Business section.qxp_Layout 1 17/01/2019 14:10 Page 35

BUSINESS

Developments in divorce law IT is said that 42% of post 1960 marriages end in divorce and the family courts are becoming less generous in their division of the family assets.

The Government is considering a radical measure to remove blame from divorce, creating just one reason for a split: the irretrievable breakdown of a marriage.

New rules are due this year.

On the financial side the courts are taking a harder line when they deal with ongoing maintenance. In one case the court ruled that an ex-wife could not expect her former husband to pay twice for her housing costs if she were to lose her first lump sum through mismanagement.

In another case it was ruled that a wife was not entitled to more maintenance from her ex-husband, on the ground (she argued) that she had helped build his future earning potential by sacrificing her career during their 20-year marriage.

The divorce rate among older people, is now higher than when it last peaked in the Nineties. With this rise of “silver splitters”, fighting over assets acquired when fewer women had independent wealth, coinciding with a tougher stance on settlements, individuals need to change the way they navigate the choppy waters of modern divorce.

The courts will no longer routinely order spousal maintenance for life. Both parties now face an expectation to maximise their incomes and earning capacities.

In the past the court would err on the side of caution for the financially weaker party but judges are now being far more

robust. Not infrequently a court orders that a wife should receive a lump sum to fund herself in the future instead of having an ongoing joint lives maintenance order.

As to the divorce process it is to be hoped that the Government’s plans for nofault separation will simplify things and be less emotional for the couple and so avoid costly and stressful divorces based on blame.

It is still possible to have a “good” divorce. The below list shows how this might be achieved: l Be sure it is what you really want.

Relationships go through rocky patches.

Couples counselling is a must: if you still agree it’s over, an amicable separation is more likely. l Acrimonious divorces often occur when spouses aren’t emotionally ready. Don’t rush the process. l Be realistic about what you may be entitled to in terms of money and the children. Most cases that end up in court do so because one person is trying for an unrealistic outcome. More than 90% of cases are resolved without the need for a judge. l Too many parents put children in the crossfire. Prioritising their needs and feelings will stand them in good stead.

Making them take sides will cause lasting emotional harm. l Don’t view your spouse as the enemy – often you’ll have an enduring bond as parents. l Divorce is not a commercial negotiation with winners and losers; it is about fairness and pragmatism. Be open about

what you want and be ready to compromise. l Agree how finances and childcare will work on an interim basis while the longterm settlement is under discussion. Many people, angry or thinking they are smart, withhold financial support or overspend, or become more hands-on with the children or restrict the other’s access.

None of this makes any difference. l Many people can’t afford full (if any) legal representation. But this needn’t mean a bad divorce. There is a lot of information online. You’ll save money if your solicitor does not have to explain the process to you. l Finally, stay focused on the end goal, look after yourself and keep friends and family close at hand. A support network is important so that you don’t feel isolated or overwhelmed.

Edward Lyons

Email: enquiries@lyonslaw.co.uk Website: www.lyonslaw.co.uk Telephone: 01275 332168 An established and progressive law firm providing a personal and cost-effective legal service for commercial and individual clients. ● Family & Divorce Law ● Co-habitation disputes ● Inheritance disputes ● Wills and Living Wills ● Powers of Attorney ● Administration of Trusts ● Property – sales and purchases Chew Magna 01275 332168

OFFICES AT: Westbury-on-Trym 0117 950 6506

Kingswood 0117 967 5252 MENDIP TIMES • FEBRUARY 2019 • PAGE 35

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MENDIP TIMES

EVENTS

Mummers, Morris and merriment in Pilton

PILTON’S historic tithe barn and neighbouring orchard hosted the village’s wassail ceremony.

Hundreds of people packed the ancient building for the entertainment before celebrating around one of the trees. This year’s wassail queen was Lilly Baker, aged eight.

Villagers performed a Brexit-themed mummers play

Inside the tithe barn

PAGE 36 • MENDIP TIMES • FEBRUARY 2019

James Morris fires his shotgun into the wassail tree

Wassail queen Lilly Baker

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Wedding feature.qxp_Layout 1 17/01/2019 14:13 Page 38

MENDIP TIMES

Barley Wood – perfect venue

IF you’re looking for an idyllic and beautiful setting for your wedding, look no further than Barley Wood House at Wrington.

Set within 11 acres of woods and parkland, Barley Wood House and grounds provides the perfect location for any event. With the romantic setting and sweeping views of the rural countryside, Barley Wood is the ideal place for your dream wedding.

From traditional to rustic, they tailor their venue to your needs and with the happy couple always at the forefront of their minds, they do all that is possible to ensure every wedding is truly as special and memorable as it can be.

YMCA Dulverton Group own and run Barley House and with the location being a social enterprise, it is completely self-sustaining and offers so much more than meets the eye.

By booking the Barley Wood venue for your wedding, all of the costs go back into YMCA Dulverton Group, so you can rest assured that your big day is helping someone else.

Details: for booking enquiries email info@barleywood.org or call 01934 861215.

An exquisite historic 18th century Country House set in 11 acres of formal gardens and native woodlands, with stunning view of the Mendips.

A perfect location for weddings, celebrations, corporate events, team building, away-days and a popular venue for peaceful retreats.

PAGE 38 • MENDIP TIMES • FEBRUARY 2019

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The perfect gift

FOCUS ON WEDDINGS

WITH Valentine's Day on the horizon and spring around the corner, jeweller Erica Sharpe is prepared for the inevitably busy time ahead making bespoke rings.

Gem-set engagement rings and fitted wedding bands are a specialty of hers, as is creating new wedding jewellery from old. The process starts with a consultation to discuss the original idea and any practical requirements.

Following this, she produces a series of designs and quotes, and can gather ethically sourced gemstones to choose from.

Working exclusively in Fairtrade or recycled precious metals, she hand-crafts items from scratch to provide the perfect piece for each individual.

Idyllic country retreat

COMBINING romance, English country style and a little bit of magic, Holbrook Manor is a delightfully exclusive wedding venue set in the heart of the old Wessex countryside.

On the borders of Somerset, Dorset and Wiltshire, this Georgian country house venue is set in 20 acres of lawned gardens and woodlands.

The main house is stunning and mixes traditional manor house style with modern facilities and a breath-taking light and neutral function room that can sit up to 150 guests.

It holds an open evening on the third Thursday of every month 4pm - 9pm.

Finding love in 2019

THE Caroline Crowther Introduction Agency take the time to get to know their clients to try to find that special person for them.

Hopefully 2018 taught you a thing or two, but here are a few resolutions everyone could stand to make to guarantee 2019 is an even better year for dating: • Take up a hobby - you sound more interesting and it may lead you to meet someone too.

• Freshen up your wardrobe.

• Start exercising – for well-being inside and out!

• Try to meet more people in person and don’t be too specific on the “type” you are looking for!

• Be more creative with date ideas, suggest a local art exhibition or a walk in the park.

• Make time for a relationship!

Combining romance, English country style and a little bit of magic, Holbrook Manor is a delightfully exclusive wedding venue set in the heart of the old Wessex countryside.

On the borders of Somerset, Dorset and Wiltshire, this Georgian country house venue is set in 20 acres of lawned gardens and woodlands. The main house is stunning and mixes traditional manor house style with modern facilities and a breath-taking light and neutral function room that can sit up to 150 guests.

Open evening third Thursday of every month 4pm to 9pm Directions: 2 minutes from the A303 at Wincanton

Holbrook Manor, Wincanton, Somerset BA9 8BS Tel: 01963 824466 e-Mail:sales@holbrookmanor.com www.holbrookmanor.com

LOOKING FOR YOUR VALENTINE? ❤ Caroline Crowther is a truly local personal introduction agency helping you meet someone new in your area. We offer a long term personal service until you find your perfect match.

For a professional and personal service call 0800 180 4788 or 01934 744788 MENDIP TIMES • FEBRUARY 2019 • PAGE 39

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INTERNET

Backing up on Windows 10

IF you are using a laptop for all your precious files and photos, then backing up is pretty much an essential. You can do it online, using “the cloud”, or you can do it manually yourself.

Or, for a “belt and braces” approach, you could do both.

To back up manually: First, decide on your backup device. An external hard drive is probably the best option, as they have masses of storage space.

But a flash drive would be fine for smaller amounts. Or photos on one and files on another, perhaps?

Select the Start button, select Settings > Update & security > Backup > Add a drive, and then click on an external drive (or network location (but we’ll look at that next month) for your backups.

Click on the Plus (+) symbol next to Add a drive, and you’ll see a list of any external hard drives that are connected to your PC. If you have multiple drives connected then you can just click on the one that you want to use.

When you return to the Backup section now you’ll see that the option has changed from Add A Drive to Automatically Back Up My Files, and that this option is switched on by default.

So now, a backup of everything in your user folder (C:\Users\username) will be saved to your device (assuming you have it plugged in, of course; otherwise, just plug it in when you want to start). To change which files get backed up or how often backups happen, click More options.

If you want to use a backup done by the old Windows 7 Backup and Restore tool, that’s available too.

If you are using a Mac, you can use the Time Machine – just plug in the device (harddrive/flashdrive etc).

If you would rather use the Cloud and have it all done automatically, we’ll look at that next month.

Submitted by IT for the Terrified : Cheddar Village Hall, Church St, Cheddar BS27 3RF 01934 741751 (usually goes to answer phone) www.itfortheterrified.co.uk itfortheterrified@btconnect.com I.T. for the Terrified – for all your computer training needs.

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Run by a Committee – Staffed by Volunteers Registered Charity No. 1130308 : Company No. 06779600 This article is for guidance only, and the opinion of the writer. For more in depth information, please contact us.

We offer individual training, at a pace to suit you. We can cover a range of subjects – including absolute basics; photo management; shopping online; emailing; Word processing, spreadsheets; basic web design; etc. on a range of devices, including Windows: Macs: Tablets: iPads: smartphones.

Or if you would like to share basic skills with others, please get in touch.

PAGE 40 • MENDIP TIMES • FEBRUARY 2019

CROSSWORD

The Mendip Mindbender

ACROSS 8 Alternate entrance (4,4) 9 "Becket" actor Peter --- (6) 10 Doxology (6) 11 Basic (2-6) 12 Person (10) 14 Exclamation of surprise (2,2) 15 Cider apple (9,6) 18 --- Ashton, former agricultural research station (4) 20 Mind field? (10) 22 Often paired with cheese (8) 23 In a proper manner (6) 25 Beckington ---, former home of 1st Earl of Marlborough (6) 26 Proceeds (8) DOWN 1 Passenger plane (8)

2 3 4 5

6 7 13 16 17 19 21 24

Lamb --- Cavern, near East Harptree (4) Like people from Mogadishu (6) Wurzels song about Somerset's most famous drink (5,2,3,5) Iron, or where one is swung (4,4) Level (10) Downhill ski race (6) Permanent visitors from other countries (10) Loses it (8) Swamped (8) Roughly equal to one another (2,1,3) Philanthropist --- More, born at Bristol, buried at Wrington (6) Former economic mainstay of many Mendip towns and villages (4)

The Mendip Times Scribble Pad

Last month’s solution and winner can be found on page 97

News page 41.qxp_Layout 1 17/01/2019 14:02 Page 1

MENDIP TIMES

NEWS

A New Year tradition

MENDIP Farmers’ Hunt and supporters gathered at Ston Easton Park Hotel for their New Year’s Day meet.

A large crowd – including hotel guests – gathered to watch the riders set off, with many following the hunt by car or quad bike.

According to a post on Facebook, members of the group Locals Against the Mendip Farmers Hunt, along with a number of hunt saboteurs from Bristol, monitored the meet.

Supporters gathered in large numbers; protestors later monitored the meet

The riders set off; heading towards Farrington Gurney before turning back to Chewton Mendip

Playtime on the hotel lawn

Huntsman Kent Lock arrives with the hounds

The hotel offered a classic backdrop to the meet

Huntmaster George Pullen

Lilly Clothier (left), on Gilbert and Jane Uphill, on Scout

MENDIP TIMES • FEBRUARY 2019 • PAGE 41

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MENDIP TIMES

Students support charity

FROME Selwood Rotary Club formed the Frome College Interact Club in May last year to raise money for charity.

Their first event was a school summer fete, led by Tom Haines and Shanna Williamson in Year 13, which involved all the five houses at the college providing stalls to raise money for the ShelterBox Charity and the school.

The photograph shows Malcolm Westgate from Frome Selwood Rotary Club being presented with a cheque by Tom Haines and college principal, Emma Reynolds.

Malcolm said: “The money will help buy a ShelterBox which will be used when the next disaster strikes somewhere in the world.”

Tom said: “Over the last year, we have worked really hard with Frome Selwood Rotary to create a youth group within Frome College with the aim of making a difference in the community and the wider world.

“We are an entirely student-led group that is hoping to expand over the next few years, make an even bigger difference, and run more events.”

Details: jblack@fromecollege.org

Helping the homeless

Laney with gift box and some of her supporters

PAULTON couple, Laney and Mark Sandon James, were out over Christmas delivering gift boxes to the homeless in Bath.

They were bought thanks to their annual Christmas raffle held at the Centurion Hotel, which raised a record £2,438.

The couple started their project in 2014 and visit the homeless every weekend.

Laney said: “The money raised will ensure not only will the homeless have special Christmas boxes this year, but will be looked after throughout the rest of the year.”

PAGE 42 • MENDIP TIMES • FEBRUARY 2019

A year to remember

Karen Walker, chair of B&NES, with SWALLOW members, staff and trustees

SWALLOW, the Midsomer Norton-based charity supporting teenagers and adults with learning disabilities, ended its 25th anniversary year with its annual meeting at Chilcompton Village Hall.

SWALLOW members, staff and trustees gathered with supporters and dignitaries, including Karen Walker, chair of Bath and North East Somerset Council, to look back at the year and to celebrate all that had been achieved.

The event also included an exhibition of creative work by SWALLOW members. SWALLOW’s chair of trustees, Chris Winpenny, said: “It was lovely to get together and celebrate our anniversary year, which has been a great one. I am always amazed by all the activities that our members do and proud of the wonderful staff team that make things happen.” l For details about SWALLOW – or how to support the charity by running in the Bath Half Marathon in 2019 – contact Nicky Tew on nickyt@swallowcharity.org call 01761 414034 or visit: www.swallowcharity.org

Marks and sparkle

Derek and group fundraiser Linda Bolton (in sashes) receive the cheque at Clark’s Village

CHARITY collector Derek Gatt was the inspiration behind a successful year of fundraising in Clark’s Village in Street for the Mendip group of the Multiple Sclerosis Society.

Derek’s commitment to collecting at the Marks and Spencer’s outlet led to the group being nominated as the village’s charity of the year during the year 2017/18, raising more than £5,400.

The money will be used to fund social events and support for people in the Mendip area who are affected by the condition.

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Rachel’s challenge

LOCAL fundraiser Rachel Clark will be marking the 25th anniversary of Frome-based cancer counselling charity We Hear You (WHY) by running a mile every day in 2019, whatever the weather.

She was joined by 104 fellow runners, including WHY’s founder Jill Miller in Victoria Park on New Year’s Day as she launched her “365 for WHY” challenge.

Rachel has raised more than £30,000 for local causes since 2011 in memory of her mother, Shirley, and organised last year’s 24-hour rowing relay, raising £7,700 for WHY. This year will also see a third world record attempt in June, attempting to beat the existing record of 468 participants in a continuous eight-hour game of skittles.

People will be able to sign up via the event website to track Rachel’s progress and routes and to join Rachel on one or more of her runs – the only conditions are that participants must run in a WHY T-shirt and make a donation to WHY. Rachel said: “In their 25th anniversary year I really want to go the extra mile! I want to commit to something every day.

With a demanding full-time job it has to be something very versatile that I can do wherever I am, whatever the weather.

“It’s not about the distance or how quickly I can run, it's about commitment. To raise awareness and funds I am asking people to join me a few times a week on the condition that they wear a WHY T-shirt and donate.

“It’s so important for me to give back to a vital service in my community, a service that helped me cope with my own grief. It’s the very least I can do.”

Fundraising and communications manager Gemma Wilkes said: “Despite a busy and demanding career, she uses her extraordinary drive, energy and organisational skills to help us

CHARITIES

both from a fundraising and awareness-raising perspective and we’re so grateful to her for all her support.” l The charity is celebrating the renewal and extension of its funding from BBC Children in Need. The new grant of £125,700 over three years marks a 20% increase on the previous three-year funding, which will be used to maintain and expand its children’s and young people’s services in Somerset and Wiltshire.

Details: To sponsor Rachel visit https://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/365forWHY or go to facebook.com/365-miles-forWHY and Instagram at @365forWHY or www.wehearyou.org.uk

On the road for Ariana

AN informal tractor run organised by a group of friends on Mendip has helped to boost funds for Bristol Children’s Hospital’s Grand Appeal.

Organised by Rob Uphill, the vintage tractors – and a lorry – set off from the Waldegrave Arms in Chewton Mendip for a tour of the local lanes around the Chew Valley. Drivers and

A wave from Rob Uphill as the vehicles set off from Chewton Mendip

The drivers prepare to leave the car park of the Waldegrave Arms

passers-by donated money towards the fundraising efforts of friends and family of Ariana Spacey, a one-year-old girl from Westfield who will have to undergo a kidney transplant in the coming months.

The pub has organised a number of charity quiz nights for the appeal and the proceeds from the tractor run will go towards the final total.

MENDIP TIMES • FEBRUARY 2019 • PAGE 43

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MENDIP TIMES

Gerald’s bid to thank the doctors who saved him COACH operator Gerald Creed is planning a grand charity ball to thank the medical teams who saved his life after a heart attack and to buy vital equipment for them.

The Big Hearted Valentine's Ball will be held at the Apex Hotel in Bath on Saturday, February 9th.

Gerald, who runs Buglers Coaches in Clutton hopes to raise enough money to buy a super modern piece of equipment plus three year's support cost for The Cardiac Intensive Care Unit at The Bristol Heart Institute.

This is where almost all seriously ill patients suffering heart attack or needing open heart surgery from Bath, Bristol and the surrounding areas are treated.

One of the top surgeons from The BHI, Professor Raimondo Ascione, will be guest of honour and will take a few minutes to talk about the work he and his team do.

Prof Ascione and his team PAGE 44 • MENDIP TIMES • FEBRUARY 2019

Gerald and his wife Tina, from Temple Cloud were walking in August last year when he suffered a heart attack. After having stents fitted, he underwent a triple heart by-pass.

Gerald said: “My surgeon was Professor Ascione. On day five as he was about to release me to go home I asked him if there was equipment he needed that he couldn't have from NHS funding. He laughed and said ‘do you want a list?’

“Top of his list was a Fibre Optic Intubating Laryngoscope so I said I would raise the money to buy one. I think he thought I was nuts but he humoured me.

“When he realised I was serious he agreed to be our guest of honour at the ball and he introduced me to his friend and colleague of many years, Dr Chris Monk, who is a consultant cardiac anaesthetist and was in fact part of the team who carried out the first open heart operation in Bristol to be done using the new 'Beating Heart Method' of surgery.

“He has joined our small team to make this event a success.”

The other team member is former Mayor of Bath Loraine MorganBrinkhurst.

Gerald, who was in haulage and computers before buying Buglers 12 year ago, said: “One in four of us will probably die from a heart attack and someone in the UK is rushed to hospital

Details: www.bigheartedvalentinesball.co.uk

Gerald Creed FP

every seven minutes with a serious heart problem. I felt I had to pay something back to the people that saved my life and give us the opportunity of an extended life and this seemed the best way to do it.

“We've had lots of firms come on board with sponsorship and if we can sell all of the tickets for what will be a brilliant night of entertainment we will be able to buy this equipment and pay the support costs for the first three years.”

He hopes the ball will become an annual event.

Tickets cost £75 and include predinner drinks, three-course dinner and coffee and a night of great music and entertainment with singers Shaun Perry and Trena Maria, compere Tank Sherman and magician, Peter Baffles.

They are available from Bugler Coaches 01225 444422 or from loraine@morganbrinkhurstconsultancy.c o.uk 01225 463362 or the Bath Box Office 01225 463362.

Charity section.qxp_Layout 1 17/01/2019 14:14 Page 45

CHARITIES

Keeping the elderly fit

IT’S never too late to start – why older people in Somerset should make being active a priority for 2019.

That’s the message from Age UK which says sedentary behaviour and loss of fitness are major contributory factors to a variety of long-term health issues.

It says up to 600,000 long-term or acute health conditions could be prevented over the next decade, saving the NHS over £12 billion in treatment Ivy Thorne who teaches yoga – at the age of 86 costs, if all older people took part in There are nearly 200 classes across It also holds a number of classes some physical activity. the area, to suit all levels of ability, called Stay Strong Stay Steady, In Somerset, the number of adults from chair-based “Flexercise” or designed specifically for older adults over 65 is expected to increase by 18% over the next seven years – 24,000 more “Movement to music” sessions, to more who have had a fall, aiming to improve – and Age UK Somerset would like to active, “Mature Movers” classes, as balance, strength and co-ordination. see every one engaged in some form of well as yoga, Tai Chi, tea dancing and There is something to suit everyone and physical activity. many more. the focus is always on having fun.

Details: 01823 345626 or email ageingwell@ageuksomerset.org.uk • www.ageuksomerset.org.uk

Charity appeal launched

B&NES chairwoman, Cllr Karen Walker, has launched her charity appeal for 2019, supporting Dorothy House Hospice, the Motor Neurone Disease Association and Forces Online.

The first event is a charity music evening on Saturday, March 16th at the Guildhall compered by ITV presenter Bob Crampton, who recently retired after more than four decades.

It will be an informal evening featuring an eclectic mix of live music from local musicians. Tickets for the event will be £20.

The second spring fund-raising event revives the popular Elegance in the Afternoon fashion shows, featuring a sparkling fizz reception, afternoon tea and refreshments, served in the magnificent Banqueting Room at the Guildhall during the afternoon of Saturday, April 13th.

The compere will be BBC Points West journalist Imogen Sellers and the models’ hair and make-up will be by students from Bath College. Tickets are £30, to include tea and refreshments.

Pictured (l to r) Yvonne Brunton, Dorothy House, Len Chappell, Forces online, Cllr. Karen Walker, Sarah Cummins and Jayne Lee-Wright, Motor Neurone Disease Association

Details: loraine@morganbrinkhurstconsultancy.co.uk or go to www.morganbrinkhurstconsultancy.co.uk

Classic cars for charity

CLEVEDON Lions Club’s annual charity classic car event will be held on Sunday, April 28th with proceeds going to the Children’s Hospice and Lions club charities Some 170 cars/vans/bikes took part last year with the event raising £5,000. Once again the day will start in Congresbury at the garden centre at 10am before a 30-mile lunch-time drive to Clevedon for the afternoon public display.

Alex Lovell from BBC Points West will again be waving the cars away at 12noon. Everyone is invited to see the vehicles with a bar plus food and trade stalls on the Salthouse Fields, Clevedon from 12.30.

Vehicles over 25 years old must be pre-booked.

Details: clevedonlions@gmail.com or see lionsbrimar.org.uk

MENDIP TIMES • FEBRUARY 2019 • PAGE 45

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MENDIP TIMES

Charity golf day

YEO Valley Lions Club will be holding its seventh annual charity golf day on Thursday, May 2nd at Tall Pines Golf Club.

The previous events have raised in excess of £25,000 for a number of causes and this year’s chosen charity is The Brittle Bone Society, a national charity operating throughout the UK and Ireland supporting those affected by this genetic disorder.

The cost for a team of four remains at £175, which includes a round of golf, a buffet meal and other refreshments as well as the opportunity to win great prizes, and will also help to raise funds for this very worthwhile cause.

Already some two-thirds of the available tee times have been reserved for this popular event, mainly by those who make this an annual item in their diary, so early booking is advised.

Details: www.yeovalleylions.org.uk or Derek White 01934 877407

Actors wanted

YMCA Mendip & South Somerset is launching the Belong, Contribute and Thrive Tour this year and will attend the main street markets/events in the area with their information point and staff.

As part of this awareness project they will set up a special street theatre performance directed by an artistic director with international experience, Joanna Procter.

The charity delivers a huge range of services, including 30,717 safe nights and 13,648 planned curriculum activities last year; 324 people were supported to move into their own home; and a weekly drop-in centre for whoever needed advice.

They are now recruiting for volunteer actors with or without experience, but with a great passion for drama and YMCA Mendip & South Somerset’s work.

Details: www.mendipymca.org.uk or contact Alessandra Crusi at a.crusi@mendipymca.org.uk

Needles clicking at Knit & Chat

A KNITTING group in Shepton Mallet is setting its targets even higher after raising almost £4,000 last year for good causes.

Knit & Chat members, who meet at the Somerset and Wessex Eating Disorders Association offices, presented cheques to the Royal United Hospital’s Forever Friends Appeal and SWEDA. They have decided to dedicate their knitting efforts in 2019 towards Dorothy House Hospice Care and the Wedmore-based charity Help the Child.

The group has received a certificate of gratitude from the Shepton Mallet branch of the Royal British Legion for raising thousands of pounds in recent years for the Poppy Appeal by knitting poppies which were sold mainly at Tesco’s Shepton Mallet store.

PAGE 46 • MENDIP TIMES • FEBRUARY 2019

Supporting Somerset Mind

STINA Falle, artist and “survivor of the mental health system”, is selling her creative estate – paintings, prints, drawings and other artefacts – to raise money for the charity Somerset Mind.

The exhibition will take place at Black Swan Arts Round Tower, in Frome from Friday, January 25th at 6pm until Saturday, February 2nd, Monday to Saturday 10am to 4pm.

This sale will help to fund essential counselling services for young people at risk of suicide and self-harm. As a survivor herself she said she would also like this revelation of her life’s work to encourage others to share their stories and pictures with her while she is in residence.

Above all, she wants to show how the creative imagination can overcome many of life’s difficulties and that we are not alone in our distress.

Venue is new venue

THE Wells branch of The Royal British Legion has moved into its new base at The Venue in the city.

Branch meetings are every third Monday at 7pm. The branch has also launched a Veterans and RBL Breakfast Club which meets on the last Saturday of each month at 10am at The Venue.

For details, email: Wellsrblsecretary@aol.co.uk

Front (l:r): Lauren Noble, from Forever Friends, SWEDA chief executive Paula Blight and Tesco Shepton Mallet’s new community champion Becky Ware. They are pictured with Knit & Chat members including Cathy Kingstone and Eileen O’Grady, who were presented with bouquets of flowers by their fellow knitters for their work running the group

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CHARITIES

No limits to their imagination Photography by Mark Adler

ARTISTS and models from all over the UK gathered in Glastonbury for the second Body Art Festival in aid of the locally-based Children’s World charity.

And there were some familiar faces beneath the extravagant make-up, wigs and costumes, including the charity director Kristen Lindop and local blacksmith Sam Smith.

Getting the models ready in the town hall took all afternoon before a parade and party in the evening. This year’s theme was gods and goddesses.

There was plenty of time to laugh and chat to visitors who packed the town hall to admire the work in progress

Still life – remarkable art in Glastonbury

Oka

Local blacksmith Sam Smith

Nikita

An artist puts the finishing touches to this model’s face

Striking a pose

For details about the work of Children’s World, visit: www.childrensworldcharity.org

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MENDIP TIMES

THE MENDIP SOCIETY

A New Year – and old customs can still be new

THE society welcomed in the New Year 2019 as usual, with the ancient custom of wassailing the orchard trees of member Terry Gifford at Worth joined by our friends Somerset Morris and Barley Rye Choir.

Led by our president Les Davies it worked a treat last year with a bumper autumn apple harvest, so we saw no reason to change the custom. Les crowned our Wassail Queen, Vanessa Pateman, to perform the ceremony – their picture can be seen elsewhere in this month’s issue.

We’ve often heard people talk about getting rid of all these “ancient things”, traditions, skills, buildings – the list goes on; they are obsolete and we should be using the new technology, methods, materials, their list goes on too. But we disagree.

Whilst these new things do have their place and can be very useful, be careful what you do away with and lose through negligence. Old countryside skills are vital to the health of our landscape and need to be kept alive and by teaching them to others they will always stay new.

As we write this we have just finished two great days’ hedge laying tuition in our nature reserve, Tania’s Wood in Ubley, introducing the skill to 17 new enthusiasts, all beginners.

About half are already our volunteers or those of the National Trust, Mendip Hills AONB or Wildlife Trusts, the others just want to know how to manage the hedges in their gardens or smallholding – who knows they may well be our volunteers of the future. And didn’t they do well – under the expert guidance of Tina Bath and Chris Claxton, 62 metres were laid, beautifully.

We reported previously on our visit to the Dulcote section of the Strawberry Line extension, a stretch which is looked after by a small group of volunteers, who have cleared the path of all scrub, planted trees and created grassy meadows.

We told them about the Mendip Hills Fund, which was coming up to the deadline for the current round of grants, promising, that if they were awarded one of the grants to buy scythes, we would go at the time suitable for their flowering

A perfect hedge

The class of 2019

Scything the meadow summer 2006

species and help them get started. And congratulations to them, they did – and we will!

This took our memories back to 2006 when our volunteers looking after our Slader’s Leigh meadow first tried the latest lightweight Austrian scythes supplied by Simon Fairley of The Potato Store.

He was visiting the Great Green Gathering at Fernhill Farm, together with a friend, native Indian American, Peter Vido, who at the time was the World Scything Champion.

It came about that we had a glorious weekend learning how to assemble our scythes to fit our height, to peen and sharpen blades, and the secret of rhythm and balance needed to effortlessly cut swathes of high herbage, treading lightly on the earth in the relaxed way that is so satisfying.

We were so fortunate to have two very skilled tutors to make our learning enjoyable; now we hope to pass this enjoyment on to the Dulcote path group, as we have to so many other groups all over the area. Scything is a very ancient skill, kept alive with every new person it is passed on to.

We tie up the old year 2018 with our AGM on March 29th at 7pm (recognise that date?). Open to members of the public, and meeting in the Wookey Hole Hotel, our guest speaker will be the owner of the caves Jerry Cottle. . And a new venture for the society this year – put the date of Friday, April 5th in your diary for the President’s Quiz “Mendipity”. Devised by Sue Gearing and Les Davies, it will be a fun way of testing your knowledge of all things Mendip – the serious, unusual, funny, downright odd and “warts & all”.

Everyone welcome.

Richard Frost and Judith Tranter

All the details of both these events are on our website: www.themendipsociety.org.uk

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WILDLIFE

Dunnocks in decline

AS I write this in January the temperature is plus 10°C and it feels as though spring is just around the corner.

Birds are warming

By CHRIS up their songs and SPERRING some are even MBE starting to gather nesting material. If this continues (according to some forecasts as Mendip Times was being published, it won’t), then species such as dunnock, blackbird, robin and house sparrow will soon be building their nests.

The dunnock is slightly smaller than the robin and has sparrow-like plumage – in fact it used to be known as the hedge sparrow. Males have a welldefined blue-grey head and females, though similar, are very slightly smaller and duller on the head.

It is well worth looking out for them through February as their activity increases. As mentioned, this is an early breeding resident bird whose song, which can start during February, is softly delivered as a fast collection of trill-like notes. Listen out for it now, as although it will still be singing in the

Don’t mess with me – dunnocks can be aggressive towards each other at this time of year

spring, it will be completely drowned out by the louder birds.

Dunnock family life is complicated to say the least, with males and females holding separate territories through the winter. Male territories are somewhat larger and can overlap several female territories, but each female may be visited by several males during the courtship period. I said it was complicated.

Dunnocks, therefore, tend to be highly aggressive during February and this is the best time to observe them chasing each other in and out of hedgerows and shrubs. One interesting

Increasing the size and density of domestic garden hedges can help dunnocks survive

observation from my own garden is that of two males working together to push out a third male, which is apparently not uncommon to observe.

If you’re feeding birds in your garden, then another way to observe dunnocks is to watch out for their classic behaviour of running around under the bird table picking up the food the other birds spill.

During my own lifetime I’ve witnessed the dunnock decline not just in the rural areas but also in urban gardens as well. As a bird of the hedgerow and an insectivore, this decline is probably due largely to modern farming practices; fewer, poorer hedgerows and increased insecticide use, and as the dunnock is a favoured host of the cuckoo, its decline has also affected this popular parasitic bird, which is certainly less common on farmland than it used to be as well.

We can all help dunnocks by increasing the size and density of hedges in our gardens and introducing native plant species. Also, stop using insecticides and look for less harmful methods of controlling pests if, in fact, you must control them at all.

This month we will start to see early flowers like dandelions and daisies, and sorry to repeat myself, but please don’t get rid of them. There are many early emerging bees for which these flowers will be vital, not to mention many other insects and birds such as the now redlisted linnet. l I will be running a number of bird song ID walks and dawn chorus walks throughout the spring and summer, so please contact me for further details.

Chris Sperring is Conservation Officer for the Hawk and Owl Trust Contact him via chris.sperring@btinternet.com

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MENDIP TIMES

A beautiful walk around Blagdon Lake

IT is ages since I did a circumnavigation of Blagdon Lake – on foot, of course – and so for our February walk, it was a pleasure to revisit it, to enjoy the lake views from both sides, the quiet lanes and field footpaths. The views are really good in winter, unobstructed by foliage and I found the winter light over the lake very beautiful. It is easy walking. As usual, after a lot of rain there will be some mud in the fields, of which there are quite a

few. There is an uphill stretch towards the end up to Blagdon Church and some gentle uphill walking earlier on, but otherwise it is on the level. There should be no problem with dogs on this circle, either. There are very few stiles and they didn’t look dog proof.

PARK: In the he free car park in the middle of Blagdon village on the main road behind the village club, down Station Road. Turn in by the Fire Station.

START: Turn left downhill in Station Road from the car park in the West End area of Blagdon village. The name of the lane relates to the former Blagdon station which was down by the lake near this end of the dam. It was on the Wrington Vale Light Railway and was primarily built to bring building materials for the colossal project of the lake/reservoir. Stay descending on Station Road, ignoring side turns until you reach Dark Lane on the right.

With Sue Gearing PAGE 50 • MENDIP TIMES • FEBRUARY 2019

1. DARK LANE Go down a yard or two and then up steps onto the footpath which runs above the lane. At the bottom come down onto Dark Lane for a short way and then turn left alongside the lake. The lake was created

by Bristol Water (Bristol Waterworks Company as was), which dammed the River Yeo, starting in 1898. The lake still provides 9,547,000,000 litres of drinking water each year, but is also famous as a

superb trout fishing lake, and in addition provides a habitat for a range of flora and fauna and is a Site of Special Scientific Interest.

2. DAM At the junction turn right over the dam.

Over on your left pass the imposing Blagdon Pumping Station and Visitor Centre. It includes science and environment exhibits and hands-on displays as well as a room dedicated to the charity WaterAid. One of the two steamdriven beam engines is still working occasionally and another steam engines has been preserved.

3. LAKESIDE PATH At the end of the dam, take the first footpath on the right which follows the lake edge and gives good views across to the Mendip Hills and Blagdon. Cross a footbridge and at the second footbridge, turn right over the bridge which crosses a stream coming into the lake. Go ahead into a field (or take the footpath on the right through the wood). Go through a gate on the far side (both paths meet here). Cross a third footbridge. For a pleasant south facing view across the lake to Blagdon, take the small path on the right into an open field which goes down to the water.

Return to the main path and carry on.

Keep your eyes open to spot some of the water birds that frequent the lake including grebe, cormorants, swans, Canada geese, shovellers, gadwalls, and other ducks.

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WALKING

Look up and you may spot the common buzzard or a sparrow hawk.

Le

4. WOODLAND My route now is up through woodland and then on in the same direction climbing through fields, following the left edge, until a kissing gate with a field and a house with large windows ahead. Just maintain direction across this and over a stone slab stile onto a Tarmac track in the hamlet of West Town.

5. WEST TOWN Turn left and almost immediately right at the junction going uphill at first between high hedges. The next section of the walk is on about 25 minutes on quiet lanes with a mixture of uphill, flat and down.

At crossroads, go straight over. Continue to the next junction where the route goes right through the hamlet of Nempnett Thrubwell. This hard-to-find hamlet was immortalised by the Wurzels in Combine Harvester. Further on, carry on in Nempnett Street, ignoring Awkward Hill.

Stay with the lane past cottages and then start to keep your eyes open for a metal kissing gate and signpost up in the hedge on the right – not long after a wooden power pole. If you reach East House, you’ve gone too far.

6. FIELDS Go left along the top of the field past a concrete standing and then start to bear down the field diagonally to a visible large metal gate near a corner. You may need to step over low wires. Cross the next field and through another gate. Now head diagonally across and down the field to the far bottom corner to a kissing gate by a gate. Once through, bear across into another field. Maintain direction diagonally across the field and not far off the bottom corner, go through a gate and over a small footbridge. Now in this field, head diagonally across the centre to a kissing gate in the far corner which leads onto a lane.

7. LANE Turn left and stay right at the next junction. After a couple of minutes come to an entrance to a Bristol Water users’ path, which is private.

8. FOOTPATH For the next section of the walk, we parallel the track in adjacent fields, although it is not always visible. So, take the footpath immediately at the side of the track. Follow the right hedge along,

6 miles, about 3.5 hours walking. OS Explorer 141, Cheddar Gorge & Mendip Hills West, and 154 Bristol West & Portishead.

go right over a footbridge. Look back at this point to see a brick and stone chimney which is at Ubley Hatchery, owned by Bristol Water where they rear trout for Blagdon Lake. Now just continue in the same direction along paths and through fields. Near the end start to draw close to the large buildings of Holt Farm, with Blagdon Church tower as a backdrop up on the hill.

Continue on until you go through a Bristol Gate ahead (with pedestrian access built into it). Join a concrete farm track and after a few yards turn right over a footbridge across a ditch and come into a field. Follow the left edge staying with it as it bends.

9. HOLT FARM Still in the field, with the lake over on your right, go past some of the farm buildings. On your right is Rainbow Point jutting into the lake. Keep straight on across fields going through two small pedestrian metal gates on the way and passing left Holt Farmhouse and the Yeo Valley Organic Gardens and cafe – a great place to visit in season. There is no access from this side. Continue on to the end of the last field and join a drive.

Turn right heading in the direction of Blagdon village and church up ahead.

After a few minutes, take a gate on the left and marked footpath which takes you off the drive, through a small copse. On the other side, turn left uphill along the left field edge. At the top of the field, go through two gates and join

a path still climbing. Turn right at the top, below cottages. Carry on past houses in Blagdon’s East End.

10. BLAGDON The name ‘Blagdon’ derives from the Saxon – Blac or Blaec (cold, bleak) and Dun (hill, down). Reach Church Street and turn right. At a junction, bend left in Church Street, but beforehand you may like to go to the beautifully sited New Inn over on your right. To continue, go down Church Street to the church lych gate. St Andrew’s is well worth a visit and its glorious tower has been a landmark for centuries. Go round the left side of the churchyard on the walled path and then through a gate and continue on the path across the shallow valley to the other side of Blagdon. After going through a small gate, reach the old water source for the villagers’ drinking water, Tim’s Well.

Continue uphill on the path a short way and then don’t carry on up, but, instead, turn right through a gate on a path along the side of the valley with a fine view and seat looking across to the church. Just stay with this all the way past cottages and come into Bell Square, where some of the houses date back to the 14th century, then a road junction. Turn left and shortly, it’s right to the fire station and car park.

Yeo Valley Organic Gardens. 6.5 acres of edible and ornamental plants.

Reopens May 2nd, 11am – 5pm www.yeovalley.co.uk The New Inn, Blagdon, 01761 462475.

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MENDIP TIMES

OUTDOORS

West Countryman’s diary

INTO February 2019 and I am wondering if Christmas and New Year really happened! As always it doesn’t take long for things to return to “normality”, or for some people “insanity”.

Already there is talk of colder weather on the way, but the original prediction of a With LES freezing bout out of the east (from Russia DAVIES MBE with love) seems to have changed in favour of cold air from Canada in the north… well at least it’s a blast of Commonwealth cold air as opposed to the European hot air we seem to have been receiving from the Continent of late!

Having said I had enough wood to see me through winter, that may well be called into question if the cold snap takes hold.

Thankfully I do not rely on the wood burner alone for heat in the house. I am of the age when there was always tinned food in the cupboard in case of a problem and the spirit of survival is a very strong thing!

I make sure that there are alternative forms of lighting to hand in the event of a power cut. My candles no longer become romantic lighting and an oil lamp comes into its own. The wood burner becomes the hob on which to cook a limited menu, after all where would we Brits be without the morale-boosting cup of tea?

The camping kettle will be standing to like a Tommy in the trenches, should it be needed. So easy to forget the basics when everything we do these days is dependent on broadband and satellite transmission.

Let’s get back outdoors! Cold and frosty mornings are lovely, providing you have not had to spend the night out. Maybe it’s time to get a few walks in and should you feel the need of some company why not get in touch with the Mendip Society, whose walks programme is always popular. Check them out by visiting the society’s website: www.themendipsociety.org.uk You could also check on the Mendip Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) to see what they have on offer.

Alternatively you may wish to go on a “Bimble” of your own.

There are plenty of walk books out there, including Miles More Mendip written by Sue Gearing and one Les Davies.

Get an Ordinance Survey map, scale 1:25000 and pick out some of your own. Map reading basics can be picked up quite quickly, after all you will not be needing the in-depth navigational skills required to find your way around Dartmoor or the Brecon Beacons. After a while the map becomes a really useful addition to a walk.

Once you have mastered footpaths, bridleway and the like, field boundaries and even contour lines will help to bring the whole landscape into shape. If you get the plastic laminated version it won’t disintegrate in the rain and you can always sit on it whilst you have your sandwiches!

Fancy learning a new skill connected with the countryside?

Does hedge laying or dry stone walling get you excited? Again check out the Mendip Society website. If however you feel really bold and want to get to grips with that overgrown apple tree in the garden, then I will be running a few orchard days in conjunction with some other organisations in the Mendip Times area.

The Somerset Rural Life Museum in Glastonbury have two days on March 9th and 23rd. For further details please contact the

museum. Before that, Gabriel's Community Orchard at Pilton are holding a workshop day on Saturday, February 23rd. If you are interested in joining in please contact by email on: jk.pilton@btinternet – any problems please contact me through my website below.

Community orchards are great organisations, bringing likeminded people together. You may wish to set one up in your area and if so the folks at Gabriel's Orchard are the ones to talk to. I spent many happy hours with them when it was set up. We grafted most of the trees that went into this orchard from local sources.

Again keeping the local distinctiveness alive. There are plenty of other community orchards such as the ones at Rickford and in Blagdon, all are worthy of your attention if you are keen to join in and learn more.

Whilst on the apple theme, I have been busy with wassails. The Mendip Society held their annual celebration at the Pheasant Inn at Wookey. A great evening was had by all, as can be seen from the pictures in this edition of Mendip Times.

If you have missed out on the wassails, the Sheppey Inn will be hosting the Godney Wassail on Monday, February 11th. It’s always a popular venue, so contact the pub for more details, but hurry because the tickets go quickly!

Meanwhile in hedgerow, field and wood life goes on much the same day after day. No Christmas, wassails or other celebrations for them, just the daily grind of survival. Snowdrops will soon be poking their heads above ground and the seasonally unaware primrose will be doing the same.

Edith Holden, in her diary for 1906 speaks of both and Hartley Coleridge in his poem, Fair Maids Of February writes in February 1842: One Month is past, another is begun, Since merry bells rang out the dying year, And buds of rarest green began to peer, As if impatient for a warmer sun; And though the distant hills are bleak and dun; The virgin snowdrop, like a lambent fire, Pierces the cold earth with its green-streaked spire And in the dark woods, the wandering little one May find a primrose.

Finally a very personal note, as my daughter Lizzie leaves to take up a post teaching English in China. Such a brave step forward into her bold new life. She takes with her not only her father’s love, but also his DVD about the apple tree to show her students. Such a fitting tribute, as the story of the apple began in China… full circle?

This month’s picture is of East Mendip Gardening Club getting to grips with pruning fundamentals on one of my courses. Lots of debate going on here!

You can always contact me through my website: Westcountryman.co.uk

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YEO VALLEY

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MENDIP TIMES

February browsing

THE sight of snowdrops blooming for me is the start of a new gardening year.

We have survived the Christmas and New Year festivities and With MARY can now focus on the PAYNE MBE year ahead. So, although the weather may not be very inviting there is still plenty to be done.

Gardening catalogues of every colour and type are plopping through the letter box with mouth-watering offers to tempt you. Try to resist impulse buying and have a plan!

For both vegetables and flowers, you have the choice of growing your own from seed or buying in plug plants. The latter are ideal if you only want relatively few plants or do not have the facilities for seed sowing.

Vegetable seeds, on the whole, are very reliable for germination as they have to comply with regulations regarding their minimum germination potential. They have also undergone significant plant breeding, whereas flower seeds do not have to comply and are in most cases much nearer the natural species and may require certain conditions for germination. It is always worth reading the instructions on the packet carefully.

I always plan my sowing dates (helpful information is on the packet or in the catalogue) and write the date on the packet and group the packets together for each date. It sounds pedantic, but I sometimes have as many as 150 packets to sort out for clients.

Remember, you can keep any unsown seeds for another year by putting them in an airtight box with a packet of silica gel and keep it in the fridge. The exception to this is parsnip seed which should be purchased every year.

Plug plants usually arrive in very good condition but make sure you do not order for a time when you are away. Open the packs as soon as possible and get the plants into the light to prevent them etiolating.

These days you can choose your size of plugs from tiny seedlings to those ready to plant in the garden. I always find the plugs arrive a bit too late in the season, so they struggle to flower when I want them to.

Perhaps I am impatient.

Grafted vegetable plants have become readily available over the past few years but is it worthwhile paying the extra for PAGE 54 • MENDIP TIMES • FEBRUARY 2019

them? Back in the 60s tomatoes started to be grafted onto pest and disease resistant rootstocks to overcome problems associated with growing repeatedly in glasshouse soil.

Then growbags emerged and the need for grafted plants subsided, but recently they have made a comeback, offering home growers higher yields and earlier crops as well as disease resistance. Some folk agree that they get better crops while others have experienced little difference.

You can even have two varieties of tomato grafted onto one plant. Grafted cucumbers, aubergines, melons, sweet and chilli peppers offering earlier and increased crops are now available.

Having dealt with ordering your seed packets and plug plants, it is time to order summer flowering bulbs such as dahlias, gladiolus, lilies and begonia tubers. Once again, the choice is bewildering.

Dahlias can be purchased as rooted cuttings or as small tubers. Pot up the tubers and start them into growth in midFebruary and then take cuttings when the shoots are three inches long. They root easily and will grow to full-size plants this season planting out after the frosts.

Gladiolus make excellent cut flowers and can be planted in succession to give blooms over a long period. They take approximately 12 to 14 weeks from planting to flowering. For use in borders I suggest making groups of say five corms of The Bride and Halley which flower slightly earlier than the taller big flowered types.

Begonia tubers can be started into growth also in mid-February on a window sill ready to plant up in hanging baskets in mid-April, or used as bedding plants in late May. The Illumination Apricot Shades can be thoroughly recommended. Indeed

begonias, in all their various shapes and sizes, are one of the few summer plants that will flower from June to October without any fuss taking shade or sun in their stride.

The traditional florist’s anemone is worth growing from the knobbly tubers planted in the spring or autumn. Plant the tubers two inches (5cm) deep by four inches (10cm) apart in well-drained soil in a row for cut flowers or as groups at the front of a border.

With the vast range of seeds and plants available it makes life more interesting if you aim to “try something new” each year.

Perhaps try growing your own quinoa, the sacred grain of the Incas. It is easy to grow sowing the seeds in Mid-March/April and harvesting in September/October.

You may recall a whole field of it was grown a couple of years ago on the A368 between The Man with Two Heads junction and Corston. It is closely related to Fat Hen, a very common garden weed and you can eat that too!

Or brighten up your vegetable patch with nasturtiums using the edible flowers and leaves in salads or as a garnish. The succulent leaves of purslane are claimed to taste like a cross between Mangetout peas and Bramley apples. It sounds as if someone has a vivid imagination to me.

Lamb’s lettuce, also known as corn salad leaves, is now sold in the supermarkets but is so easy to grow at home and makes a good winter salad if grown in a greenhouse or cold frame.

If you are really feeling “spaced” out you can grow a red-leaved lettuce called OutREDgeous whose claim to fame is that it “was the first vegetable to be grown and eaten in outer space”.

As a general guide to catalogue browsing if the description sounds too good to be true it probably is so buyer beware.

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GARDENING

Mendip Times reduces travel costs

FEBRUARY GARDEN TIPS

Harden off forced hyacinth bulbs (acclimatise them) after they have finished flowering. Then plant them out in the garden where they will thrive and flower for many years to come.

When snowdrops finish flowering lift crowded clumps, carefully divide them and replant immediately.

Snowdrops hate to have their roots broken so be careful Dahlia roots can be started into growth under protection now. This will produce new shoots that can be rooted to increase your stock.

Trees that have lost their leaves can be pruned now.

Cut out dead, diseased and damaged wood. Thin out overcrowded areas but avoid removing too much in one year.

Check that climbers are securely tied to their supports and check that old ties are not constricting older thicker stems Prune clematis this month. Those that flower after midsummer should be cut back hard (they only flower on newly-grown shoots) but those that flower before midsummer should be more lightly pruned to about 75cm.

Put plenty of well rotted manure around your roses.

Give them a liberal dressing of Toprose fertiliser as well.

Sow early lettuce seed under protection. Plant out later for really early crops. Vaila-Winter Gem or Tom Thumb are good tasty varieties to grow now.

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Gardening section.qxp_Layout 1 17/01/2019 14:21 Page 56

MENDIP TIMES

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PAGE 56 • MENDIP TIMES • FEBRUARY 2019

FIONA and Jonathan Hayward are opening their garden at Cameley House for the National Garden Scheme and are inviting small groups to visit by appointment from Mid-April until the end of May. The three-acre garden, with Cam Brook running through it, has been a labour of love since they moved in nine years ago to be nearer family. They previously farmed in the Scottish borders.

You can expect to see magnolias, tulips and spring flowering shrubs and bulbs, as well as mature woodland. Jonathan is the youngest son of the late Sir Jack Hayward, who brought the SS Great Britain back to Bristol from the Falklands.

Gardening section.qxp_Layout 1 17/01/2019 14:21 Page 57

GARDENING

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Mendip Times is available from over 900 outlets across the Mendips from superstores to village stores and post offices, farm shops, supermarkets, garden centres, pubs, inns, hotels and restaurants, doctors’ surgeries, libraries and tourist information centres.

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MENDIP TIMES • FEBRUARY 2019 • PAGE 57

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Poetry in motion

THE village of Chesterblade must be one of Somerset’s most closely-guarded secrets.

Nestled timelessly below the huge Iron Age fort they call The Knoll, near Shepton Mallet, the village is a small gem: off the beaten track and undeveloped yet steeped in a long pastoral heritage, its buildings, agricultural and domestic alike, solidly built for purpose.

Those buildings glowed in the gradually The cover of Ed Green’s book. Copies are available from The Hunting Raven westering sun as 20 people and a busy little bookshop in Frome

HISTORY

Walkers at Chesterblade

dog called Ivy set off for the third of the “Poetry in Motion” walks celebrating poets and authors with strong connections with the local area.

This time the theme centred on a book by Ed Green It Leaves Me the Same. This work brings together the letters of Ed’s great-uncle Allen who joined the First World War shortly before its end as a lad of 19 and who was tragically killed in action less than a week before the Armistice.

The walk, cold but sunny, was punctuated by stops to hear readings by Ed from his great-uncle’s letters home and of poems from the war by such as Wilfred Owen, Sara Teasdale, A E Housman and the present Poet Laureate Carol Ann Duffy, read by Martin Bax and Crysse Morrison.

The high point of the walk was the steep scramble to the top of the ancient knoll which dominates the countryside around it and gives spectacular views in every direction. The reward at the end was tea at the home of Ed’s parents, Mr and Mrs Allen Green.

Many thanks to John Payne for arranging the walk.

By Des Harris

Rare chances to view abbey history A POP-up exhibition has opened in the Gallery Chapel at Downside Abbey at Stratton-on-the-Fosse displaying some of its outstanding collection of medieval manuscripts, vestments, and containers of relics of great historic importance.

Voices from the Cloister focuses on monasticism from the fifth to the 15th centuries in Western Europe. Downside’s heritage shows how monks and nuns lived and what they believed, and reveal how the general public could relate to monastic spirituality. Some of the texts are 1,000 years old.

The exhibition is the start of a project by the abbey to share its important historical collections with the public on a large scale.

Monks were among the most educated individuals in the medieval world, so their training was needed in the church’s mission to convert Europe to Christianity. There were times when monks found themselves in the front lines, where attempts to convert others resulted in their own martyrdom.

One of the historic vestments on display

Voices from the Cloister is open to the public until Thursday, April 11th on the second and fourth Thursday of the month.

The exhibition is open on a ticket-only basis and must be booked in advance. Tickets cost £10 and include a tour of the abbey church. For details, visit: www.downsideabbey.co.uk/voices-from-the-cloister-exhibition/

PAGE 58 • MENDIP TIMES • FEBRUARY 2019

(Picture courtesy of Andrew Washington)

MENDIP TIMES

Events feature.qxp_Layout 1 17/01/2019 13:51 Page 5

Mendip Society wassail

Bishop Sutton wassail

EVENTS

The shotgun party Del Dowling, Ben Dowling and Phil Gibson

Barley Rye Choir in action

The barbecue team Somerset Morris

President Les Davies crowns wassail queen Vanessa Pateman, a member of Barley Rye Choir

Wassail queen Nancy Warbrick, aged ten, leads the procession with MC Colin Emmett

The campfire was welcome

MENDIP TIMES • FEBRUARY 2019 • PAGE 59

Reader's Opinion DPS.qxp_Layout 1 17/01/2019 14:23 Page 60

MENDIP TIMES

Child poverty in schools and its impact on children’s lives Over the last eight years the Big Christmas Get-Together in Frome has become a lifeline for many in the town. Thanks to an army of volunteers, Frome Town Football Club flings open its doors each Christmas to provide Yuletide hospitality for up to 110 people.

Demand for places at the event has outstripped supply, so Christ Church School stepped in this year to offer free meals on Christmas Day. Headteacher Rupert Kaye explains why.

I AM the head teacher of Christ Church C of E First School and Nursery in Frome, Somerset. This year, we opened up our school on Christmas Day to serve free three-course Christmas lunches to Frome families under financial pressure, as well as lonely and otherwise housebound adults in our neighbourhood.

Please allow me to explain. Christ Church serves families living in one of the most socially deprived neighbourhoods in the south-west of England. The school catchment area – like all too many others across the UK – is characterised by low levels of adult literacy, high unemployment, low family income, poor adult and child health.

Any one of these factors is a potential barrier to children’s physical, mental and emotional well-being. Taken together, this cocktail of discomfort and disadvantage conspires to erect an almost insurmountable wall in the path of children’s academic progress and life chances.

But I am not writing about Victorian slums, workhouses or the New Poor Law of 1834. This is not the 19th century of Jane Austen and Charles Dickens. This is the bright, tech-rich 21st century and the year is 2019.

The national picture is sobering: the proportion of children living in poverty in the UK increased from 14% in 1979 to 27% in 2012 and is projected to rise to 33% by 2020 (source: The Children’s Society, A Good Childhood for Every Child? Child Poverty in the UK, 2013).

Similarly, a recently published National Education Union (NEU) survey into the impact of child poverty at Christmas confimed that this deterioration continues apace. Of the 1,026 teachers who were questioned, 53% believed that children or young people in their school would go hungry over Christmas this year.

Also, 46% said that holiday hunger has worsened compared to three years ago and only two percent said the situation had improved, while 23% felt the problems of holiday hunger remained unchanged and a PAGE 60 • MENDIP TIMES • FEBRUARY 2019

further 29% were undecided.

Yet even with these statistics ringing in my ears, I feel it necessary, as a public servant, to point out to the powers that be that grinding poverty and its toxic side effects persist in crushing individual human liberty, sense of purpose and happiness.

Poverty – wherever and whenever it occurs – stunts children’s physical, mental and emotional growth. Poverty suppresses children’s academic progress and limits their life chances. Poverty robs wider society of a richness that each and every one of us would enjoy if every child were to truly flourish and reach their utmost potential.

What is the full opportunity cost to the UK of childhood poverty? Not just measured in terms of monetary expense and hassle (e.g. increased incidence of preventable illness and disease, or higher levels of social disaffection and criminal behaviour), but in terms of lost income and unrealised joy (e.g. wealth not earned and taxes not paid, inventions left uninvented, books left unwritten, jobs left uncreated).

Consider for a moment, a seminal cinematic “What if?” scenario: It’s a Wonderful Life (1946, RKO Radio Pictures, directed by Frank Capra). Now imagine, if you will, any one of a thousand small and medium sized UK towns and their populations impoverished because their own “George Bailey” was prevented from fulfilling her/his destiny because of accident of birth, social disadvantage and childhood poverty.

What if that child could lead the cure for cancer, or to be the greatest Prime Minister, or write the finest opera, or spearhead a social reform that would empower millions of people?

As head of a Church school, I strive to promote Wisdom, Hope, Community and Dignity in line with the Church of England’s Vision for Education (2016). I see these core values as the key to unlocking human potential and focussing school energy on promoting a progressive, inclusive, fair school community.

I believe that all schools should play a full and effective part in serving and transforming society; changing individual lives and shaping wider societal mores; bringing hope and opportunity to the many, not the few. But, for schools to have maximum impact, their pupils need to be emancipated from the shackles of day-today poverty.

Research suggests that a lack of proper nutrition damages children’s physical and mental health and, of course, it can limit their cognitive development and learning.

But food is expensive and an increasing number of families have come to rely upon food banks and free school meals to nourish their children.

So, like many other schools, Christ Church runs a free breakfast club. We aim to boost children’s well-being, learning and behaviour with bagels, cereal and juice. On any given morning, a third of the school population is fed during term time.

But how do low-income families cope during school holiday times? How many children who benefit from free school meals during term time will experience “holiday hunger” over the long summer break, or at Easter or Christmas?

Thankfully, a new initiative in Frome between schools, the local council, the town food bank and local charities and churches means that children will have access to holiday activities and a free lunch three days a week throughout the summer.

This is good. But is it not a shameful state of affairs when any child in the UK today should go to bed hungry or have their life chances stunted by the lack of a nutritious, balanced diet during the school summer holidays?

At what point, I wonder, will those who govern on our behalf rise as one in righteous indignation and declare that the eradication of childhood poverty and a remedy for its iniquitous spirit-sapping side effects are national priorities?

Surely, the elimination of childhood poverty – first in the UK and then across the globe – is an idea whose time has come: inevitable, irresistible and on the right side of history. And, who among us would not want to be found on the right side of history when future generations judge our thoughts and hearts by our words and deeds?

Rupert Kaye, Headteacher Christ Church C of E First School Feltham Lane Frome

Reader's Opinion DPS.qxp_Layout 1 17/01/2019 14:23 Page 61

READER’S OPINION

Expansion of Bristol Airport – local councils’ concerns BRISTOL Airport’s expansion plans will affect most people surrounding the Mendip Hills, Chew Valley and Wrington Vale and beyond.

The airport submitted a planning application in late December to North Somerset Council. The application is for growth to 12 million passengers per annum (mppa), phase one of growth to 20 mppa.

This is a 50% increase from 2017 when Bristol Airport reached eight mppa and will mean a throughput of 97,373 aircraft movements in a 12-month calendar period, a flight almost every three minutes.

All tranquillity will be lost during the day and the airport wants more flights in the summer months. More flights bring more traffic. There is already heavy congestion on the A38 and this is going to spill over on to other rural roads and the A370.

The airport is to improve a couple of junctions very close to the entrance of the airport but this is a mere tweaking of the system and will do nothing to reduce the number of cars on our roads.

The airport has been slowly eroding the green belt with the current construction of the new administration block close to the A38 and car parking. The airport has put in for another 5.1ha of green belt land for car parking.

The location of the car park is less than two kilometres from the Special Area of Conservation for the Greater and Lesser Horseshoe Bat. The sky glow from the airport can only grow as

new areas are required to have lighting.

The impacts of this application are immense for the local communities surrounding the airport and the environment.

The recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change said that we had 12 years to act to reduce emissions.

In 2017 aviation carbon emissions at Bristol Airport were 746.77 (ktCO2/yr) and in 2026 they will be 1,183.87 (ktCO2/yr) an increase of 59%.

In 2017 the current baseline figures for vehicle emissions were 184.45 (ktCO2/yr). In 2026 the future baseline figures for vehicle emissions is 214.23 (ktCO2/yr). This is an increase of 16% in the annual level of vehicle emissions. (REF Environmental Statement Vol 1 Ch 17 Greenhouse Gas Emissions).

Anyone with concerns over the expansion of Bristol Airport should visit North Somerset Council website and register comments in the planning section quoting the reference number 18/P/5118/OUT. The time to act is now before it is too late.

Hilary Burn Chair PCAA The Parish Councils Airport Association is 21 parishes surrounding Bristol Airport concerned about the impacts of airport activities on the environment and community in parishes within the North Somerset, B&NES and Sedgemoor boundaries.

Time to ban traffic through Burrington Combe?

I AM in the process of writing a new geology guide to Mendip and while on a research visit to Burrington Combe last autumn I noticed the aftermath of a car crash with an upside down wrecked car giving scale to the Rock of Ages.

On returning to the combe the following day I could not have predicted that I would come across another car crash. This time I was walking down West Twin stream just yards from the road when I heard an almighty bang.

Having established that those already at the scene had summoned the ambulance and were giving first aid I left thinking I do hope no one was injured. As if to underline the problems when I returned again at the end of the year to meet an ANOB warden there was again another, different car smashed against the Rock of Ages.

When I mentioned this to the warden he said there had been several more. “Yes I know” I said "I saw them on consecutive days in the autumn". “No” he said "just last week" and sure

enough there were tell-tail skid signs and even marks where a couple of one ton verge stones had been pushed aside!

So all in all there have been rather a lot of crashes in a short space of time – I know there has been a lot of additional traffic in the combe due to a A368 road closure, but on any day there is too much traffic travelling too fast to be able to enjoy what is a treasure.

I had already been thinking it is high time something is done to return the combe to the peace and tranquillity of the 1970s when I did my geology degree. Anyone who has witnessed the boy racers of Cheddar Gorge burning rubber compared to the glorious days when the gorge is completely shut to all traffic will know what I mean.

Imposing a speed limit will have little or no effect as I regularly get cars roaring past when I stick to the speed limit driving up Cheddar George – no a total ban on all traffic is the only answer.

Name and address supplied

MENDIP TIMES • FEBRUARY 2019 • PAGE 61

Crest Nicholson ad.qxp_Layout 1 17/01/2019 10:14 Page 1

Property section.qxp_Layout 1 17/01/2019 14:23 Page 1

MENDIP TIMES

Downsizing needn’t be a challenge

PROPERTY

Tom Killen looks at how Killens can help make the move so much easier “DOWNSIZING” is increasingly popular with approximately 500,000 people per year now considering a move to a smaller property. It is not just older people who consider this route but redundancy, separation, divorce and other personal changes can lead to downsizing.

The thought of downsizing can be overwhelming. Attempting to sort through and, in some cases, throw out belongings can feel like a task too far but downsizing can be a positive experience with a large number of potential benefits including freeing up equity, reducing your monthly outgoings, being closer to facilities and providing a fresh start. Those who do downsize definitely find it worth doing but there are potential downsides.

The largest deterrent is the hassle of moving. Moving home is one of life’s most stressful experiences and selling your home, finding a new one, packing, moving and settling in is not for the faint-hearted.

In addition, the costs are something to consider. Fees, stamp duty and moving can

mount up. You may also need to make modifications to your new home so there is a need to fully and accurately calculate all potential costs before considering a move.

Once you have moved, there is often no turning back and you will have to face less room for you and your possessions. A vital question to ask yourself is “will you still be happy?”.

So, once you have got to grips with the concept and decided to proceed, it is time to carefully plan. A well planned move is usually an easy move. Knowing what you

have to do and the time you have to do it will make the whole process a lot easier whether it be in marketing your existing home, decluttering or arranging the move.

The whole process needs determination but at Killens, we can help make downsizing a liberating experience. Our caring and professional staff working in our estate agency and auction room teams, can arrange for all the steps of moving to be taken acting in accordance with your wishes.

We can do as much or as little as you want including negotiating the purchase of your new home, arranging the packing, selling items at the auction rooms, home cleaning and making sure you settle in.

So we are helping clients so downsizing doesn’t have to be stressful, sad or scary. If you are considering the move, stay positive and get excited about a simpler life in a new place and let us assist you in achieving your objectives.

For further assistance, contact your nearest office of Killens.

MENDIP TIMES • FEBRUARY 2019 • PAGE 63

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MENDIP TIMES

New college association plans for the future

FROME College is launching a new parents’ association, thanks to Year 9 mum Liz Andrew. She’s keen to help build up the link between home and school and meet some fellow parent/carers from across all years – as well as organising some exciting fundraising events.

She said there’s already a few ideas on the table – from a classic cake sale to an ever-popular bingo night to stewarding at Glastonbury Festival.

She said: “I’m sure a group of us could come up with some more great ideas and get the ball rolling. It’s not about meetings and minutes – we want to be a supportive action and fundraising group that provides a strong parent link to the college.”

The group is currently being set up with the help of assistant principal Jonathan Black.

Details: JBlack@fromecollege.org

PAGE 64 • MENDIP TIMES • FEBRUARY 2019

Chance to try a taste of college life

BATH College is launching Experience Days for teens to get a taste of college life, with year 10 and year 11 pupils having the chance to be a Bath College student for the day.

February half term will see a series of days that potential students can sign up to in which they can attend course workshops and learn about apprenticeships and pre-apprenticeships to help them decide what to do after GCSEs. Each day will give pupils the opportunity to try two different courses as well as give them a chance to meet fellow students, staff and SU representative and give them a taste of college life.

Each day will showcase the huge range of different courses that the college can offer.

For more information and to sign up to an Experience Bath College day, contact events@bathcollege.ac.uk with your name and which Experience day you would like to attend or call 01225 328848.

Education section.qxp_Layout 1 17/01/2019 14:24 Page 65

Value is a mix of quality, time and choices MUCH has been written in the press recently about the affordability of private education and, here in the South West, being blessed with several independent schools, it is a hot topic.

Although all schools strive to exercise cost control and fee restraint, in an area where many independent schools compete, fees remain very competitive, as shown by a recent decision by one school to decrease their fees to line up with others in the sector.

Mike Buchanan, chief executive of HMC, recently observed in the Daily Telegraph that “private schools serve ordinary middle class communities where hard-working parents choose to spend some of their money on buying a different form of education for their children which is not available from the state”.

Far from being the wealthy elite so often depicted in the press, these families, where both parents are often working full-time, are looking for added value for their children’s education and personal development and expect value for money, too.

At Downside School in Somerset, where the school day fits a working day, the absence of any additional childcare costs can make this a more attractive option. The school day runs from 8.20am to 6pm and, for those going in the opposite direction for work, there are daily minibuses running to all corners of the county.

Increasingly, parents are taking advantage of a day place in a

EDUCATION

boarding school where the school operates 24/7 and the cocurricular activities are all on-site and part of the offer at no extra charge.

In their recent inspection of Downside School, ISI inspectors observed that pupils “develop strongly as individuals, enabled by the very high levels of pastoral care” and that “different activities, such as drama, or running a fashion show, play an important role in developing their confidence”.

Visit a Downside Open Day or make an appointment to see what a day place at Downside School can offer you and your family.

Details: admissions@downside.co.uk 01761 235103.

MENDIP TIMES • FEBRUARY 2019 • PAGE 65

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MENDIP TIMES

History under the hammer

Snowdrops are emerging

Take a pew: the Rev. David MacGeoch, vicar of St John’s

ALL the pews from St John’s Church in Glastonbury have been sold at auction as work begins to refurbish and modernise the interior of the historic building.

The Victorian pine pews – around 50 in all – were sold by Mendip Auction Rooms. They will be replaced by modern, flexible seating when the church reopens for worship in a year’s time.

The work – financed with the help of a £465,000 grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund – is being called Securing the Future and will open up the church to more community use as well as repairs to the nave floor and other renovation work.

The interior of the church will appear very different once work is complete

May the fourth be with you

THE Shepton Mallet branch of the Royal British Legion has been awarded the Mitford-Slade trophy for the Somerset branch achieving the highest number of new members in 2018.

The award was made at the Somerset RBL county conference and is the fourth consecutive year that the branch has been awarded the trophy. l The branch meets on the first Monday of each month at 7.30pm at The Club, in Shepton Mallet. New members are welcome.

Pictured receiving the award from Somerset RBL county president

Commodore Robert Mansergh is Jan Crewe, Poppy Appeal organiser and secretary to the Shepton Mallet branch

PAGE 66 • MENDIP TIMES • FEBRUARY 2019

Snowdrops outside one of the former homes of James Allen. The gardens of the surviving private properties in which he lived in the town will open to the public during the festival

FINAL preparations are underway for this year’s Shepton Mallet Snowdrop Festival.

Highlights of the festival – taking place on Saturday, February 16th and Sunday, February 17th – including special snowdrop stalls at the town’s Sunday market, a series of talks, a snowdrop trail and a procession to the grave of James Allen, from Shepton Mallet, heralded as the Snowdrop King in Victorian times for his work in cultivating snowdrops from wild varieties. There will also be arts and crafts activities, booksignings and the winners of the photograph and poetry competitions will be announced.

The festival will be opened at 10am on the Saturday by Annie Maw, the Lord Lieutenant of Somerset.

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

News page 66-67.qxp_Layout 1 17/01/2019 14:03 Page 67

Trophy for Ann

Club chairman Paul Dickinson (right) presenting Ann with the trophy with her husband, Sam (left)

ANN Budd, who lives in Stanton Drew, has been presented with an award for all she has done for the Bristol Classic and Historic Motor Club.

Ann and her husband Sam have been members of the club for many years and four years ago she took on the position of social secretary after the post had been vacant for several years.

She said: “Through rekindling the social element of the club, it has helped to boost the membership to over 400 this year.”

The club's next big event will be its 25th Mendip Vintage and Classic Tour on Sunday, May 12th, setting off from the Whitehall Garden Centre in Whitchurch and finishing once again on the Cathedral Green in Wells.

Village craft day

Pictured (l to r) Margaret Boucher, Harriette Dottridge, Denise Perrin and Elizabeth Penny

THE first craft day of 2019 at Compton Dando drew quite a number of people to the village hall, where they shared crafts and enjoyed making their own.

Harriette Dottridge, who organises these days, said: “The point of the day is to have a chance to do your chosen craft or watch and try what others are doing.”

Dorset buttons, screen print colouring, knitting, crochet, felt model making, felting and spinning are just a few of the crafts they did that day, which everyone enjoyed.

The next craft day will be taking place on Monday, February 11th 10am-4pm at Compton Dando Village Hall.

Details: hdottridge@hotmail.com or call 01761 490445

Preserving war history

NEWS

A PROJECT is underway to preserve photographs at Downside Abbey of more than 200 former boys who were killed The photographic memorial to boys of the in the two school who died during WW1 and WW2 world wars.

The U3A Downside Shared Learning Project is using U3A volunteers to help with the work. All of the original photographs were given by the families of the boys who were killed.

The photographs are currently in their original frames and are arranged on walls in a corridor within the school.

However, during a tour of the school by U3A volunteers, it was noticed that their location opposite large windows was having a detrimental effect on them.

The plan is to remove the original photos from their frames, and then to scan each one to produce a high quality digital image. Then, the replacement digital image will be displayed as before, but the original photos will be stored in an archive for safe keeping.

Details: bob.piper@talktalk.net 01749 938650.

Dan dares – will you?

A MEMBER of the SWALLOW charity for teenagers and adults with learning disabilities is in training for the Bath Half Marathon as part of a fundraising campaign for the organisation.

Dan, who lives in Westfield where SWALLOW is based, only started running in March with Shelley, one of his support workers, and has joined the Westfield TT running group, organised by John Reynolds.

Dan said: “I started running in Dan in training for the Bath March and it gave me passion and Half motivation to run more. The Bath Half was talked about in our group and I decided that this was a challenge I wanted to do for SWALLOW charity. I run regularly every week with my support worker and hope to raise money for SWALLOW. I am supported really well and they are all lovely. I also want to run in memory of my dad.”

Funds are needed to be able to continue SWALLOW’s work and it is hoping to recruit at least 20 people to run the Bath Half using one of its silver bond places. It would also welcome people who have their own places to pledge to run for SWALLOW. For details, contact Nicky Tew on 01761 414034 or by email at: nickyt@swallowcharity.org

MENDIP TIMES • FEBRUARY 2019 • PAGE 67

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MENDIP TIMES

The caves of Hutton Hill

(Photographs by Alan Gray)

AS lead mining declined in the 18th and 19th centuries, due to diminishing ore reserves and the increasing difficulty of extraction due to depth and flooding, so mining for ochre increased in importance.

Iron oxide or ochre was deposited during the Pleistocene period into caves and fissures With PHILIP and was a valuable pigment in the paint and HENDY linoleum industries. Extraction began in the late 17th century and only ceased in the 1940s.

Ochre mining on Hutton Hill, a few miles south-east of Westonsuper-Mare, was started in 1739 by William Glisson, who lived in nearby Loxton. He opened many pits on the hill and two of these were found to have animal bones embedded in the ochre.

They were obviously very old and included teeth and elephant bones and bones from animals thought to be African in origin.

Some of these were sent to the Rev Alexander Catcott of Temple Church in Bristol.

Catcott then visited the caves, which we know today as Bleadon Cavern and Upper Canada Cave. He found the bones protruding from the walls of the caves and dug many of them out until the place became unstable. Further visits were not possible as shortly afterwards, collapses sealed the caves.

However, Catcott wrote a Treatise on the Deluge, using the example of ancient bones from African animals as evidence of the Biblical flood. Sadly, the finds cannot be examined today, as they were destroyed at Bristol Museum by an air raid during WW2.

Ochre mining continued on the hill until the late 18th century, when all the caves and pits were backfilled. However, the rector of Bleadon, David Williams, determined to rediscover the lost bone cave and by using Catcott’s description, with the aid of an old miner, a cave was found after sinking three shafts.

Williams and William Beard (of Banwell Bone Cave fame) retrieved many bones and teeth, from elephant, horse, hyaena and wolf. These were later sent to museums and institutions. A description of the cave, named Hutton Cavern, appeared in John Rutter’s Delineations of North West Somerset (1829), together with a drawing of the elevation.

Beard continued to dig and found a new cave in 1833. Bones of boar, elephant and tiger (!) were found. A dial survey was made of the area, but after 1834 the site was again abandoned and lost.

In 1970 members of the Axbridge Caving Group began to

Hutton Cavern entrance

CAVING

Hutton Cavern

search for the Lost Cave of Hutton. After only 18 digging sessions, they found a cave, 122 metres long (later extended to more than 300 metres) and with miners’ inscriptions and dates on the walls. The earliest was 1746.

However, it did not resemble Rutter’s survey, so was named Bleadon Cavern. It is now gated, as a bat roost. Further digging exposed Maytree Cave (a mineshaft leading to a short passage) and Primrose Cave. Maytree Cave had candle marks on the shaft and the initials DW (David Williams?), but no extensions were found, and the holes were backfilled.

They lay in a bouldery depression. Interest in finding the Lost Cave continued and these caves were re-excavated in 2006, together with Well Shaft Cave, Shrapnel Hole and Gallery Pit Cave. The total passage length was 188 metres, but nothing resembled Hutton Cavern.

Later that year Upper Canada Cave was discovered. A small rift and squeeze led to a low bedding chamber, The Field, but it was clear that it had not been entered by miners. Six years later, in 2012, a mechanical digger was used to clear the site properly.

Another entrance to Upper Canada Cave was found and the main cave was linked to Well Shaft Cave. Another cave, Archway Cave, was found and later both Maytree Cave and Primrose Cave were joined to Upper Canada Cave.

Digging at the bottom of The Field led to Upper and Lower Glebe Passages, The Paddock and The Log Pile. An elliptical passage, Iron Passage, was filled with ochre. It was thought very likely that Upper Canada Cave was indeed the Lost Cave of Hutton.

Doubts persisted, however, and a search of the old literature by Rob Taviner showed that the confusion was largely caused by Rutter, who merged Catcott’s account and the description of the cave found by Williams and Beard, thereby implying that there was only one cave.

The cave names were, it seems interchangeable, but Taviner conclusively proved that the Lost Cave of Hutton is in fact Bleadon Cavern, while Upper Canada Cave was named Hutton Cavern by Rutter, and Bleadon Cavern by Beard.

It is not surprising that the digs uncovered bones, although due to the efforts of miners and others, the stratigraphy was poor.

Some were clearly modern, but a horse bone sent to Canadian Carleton University in Ottawa was dated by C14 analysis and found to be around 25,500 years old, or from the last Glacial Maximum in Britain.

Digging continues and no doubt more passages and bones will be found, but thanks to many years of effort, and a careful scrutiny of historical records, another of Mendip’s mysteries has been solved.

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

PAGE 68 • MENDIP TIMES • FEBRUARY 2019

Motoring page.qxp_Layout 1 17/01/2019 14:28 Page 1

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BATH and North East Somerset has awarded a £49 million highway maintenance and improvements contract to VolkerHighways, it has been announced.

The contract will start on April 1st and run for seven years, with a possible extension of three further years, which would take the contract to £70 million.

Working with the council’s highway and traffic service, VolkerHighways will deliver routine and planned highway works including safety repairs, resurfacing and surface treatments, as well as emergency response to road incidents, winter service, improvement schemes, road markings and temporary traffic management. It will also provide gully cleansing, rural verge maintenance, event traffic management and drainage maintenance works.

Throughout the contract, VolkerHighways will also create two new local apprenticeships every two years, building on its five per cent club commitment of ensuring five per cent of its workforce are graduates, apprentices or sponsored students. In addition, more than 90 per cent of the workforce and supply chain required to deliver the contract will be sourced locally.

B&NES looks after 1,274 kilometres of roads, and on average spreads 2,800 tonnes of road salt each winter. It routinely cleanses 24,000 highway gullies and annually fills on average 4,700 potholes.

The previous contract ran from 2008 and was with Atkins, which was taken over

by Skanska in 2013.

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MOTORING

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Marchants Hill, Gurney Slade BA3 4TY Call: 01749 841051 Mob: 07778 465520 Email: sales@caravanrepairs-sw.co.uk MENDIP TIMES • FEBRUARY 2019 • PAGE 69

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MENDIP TIMES

Brexit Plan Bs

BY the time you read this, we will know the extent of the defeat of Theresa May’s Brexit deal. Or perhaps it was postponed again. Either way, we clearly need a selection of Brexit Plan Bs to choose from before March 29, so let’s get the ball rolling: 1. Outsource Brexit to Capita. What could

By Dr PHIL possibly go wrong?

HAMMOND 2. Turn it into an opera. As the director Stefan Herheim puts it: “Opera is not about entertaining people. It’s about confronting our problems.”

3. Leave without a withdrawal agreement. This is generally a bad idea during sex, as any good Catholic with six children will tell you, and it’s probably not a great idea for Brexit. As a doctor, I have never observed going over a cliff edge working out well, unless you’re a multi-millionaire with a parachute guiding you gently down to an offshore tax haven.

4. Get Parliament collectively to apologise. “I’m sorry about the catastrophic breach of trust, but Brexit turned out to be too difficult for us and it won’t be happening anytime soon.” Just because we voted narrowly to leave, with or without some illegal activity and dodgy money, doesn’t mean our politicians are competent to deliver it. We learn most from failure, and there’s no shame in not being able to finish a 28-sided Rubik’s cube after three years of trying. We could just rip up Article 50 then have another go when we’ve had a long lie down. If we still want to.

5. Let Labour have a go. Jeremy, Keir and John believe they could negotiate a softer Brexit, fairly quickly, with a permanent customs union and no more Irish border problem but with all trade deals still going through the EU. This would really annoy Jacob, Boris and Dominic. It would require a) a general election first or b) genuine cross-party collaboration or perhaps even a unity cabinet of all the talents. This seems unlikely, given Teresa is clinging onto her precious Brexit like Golem and his ring.

6. The Norway option (but that would require the Norwegians inviting us to join their gang, so we’d have to be on best behaviour and pretend not to be so angry, precious and divisive).

7. Theresa May to resign, to be replaced by Larry the Downing Street cat. Larry has the same working class pedigree as John Major (the feline came from Battersea dogs and cats home) and has proved to be a fine judge of character. He was very nervous around David Cameron, clearly spooked by the grave implications of using simple in-out referendums to solve internecine Tory Euro-strife, but warmed immediately to Barak Obama. However, I’d like to see Jean-Claude Junker try to playfully tousle his fur.

8. Another referendum with the options a) in b) out or c) shake it all about.

9. A proper fight in the Commons. Politics is so horribly tribal, and Parliament at times has been on the edge of anarchy (e.g. when Jeremy mouthed an alleged rudery at Theresa). Why not settle it all with a televised fight to the finish? Last person standing plants the mace into the Speaker and gets to decide Brexit… http://www.valleyartscentre.co.uk

PAGE 70 • MENDIP TIMES • FEBRUARY 2019

Plop the Raindrop

SOMETIMES I’m happy to sit on a window and just watch the world go by. If I told you half of what I saw you wouldn’t believe it.

I can look inside a house or outside.

Outside at one house there are bird feeders which a man fills up every day. They attract big numbers of colourful birds, particularly as we head into spring.

The behaviour of the birds can be very different. A bit like kids I suppose. The sparrows make a lot of noise but are generally well-mannered taking it in turns to feed. The blue tits and great tits dodge in and out between them.

But the starlings squawk and argue like mad. If they took it in turns they could all have plenty to eat. I expect you have been to parties where greedy pigs try to grab more than you and end up being sick.

Serves them right.

As it is the starlings probably spill more than they eat. That suits the robins who feed more on the ground where the seed falls.

When the magpies and jackdaws swoop in, the little birds scarper.

Sometimes a sparrow hawk zooms down trying to catch one of them, but usually misses. There are bullies in the natural world as well as yours.

Guess who is hiding in the bushes watching all of this? It’s the neighbour’s cat hoping for a snack. But he spends most of his time snug asleep indoors and isn’t really agile enough to catch anything. A bit like most lazy grown-ups I suppose.

So most of the little birds spend their days tweeting in the bushes around the garden, safe from harm. I hear people Tweet a lot but I’ve never heard one.

You get a different set of characters at night. Rats and mice come searching for any seed on the ground. Owls come hoping to catch mice or voles. Badgers and foxes come trying to break into the chicken pen.

It’s different of course in a town, where I spend most of my time watching traffic and people rushing by. Apart from seeing the foxes who come out at night to scavenge people’s leftovers. It’s remarkable how animals can adapt their behaviour.

But whether I’m in the country or in a town, when I look indoors the view is much the same. Lots of people watching pictures on a square box in the corner or fiddling with their thumbs on various devices.

Some squabble like starlings over what to watch.

Sometimes I wonder if parents know just how much time their kids spend doing it.

Mind you, as soon as the kids disappear off to bed, the grown-ups take over and sometimes they squabble about what to watch as well.

It seems a strange way to spend so much time, when there’s much more interesting things to see outdoors.

I can see you now playing games, instead of doing your homework. Can you see me sitting on your window?

Why not look outside to see what’s happening in the real world? Or climb a tree?

Don’t worry, I won’t tell.

MENDIP GRANDAD

Health section.qxp_Layout 1 17/01/2019 14:30 Page 71

HEALTH & FAMILY HEALTH & FAMILY

Wishes granted for residents at The Laurels Care Home

RESIDENTS at The Laurels Care Home in Draycott near Cheddar are looking forward to theatrical treats in 2019. As part of the Country Court Care “Make a Wish” initiative residents were asked what they wished for.

As a result, residents across the care home group have enjoyed experiences from off-road driving to afternoon tea and scoring goals at Sheffield United Football Club.

Several residents at The Laurels Care Home decided that they wished to go to the theatre. Together they agreed they’d like to see a pantomime, so the care team arranged for tickets to The Playhouse in Weston-super-Mare to see Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.

In order to include all residents in the theatre experience, local theatre company, Flashback Theatre, have been invited to present their “Lambeth Walk” production at the care home, which will be enjoyed by all residents including those unable to go on the trip.

Home manager, Becky Green, said: “Our residents are really looking forward to the trip. We aim to ensure that our residents are fully involved in choosing the activities and trips we enjoy, the ‘make a wish’ initiative has given them the opportunity to do something extra special.”

Helping with dementia

A NEW group is being set up in Peasedown St John to help create a dementia-friendly community.

The initiative, which has already received support from B&NES Council, Curo and St John's Church, will meet five or six times a year and oversee the development of a dementia action plan for Peasedown.

Details: nathan_hartley@msn.com

Classes for all ages and stages at Yeofit

DOES the thought of going to a gym and studio make you shudder? Yeofit is unique as it is very friendly and approachable. It is in a beautiful setting with gorgeous views of Blagdon Lake and surrounding hills while you work out at your own pace.

Combined with the quirky and lovely canteen upstairs you can go with friends to make it a sociable trip out.

It’s well worth the effort as the instructors are all fun and highly qualified. They have Donna, a physiotherapist, on site and Fiona who teaches clinical Pilates.

With classes ranging from post-natal where you can take your baby, through to Exercise for Health, designed mainly for the older adult with health conditions like diabetes and high blood pressure.

What’s not to love? You can call Lynne Joyner on 07748 963297, email lynne@thejoyners.co.uk or look on Yeofit’s website for all the classes – no membership is needed and you can pay as you go.

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Details: www.lynnejoynerfitness.co.uk

MENDIP TIMES • FEBRUARY 2019 • PAGE 71

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MENDIP TIMES

New fund established

NEW funding is available for adults with learning disabilities and autism in Somerset. The £200,000 fund is the result of a ground-breaking partnership between Somerset County Council and local learning disability support provider Discovery. It will be managed by Somerset Community Foundation.

It is estimated that there are over 2,000 adults living in Somerset with moderate to severe learning disabilities and this number is growing. Around half also have autism.

However, with the right support, adults with learning disabilities can live a full life in their community. The Discovery Community Fund aims to help achieve this and more by supporting improvements to the health and independence of adults with learning disabilities and autism right across the county.

Managing Director, Luke Joy-Smith, said: “Perhaps with funding you could train healthcare professionals in how to make reasonable adjustments. Perhaps a lump sum could provide Changing Places bathroom facilities in your shop, café or community venue.

“Perhaps funding could help you launch a community taxi social enterprise. Perhaps hoists or sensory spaces would make your disability friendly holiday accommodation truly inclusive.

Perhaps with funding, you could develop a network of Safer Places in towns across Somerset.”

Details: www.somersetcf.org.uk/discovery or call 01749 344949.

HEALTH & FAMILY

Health runners

A TEAM of doctors, medical and administrative staff from Glastonbury Health Centre began following their New Year’s resolutions in style by entering a full team in the Street Park Run under the guidance of registrar Patrick Hart.

Everyone completed the course safely under difficult conditions setting an example for their patients to follow to achieve a healthy lifestyle.

COURT HOUSE A beautiful Georgian Retirement Home set in the lovely village of Cheddar, Somerset.

You can live your life to the full and choice is our favourite word

The Manager – Chris Dando 01934 742131 chriscourthouse@gmail.com Court House Retirement Home, Church Street, Cheddar, Somerset BS27 3RA PAGE 72 • MENDIP TIMES • FEBRUARY 2019

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MENDIP TIMES

COMMUNITY

Community cafe

STANTON Drew's Community Café continues to go from strength to strength. It’s held in St Mary's Church on the second Saturday of each month.

The café, which has been going for over three years, was a joint idea from residents Karen Lyne and Anne Bennett, who are delighted with its phenomenal success.

Karen said: “Once a month throughout 2018, the community cafe brought the people of Stanton Drew and Stanton Wick together for a good catch-up.

“People who have lived in the village all their lives and newer residents alike enjoyed meeting and were able to buy homemade goodies – cakes, preserves, crafts and much more besides, whilst savouring an excellent cup of coffee and delicious bacon butty or cake.

“We’ve been able to donate money to support small but important things like the school tables and benches for the children to enjoy eating outside. It’s been a win-win for everyone!

The cafe runs from 10am-12noon, with an average of 50-60 customers each month, and has an active rota of helpers to cook and serve fresh coffee each month.

Anne Bennett, Cynthia Miller and Karen Warrington

Ann Patch, Pam and Roy Penney enjoying a cuppa

Rotarian Adrian Miller preparing the rolls for the butties

Details: Anne Bennett 01275 332778

Visitor conference is a free opportunity

FROME Town Council is organising a tourism conference in February for any individuals or organisations wanting to find out more about what the town can offer to visitors.

It will focus on Frome as a visitor destination, launch the new series of guided walks and feature the extensive celebrations planned to mark 200 years since the birth of J.W. Singer.

The Discover Frome conference – which is free to attend – will be held at Frome Town Hall on February 12th between 10.30am and 2pm.

Mayor of Frome, Richard Ackroyd, said: “If you want to get the best out of a visit to Frome, or if your business is directly or indirectly involved in tourism, this is a day for you. We want to see hoteliers, B&B owners, pub, cafe and restaurant proprietors, transport providers, retailers, managers of venues, in fact anyone who will benefit from having a thriving tourist scene in the town.”

Catherine Hill is popular with locals and visitors alike

For details and tickets visit: www.buytickets.at/frometowncouncil/221571

MENDIP TIMES • FEBRUARY 2019 • PAGE 73

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MENDIP TIMES

Community hub takes off

BISHOP Sutton’s new community library has come a long way in a few weeks, welcoming more than 40 new members to B&NES’ library service.

It says the click and collect service is proving particularly popular, so anyone with a library card can order whatever book they want from Libraries West which has 150 libraries and get the book delivered to Bishop Sutton.

They are now the closest library to villages in the Chew Valley and beyond. Volunteers have also served hundreds of cups of coffee and slices of cake and with free Wi-fi the library is a great place to meet friends or entertain children.

There are various special events coming up. The library is open on Thursdays, 2pm-4.30pm and Saturdays, 10am-12noon.

Details: on their Facebook page or go to librarybishopsutton@gmail.com

Shed gets an extension

MIDSOMER Norton mayor Paul Myers cut the ribbon at the official opening of Midsomer Norton Men’s Shed’s new extension at Farrington Farm Shop, Farrington Gurney.

Only launched in June of this year, as part of the Midsomer Norton Community Trust, the “Shedders” have established a great facility for the men and women of the area to meet and practise existing practical skills or learn completely new ones.

The mayor said: “Whenever I come to the Men’s Shed project, the thing that strikes me most is the warm, welcoming and friendly environment.

“The Shed’s team have generated a tremendous workshop and social area in such a short time and it’s fabulous that having so many new members has made it possible to extend their premises using mainly recycled materials to a very high standard by their own hands.”

Membership is open to anyone over the age of 18 and is for people of any skill or ability. For each person the first two sessions are free (just to see if they like it). Those who decide to become a Shedder pay £5 per year and £3 for each visit.

The Shed is open every Tuesday and Friday from 9.30am– 1pm and with membership increasing rapidly may open on other

Busy year in prospect

FARMBOROUGH Goodwill Club concluded another successful and enjoyable year with their annual dinner at the village Memorial Hall.

An excellent Christmas meal provided by Steve Rossiter was followed by entertainment by the popular vocalist Chris Rainbow. He was thanked by Ann Bridges who is in her third year as chairman of the club. She also presented flowers to Sally Davis as thanks for her support of the club.

The toast to the Goodwill Club was proposed by Malcolm Tucker with Paul Clarke responding on behalf of the Goodwill Club. During the meal the club received their annual visit from the carol singers and handbell ringers from the village All Saints Church.

The Goodwill Club meet on the second and fourth Thursday of each month at 2.30pm and members enjoy a varied programme of events. An assortment of trips have already been arranged for 2019. New members are always welcome.

days soon. Women are welcome and if there is sufficient demand a “women-only” session may be started.

Chairman Richard Jordan said: “We greatly appreciated all the help given by the local community, particularly Andy Jeffries at Farrington Farm Shop for allowing us the use of the unit and for all of those members of the general public who have so generously donated tools and workshop equipment.

“Without this support Midsomer Norton Men’s Shed simply would not exist. If anyone out there wants to give ‘shedding’ a try please come along – we are a friendly bunch eager to share a cuppa and a biscuit!”

Details: Steve Swift Email stephenkhswift@gmail.com 07775 735789.

PAGE 74 • MENDIP TIMES • FEBRUARY 2019

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Walking in 2019? Be healthy, wealthy and wise

COMMUNITY

Fellowship award for hospice fundraiser

A visit to Cardigan Bay

WALKING is definitely a healthy activity, but will it make you wealthy and wise?

As ever, it depends what you mean! There is certainly wisdom to be gained from walking with Mendip Ramblers. You certainly learn a lot – about the countryside, routes, the seasons and, more practically, about how to stay dry, how not to fall over and to watch where you’re putting your feet!

Wealthy is more difficult, but it doesn’t have to mean that you have loads of money – it can be about personal well-being, of finding some contentment and walking can do that; on a good day!

Mendip Ramblers walk throughout the winter months. As well as the usual walks on Mondays, Thursdays and Sundays there are other opportunities to get involved in walking and other social activities. The efforts of the voluntary working party ensure that the paths are properly maintained and other members ensure that routes are checked. Experienced walk leaders look after the inexperienced and the careless!

Hopefully there will be lots of good days this winter and Mendip Ramblers would be pleased to share the pleasures of walking with all who love the countryside. Help us to keep open the footpaths that give access to all to the Rights of Way that are our national heritage. Don’t lose your way!

Elaine Dadley for Mendip Ramblers

Jane receives the award from past district governor David Penny

JANE Winsley, of Chilcompton, has received a Paul Harris Fellowship award from Rotary International for her work raising funds for Dorothy House Hospice Care over the past 35 years.

The presentation was made at a meeting of the Rotary Club of Midsomer Norton and Radstock. In 1983 Jane joined with three other women who had lost a child to raise charity funds. Jane has been a leading driving force behind an annual sale of bric-a-brac and goods at Chilcompton which has raised £50,000 over the years.

Paulton KIT Club

For details visit www.mendipramblers.co.uk

Lantern parade

AFTER the success of last year’s event, Blagdon is holding another lantern parade, promising this year’s event will be bigger and better! It will be held on Saturday, February 23rd, starting at 5.30pm from the New Inn pub.

Details: Facebook or contact blagdonpta@gmail.com

PAULTON KIT Club are a small group of women who are all retired now but enjoy meeting up with friends, hearing the latest news and enjoying the talks given by various speakers.

They meet in the Primary Room at Paulton Methodist Church on the fourth Tuesday of each month at 2.30pm and would welcome new members. The picture was taken at their Christmas party.

Details: Ginny Edwards 07740 493789.

MENDIP TIMES • FEBRUARY 2019 • PAGE 75

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MENDIP TIMES

Centenary celebrations for Cary scouts

Both the exterior and interior of the complex has been refurbished

WORK to refurbish the scout halls in Castle Cary has been completed in time for the group’s 100th birthday this year.

The 1st Castle Cary Scout Group were helped by an award of £72,737 from Viridor Credits Environmental Company through The Landfill Communities Fund.

A special service will be held at All Saints Church, Castle Cary on Sunday, February 24th at 2.30pm followed by the official opening and refreshments in the newly refurbished halls.

Roy Higgins, of the scout group, said: “We are grateful for this funding provided by Viridor Credits and thank them for helping us ensure that the future of Scouting in Castle Cary and surrounding area continues in a safe and modern environment.

“We would also like to thank the organisations and individuals that have supported us as without their help we would not have been successful with our grant application.”

Gareth Williams, operations manager at Viridor Credits, added: “The refurbishment of Castle Cary’s scout halls will provide excellent facilities not only for scouts, but also for the wider community to enjoy. Congratulations to all involved on the completion of this excellent project.”

Other events will be taking place throughout the year to celebrate the centenary of scouting in the town and surrounding area. l All members of the community are welcome to attend the service and opening. To confirm attendance, contact Roy on 01963 351025 or by e-mail at 1stcastlecaryscouts@gmail.com

The new-look halls will be available for community use PAGE 76 • MENDIP TIMES • FEBRUARY 2019

Community grants available

QUARTET Community Foundation has awarded over £22,000 to ten local groups to improve health and wellbeing in North Somerset.

The North Somerset Community Partnership Fund grants, administered through the foundation, are targeted at small organisations with charitable aims where a small amount of money can make a significant difference.

One of the grants for £1,000 was to Wanted Not Wasted who are based on the Bournville Estate in Weston-super-Mare, to help young people get support to stop smoking.

Julie Newman, philanthropy officer at Quartet, said: “These ten groups are great examples of the kind of small, local good causes Quartet supports in North Somerset.

“Our Vital Signs report highlighted many of the challenges faced in North Somerset including high levels of child poverty in south ward, Weston-super-Mare and high rates of depression throughout North Somerset.

“We would love to support more small but vital good causes like Wanted not Wasted and invite local projects to get in touch with us to find out what grants are available.”

Projects supported were: Clevedon Men's Shed, £2,400; Clevedon YMCA, £2,500; KeySteps, £3,500; North Somerset BME Network, £2,300; North Somerset Intercultural Dance Association, £2,000; Sandford Helpline, £360; Somewhere to Go Ltd Housing & Homelessness, £1,700; Theatre Orchard Project, £2,100; Wanted Not Wasted (WOW) C.I.C, £1,000; Wellspring Counselling, £5,000.

Charitable causes in North Somerset can apply for various grants through the foundation, including express grants (up to £5,000) and several grants specifically for North Somerset including the North Somerset Community Transport Grant (up to £500, closes on February 28th), the North Somerset Older People’s Community Grant (average grant £5,000, open all year) and Somerset Crimebeat Trust Grant (up to £1,500, open all year).

Details: Julie.newman@quartetcf.org.uk or visit https://quartetcf.org.uk/apply-for-a-grant/

Providing shelter

LAST October in the wake of the devastating Indonesian earthquake which measured 7.4 on the magnitude scale, Rotary Nailsea and Backwell collected £616 in dire weather on the morning of the sixth.

With other funds, it was sent to the ShelterBox organisation to provide essential emergency equipment.

ShelterBox has now responded saying: “Erti, a grandmother from the village of Puroo, witnessed the destruction by the earthquake of 146 homes.

“She stayed for a while in squalid conditions in an emergency tarpaulin shelter with many other families before receiving a ShelterBox tent. Her comment was ‘the tent is very helpful, we feel safe inside’.”

In one month ShelterBox, a Rotary initiative, distributed 3,160 tents and associated emergency equipment. Similar emergency aid is provided in all stricken countries of the world.

Details: www.shelterbox.org or www.facebook.com/shalterbox or contact Graham Hunt on grahamjeanhunt@gmail.com or 01275 464267.

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Computer gift for student

A YEAR 11 student with autism from Fosse Way special school in Westfield has been helped in his studies by the gift of a laptop from the community fund run by Wessex Water.

He is one of a small number of academically-able autistic students from Fosse Way who, with specialist support from members of the school’s teaching staff, are able to receive mainstream secondary education at the nearby Norton Hill School.

The initiative enables Fosse Way students to study an extensive range of subjects at Norton Hill while also receiving support and guidance from staff at Fosse Way’s A5 base on the campus. Since A5 was established in September 2006, it has frequently enabled Fosse Way students to gain impressive numbers of GCSE and A level qualifications.

The laptop will help the student concerned compensate for handwriting difficulties. A5 co-ordinator Tim Carter contacted Wessex Water to see if they would contribute towards the cost of the machine and was delighted to learn that the organisation would fund its purchase in full.

Tim said: “For success at GCSE it is essential that our student is able to present his work clearly. He now has all he needs to demonstrate the high standards he is capable of achieving. We would like to thank Wessex Water for their tremendous donation. It is sure to make a huge impact on our student’s work during this critical year in his education.”

Food bank helped by Inner Wheel celebrations

Fun and food at the home of IW member Jacky Emm and her husband John

MIDSOMER Norton and Radstock Inner Wheel Club celebrated the annual IW Day with a special gathering, but also collected much needed goods for the local food bank.

Inner Wheel Day celebrates the first ever meeting of the organisation, attended by 27 women and called together on January 10th, 1924, by Margaret Golding, a nurse, businesswoman and wife of a Manchester Rotarian.

New members are welcome. Contact president Sue Hopkins on 07944 298036 or Elaine Muir on 07543

Planting memories

COMMUNITY

PEASEDOWN St John Cubs have been busy preparing items to place into a time capsule for the village’s new community garden.

They are pictured presenting the capsule to Cllr Karen Walker ready for planting in the New Year.

Support for fuel campaign

SOMERSET Community Foundation’s award-winning Surviving Winter campaign is currently standing at £95,000 but is appealing for more support

from people donating their winter fuel payments.

The foundation aims to improve on last year’s impact and help over 500 older people in Somerset who live in fuel poverty – which can cause serious health problems including heart attacks, strokes and pneumonia.

West Country legend Les Davies (pictured) has joined Michael Eavis, the Bishop of Bath and Wells and master baker Robert Burns in endorsing this year’s appeal.

Les is president of the Mendip Society, chairman of the Youth Environmental Awards Committee at the Royal Bath and West of England Society, a lifetime member of the Avon and Somerset Search and Rescue team, chairman of Mendip Ploughing Society – and a regular contributor to Mendip Times.

He said: “It’s time to think about spreading a little warmth to help those who are vulnerable and in need. Can you help by sharing your Winter Fuel Payment with someone less fortunate, through the Surviving Winter campaign? Every little helps and goes to make someone else feel better this winter.”

Details: to make a donation to the Surviving Winter appeal, send a cheque made payable to Somerset Community Foundation (writing SW on the reverse), Yeoman House, Bath and West Showground, Shepton Mallet, BA4 6QN call 01749 344949 or donate online at www.somersetcf.org.uk/winter

MENDIP TIMES • FEBRUARY 2019 • PAGE 77

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MENDIP TIMES

Crime commissioner visits Mendip

RESIDENTS, organisations and neighbourhood officers from across Mendip were invited to share their views on local policing with Avon and Somerset Police and Crime Commissioner Sue Sue Mountstevens (second left) during her Mountstevens at a visit to the Elim Connect Centre meeting in Wells.

The impact of a rural setting and lack of amenities in the Mendip countryside were illustrated to the PCC during her community day in the area, with her first meeting taking place at the Elim Connect Centre.

The Rev. Stephen Fowler, colleagues and volunteers from the centre discussed the importance of the centre for the community in Wells. During the meeting, Stephen and the commissioner also talked about youth work, counselling and rough sleepers.

The commissoner then travelled to The Dairy House, part of the Elim Connect Centre, the only direct access accommodation based in Mendip for rough sleepers. The cottage, at the heart of a working farm near Stratton-on-the-Fosse, provides land that the residents use to grow fruit and vegetables, which they then sell at local markets and events.

Speaking after the meeting, Rev. Fowler said: “It is a massive encouragement to our staff and volunteers to know that the PCC is supporting our work. We enjoy an excellent relationship with the Police - we intend to build upon collaborative working at a time when it is so hard for people who are on the edge of community.”

Following this, the commissioner spent the afternoon hosting a public drop-in session at Wells Town Hall, where she was joined by members of the neighbourhood policing team. Attendees raised concerns about fox hunting, burglary and road safety.

The day ended with a visit to Wells police station to meet officers to discuss reducing rural crime, challenges they face and how the constabulary’s implementation of new technology has enabled officers to work remotely whilst improving visibility in the community.

The commissioner said: “It is fantastic to see the work that local organisations, like the Elim Connect Centre, are doing to create stronger communities. I appreciate hearing about the issues that rural communities face so that I can understand these issues and see what is required to make communities safer and stronger.

“I thoroughly appreciate the chance to meet with local people to discuss any concerns they have about the area. These public sessions help me to be the bridge between the police and local people. It is only by listening to our communities that I can be your voice in policing.” l Avon and Somerset police have announced plans to relocate Wells police station to a new site to be shared with Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service. The public inquiry office in Wells will also move to a new police station being created in a former car showroom on the Haskins Retail Park in Shepton Mallet.

PAGE 78 • MENDIP TIMES • FEBRUARY 2019

Sale swamped

COMMUNITY

AVON Wildlife Trust’s Chew Valley group raised over £1,000 at a jumble sale, which saw queues stretching back through the village. Sue Cox and Mary Spencer are pictured taking a break in selling bargains to the many visitors who attended the sale.

Women’s projects get special funding

SEVEN local projects working with some of society’s most vulnerable women and girls have received a muchneeded funding boost through Quartet Community Women's projects Peer support at B&NES Foundation.

Southside Family Project Small charities and community groups have received grants of between £5,000 – £10,000 from the Tampon Tax Community Fund to work with women of all ages, focussing on preventative services for those at risk of crisis.

Quartet Community Foundation helped distribute this funding, which was raised through the levy on sanitary products in 2017/18, to small, local projects.

Chief executive, Sue Turner, said: “We work with grassroots groups who are running vital services on a shoestring and support some of the most marginalised people in the West of England.

“This funding will enable them to run some amazing projects that make a difference on the ground to the women and girls who need it most.

“We’re really happy to be able to offer £52,000 to these seven great projects. We received applications from 40 projects but only had funding for seven.

“It is very disappointing to us not to be able to fund more of these as their applications highlighted a growing mental health crisis for girls and women that needs specialist funding and this remains an unmet need.”

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MENDIP TIMES

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If you have just moved to a new house which uses oil or are thinking about converting to an efficient oilfired heating system you can find out all you need to know from Tincknell Fuels.

With over 60 years of experience, they can offer invaluable advice about heating oil and your heating system.

They have a fleet of modern oil delivery tankers operating from their own fuel oil storage depots from baby tankers to six-wheeled tankers, ensuring they have the capability to reach each home with the appropriate and cost-effective delivery vehicle.

Call them now for a free no obligation quote 01749 683911.

Replacing your oil or gas boiler can save you money. If your boiler is more than ten years old, it may not be

capable of operating as efficiently and their OFTEC and Gas Safe trained engineers can assess your efficiency rating and discuss your requirements to ensure that they supply and fit the right boiler for you.

They are Worcester Bosch Accredited Installers and are fully trained independent installers that specialise in Worcester installations so they can offer exclusive benefits to homeowners.

They understand that a new boiler is not an everyday purchase and can be a big investment for any household which sometimes comes at the worst time. They offer flexible payment options for your new boiler installation by putting together a competitive finance solution designed to help you get the benefit of a more efficient heating system.

Tincknell Heating understand how inconvenient it is to deal with a boiler breakdown or central heating issues, particularly during the colder months, so they provide the most reliable and efficient service around.

HOMES & INTERIORS

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Tincknell Fuels is founded and run on the principles of service, quality and accountability of a family-run business.

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MENDIP TIMES • FEBRUARY 2019 • PAGE 79

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MENDIP TIMES

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MENDIP TIMES

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PAGE 82 • MENDIP TIMES • FEBRUARY 2019

Concert is a record-breaker

Rachel Webster (left) from CLIC Sargent with some of the event organisers

THE annual Christmas carol service and charity auction at Cooper and Tanner’s Frome Livestock Market raised more than £2,000 for children’s charity CLIC Sargent.

It was the 26th annual concert and raised £500 more than last year’s event with £311 in collections, £1,200 from the auction and donations from Cooper and Tanner, Frome Rotary Club and several individuals.

Panto time in Glastonbury

THIS year’s Glastonbury Pantomime will raise money for the Children’s World charity, based in the town.

For more than 30 years, the panto has been a staple part of community life in the town and also attracts people from a much wider area.

This year's performance, "Hansel & Gretel", follows the traditional Brother's Grimm tale as it takes a hilarious turn down a suitable pantomime twist. The show is staged by Shadow of the Tor which supports a different charity each year.

There will be six performances over five days, in the Assembly Rooms, from Tuesday, February 12th until Saturday, February 16th. Performances start at 7.30pm with a matinee on the Saturday at 2.30pm. *Tickets are available online from Eventbrite, on the High Street from The Speaking Tree and on the door. Prices are £7 adults (advance) £8 (on the door); concessions £6 (advance) £7 on the door.

Barn dancing in Ditcheat

BARN Dancing at Ditcheat has got off to an enthusiastic start this year, prompted by a very successful New Year’s Eve event which introduced new dancers to the group.

January’s dance also saw more new faces. With monthly attendances on the rise, Ditcheat dances are becoming well known over a wide area, due partly to the enthusiasm of caller Peter Bolton, and the talented “Jeroka” instrumentalists who normally accompany the dancing. There is a range of dances, suiting beginners through to more experienced people.

Barn dancing at the village’s Jubilee Hall takes place on the second Friday of every month, from 7.30 – 9.30pm, the next ones being on February 8th, March 8th and April 12th.

Admission is £4 per head.

Details: Peter or Ama 01749 672911.

MUSIC & THEATRE

Valley Fest promises top music and food

VALLEY Fest has announced Basement Jaxx (DJ set) as a headliner. The music festival, which takes place between August 2nd – 4th alongside Chew Valley Lake, also showcases the region’s finest produce.

More acts will be announced over the coming months but a Basement Jaxx DJ set will definitely get the party started on Friday night. With more than three million album sales under their belt, double BRIT award winners (best dance act) and a GRAMMY, they are true legends.

Now in its fifth year, Valley Fest’s line-up has always included some big names as well as plenty of rising stars. And the consistently biggest crowd pleaser of all is: the view. Chew Valley Lake provides the sparkling backdrop that is edged by the rolling Mendip hills.

Held on an organic working farm and spread across one gently-sloping lakeside meadow, the event is perfect for food lovers, first-time festival goers, plus young and maturing families. There are no long treks across site and plenty of activities for everyone.

The packed programme will include talks, tastings and workshops galore. Valley Fest is held in the fields neighbouring The Community Farm, which provides organic vegetable boxes to around 700 customers in the area.

Festival goers can have tours, get involved in food and farming workshops as well as join the hugely popular bee and wildlife walks.

Luke Hasell set up the festival in 2014 in honour of his parents who both died within a short time of each other.

He said: “I’m so excited about Basement Jaxx. They are going to get the weekend off to a flying start. The way things are shaping up on the food and music front, my parents would have loved it. I really hope everyone Gets on My Land!”

Basement Jaxx

Details: www.valleyfest.co.uk

MENDIP TIMES • FEBRUARY 2019 • PAGE 83

(Photo courtesy of Louis Smith)

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MENDIP TIMES

Concert presentation

Ringers busy time

THE Christmas season was very busy for The Tabor Ringers, based in Timsbury with their first concert on November 19th and eight more after that.

The culmination was playing in Tabor’s annual Carols by Candlelight service, led by Margaret West.

The group welcomes new members and you don’t need to read music – it is all done by numbers, if you can count to four you will be fine!

Secretary, Ruth Bailey, can give any information about the group or take bookings, with engagements already coming in for 2019.

Details: 01761 752049. The Ringers are based at Tabor Independent Methodist Church on North Road Timsbury.

ALL seats were sold for the concert by the Central Band of the Royal Air Force held at Millfield by the Royal Air Force Association’s Mid-Somerset branch and the 1955 (City of Wells) Sqn RAF Air Cadets.

It celebrated the centenary of the Royal Air Force and featured the world premiere of a specially commissioned arrangement of a work by Rutland Boughton, the founder of the (original) Glastonbury Festivals which ran from 1914 to 1927, and who was the first bandmaster of the RAF (Central) Band at its inception in 1918.

Branch chairman, Paul Branson, who has been the driving force behind the concerts for some 20 years, is standing down as chairman and a presentation was made by Air Marshal Sir Dusty Miller immediate past-president of the Royal Air Forces Association.

Charity concert

A CONCERT entitled Winter Dreams will be held at St Francis Church, Nailsea on Saturday, February 2nd directed by Cleevebased professional violinist, Simon Kodurand.

With a speciallyselected ensemble of international musicians, the programme will include pieces/works from Vivaldi and Mozart to Duke Ellington and Gershwin.

The members of the Simon Kodurand ensemble are coming together for one night only especially to raise funds for the north-west Somerset branch of Parkinson’s UK. Tickets at £12.50, include wine and finger-food in the interval, as well as free entry to a prize draw.

Details: 07966 759950 or 01934 838302.

PAGE 84 • MENDIP TIMES • FEBRUARY 2019

Police choir to perform at Nailsea School

ROTARY, Nailsea and Backwell are promoting a concert by the Avon and Somerset Constabulary Male Voice Choir to be held at Nailsea School on Friday, February 8th at 7.30pm.

A wide variety of music will be delivered and there should be something to appeal to everyone’s taste.

Proceeds will be split between the Nailsea Leg Club, the Memory Café (Tithe Barn) and Rotary local charities.

Tickets, priced £6 in advance or £8 on the night, are available from PS Travel, the Nailsea Music Shop and John Brown’s Ironmongers.

Details: honsec@policechoir.co.uk or from Rotary kenrock.rotary@gmail.com

Choir in fine voice for centenary year

MENDIP Male Voice Choir will celebrate its 100th anniversary with a series of concerts throughout the area in 2019.

The biggest will be on Saturday, September 28th at St Mary’s Church in Bathwick and at the end of October the choir will travel to Cornwall by coach to sing at two concerts in Penzance and Falmouth.

The 70-strong choir welcomes new singers. It rehearses on Monday evenings at Timsbury Junior School from 7pm.

The first term is free-of-charge and no experience is necessary.

For details, visit: www.mendipmen.co.uk

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Puppets in Westbury

ANGEL Heart Theatre, a puppet company based in Devon, are bringing their latest production, The Boy who cried Wolf, to Westbury-sub-Mendip’s village hall on Friday, March 8th.

This is their tenth visit to Westbury where their shows have always held their audiences spellbound.

The performance starts at 5.30pm. Afterwards there are a variety of refreshments on offer - tea and fairy cakes and an opportunity to talk to the puppeteers and see the puppets up close.

Tickets are available from Westbury Community Shop 01749 870640, adults £7, U-16s £4, and family 2+2 £20.

Details: www.angelhearttheatre.com Peter Bright 01749 870640 peterbright60@btinternet.com or Sue Isherwood 01749 870457.

Wedmore festival line-up

LAST year’s Wedmore Arts Festival was a grand event but this year is shaping up to be even bigger and better: they have signed up a whole raft of new talent!

Henry Blofeld, Poppy McGhee, the Somerset Choral Society and the one-woman wonder Liz Grand with her Agatha Christie mystery have already been confirmed for some time.

In addition they have now added the One Show naturalist Mike Dilger, 60s sweetheart Anita Harris, classical guitarist James Rippingdale and the swinging sound of the Dave Hankin Big Band – A Glenn Miller tribute act.

They promise more treats for their popular lunchtime slots. And plans are under way for a unique new event – A Literary Evening with Wedmore Writers.

The final programme will be revealed in the next few weeks.

The festival runs from May 10th-18th.

Details: wedmoreartsfestival.co.uk

Supporting Valley Arts

VALLEY Arts have two shows early in February – one for adults and one for children. There’s a comedy night with Instant Wit on Friday, February 1st at Bishop Sutton village hall.

It promises to be an evening of fast paced comedy for all with a slightly unusual edge - just the thing to lift the winter blues! Doors open at 7pm.

On Saturday, February 9th after their sell-out success in November, Monkey Trousers are back with Mr Gotalot.

With puppets, singing, dancing and games galore, this is a fantastic new interactive adventure for two to five-year-olds.

It will be held at the Old School Room in Chew Magna at 10am.

Details: www.valleyartscentre.eventbrite.co.uk

Irish festival

THERE will be an afternoon of Irish music at St Bridget’s Church, Chelvey to celebrate its Patronal Festival on Saturday, February 2nd, 2.30–4.30pm.

It will feature musicians from the Hibernia Centre and a tea Interval with an Irish flavour.

MUSIC & THEATRE

Lions support music

THE Lions Club of Glastonbury and Street have presented a cheque for £756 to Somerset Music, which offers a wide range of services to children and young people across the county.

The donation was part of the proceeds of the 30th MidSomerset Musical Spectacular that took place at Strode Theatre in June.

Organised by the Lions club, it attracted more than 300 youngsters to entertain appreciative audiences over two nights.

This year’s Mid-Somerset Musical Spectacular will take place at Strode Theatre on Monday, June 17th and Tuesday, June 18th.

Yatton concert

YATTON Music Society welcomes two distinguished musicians, Laurence Perkins, bassoon, with Michael Hancock, piano, at St Mary’s Church, Yatton on February 23rd.

The concert starts at 7.30pm. Tickets £8 for YMS members, £10 non-members, including complimentary refreshments, are available from the church office or on the door on the night.

Details: www.yms.org.uk or contact David Ford 01934 830255 or e-mail david.ford@yms.org.uk

Frome alive to the sound of music

FROME Town Council and Jackdaws Music Education are hoping to boost music opportunities in the area with the launch of a Saturday Morning Music Club.

The aim of the club is to help develop the musical skills, experience and knowledge of young people.

Councillor Al O’Kane said: “We think having a place where young people can come together and access music opportunities is really important and will be a great benefit to the town, but we want to hear from you about what you think would work best.”

The council is now asking local residents for their views, including whether there is a need for it, if families would use it and how much people would be able to pay for the sessions.

The deadline to complete the short online survey and share thoughts is Friday, January 25th. For details, visit: www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/SaturdayMorningMusicClub

MENDIP TIMES • FEBRUARY 2019 • PAGE 85

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Tradition helps towards greater understanding dogs and horses always provides a reason to socialise. It’s no surprise then that town and country folk, accompanied by assorted pet dogs, are drawn to the Boxing Day tradition of descending onto Priddy Green to watch horses, hounds and Morris Dancers and to cram into one of the pubs.

The traditional turnout of beautifully groomed and plaited horses, polished boots, immaculate jackets, lightcoloured jodhpurs and neatly-tied stocks persists in these trail hunting days.

Priddy Green is itself a centuries old meeting place. Near the unique thatched stack of wooden hurdles (a reminder of the traditional annual horse and sheep fair that has passed away into history), I find mother and daughter riders Jane and Rachel Branch. It’s wonderful to see Rachel upholding the elegant tradition of side saddle on her mount Red Fred.

According to the Sidesaddle Association (www.sidesaddle.co.uk), side saddle dates back at least to the 14th century when saddles were uncomfortable Rachel Branch on Red Fred contraptions with mum Jane consisting of a cushion and wooden planks attached with ropes on which the feet rested. The riding style gradually evolved as ladies went hunting and hawking (from which the word “hacking” derives).

Eventually the style and dress became the epitome of elegance and horsemanship. On the website there is a stunning picture of the women of the First Aid Nursing Yeomanry riding sidesaddle. This small unit of nurses on horseback was formed in 1907 to provide a link

THE winter season of Christmas and New Year is steeped in rituals, customs and traditions reminding us of our shared history and With RACHEL cultural heritage.

THOMPSON Often, we observe MBE them without acknowledging their importance in bringing people into the community and preventing loneliness, which can often prevail unnoticed in rural communities.

Our traditions often include the animals that for centuries have shared our lives such as horses and dogs.

Decorating horses for Christmas is a fun new ritual enjoyed by young and old alike as so beautifully demonstrated

by Leo Morris, from Blagdon, who shares Molly the cob with his mum Georgie.

Many traditions have their origins in the past and are important in bringing people together to re-connect, especially after a Christmas Day spent indoors. Any traditional gathering of

PAGE 86 • MENDIP TIMES • FEBRUARY 2019

Leo Morris on Molly

between the battlefield and field hospitals.

Queen Victoria was a great horse woman who thought nothing of hacking around London for 20 miles, side saddle of course. On our way to the Queen Victoria Inn we pass Cam Valley Morris Men dancing outside the Old New Inn. Sometimes the dance includes a hobby horse. Morris dancing is a wonderful tradition dating back to at least to the 15th Century, almost dying out, but happily Boxing Day 1899 saw the beginning of a revival led by English folklorists that has continued ever since.

At the age of 92, the Queen still rides out on her favourite Fell pony Carltonlima Emma, proof that horse riding is the sport that everyone can enjoy for nearly all of their lives. The Queen’s annual message to the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth is an enduring tradition. This year the Queen reminded us that to live in a better more peaceful world “treating the other person with respect and as a fellow human being is always a good first step towards greater understanding”.

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RIDING

Clear round competition open to all

Jack Setherton, on Grace

THE East Mendip Riding Club hosted another of its popular open “clear round” showjumping sessions at Kingfisher Equestrian Centre at Hornblotton for riders of all ages and abilities over a range of heights of jumps. l The next clear round session will be held on Saturday, March 2nd. For details, visit: www.eastmendiprc.com

Yard leads the way

DIVOKY Riding School at Downhead, near Shepton Mallet, has become one of the first yards in the country to be accredited to run a new British Horse Society scheme aimed at helping youngsters lacking self-confidence or who are struggling at school.

By working with horses, the BHS Achieve Award helps young people build relationships, learn about responsibility and encourages personal achievement.

Divoky, run by Pat Bishop and Martin Lawrence, was highly commended after its 2018 BHS inspection and has also been awarded a three-year licence by Mendip District

Jodie Bennett, on Jack, an Irish sports horse more used to dressage

Council.

Pat said: “We have always worked with youngsters who might be having difficulties whether at school or home, but the Achieve Award allows us to do it in a structured way and enable the young people to measure their progress.

“Working with horses is well-known to help build confidence and self-esteem and simple things such as grooming teach youngsters responsibility, not just for animals but other people also.”

For details, visit: www.divoky.co.uk

Special Offer for New Clients

Thinking of returning to riding?

With this voucher you can claim one free lesson when you book and pay for three weekday lessons, available 10am-4pm Monday-Thursday.* Lessons are one hour and include loan of a riding helmet. Private and group lessons available. Booking essential. * Quote MTDivoky when booking. Lessons must be taken before 1st April 2019

Pat Bishop (left), Martin Lawrence (right) and some of the Divoky team with Percy the peacock – the willow artwork in the courtyard was created by sculptor Vik Westaway

Divoky Riding School Manor Farm, Downhead, Shepton Mallet BA4 4LG • Tel 01749 880233 www.divoky.co.uk • email: pat.divoky@gmail.com

MENDIP TIMES • FEBRUARY 2019 • PAGE 87

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MENDIP TIMES

Climbing Draycott Steep

AT this time of year cycling can be limited by the weather, low temperatures and amount of daylight. A good way to get the same benefit from a shorter ride is by including a hill climb or two.

A couple of years ago, at a New Year’s Eve party, I talked to a friend about CYCLING cycling the hardest hill climb in the with EDMUND Mendips – Draycott Steep. Two days later LODITE we set off on a cold morning ride and reached it with some trepidation. We’d been down this hill before and knew how steep it was.

Within a couple of hundred metres of starting the climb the frost and ice on the road sent the rear wheels of our bikes into spin, unable to move forward. A car driver coming downhill told us it was worse further on so we had no choice but to abandon the climb.

This New Year brought back memories of that day and so I felt the need to try that hill again. On the way there I thought about the differences between hill climbs in this country and when I’ve cycled in the Alps and Pyrenees.

Roads in this country were not built with cyclists in mind.

Where there is a hill the roads just go up in the shortest possible route. This results in varying gradients making a steady rhythm difficult to maintain.

In the Alps roads meander upwards, using hairpin bends, to maintain a steady yet still difficult gradient. You may not meet the very extremes of some of the hardest hills in this country but these are real slow burners on your energy and will power.

By comparison, hill climbs demand high intensity over a short distance and the mountains need constant effort over a long distance. Both need many pedal turns of mental and physical determination.

In Draycott the start of the hill climb unassumingly leaves the main road at a signpost pointing uphill to the Mendip Gliding Club. The road itself is actually called New Road but that belies its true nature and locally it is better known as Draycott Steep.

From the start I stay in lower gears but am saving the lowest ones for later. I pass a house on the left called Steep House and I suspect I’m about to find out why. The road kicks in with a sharpening gradient and it’s time to focus.

View from the top, looking out to Glastonbury Tor.

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The start of the hill climb

Because the road doesn’t turn that much it’s hard to assess the steepness of the gradient – maybe that’s a good thing!

Approaching the woods I can feel the pedal turns becoming harder and harder. Thankfully I had saved my lowest gears and can now use them. Defying gravity I continue to push those pedals through the steepest part of the climb and start to weave across the road a little bit to maintain momentum.

In the distance there is some daylight appearing through the trees at what I hope is the top of the hill. I start to count how many breaths it will take me to get there. The first target of 100 is blown away after what seems like no distance so I add another 100 then another. Distraction is the best tool to ignore the messages your body is trying to tell you.

And then in a flash the gradient eases off and the hardest bit is over. With the gliding club building in sight I finish the climb by shifting up the gears and end at the old barn building on the right.

On the right there are magnificent views out across the Somerset levels to Glastonbury Tor in the distance and a fine reward for one of Mendips best hill climbs.

Climb Stats: Distance 2.05km; Ascent 216m, Average gradient 10.5%, Max gradient 20%.

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Chloe bags herself a car!

CHLOE Applin, aged 16, has won an MG car by winning The Schools Challenge (TSC) clay shooting competition at her first attempt.

It was the first year state school boys and girls had won both competitions – the biggest in the country for U-21s – held in Oxford by the Oxford Gun Company.

Now she’s waiting for her 17th birthday on February 2nd so she can start driving lessons.

She has also been accepted for the TSC academy and plans to enter England selection shoots this year with the aim of getting into the national team and to the Olympics.

She has previously shot for both the Somerset ladies and juniors teams. She came third in lady-juniors at the British Open last year. But she had taken a break from major competitions to concentrate on her GCSEs at Chew Valley School earning several A’s and A-stars.

She said: “I decided late on to enter and would have been pleased with whatever, just to have taken part for the first time, but was obviously very pleased to win.”

After several rounds she faced a shoot-off of 25 clays, scoring 20 to her opponent’s 18.

Chloe, who lives in Stowey, got the shooting bug from dad, Ian, and started shooting at Brace’s in Norton Malreward five years ago. She is coached and mentored by former champion, John Pool.

He said: “It was clear early on that she had the ability and determination to do well.”

She is sponsored by three local companies, the Electric Gate Company, in Cheddar, Carpet and Fabrics, Paulton and Vears Builders in Winford.

Richard Hooper, from the Electric Gate Company, said: “John

Wellow are winners

ST JULIAN’S Church School in Wellow has been celebrating sporting success. Their swimming team won the Midsomer Norton Small Schools Swimming Gala with an armful of gold, silver and bronze medals to accompany the winning cup.

This was followed by the school’s Hi 5 Year 6 Netball team playing their first knock-out tournament game, defeating Paulton 7–5.

School head, Ruth Noall, said: “Thanks to all our pupils who have taken part in sporting activities this term and represented the school at outside events. They have been great examples to us all, and we can’t congratulate them enough!”

Chloe with (l to R) her coach John Pool, from Braces, James Vears, from sponsor Vears, Richard Hooper, from sponsor the Electric Gate Company, dad Ian and Richard Sage from sponsor Carpet and Fabrics Direct

said this girl had the talent and the right attitude, but needed help with the cost of equipment and travel, so we were all happy to support her.”

Now Chloe is looking forward to driving herself to various competitions. She’s also working on A-levels in English literature, history and business.

Lodge Hill Garage, Abingdon, sponsored the event with the cars and will continue to do so. The Oxford Gun Company are holding the competition again this year, open to all under 21s in full-time education (certain rules apply).

Sports space survey underway

PEOPLE living in the Sedgemoor District Council area are being asked for their thoughts and ideas for open spaces used for sports and leisure, now and as well as in the future.

The survey covers playing pitches, play areas, indoor sport facilities and informal spaces for recreation such as country parks, allotments and village greens where people play sport or spend their leisure time.

Sedgemoor’s planning policy team are currently preparing an Open Space, Sport and Recreation Study for the whole District and are inviting all residents to have their say. The aim of the study is to make sure that local communities have access to facilities, services and open spaces. The study will incorporate a playing pitch strategy, a play audit, a built facilities assessment and an assessment of informal recreation space.

The survey is being run online at: http://sedgemoorconsult.limehouse.co.uk/public/residentssurvey and is open until Friday, March 1st.

For assistance in completing the survey, contact a member of the team on 01278 435544 or email them at: ldf@sedgemoor.gov.uk

MENDIP TIMES • FEBRUARY 2019 • PAGE 89

(Photography courtesy of Mike Lang)

SPORT

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MENDIP TIMES

A mascot on a mission

Words and pictures by Mark Adler

Street dominated the first half which ended goalless. The visitors scored early in the second half, but Street hit back in the 90th minute to end the match 1-1

STREET Football Club gave a massive welcome to a young boy with a form of cerebral palsy who has captured the hearts of the football community in Somerset.

Jace Webberley, aged five, led out the home side when they took on Barnstaple Town in their New Year’s Day Evo-Stick Division One South contest at The Tannery.

Jace was born with diplegic cerebral palsy affecting his legs.

He cannot stand or walk unaided but is determined to enjoy life and regularly plays a form of football in Bristol called Frame Football, which allows him to use his special walking frame during games.

Barnstaple players and supporters joined in the applause for Jace whose family is trying to raise £40,000 for an operation called Selective Dorsal Rhizotomy followed by two years of intensive physiotherapy. It should mean Jace will be able to stand and walk on his own. Without the treatment, his family fear he could be confined to a wheelchair when he is older.

Somerset Football Association has already adopted Jace and his family, who have visited several football grounds as guests for the day. The Street squad and management presented Jace with a replica kit and welcomed him into the home dressing room to meet the team ahead of kick-off. Part of the proceeds of a raffle amongst the crowd were also donated to the appeal. He later presented the man-of-the-match award to striker Phil Ormrod who scored in the 1-1 draw.

Some of the proceeds from the raffle amongst spectators were donated to the appeal

Street FC captain Ben Amghar and Jace lead out the home side

Jace’s mum Louisa Webberley said: “We have raised around £13,000 so far and would like to reach our total by this October.

“The operation would be just the start; the most expensive aspect will be the private physiotherapy Jace will need to undergo to strengthen his muscles and training them how to work.”

Jace said of his day: “I enjoyed the handshakes from all the players and the officials!”

Taking centre stage before kick-off

For details, visit www.just4children.org/children-helped2017/jaces-sdr-journey or find Jace on Twitter: @JacesSDRJourney

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Gromps, squops and the odd John Lennon

SPORT

TIDDYWINKS returned to Mendip in January for the annual Somerset Invitation tournament – and it was almost like coming home for two of the players.

Veteran player Dr Stewart Sage, whose family used to run the Somerset Wagon at Chilcompton where the contest was first held more than 30 years ago, was joined by veterinary science student Mollie Birch, who hails from Frome.

Stewart and Mollie were amongst players from the legendary Cambridge University Tiddlywinks Club and Society of Tiddlywinks, University of York taking part in this year’s twoday tournament at The Old Down Inn at Emborough.

Although the aim of the game is to flick the “winks” into a pot in the centre of a table, using a variety of “squidgers” to flick the tiddlywinks, players use a combination of shots to frustrate their opponent. A Bristol, for example, is a a shot which moves a pile of two or more winks as a single unit; a Gromp is an attempt to jump a pile onto another wink; Squopping is to play a wink so that it comes to rest above another wink. To Boondock is to free a squopped wink by sending it a long way away whilst a John Lennon memorial shot is a simultaneous Boondock and Squop.

Mollie concentrates on a shot

Games are played against the clock

Discussing the next shot

Toby Bruce and Mollie draw lots before the start of their match

Squidge up. Back (l:r) Andrew Garrick, Tim Hunt, Phillip Buckham-Bennett and Harley Jones. Front (l:r) Nick Inglis, Stewart Sage and Katherine Drew

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MENDIP TIMES

Chew Valley RFC rides high and plans a golden celebration

CHEW Valley Rugby Club is celebrating a special year this year. It’s the 50th anniversary of its foundation, the 25th anniversary of the start of its junior section – and it may be celebrating promotion to South West Division One by the end of the season.

From a team that struggled to find friendly opponents in the early days, it has grown to become one of the strongest clubs in the region.

In recent games they beat league leaders Midsomer Norton 30-5 and Wells 85-0 in a long winning streak to rise to second

Words and pictures

by Steve Egginton

place in the Western Counties North league.

They continued their success with a tough 51-41 win away at Avonmouth.

In both the last two seasons they lost in the second place play-offs to the runnersup from Western Counties West to go up.

If they are crowned champions this year they will win automatic promotion.

These are exciting times for the club

which has 65 senior men playing in three teams, 40 senior women in the Valley Cats, who are third in their league, and about 230 youngsters. Coaches Paul Hull, Steve Worrall and Bruce Wellman have brought an exciting – and winning – style of rugby.

All but three of the current first 15 have risen through the junior set-up. The club now plans to start a 12-18s section for girls, given the rise in popularity of women’s rugby.

There are plans for big anniversary celebrations – and a big fundraising effort is underway to buy land for more pitches.

Club president, Andrew Tanner, himself a former player, looks at the history of the club

ON March 19th 1969 a group of former Chew Valley school pupils met at The Pelican Inn to discuss formally constituting a rugby club to be known as Chew Valley Old Boys.

With Gerwyn Thomas in the chair and agreement from Mr Moore, the headmaster at Chew Valley School to use the school facilities, the club ran one team.

With no league structure in place fixtures were arranged with sympathetic Bristol Combination teams, often with their lower sides.

Clubs such as Horfield, Stokes Croft, Old Ashtonians and Old Cathedrelians ran as many as five sides and provided opposition but are now no longer in existence.

A second XV was formed in the 1972/73 season and in the late 70s the chairman at the time, Peter Markham, negotiated a lease on Lobbingtons, Chew Stoke thanks to the co-operation of Neville Cole and his family at Perry House Farm, Chew Stoke and the King

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family.

The fortunes of Chew Valley Old Boys fluctuated between running three sides and then struggling to raise a team at times. On the evening of August 2nd, 1994 14 lads aged between nine and 14 gathered at Lobbingtons and the junior section was born.

League rugby arrived in 1995 and Chew Valley found themselves in Somerset II. League rugby meant that players who wanted to improve the standard of rugby they played could do so by staying with Chew Valley and climbing the league structure playing with their mates.

Rapid progress through the league structure followed. In 1996 the Cats ladies rugby team decamped to Chew Valley and with a rapidly growing junior section the pressure was on to upgrade the onsite facilities from the shipping container kindly donated by the Baker family at Pagans Hill Chew Stoke.

In August 1997 the original

clubhouse opened, funded with the help of Lottery and Foundation for the Arts, to be extended subsequently. This necessitated a change of name, the Old Boys reference fell victim of the PC brigade and it became Chew Valley Rugby Club.

Successive promotions resulted in a two-year stint in Western Counties North at the turn of the last century.

Today with the junior section supplying the talent to the First XV who have been riding high in Western Counties North for a number of years the club fields three senior men’s teams in total. The Cats are now in South West One and the junior section continues to thrive.

Claims to being the strongest club on all points of the Mendips have been reinforced with a comprehensive thrashing of Wells on their own turf again this season and victory against top of the league Midsomer Norton at Lobbingtons when the visitors were totally outclassed.

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Time to celebrate

Time to expand

SPORT

THE greatest challenge facing the club these days is finding the space to accommodate all of the youngsters wanting to experience the game.

To that end Chew Valley Rugby Club has the opportunity to buy enough land locally to support its long-term ambitions to sustain the junior section and add girls’ teams at U-13, 15 and 18 level.

This involves an appeal through a 100 club at £1,000 each for individuals and Platinum sponsorship for companies at £10,000 to raise £150K. In action against Stroud which they won 48-19 after losing away

THE club’s significant milestones will be celebrated at a series of events at the club. The first is a Queen/80s night on Friday, February 8th at 7.30pm. Tickets £7.50 with supper are available from the club or call 07796174009.

A lunch on March 16th, open to all former players and supporters, will be attended by the club’s first captain Chris Small, fellow founder member Victor Pritchard and the front row legend Peter Townson.

On the weekend of May 10th and 11th a marquee will be erected on the main pitch where British Lions legend Gareth Chilcott and World Cup referee Ed Morrison will be guest speakers at a dinner on the Friday evening, with a ball on the Saturday – posh frocks or DJs being the choice!

Youngsters in training

CHEW VALLEY OLD BOYS 1978/79 Back row: Duncan Smith, Keith Marsh, Colin Marsh, Martin Cole, Roger Dando, Pail Thompson, David Weaver. 4th Row: Jeremy Cox, John Carpenter, Mark Petherick, Eamon McGivern, Andrew Worle, Mark Farrell, Steve Morgan, Anthony Witt, Kevin Elgar, Adrian Green. 3rd Row: Victor Pritchard, Ken Wheeler, Simon Davis, Martin Read, Derek Perry, Bob Dunford, Pete Oram, Jeremy Bryan, Peter Jenkins, John Ball, Peter Markham (chairman). 2nd Row: Morgan Rogers, Geoff Clarke, Andrew Read, Brian Carter, Eric Pearce (2nd team captain), Peter Comber (1st team captain), Clive Oram, Andrew Tanner, Steve Taylor, Paul Carpenter. Front row: Ian Locke, Dave Rogers, Clive Dunsford, Paul Orchard, Paul Nicholas, -?- Steve Ball, Keith Wookey

MENDIP TIMES • FEBRUARY 2019 • PAGE 93

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Snowdrops in Wells

THE Bishop’s Palace’s Snowdrop Celebration is set to return on February 23rd and 24th.

Last year’s successful inauguration saw around 1,500 visitors enjoying the carpets of It looks as if Wynn, the wandering widsnowdrops. owed swan, has returned to the Bishop’s Visitors can grab Palace moat. She disappeared with her a copy of the four remaining cygnets in October Snowdrop Walk to show them the best route to experience the moat banks carpeted with snowdrops and cross the Willow Bridge to enjoy an arboretum full of different varieties of spectacular snowdrops.

To complement the gardens, there will also be a selection of craft and plant stalls in the Stable Yard Room, with art, gifts and, of course, a selection of common and rare varieties of snowdrops on offer to buy and take home to your own garden. l The palace has joined forces with the cathedral and Wells and Mendip Museum to launch a new Wells Heritage Pass, an annual pass giving unlimited access to all three venues. The pass starts at £40 for an individual and also offers joint and family options.

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Close to the action

RACEGOERS visiting Wincanton for the showpiece Betway Kingwell Hurdle will be on top of the action on the big day – a curtain raiser for the Cheltenham Festival in March.

The last two hurdles home are alongside the stands and, as racing expert and former jockey Richard Pitman said: “Wincanton is so exciting as the regular racegoers are enthusiastic and almost on top of the horses from the second last hurdle, a unique experience for a jockey!”

The prestige race is the highlight of the card on Saturday, February 16th. Ditcheat trainer Paul Nicholls, enjoying a successful jumps season so far, added: “It’s a good race at the right time of year and a great for Somerset racegoers to see horses of this calibre on their doorstep. It was a sweet day when Rigmarole won in 2004 as he was owned by the then Wincanton chairman Mark Woodhouse.”

The race attracts the best two-mile hurdlers in the business and many have gone on to enjoy success at Cheltenham itself.

Richard Dunwoody, the three-time champion jockey A delighted Frankie Pullar, from the who rode 1699 Nicholls yard at Ditcheat, with her beloved British winners, Kapcorse in the winner’s enclosure said: “It was always a very good race with really good horses and a lot of trainers use it as a Champion trial. It’s a flat track and they go pretty quick – it’s probably one of the quickest paces in the country.

“When you are riding in those types of hurdle races, on good horses, it’s a big buzz, because to be there they have to be good jumpers, and they are like lightning from one side of the hurdle to the other.” l The first race is off at 1.40pm, with gates opening at 11.30am.

Best priced advanced tickets are available from £16 each. See www.wincanton.thejockeyclub.co.uk

A taste of the hurdle action on offer at Wincanton in February

It’s all about the films in Wells

WHAT’S ON

AFTER the great success of the first two films in its Talking Film series at Wells Film Centre, it has announced the next title.

All Is True (certificate 12A) will be screened on Monday, March 11th March following a talk by popular local historian and art historian Joanna Cobb.

Doors open at 6.30pm for Joanna’s talk at 7pm followed by the film. Tickets are £10 each and booking is highly recommended as the last event sold out.

NOW SHOWING Starts Friday 1st February

Starts Friday 8th February

Starts Friday 15th February

FEBRUARY EVENT CINEMA

Princes Road, Wells, BA5 1TD

Colette (15) • Mary Queen Of Scots (15) Beautiful Boy (15) • Glass (15) Can You Ever Forgive Me (15) Lego 2 3D/2D Destroyer (15) • All Is True (12A) Green Book (12A) Don Quixote 19th 7.15pm Lady Windermere's Fan 27th 7.15pm

● Book in person ● Online 24/7 @www.wellsfilmcentre.co.uk ● Over the ’phone: 01749 673195

MENDIP TIMES • FEBRUARY 2019 • PAGE 95

(Photograph courtesy of Kevin Wills)

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Please send entries for these listings as a single paragraph of approximately 25 words. We’re happy to list entries for charities and voluntary groups free of charge – but please submit them in the format below. We may not be able to use entries which are too lengthy or submitted as posters or leaflets. Commercial entries cost £25.

Wednesday January 23rd Considering Adoption? Ofsted rated Families for Children Trust are holding an information session, 10am-12noon, Foot Anstey, Blackbrook Park Ave, Taunton, TA1 2PY. Thursday January 24th West Mendip Walkers mod circular 5.5m. Ex142 ST603482. Start 12.30pm Rookery Farm. Details: Claris Brown: 07811 232061 or claris51@yahoo.co.uk China – Birds, Wildlife, Conservation talk by John Aldridge & Andy Davis for Chew Valley Wildlife Group 7.45pm Chew Magna Old School Room, 7.45pm. £2.50.

Mendip Ramblers mod 7m West Harptree, Compton Martin. Start 10am Herons Green Causeway, Chew Valley Lake, BS40 6NL ST554594. Details: Margaret: 01761 232042/07910 873853.

Mendip Society Talk "Marie Antoinette's Guide to Farming" a risqué guide to smallholding by Sarah Harris, 2.30pm St. James' Church Hall Winscombe BS25 1BA. Members £2, visitors £3.50. Free refreshments. Details: Richard 01275 472797.

Friday January 25th to Saturday February 2nd Exhibition & sale of work by artist Stina Falle, towards counselling services at Somerset Mind for young people at risk of suicide. Mon -Sat 10am- 4pm.

Black Swan Arts Round Tower.

Friday January 25th Camerton Talk “Travelling Nepal” by Ian Williamson, 7pm BA2 0NL, £5 includes hot drink, licensed bar. Details: www.camertoncommunityhall.co.uk Saturday, January 26th RNLI Quiz 7pm Shipham village hall. Teams of six please, £8pp incl. ploughmans, bar. Proceeds to RNLI. Details: 01934 842304 or meejlfh@gmail.com Bold Brass, 7.30pm, St Mary’s Church, Yatton, Tickets £10 or £8 YMS members www.yms.org.uk Wake Up Wells Community Day. Details ??????????????????

"Garden hints from wild & strange habitats" Rosemary Fitzgerald for Somerset Plant Heritage, 2.30pm Edington Hall TA7 9HA. Members' plant sale 1.30pm.

Congresbury Book Sale 9am-1pm War Memorial Hall. Good quality books, jigsaws, dvds & cds.

Frome Memorial Theatre Band of Her Majesty's Royal Marines 7.30pm, tickets £18. Details: 01373 462795 www.fmt.website Barn Dancing 7pm-10pm Faulkland Village Hall, adults £5, children £2 for www.willberrywonderpony.org Details: 0791 9360486.

Mendip Society Walk from East Harptree mod 5m, meet 1.30pm car park Harptree Woods, Smithams Hill, BS40 6DA. Details: Richard & Denise 01275 472797.

“The History & Evolution of Bath Abbey” Ollie Taylor for Frome FSLS, 2.30pm, Assembly Rooms. www.fsls.org.uk A Story Supper to celebrate National Storytelling Week, 7pm Farrington Gurney Memorial Hall, Church Lane, BS39 6TY, advance tickets only £10.

Details: Colin 01275 332735.

Sunday, January 27th Mendip Ramblers mod 11m to Witham Friary, start 10am Nunney Quarry CP, BA11 4NL, ST735458.

Details: Mike P 01373 472101 / 07711 090656.

Monday January 28th Green Gardeners: “Growing Up” a talk by Claire Hart on vertical planting, 7.30pm parish rooms, PAGE 96 • MENDIP TIMES • FEBRUARY 2019

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Somerton TA11 7NB. Visitors welcome £3.

Young Musician of the Year: students of Churchill Academy, 6pm-8.30pm St John the Baptist Church, BS25 5QW. Tickets: £8, U18’s £4: 01934 852589.

Mendip Folk Dance Club 8pm-10pm, St James’ Church Hall Winscombe BS25 1AQ. All welcome, £3pp. Details Pat 01934 742853.

Tuesday January 29th Congresbury Over-60s Club Friendship hour: tea, biscuits & chat! War Memorial Hall, 2.30-4pm.

Details: 01934 832004.

Wednesday January 30th Backwell & Nailsea Macular Support, speaker from Seeing Solutions 1.30pm Backwell WI Hall. Details: Sheila: 01275 462107.

“King Alfred & the Somerset Connection” talk by Chris Eldridge for Harptrees History Society, 7.30pm West Harptree hall BS40 6EB. Details: 01761 221941.

Thursday January 31st West Mendip Walkers mod circular 10m from Cley Hill Ex143 ST838444, start 10am NT car park.

Details: Vi: 07711 662993 or vihowley@me.com Mendip Ramblers mod 6.5m Stoke St Michael, start 10am car park Frog Lane. Details: Jane 01761 232715.

Friday February 1st to Friday February 22nd Snowdrop Walks Camerton Court, Bath BA2 0PS,weekdays only, for groups of 15 to 25. Book: camertoncourtbath@gmail.com or Julieann 01761 479319.

Friday February 1st Open Mic Night Redhill Club, BS40 5SG. 8pm 11pm, hosted by Jerry Blythe: 07900 587646.

Valley Arts presents Improv comedy night with Instant Wit, cash bar, £12pp, 7.30pm, Bishop Sutton Village Hall BS39 5XJ. Details: www.valleyartscentre.eventbrite.co.uk Saturday February 2nd Winter Dreams from Vivaldi to Gershwin.

International musicians raising funds for NW Somerset branch Parkinson’s UK, 7pm St Francis Church, Nailsea. Tickets £12.50 include refreshments.

Details: 07966 759950 or 01934 838302.

Frome Memorial Theatre "ABBA Forever – Live in Concert" 7.30pm. Tickets £21, £20 from 01373 462795 www.fmt.website “Sermons in Stones” Glastonbury Archaeological Perspectives seminar10am-5pm St Ben's Church, Benedict St. £25, incl refreshments. Cheques by post: The Tribunal, High St. Glastonbury BA6 9DP. Details: 01458 850885.

Chew Valley Snails “Courage to Change” by Ben Smith, 401 Challenge. 2pm Chew Valley School.

Optional run afterwards. All welcome. Details: www.cvsnailsbensmith.eventbrite.co.uk Charity Quiz Axbridge Town Hall 7.30pm, teams up to six, BYOB, £5pp includes cheese platter. Tickets only in advance. Details: 07771 884938.

Irish Music with musicians from the Hibernia Centre, 2.30 –4.30 pm St Bridget’s Church, Chelvey. Tea interval. Donations.

Mendip Society walk from Banwell, moderate 4m, meet 1.30pm car park, main road, opp the school, BS29 6DB. Details: Pauline 01934 820745.

Kingston Seymour Market 10-12pm village hall, stalls, Fair Trade goods, cakes, crafts & more. tables £2. Details: 01934 830553.

Sunday February 3rd Mendip Ramblers mod 10m Compton Dando to Chewton Keynsham, start 10am Compton Inn, BS39 4JZ, ST645644. Details: Claris 07811 242061.

Monday February 4th Mendip Ramblers easy 4m cup of tea walk Norton Radstock Greenway, start 1.30pm Midsomer Norton, South Road CP BA3 2EZ, ST665541. Details: Jane D 01761 232715.

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Tuesday February 5th Dante’s Divine Comedy “Otherworld” images, Botticelli to Blake, talk by Patsy Erskin-Hill for Arts Society Mendip, 11am Bath & West Show Ground, BA4 6QN. Guests welcome. www.theartssocietymendip.org.uk Somerset Wildlife Trust “The Hedgehog Predicament” 8pm Caryford Hall, Ansford BA7 7JJ, tea & coffee from 7.30pm. Entrance £3.

Thursday February 7th Mendip Ramblers mod 6.5m from Frome, East Mendip Way, start 10am Wallington Way, BA11 3EJ. Park in side roads. ST766485. Details: Mo 07387 088151.

Congresbury Gardening Club: Daffodils, Travel in Spain, Portugal, Isles of Scilly & Cornwall, talk by Jackie Petherbridge, 7.30 Methodist Hall, High Street.

West Mendip Walkers mod circular 9m Wookey Hole. Ex141 ST475532. Start 10am, park in road nr car park. Details: Carol: 01934 733568/07979 354530 caj7599@gmail.com Mendip Storytelling Circle: short tales, old & new.

Treat yourself to listening. Entrance free, donations.

7.30 pm Chewton Mendip Village Hall BA3 4LL. Details: mendipstorycircle@gmail.com “No-Dig” Gardening talk by Charles Dowding 7 for 7.30pm Wrington Memorial Hall. Tickets £9, incl refreshments, from Eventbrite, Amors, Charlie Armour 01934 863100/07967 597182. For Prickles Hedgehog Rescue.

Friday February 8th Avon & Somerset Constabulary Male Voice Choir 7.30pm Nailsea School, tickets £8 on door, £6 in advance: kenrock.rotary@gmail.com or some Nailsea shops. Proceeds to local charities.

Saturday February 9th Frome FSLS Dennis Chedgy on Radstock Museum.

Assembly Rooms, 2.30pm www.fsls.org.uk Mendip Society walk from Masbury, mod 5m, meet 10.30am Rocky Mountain Garden Nursery, BA5 3HA. Details: Gill 01934 742508.

Winscombe Big Book Sale 9am-12.30pm Community Centre, Sandford Road. Refreshments, free entry. Details 01934 843986.

Congresbury Book Sale 9am-1pm War Memorial Hall. Good quality books, jigsaw puzzles, dvds, cds.

“The Great Ming Code” book signing & talk about old China by local author Justin Newland 1112.30pm Frome Library. Free entry.

Trials & Tribulations of a Wildlife Presenter, Mike Dilger with Mya-Rose Craig, Compton Martin village hall. Details: P7.

Valley Arts presents Mr Gotalot’s Pop-Up Shop by Monkey Trousers Theatre, interactive storytelling adventures for children aged 1-5, £5pp, 10am, Old School Room, Chew Magna BS39 5XJ. Details: www.valleyartscentre.eventbrite.co.uk Sunday February 10th Social table tennis all abilities Compton Dando village hall, 2.15pm £3pp. Details: Richard 01761 400727.

Mendip Ramblers mod 10m Mendip Ring Circular, start 9.30am Castle Cary Rugby Club. Park road verge BA7 7PF, ST633341. Details: Bob & Rosemary 01749 346023.

Monday February 11th “The story of WD & HO Wills” talk by John Penny for Nailsea & District Local History Society 7.45pm, Green Lecture Room, Nailsea School. Members free, guests £2. Details: www.ndlhs.org.uk Mendip Folk Dance Club 8pm -10pm, St James Church Hall Winscombe BS25 1AQ. All welcome, £3pp Why not give it a try? Details Pat 01934 742853.

Congresbury Memorial Hall Club Friendship evening with Bingo. Non-members welcome. 8pm War Memorial Hall.

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Wednesday February 13th Wells Civic Society the Impact of Community Radio with Alan Trinder & Joanne Schofield, GFM. Wells & Mendip Museum 7pm.

Nailsea Horticultural Society talk, Scree & Gravel Garden by Don Everitt, 7.30pm. Nailsea United Reformed Church Hall.

Thursday February 14th “The Comedy About a Bank Robbery” Charity Theatre Trip to Bristol Hippodrome. Details: www.theatretrips.webeden.co.uk or Chris: 01458 273085.

Social table tennis all abilities Compton Dando village hall, 7.15pm £3pp. Details: Richard 01761 490727.

West Mendip Walkers mod circular 6m Compton Martin. Ex141 ST542571, start 12.30 Ring O’Bells.

Details: Carole or Su: 07980 051439/ 07817 127904.

Friday February 15th Frome Memorial Theatre "Toyah – Up Close & Personal" 7.30pm. Tickets £21, £20 from 01373 462795 www.fmt.website Saturday February 16th – Sunday February 17th Shepton Snowdrop Festival. Various venues in Shepton Mallet www.sheptonsnowdropfestival.org.uk Saturday February 16th Mendip Society walk from Congresbury, mod 4.5m, meet 1.30pm Gooseham Mead car park, BS49 5BX. Details: John 01934 842868.

Wedmore Guides Jumble Sale 10am-12, Wedmore Village Hall. Entrance £1 incl tea/coffee, cake!

Contact Elaine 01934 713650 to give donations.

Supporting local young homeless.

Sunday February 17th Glastonbury Seedy Sunday: 11am- 4pm: seed swap, craft stalls, children’s activities, refreshments.

Performance 6-9pm by “3 Acres and a Cow”. Avalon Constitutional Club. Tickets: Bon bonspiralsound@yahoo.co.uk Mendip Ramblers mod 10 miles, start 10am Win Green car park SP7 0EP, ST922204. Details: Laurence 01373 452294 07568 584994.

Hedgelaying Competition, Mid-Somerset Agricultural Society, tractor run, Land Rover open meeting, spectators free. Royal Bath & West Showground, Shepton Mallet. www.midsomersetshow.org.uk Monday February 18th “Urban Gulls” talk by Peter Rock for Timsbury Natural History Group, 7.30pm Conygre Hall. Visitors welcome, £3.

Tuesday February 19th Congresbury Over-60s Club Friendship hour: Tea, biscuits & chat with friends! Congresbury War Memorial Hall, 2.30-4pm. Details: 01934 832004.

Wednesday February 20th Bird Song Recognition with Chris Sperring MBE, 7.30pm Ston Easton village hall. Details: mendipgardeningclub.com or Hilary 01761 750139.

Thursday February 21st West Mendip Walkers mod circular 10m Pitney, Ex129 ST444290, start 10am Glebe Farm. Details: Stewart: 01749 572924/ 07767 776685 stewartcrocker1@outlook.com Friday February 22nd Frome Memorial Theatre "Buddy Holly & The Crickets – Not Fade Away" 7.30pm. Tickets £21, £19 from 01373 462795 www.fmt.website Saturday, February 23rd Bassoon & Piano concert, 7.30pm St Mary’s Church, Yatton, tickets £10 or £8 YMS members.

Details: www.yms.org.uk Mendip Society walk from Litton, mod 5.5m, meet 1.30pm The Litton, BA3 4PW on B3114. Details: Beryl 01761 412045.

Wells Library 11am Talk by local author Damien Boyd, Q&A and book signing. Book: 0300 123 2224 or wlslib@somerset.gov.uk.

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RNLI Winscombe Folk with Reg Meuross, 8pm St James Hall, cash bar, all proceeds to RNLI. Tickets £13 winscombe.folk@gmail.com or 07703 538861.

Coppicing Volunteer Work Day for Somerset Wildlife Trust, 9.30 – 3.30pm Asham Wood SSSI, Downhead, free, booking essential. Details: www.somersetwildlife.org or 01823 652400.

Somerset Plant Heritage: From Seed to Fork by Greg Mortar, 2.30pm Edington Village Hall TA7 9HA. Members’ plant sale from 1.30. Non-members £4. Details: Pauline 01278 451631.

Blagdon Lantern Parade starts from the New Inn at 5.30pm. Details: Facebook or blagdonpta@gmail.com Congresbury Book Sale 9am-1pm War Memorial Hall. Good quality books, jigsaw puzzles, dvds, cds.

Frome FSLS Clare Moody MEP, Assembly Rooms, 2.30pm.

Monday February 25th Mendip Folk Dance Club 8pm -10pm, St James Church Hall Winscombe BS25 1AQ. All welcome, £3pp. Details: Pat 01934 742853.

Green Gardeners ‘A History of Kelways’ by Janet Seaton, Parish Rooms, Somerton TA11 7NB 7.30pm, visitors welcome £3.

Congresbury Memorial Hall Club Friendship evening with Bingo. Non-members welcome. 8pm.

Wednesday Feb 27th Harptrees History Society talk by James Bond "Deserted Medieval Villages of Somerset" 7.30pm, West Harptree hall BS40 6EB. Details: 01761 221758 or 221941.

Thursday February 28th West Mendip Walkers mod circular 6m Saltford, Ex155 ST687673, start 12.30 Bird in the Hand.

Details: Andrew: 07581 568805 andrewsmallbone@hotmail.com Mendip Ramblers mod 6.5miles to Chelynch, start 10am Cranmore Steam Railway BA4 4QL, ST668430. Details: Margaret 01761 232042 07910 873853.

France – Bird watching & conservation talk by Ken Hall for Chew Valley Wildlife Group 7.45pm Chew Magna Old School Room. £2.50.

Friday March 1st Open Mic Night Redhill Club, BS40 5SG, 8pm 11pm, hosted by Jerry Blythe: 07900 587646.

Sam Kelly Trio Meadway Hall, Compton Dundon 7.30 for 8pm, bar. £10. Details: Kay 01458 448694 or kaywilliamson46@hotmail.com Concert: Churchill Academy & Trinity Singers 7.30pm All Saints Church, Weston-s-Mare. Adults £10, accompanied U18s £5. Details: www.ticketsource.co.uk www.trinitysingers.co.uk Saturday March 2nd Mendip Society walk from Tickenham, mod 4.3m, meet 1.30pm opp Tickenham Church, BS21 6SX. Details: Clive 01275 848052.

Sunday March 3rd Mendip Ramblers mod 10.5m Mendip Ring Circular, start 9.30am Strap Lane, Upton Noble, park verge nr primary school BA4 6AU, ST713393.

Details: Bob & Rosemary 01749 346023.

Monday March 4th Mendip Ramblers easy 3.5m cup of tea walk Stratton-on-the-Fosse, start 1.30pm village hall BA3

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4QQ, ST658511. Details: Trevor & Val 01761 232311 07976 629342.

“Back in Time” Winscombe & Sandford in 1950s with archive photos plus short report on Millennium Green, 7.30pm Winscombe Community Centre, BS25 1JA. All welcome.

Tuesday March 5th The English face unmasked – five centuries of portrait technique talk by Sarah Cove, 11am Bath & West Show Ground, BA4 6QN. Guests welcome www.theartssocietymendip.org.uk Wednesday March 6th Mendip Society walk from Cameley, easy three miles, meet 1.30pm Cameley Lodge, BS39 5AH. Details: Peter 01761 221995.

Thursday March 7th Mendip Ramblers mod six miles, start 10am Stratton-on-the-Fosse village hall BA3 4QH, ST657511. Details: Trevor & Val L 01761 232311 07976 629342.

“Kinky Boots” musical, evening charity theatre trip to Bristol Hippodrome. To book, & for details of future events, contact Chris: www.theatretrips.webeden.co.uk or 01458 273085.

Mendip Storytelling Circle: short tales, old & new.

Treat yourself to listening. Entrance free, donations welcome, 7.30 pm Chewton Mendip Village Hall BA3 4LL mendipstorycircle@gmail.com.

Friday March 8th “The boy who cried wolf” musical puppetry by Angel Heart Theatre, 5.30pm Westbury village hall BA5 1JD. Tickets £7, U16 £4, family 2+2 £20 from Westbury Community Shop 01749 870640. Details: peterbright60@btinternet.com Thanks for your memories Binegar & Gurney Slade 7-10pm, Binegar Village Hall. Charity night of film, slides, story sharing, tea, cake & bar! £2 Details: Andy 07895 930979.

Saturday March 9th Mendip Society walk nr Abbots Leigh, mod 5m, meet 2pm Ashton Court Golf Course café car park, BS8 3PX. Details: Ann 01179 736497.

“Dive into Dahlias” talk by Naomi Slade, book signing, dahlia propagation demos, 10.30am-1pm, St. Paul’s School hall, Shepton Mallet BA4 5LA. Details: www.sheptonhortsoc.org.uk Frome FSLS Sue Bucklow – Casting the Empire: JW Singer & Sons of Frome, Assembly Rooms, 2.30pm.

Wednesday March 13th Wells Civic Society, Jon Jefferies on Monmouth, the Rebellion and the bloody retribution of Judge Jeffreys, Wells & Mendip Museum, 7.30pm.

Matthew Bourne’s Swan Lake evening charity theatre trip to Bristol Hippodrome. To book, and for details of future events, contact Chris: www.theatretrips.webeden.co.uk or 01458 273085.

Saturday March 16th Pond Creation & Restoration Workshop for Somerset Wildlife Trust 10am – 3.30, location TBC. Details: events@somersetwildlife.org Parkinson's UK NW Somerset branch AGM 11.30am Masonic Hall, Nailsea, BS48 1BA. All welcome.

JANUARY CROSSWORD SOLUTION

ACROSS: 9 Hot potato, 10 Wheel, 11 Wiper, 12 Peninsula, 13 Perilous, 14 Effigy, 15 Cook's Wood Quarry, 19 Sutton, 20 Sandford, 23 Dropped in, 25 Notes, 27 Lingo, 28 Abstracts.

DOWN: 1 Chew, 2 Stupor, 3 Sorrel, 4 Sao Paulo, 5 Down, 6 Swine flu, 7 Peculiar, 8 Bleary-eyed, 13 Packsaddle, 16 Outdoing, 17 Scorpion, 18 Deafness, 21 Dundry, 22 Optics, 24 Dean, 26 S S S I. JANUARY CROSSWORD WINNER: Ms Staniforth of Wells.

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MENDIP TIMES

Flagship field sports event returns

PREPARATIONS are well underway for the West of England Game Fair taking place on Saturday, March 16th and Sunday, March 17th at the Bath and West Showground at Shepton Mallet.

As ever, the weekend offers something for everyone, from demonstrations and have-a-go activities to shopping and the smallholders exhibition area. A hunt parade will take place on the Sunday, complete with horn-blowing competition!

This year’s highlights include:

GUNDOGS

New for 2019 is the Mullenscote Gundogs team lead by Howard and Linsey Kirby. Both have represented Great Britain at the World Championships for hunting and pointing breeds. The Mullenscote team will demonstrate how they use rewardbased training methods to teach young animals to become first class gundogs.

The British Association for Shooting and Conservation will have four gundog scurries and M & M Gundogs will have a test for both spaniels and retrievers on each day. Terrier and lurcher owners can join the coursing crew and take part in the racing and the shows. There will also be a new family dog show this year and a gundog parade.

TASTE OF GAME COOKERY THEATRE

Supported by BASC, the theatre offers a tantalising selection of demonstrations showing how easy it is to cook with game and how to prepare the meat.

FISHING

World and European casting champion Hywel Morgan will impart his passion, enthusiasm and knowledge of fishing and fly casting in the outdoor arena. The demonstrations will show that fly fishing is for all and is very easy to pick up. The fishing area in the Sedgemoor Pavilion will feature a variety of companies selling fishing flies, rods, clothing and accessories, plus demonstrations and have a go fly tying. You can also have-a-go fly casting!

FERRETS

New for 2019 is expert Simon Whitehead of Pakefield Ferrets. Rabbit controller, author and sporting writer Simon brings his wealth of knowledge to the show to highlight the relationship between man, the wild rabbit and the countryside. In addition, Avon Valley Ferrets will have a static display area with advice and have-a-go net making and their ferret racing area – always popular!

WHAT’S ON

SHOOTING

Bristol Clay Shooting will be providing a competition shoot on both days with categories for ladies, open and novice.

High quality tuition and advice from BASC is offered on the shot gun coaching line, have-a-go air rifles will be supplied by ATEO. There will also be a junior competition for those 13 years and under. Guns and associated equipment will be available to purchase at the show. Gun companies include: Entwistle Guns; Rifleman Firearms; Bullets & Guns and more.

WIN TICKETS TO THE GAME FAIR

THIS flagship event for the West Country creates a very special platform for countryside traditions and issues to be promoted and supported.

Many high-profile companies have been confirmed, together with top experts in field sports, who will feature in the demonstration and advice areas. There are lots of new activities, displays and music this year, making the event a fantastic countryside experience.

Mendip Times has teamed up with Contour Exhibitions, organisers of the

event, to offer readers the chance to win tickets for a day at the show.

Three pairs of tickets are on offer.

To enter, please answer the following question: Which building on the showground will host the main fishing area?

Please send your answers to WCGF Competition, Mendip Times, Coombe Lodge, Blagdon BS40 7RG to reach us

by Monday, February 18th. The first three correct entries chosen will each receive a pair of tickets. The editor’s decision is final.

For details, advance tickets and to keep up to date with everything happening, visit www.westofenglandgamefair.co.uk join their Facebook group or follow on Twitter.

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