Mendip Times
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VOLUME 13 ISSUE 2
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Celebrating life on the Mendips and surrounding areas
JULY 2017
IN THIS ISSUE: SUMMER EVENTS • FOCUS ON WEDMORE • RIDING • WHAT’S ON • COMMUNITY • SPORT Local people, local history, local places, local events and local news
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Welcome
WE celebrate our heritage this month with the reopening of the Somerset Rural Life Museum and a new look for Radstock Museum. We also go behind the scenes of Shepton Mallet’s historic almshouses – and meet the people who were happy to be locked up in Shepton Jail! Summer spells fun on Mendip, when communities come together for fetes and festivals – we have pictures from many of them – with a special feature on Wedmore, which is looking forward to its street fair, opera, arts festival and harvest home – they have some stamina there. As did the hundreds of runners taking part in both serious and fun runs in Wells and the Chew Valley – we have pictures from both and a picture special on a very successful Royal Bath and West Show. This month we preview the Mid-Somerset Show. In sport we feature cricket, tug of war, badminton and gig racing, while our caving expert Phil Hendy has been having a wild time in Wookey Hole Caves. Sue Gearing’s walk takes us on a circle around Wellow. Chris Sperring reports on the importance of field voles – and we meet a retired doctor who has declared war on brambles. With all of our regular features and contributors, welcome to summer on Mendip. August 2017 deadline: Friday, 14th July 2017. Published: Tuesday, 25th July 2017. 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: Mendip Morris at the Royal Bath & West Show. Photograph by Mark Adler. See page 26.
CONTENTS
26
Here’s looking at ewe – the Bath & West in pictures
54
Jail bird – Miss UK’s night in the cells for charity
110
83
Taking note – music to the ears of Frome’s volunteers
Pulling power – Felton’s big weekend Plus all our regular features Environment ...................................6 Farming Mary James MBE ..........10 Food & Drink ...............................18 Arts & Antiques ...........................30 Business.........................................46 Internet and Crossword ..............49 Charities........................................52 Wildlife Chris Sperring MBE .......61 Walking Sue Gearing ....................62 Outdoors Les Davies MBE ..........64
Gardening Mary Payne MBE.......66 Property ........................................74 Health Dr Phil Hammond .............78 Community ...................................82 Homes and Interiors ....................94 Caving Phil Hendy ......................101 Riding Rachel Thompson MBE...102 Sport ............................................106 Music ...........................................116 What’s On ...................................118 MENDIP TIMES • JULY 2017 • PAGE 3
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NEWS
Priddy past and present
MEMBERS of Priddy Friendly Society gathered in the village for their annual Club Day, beginning with a roll call outside the Queen Victoria Inn before a procession to the church followed by lunch and an afternoon of events.
Standard bearer Fred Payne lead the procession to the church
Alex Barlow marks Oak Apple Day – the restoration of King Charles II and the English monarchy, in May 1660 which fell on the same day as the club day – by wearing a traditional Somerset smock with an oak apple garland
The roll call led by Rhona Gauld
Priddy vicar the Rev. Paula Hollingsworth is flanked by standard bearers Fred and Keith Payne before the start of the church service
The procession heads off
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Rural heritage gets royal approval By Mark Adler
THE Somerset Rural Life Museum in Glastonbury has reopened to visitors after a £2.4million refurbishment. The opening ceremony had a real family flavour as descendants of George and Louisa Mapstone, who took on the tenancy of Abbey Farm in 1917, gathered for the celebrations along with children from Elmhurst Primary School in Street. Later, the Duke of Gloucester carried out the official opening of the complex, run by the South West Heritage Trust. New galleries have been created in the farmhouse and former cowsheds with the themes “Creating”, “Learning”, “Believing”, “Celebrating”, “Remembering”, “Working Village” and “Working the Land”. Outside spaces, including the farmyard and the orchard, contain sculpture and family trails that interpret the history of the site and its buildings.
The Duke of Gloucester meeting children from St Benedict’s Junior School in Glastonbury and Trust Learning Officer Chloe Grant
Margaret Shreeve and Jean Pitt, granddaughters of George and Louisa Mapstone, who grew up on the farm
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George and Louisa Mapstone (from the Natural Theatre Company) welcome visitors
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ENVIRONMENT
Guests at the public opening
One of the new galleries in the buildings surrounding the courtyard One of the many sculptures installed around the site The magnificent tithe barn is still the centerpiece of the heritage complex
Descendants of George and Louisa Mapstone at the entrance to the museum. Their granddaughter Margaret celebrated her marriage to Victor Shreeve on the same spot
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New life for historic tree
FROME College has an impressive new feature at its entrance, thanks to the Last Tree Dreaming project, which saw a 250year-old fallen oak moved from Stourhead. The tree featured in a painting by Turner dating from 1798 and is now the centrepiece of a new sculpture. The Heritage Lottery awarded the project £40,000 to involve Frome's young people in the tree's historical and ecological heritage. The sculpture, by Barry Cooper, “signifies the depleted great forest of Selwood, first recorded in 898, which once covered the whole Frome area”. The tree is lit up at night to highlight the students’ handcarved tattoos in the heartwood of the tree “making it a beacon of hope for the future”.
Tackling a thorny problem
FORMER GP and Green activist, Dr Richard Lawson, from Churchill has invented a handy tool for getting rid of brambles. He said: “It’s a simple tool, a blade on a stick that makes cutting unwanted brambles invading fences, hedges and bushes a sheer joy. “It is far quicker and simpler than secateurs or loppers, cuts the stems with a light tug, and then removes the offending stem without scratches. “It does not of course remove the roots, but repeated use (and it does get a bit of an obsession, I can tell you) will inevitably weaken and kill the root.” The BrambleHook is being made by an engineer in South Wales, with replaceable blades, while Richard fixes the handles – he has found old hockey sticks useful. It is on the market at £20, with a donation going to Practical Action, which uses innovative technology to tackle poverty in deprived countries. Details: https://www.facebook.com/BrambleHook/
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ENVIRONMENT
Campaign to reveal hidden history
Catherine Whybrow and Roger Brain at one of the entrances to the brook
AMBITIOUS plans to restore a little-known piece of waterway history in Radstock are being hampered by a mystery over who actually owns the site. Snails Brook and the Miners Pool are hidden away behind St Nicholas church in the town. The stream and banks are rich in wildlife and campaigners are keen to bring the area back into community use. However, progress to discover the legal ownership is progressing at a snail’s pace because noone has so far claimed the rights. The waterway once housed a proper bathing pool – the only facility of its kind in the area – and boasted changing rooms. Weirs were created and the sides of the pool were Petcharat Maneenut (left) and given concrete banks, still Richard Headon signpost the way in evidence. to the pool during the RoundCampaigners, led by about Radstock community day Catherine Whybrow, believe the waterway and its pools could one day see a return of “wild swimming” subject to water quality tests. They have drawn up a list of tasks ranging from clipping overgrown bushes and brambles to collecting litter and dredging the pool and would welcome offers of help.
So much potential – the waterway is one of Radstock’s hidden gems
To volunteer, text Catherine on 07541 049394 or email: catherinewhybrow@btinternet.com
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Once again, the Royal Bath & West Show was very enjoyable and a great success. Apart from a few showers the weather was kind to us again. The newly-restored caravan in the Power Of The Past Arena looked very impressive and, this year, our tent was positioned right next to the Arena which made it easier for visitors to that part of the show to find us. Many found time to come over for a chat and a glass of wine. Our multi-talented director Libby Rae was outside the tent on the Friday offering free face painting for children. Thanks as always go to the show organisers and, in particular, the organisers of the Power Of The Past section for looking after us so well. We are grateful to all our staff who manned the stand and most of all to those who stopped at our tent and made the show so enjoyable for us.
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Robin Weelen (left) presenting the prize for the best restored farm implement to Mike Sheppard (centre) along with Power Of The Past Committee member Tony Sugg (right)
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Libby Rae and Natalie Barker in front of the BGW caravan in the Arena.
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Royal Bath and West rises above the gloom
THE last month has been tempestuous to say the least, farming included. North Somerset has lost well-known farmer Derek Mead in a tragic accident. Terrorist attacks, the dreadful fire and the election have taken our breath away and next come the Brexit negotiations which farmers will be watching closely. With MARY On a good note I can report that the Royal JAMES MBE Bath and West Show was a great success, with lovely weather and excellent attendance, it was probably one of the best I have attended. The agricultural content was well and truly back. The Prime Minister visited which was something of a circus with police and press everywhere and Martin Lewis of the Money Show brought his team. Wonderful local food was on offer and plenty of places to sit. In conversation with some lovely city dwellers I was surprised to hear the old comment creeping in “you never see a poor farmer”. Allow me to scotch that straightaway because there are some. Farmers can be asset rich but cash poor. Just suppose you own a 250-acre farm, you have 120 dairy cows plus young stock and calves. There is a farmhouse and many buildings, some to store hay and silage, some to house the stock in winter, the milking parlour with all its equipment, tractors and trailers and other machinery. If you don’t have enough equipment to make hay or silage then you hire it in. You are likely to have an overdraft which you needed to put in a
• FEED BIN REPAIRS • ROOFING • TREEWORK • LIGHTING • PEST CONTROL • BIRD SPIKES • INSPECTIONS
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Working together (l:r): Stephen Dennis, FCN regional director, Suzie Wilkinson, from the Somerset FCN, Stephen Noble, RABI’s head of fundraising. Dr Christine Kennedy, a trustee of the NFU Mutual’s charitable trust, Pam Wills, RABI’s regional manager for the South West and Ian Bell, chief executive of the Addington Trust
new milking parlour. It has to be run as a business, yet farming is not a factory. You cannot turn off this 24/7 enterprise overnight. So many factors can upset carefully laid plans, such as a big drop in milk price, the weather, TB, equipment breakdowns, illness or the burden of regulation. At the end of the day it is the cash flow that counts. If the milk price goes down you still have to cover your costs and if you cannot then you will feel you are working for nothing and will consider anything to avoid giving up. Perhaps you may consider calling the Farm Community Network who could send a farmer advisor who would not come from your area. The example above is hypothetical. The Farming Help Group of National Farm Charities is busier than ever. All the charities offer a free service and are self-funding. The Farming Community Network is a Christian voluntary organisation that supports farmers and families within the farming community through difficult times. There is a national Helpline 03000 111999 and an e-helpline chris@fcn.org.uk The Addington Fund provides homes for farming families living in England and Wales who have had to leave the industry through no fault of their own and in doing so will lose their home. Call them on 01926 620135. The Royal Agricultural Benevolent Institute offers financial support to farming people of all ages. For long-term financial support applicants must normally be over 65, and have worked in farming for at least 10 years. Every year RABI gives out around £2million in grants and helps about 2,000 people. There is an RABI home (Beaufort House) in Burnham. Helpline 0808 281 9490. All these charities rely on fundraising. On September 29th this year there will be a Big Breakfast at the Wellsway Inn, Compton Martin organised by the Farming Help Group. More details soon. ● A breakfast reception was hosted by NFU Mutual at the show to promote the work of Farming Help. Ian Bell, chief executive of the Addington Trust, told guests: “The complexity of the issues facing farmers and their families is increasing with the Farming Community Network at the frontline. Fifty per cent of referrals are about housing. “The issue is one of pride. People will not ask for help; they will always suffer in silence.”
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Tribute to Derek Mead
The death of Derek Mead, aged 70, in an accident on his farm has shocked the whole community. Here his close friend Bob Parsons remembers the dairy farmers’ champion who went on to found Puxton Park and Sedgemoor Livestock Centre.
I HAVE known Derek nearly all of my life, becoming good friends through YFC, especially playing hockey on Sunday mornings, travelling in his old Land Rover with most of the team on board. Even in those days he would be home by 10pm to feed the cows to boost the milk yields. This later developed into his love of cattle breeding, travelling as far afield as Canada, importing top Holstein pedigree cattle. Not only a first class farmer, Derek opened many convenience stores and set up his building company, Meadow Mead Homes, which are now most sought-after houses when sold today. Then the new venture of Puxton Park, a top rated South West attraction. Derek’s aim was to engage the general public with an insight into farming. The Dairy Event was recreated by Derek on the Beach Lawns in Weston-super-Mare and was a huge success. Then Sedgmoor Market at Jt.24 where farmers from all over the region come to sell their livestock and are able to purchase farm related goods. It’s now one of the country’s leading markets and he made it available to assist the farmers on the Somerset Levels during the floods of 2012 for fodder collection and distribution. Derek fought for his fellow farmers, helping to form Farmers for Action in order to gain a better milk price at a time when those who were supposedly representing the farming industry were nonachieving and his input into the fight against bovine TB was endless. I well remember travelling with Derek blockading milk depots night after night and on one occasion we joined a coach party to Strasbourg fighting the farmers’ cause, returning in the early hours, yet he made sure he was at a Drainage Board meeting later that morning. Derek always had time for others and whilst the Wick Village Hall was being rebuilt, a lorry load of gravel was tipped in the car park to be wheeled through to the back area. He happened to be passing at the time and joined us to complete the task and I know he has personally helped me out and other local farmers at times of difficulty. Derek was President of Hewish, Puxton and Wick St. Lawrence Harvest Homes and became a councillor on North Somerset Council and since his tragic passing there have been tributes right across the political field. When the Environment Agency planned to flood a large part of land at Wick St Lawrence and Kingston Seymour this was yet another challenge he undertook helping the local landowners in making it successful after much consultation. I enjoyed days out with Derek, the phone call from him: “Are busy today, if not, we’ll go for a jolly.” This would sometimes be a race meeting, a ploughing match, tribute band and last year a memorable visit to his daughter Katherine’s racing stables, where he proudly showed me around, travelling in the Gator, climbing the rolling countryside, stopping by habitat ponds he had created with fast-flowing water already growing watercress. He said he planned to plant oak trees, knowing he would not see them fully mature but that they would be for future generations.
Derek Mead
FARMING
Well Derek, my old friend, an oak tree is already planted at Icelton in your memory which will be a long-lasting memory of times together and all you have done for not only my family but the farming community, the only one to stand up and fight for our cause. RIP. P.S. If Banksy reads the Mendip Times, perhaps you could draw a caricature of Derek on the Tropicana with him rubbing his hands in glee, with that wicked smile and his favourite saying “I’ll have ’ee one day” because without Derek there would be no Tropicana for Weston-super-Mare! Bob Parsons Icelton Farm, Wick St Lawrence The funeral will be on Friday, June 30th at St Lawrence Church, Wick St Lawrence, at 12noon.
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Heritage and innovation at the Mid-Somerset Show THIS year’s Mid-Somerset Agricultural Show promises to hit new heights as it prepares to showcase the best in livestock, food and drink and entertainment in one, action-packed day. The free-to-enter show (car parking charges apply) on Sunday, August 20th has introduced a number of new classes in the various sections, including four new classes for yoghurt in the dairy section as part of the South West Cheese Awards.
Show social success
Show president Peter Barkwill (left) and chairman Ian Harvey (left) welcomed guests to the evening
MORE than 100 members of the Mid-Somerset Agricultural Society and guests enjoyed the annual Show Social, held this year at the Earth Science Centre at Wainwright’s Quarry at Stoke St Michael.
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The Somerset Cider Championships continue to grow and organisers are planning to make this year’s cookery demonstrations even more inspiring. The traditional cheese auction will take place on the afternoon of the show, led this year by Nick Oliver, from Cooper and Tanner. The show will be the last chance of the year on Mendip for people to admire entries in the cattle classes as the Frome Cheese Show will not be hosting the category this year. The ever-popular Vintage Field will this year feature a display of quarry-related equipment; this year’s show president, Peter Barkwill, is chief executive of Wainwright’s Quarry at Stoke St Michael, and the dog show, sheep and pig classes and equestrian section are also expected to attract the usual large number of entries. Show secretary Christine Barham said: “The Vintage Field is the envy of a lot of other shows and a huge amount of work goes into making it a success each year.” Show favourites the Mangled Wurzels will once again be performing and the show will also see the return of the popular acoustic stage. Christine added: “We have to thank our main sponsors, Brothers Drinks, Glastonbury Festivals and Haskins, but also the many other sponsors who make the day possible.” Musicians who would like to perform on the acoustic stage should contact Christine by email: secretary@midsomersetshow.org.uk or call: 01749 347607.
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MID-SOMERSET SHOW 2017
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MID-SOMERSET SHOW 2017
Riverford’s bean and herb pasta
Serves four 400g pasta e.g. spaghetti 400g green beans, blanched until tender, then refresh in cold water 4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped zest and juice of 1 lemon 2 handfuls of mixed herbs, chopped 100g Parmesan or vegetarian alternative, grated salt and pepper
Denela’s Bakery, Sandwich Bars and Coffee Shops 39 High Street, Shepton Mallet Phone: 01749 342308 also @
Cook the pasta according to the packet instructions. Drain it, but reserve a couple of ladlefuls of cooking water. Heat the oil in a large frying pan. Add the beans, garlic, lemon zest and juice and gently warm for one minute. Remove from the heat. Add the pasta to the frying pan, with three quarters of the fresh herbs and half the grated Parmesan. Season and toss gently to combine. Add some of the reserved pasta water. Transfer to a serving bowl and sprinkle over the remaining herbs and Parmesan. For more recipe inspiration visit www.riverford.co.uk/recipes
More than a bakery
Fore Street, Castle Cary Phone: 01963 359013 Email: enquiries@denelas.co.uk
Full Buffet & Hog Roast Services Available
Fresh bread, morning goods and confectionery baked on premises daily. Open Garden
Proud to be associated with the Mid-Somerset Show
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Guests at the Mid-Somerset Agricultural Show summer social event were treated to a delicious Denela’s buffet
DENELA’S Bakery in Shepton Mallet is just as well known for its outside catering service. It can provide everything from a buffet to hog roast and the team can be seen at many events ranging from the Glastonbury Festival to the Collett Festival in Shepton Mallet.
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EVENTS
Dancing in the sun
AROUND 1,000 primary school children took part in the annual Folk Dance Festival on Wells Cathedral Green. Now in its 43rd year, the festival saw 53 schools participate in front of a large crowd of families and visitors.
A view of the festival from the Mendip Slides inflatable
Stoberry Park School, from Wells
Pupils from St Mary Redcliffe school in Bristol with the John and Gail North, the mayor and mayoress of Wells and teacher Vickie Price
Lympsham pupils stood out in their bright colours
Mark Primary School pupils
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Timsbury fun day
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EVENTS
Jacob, aged five, and Eva, aged two
Timsbury, in blue, versus Purnells
Cricket club chairman, Austin Sage, and his wife, Ann, on the barbecue
Midsomer Norton and Radstock Cats Protection League members (l to r) Janet Hartley, Gill Price and Dot Harris Timsbury theatre group
There was a twae kwon do demonstration PAGE 16 • MENDIP TIMES • JULY 2017
Rachel Barrett and John Sandford of Jiggidy
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Let’s have a salad!
AT this time of year I could eat salad for every meal; the choice is endless, the quality is excellent, and they are good for you! Try to make a definite plan for a salad, not just what’s in the fridge; buy ingredients for flavour and variety, surprise yourself With JUNE and your guests with delicious MACFARLANE combinations and feel great with the results. The best things are those you grow or pick yourself. Wash everything, spin greens, serve tomatoes at room temperature, and make a good dressing.
GRILLED CHICKEN & PEACH SALAD INGREDIENTS
(For two) 2 skinless chicken breasts olive oil, seasoning 2 peaches, stoned and sliced ¼ cucumber, peeled and seeds removed 2 small Cos lettuce, quartered Dressing – see opposite Fresh mint leaves
When the good peaches start to arrive I will eat them until they disappear again. Peaches are wonderful in their season, sweet and juicy. This is a lesson in leaving well alone with only a few choice ingredients on the plate.
METHOD For this dish I like to use elderflower vinegar in the dressing: pick about a dozen elderflower heads, shake to remove dust and insects, macerate in a bottle of white wine/ cider vinegar for two weeks, strain through a
coffee filter. Heat a ridged grill pan until smoking. Slash the chicken breasts a few times to aid cooking. Brush with oil and season. Sear on both sides until coloured and just cooked through – about four mins each side. Set aside to rest. Sear peach slices until coloured on each side – just a few seconds. Set aside. Chop cucumber into batons. Slice chicken breasts, arrange over lettuce on a plate, add peaches and cucumber, dress at the last minute and scatter mint leaves over.
SALAD NICOISE
Check out your garden for some added colour in a green salad
GREEN SALAD INGREDIENTS
(For two) About 100g assorted leaves, washed and spun A few edible flowers & herbs 2 tbsp white wine or cider vinegar 1 tbsp honey Salt & pepper 250 ml sunflower oil 1 tbsp olive oil
the very last minute.
METHOD Chill the spun leaves until needed. Choose a big bowl. For the dressing: mix together vinegar and honey, whisk in oils to form an emulsion, season to taste. Store in screw-topped jar in the fridge and shake before use. Put dressing in bottom of big bowl with leaves on top. Toss just before serving and garnish with flowers and herbs.
You can feel the sand under your feet and the salt on your skin as you savour this classic Mediterranean dish. Aim for the freshest crispest lettuce and green beans and the tastiest tomatoes. Potatoes are not obligatory but I love our little Cornish friends. Black olives are essential. You could do without the tuna – tinned is right – but most people seem to expect it. I like anchovies and capers but some people don’t. You A classic salad nicoise must have garlic in the dressing.
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A green salad goes with everything including cheese. Make it look fresh and luscious. Try to include some foraged leaves – dandelion is good, so are a few peppery leaves from horseradish, or garlicky Jackby-the-Hedge – and you would be amazed how many edible flowers you have in your garden for garnish. Check edibility but try cucumber, geranium, viola, borage, clover. Microherbs are fashionable – use your carrot and beetroot thinnings. Dress the leaves at
METHOD Blanch the beans in boiling salted water for five mins then plunge into cold water to refresh. Drain well. Arrange the leaves on a platter. Halve the potatoes, chop the tomato roughly, halve the boiled eggs. Arrange with everything else on top of leaves. Add garlic to the dressing and dress at the last minute.
INGREDIENTS
(For two) 100g assorted leaves, washed & spun 75g French beans, topped & tailed 1 beefsteak tomato 100g Cornish new potatoes, boiled and just cooled 100g black olives 1 tsp capers, drained 50g white anchovies 2 soft boiled eggs 160g tin tuna, drained and chunked 1 tsp finely chopped garlic 100ml dressing – see above
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What’s new from Myrtle Farm
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FOOD & DRINK
A round-up of events from Thatchers Cider in Sandford
Top award for Redstreak
OUR Cider Barn Redstreak cider has been awarded the top accolade, Supreme Champion, at the International Cider Challenge 2017. The widely respected International Cider Challenge is an annual competition organised by trade publication Drinks Retailing, regularly attracting hundreds of entries from across the globe. Redstreak, part of the Thatchers Cider Barn range, is an 8.4% single variety cider made from local Somerset Redstreak apples, and is available on-line and from our Cider Shop at Myrtle Farm. The Somerset Redstreak bittersweet apple is high in tannin and big on flavour, creating a cider that is bold and peppery, with a spicy apple pie flavour, smooth feel and deep rich colour. Our cidermakers have embraced the cuvage technique in this cider, where the apples are milled and then held for a day before pressing out the juice, so developing the best flavour.
Our new TV ad
KEEP a look out on the TV and in cinemas for our new TV commercial, which aired for the first time on 24 June. As people who live in Axbridge and Chelvey already know, much of the filming, which features a hot air balloon, was carried out locally in stunning Somerset surroundings. The ad has been directed by Declan Lowney. As well as being involved in numerous TV commercials, he’s a top television comedy director, with the likes of Father Ted, Little Britain and Moone Boy amongst his credits. We hope the new ad brings a smile to your face.
It’s Festival Time!
POP into the Cider Shop at Myrtle Farm during July to take advantage of some special offers with BBQs and Festivals in mind! In particular you’ll be able to buy 24 packs of Gold cans for £20 and 24 packs of Haze cans £18.50. Don’t forget you can try before you buy, and you can also buy your draught cider straight from the barrel.
Cheers from us all at Myrtle Farm
Highlights of the Royal Bath and West
WE all had a fantastic time at this year’s Royal Bath and West Show, based in our new bar area that we shared with Butcombe Brewery in the Sparkford Building. We hope you enjoyed the show as much as we did.
Celebrate with us!
COME and join us – we’re celebrating The Railway Inn’s 2nd birthday on Saturday 29th July. There’ll be entertainment and music from local acts starting from 1pm, continuing throughout the day, as well as face painting and entertainment for the younger generation. Our pizza oven will be in full swing from 12pm. No tickets required – free entry!
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
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Fine food and lovely views over Chew Valley lake
HAVING recently reopened, The Woodford is the newest eatery to hit the Chew Valley. Nestled on the shores of Chew Valley Lake, the new café incarnation is the brainchild of Steve and Diane Franks (pictured). After teaming up with local businessmen Phil David and Jon Evans they set about refurbishing the restaurant and what you see today is a modern, light and comfortable place to enjoy the beautiful views across the lake. The café/restaurant is open seven days per week from 8.30am to 5pm and offers an extensive menu of freshly cooked home-made fayre. Some of the menu highlights include The Woodford Breakfast, Seafood Chowder and Afternoon Tea. It is a lovely place to meet friends, relax and unwind. The friendly staff welcome you with a smile and are there to ensure you enjoy your time during your visit.
ME OF FEATHERS U L P
DUCK RACE SATURDAY 8th JULY
Starting at 5pm. Great family fun evening with a local band playing, best dressed duck competition, duck racing, BBQ, pig roast, face painting, ice cream stall, 3 bars open. Come and get your ducks from the Plume, decorate at home or at the Plume from 5pm and enter them before 6pm. Rickford, Somerset BS40 7AK
01761 462682
Visit www.theplumeoffeathers.com PAGE 20 • MENDIP TIMES • JULY 2017
Details: www.thewoodfordatchew.co.uk
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FOOD & DRINK
TRADITIONAL ENGLISH PUB AND BOUTIQUE HOTEL ROOMS
UNDER NEW OWNERSHIP
Friendly Family Pub • Large Car Park Tremendous Beer Garden Huge Children’s Play Area All Par(es Catered For • Corporate Events Tradi(onal Pub Food Quality En-Suite Bed and Breakfast Dog Friendly • Camper Van Parking Available The Warwick Arms . Upper Bristol Road Clu)on . Somerset . BS39 5TA Email : warwickarmsclu)on@aol.com Website : thewarwickarms.com
01761 453960
Great pub Lovely food every day Delicious Sunday roasts Tuesday night quiz nights Well-kept real ales Top wines Gorgeous gins En-suite letting rooms Come and visit this beautiful country pub (recently reopened under new management) and enjoy a pint or two in our lovely beer garden where there is ample parking and always a good time to be had! Friendly kids and dogs welcome!! Follow us on Twitter and Facebook as “Seven Stars Timsbury” or visit our website at www.sevenstarstimsbury.co.uk For all enquiries please call: 01761 471700 MENDIP TIMES • JULY 2017 • PAGE 21
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Bradleys Juice – Quintessentially Somerset Time never stands still at Bradley’s Juice; if Miles and the team aren’t developing another drink to add to their awardwinning range, then they’re off seeking new outlets. But now Miles is poised to reveal a completely new-look to the Bradley’s Juice range – keep an eye out in the coming weeks for the eye-catching results of an imaginative rebranding exercise. Up to now, the bottles have been marketed under two brands – Juice and Quench – both with the company’s ethos of 100% natural products at their core, but somewhat separate. Some clever marketing chaps – and chap-esses – have now come up with a new identity: still Bradley’s but reflecting Miles’s passion for cricket with a distinct twist. Welcome to Bradley’s Juice 2017! The time and energy taken up
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by the rebranding has not diminished the team’s enthusiasm for the products. Pressing 100 kilos of elderflowers is occupying their attention as they turn the fabled flower into both a natural pressé and one mixed with strawberries. Miles’s assistant Sarah Wratten revealed: “We always infuse the flowers with a little of the stalk, which gives the result so much more flavour.” And then they will turn their attention to their trademark apple juices – pressing is due to begin at the end of July. Sarah added: “We never stand still. If we’re not out finding another outlet (our juices can be found as far south as the Dorset coast and north into the Cotswolds), then we’re looking at developing new flavours.”
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GARDEN FOOD
Sunflower seeds
THIS is the first year I'm growing sunflowers and they seem to be doing quite well. I've tried two varieties, one called Sunzilla (which apparently has heads up to 60cm wide!) and a Hopi Indian heirloom called Hopi black dye, from the Real Seed Catalogue and With JAKE Kokopelli seeds in France, respectively. WHITSON Both have done well, but the Hopi black dye seem a little more vigorous. I'm growing them for seed as well as decoration – they are great food for my chickens (and parrot!), who can eat them whole, but I also like to eat them, roasted with a little salt and then shelled individually as a tasty, but rather time consuming, snack. I have never tried hulling sunflower seeds at home on any kind of scale and it will be interesting to see how the various methods outlined on the internet really work. Watch this space. For the time being then I am buying my sunflower seeds and I find them a delicious and great value alternative to more expensive nuts. I almost always toast them, in a dry pan, over a moderate heat, before adding to a dish – this turns the rather bland seeds into nutty, crunchy, delicious morsels. Often, especially if I am sprinkling them over a salad, I add a drop of soy sauce to them while they are still hot but off the heat – this coats them in a delicious salty crust. Alternatively I like to add them to home-made pesto, where I actually prefer them to the classic pine nuts. I rarely follow a recipe but instead put as much basil as I can lay my hands on (at least a big bunch) in a food processor along with lemon juice, olive oil, a little grated cheese if I have it, and a handful of toasted sunflower seeds. Then I blitz it all together, season, and add more lemon juice and olive oil if it needs it. With some barbecued vegetables and rice, this is one of my very favourite meals. 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
Finding chaga
WHO doesn’t like a cup of coffee? Believe it or not I am still relatively new to the pleasures of one of the most popular drinks in the world. I only started drinking coffee about four years ago and I still only manage about one a week! I do enjoy it but my heart still belongs to With ADRIAN a good old cup of tea. However, there has BOOTS been much in the media in recent months about the consumption of mushroom coffee and its alleged health benefits. Now this might sound quite off-putting, and one could hardly blame you, but you have to suspend preconceptions and give these things a go right? Recently an invitation arrived to join my friend Kevin on the Morakniv Adventure in the forests of Sweden. I knew there was an opportunity to get my hands on some of the fungus known as chaga that makes the coffee. Whilst its name does sound reminiscent of the noise a small steam engine makes, it’s actually derived from the name given it by indigenous peoples near the Ural Mountains in Russia. The Swedish call it sprängticka but for me chaga is far easier to pronounce. During WW2, when coffee was in rather short supply, we in this country turned to dandelion root to provide a coffee substitute but in Scandinavia it was chaga. Medicinally it is alleged to contain antioxidants, is anti-viral, helps immunity and reduces acidity as the fungus is alkaline. Chaga (Inonotus obliquus) resembles a warty mass of burnt charcoal (called “conk”), blistering from beneath the bark of its host tree. It is saprophytic (parasitic) on trees like birch and this black mass is actually its mycelium rather than the fruiting body. It grows in cold conditions of the boreal forests of Alaska, Canada Northern Europe, Russia and northern parts of the US. As the picture shows, the fungus was growing from this birch tree with the largest chunk of the fungus lower down (and therefore much easier to get to!) which had already been harvested, leaving only the smaller much more difficult to get to example higher up. It’s pretty tough stuff too. To make the coffee, cut into slices and steep in water overnight. In the morning remove the strips and press out the water creating a dark brown liquor. Heat the liquid and there you have it, chaga mushroom coffee. I had a fantastic week in Sweden, learning new skills and meeting new people and thanks to Kevin one of the highlights for me as a forager was finding chaga. 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.
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J U LY D A T E S A l l m ar k e ts 9 am - 1 pm u nl e ss o t he r wi s e m ar k e d*
SAT 1st Axbridge & Midsomer Norton SUN 2nd SFM @ Frome Independent* (10am-3pm) SAT 8th Keynsham & Frome (C&G Market Hall) SAT 15th Crewkerne SAT 22nd Glastonbury* (9am-2pm) FRI 28th Burnham-on-Sea
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Mendip Times reduces travel costs 100,000 potential customers within a short distance of your business
Come in and enjoy Blagdon’s traditional little country pub. Enjoy Lunch or Dinner with us. Note 80% menu is Gluten-free. Booking highly recommended. In season: Trout • Pheasant • Venison GOOD FOOD, GOOD FRIENDS, GOOD TIMES
www.queenadelaideblagdon.co.uk • 01761 463926
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Ladies (and men) who picnic MEMBERS of Moose International Ladies’ Circles are organising a picnic in the park near Highbridge in July in aid of charity. The event takes place on Sunday, July 9th from 10.30am at the Oak Tree Arena in aid of Action for Children. Visitors are welcome to bring their own picnics or buy food on site. Entertainment on the day will include Burnham and Highbridge Town Band, a dance demonstration by Dancefit plus singers The Barnacle Buoys, Just Good Company and Sally Parrott. The Barnacle Buoys (pictured) is a non-profit group of acapella sea shanty singers based in North Somerset. They raise money for various charities including Children’s Hospice South West and the RNLI. ● Tickets are £5 per person. Organisers are also looking for more stall holders, who should contact Mike Lang at mike.lang@binternet.com who will pass on contact details. Details: www.claverham-beer-festival.btck.co.uk
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FOOD & DRINK
Rural bliss at the Holcombe Inn
THE latest addition to the awardwinning accommodation at the Holcombe Inn could not be more romantic: doves coo outside, the views of the countryside from the garden are stunning – at any time of the year – and one couple recently became engaged there. The Roost, as it is known, sits in a secluded corner of the inn’s Tranquility Garden – an oasis of peace and calm. It is a summer house equivalent of a shepherd’s hut with ensuite facilities. The room further enhances the Holcombe Inn’s reputation as a countryside idyll whether for visitors from London (and further afield) or for locals looking for excellence in everything, from the real ales, ciders and extensive wine list to fine dining and luxury accommodation. The team of experienced chefs is headed by Shane Vant, with support from Benjamin Dyer, Curtis Hill, Ben Gingold and in-house trained Dan Chiswell and accompanied by a front-
of-house team including Melissa and Nicole. Pretty much everything is made in-house – breads, pasta, ice cream, smoked and cured meats and fish. In addition there are flavoursome vegetarian dishes and vegan options are available by arrangement. The Holcombe Inn was one of the pioneers in serving breakfast, lunch and dinner seven days a week (all day
Saturday and Sunday), with a coffee bar; the gardens are a beautiful place to enjoy morning coffee and homemade cakes. The Tranquility Garden opened a year ago. Jules Berry, who runs the inn, said: “We knew we were onto something special when we decided to create the garden, but it’s popularity has taken us all by surprise.”
The Holcombe Inn A 17th Century Country Retreat Summer al fresco dining in our wonderful Tranquility Garden (adults only) plus lovely family gardens with children’s play area
Luxury 5 star accommodation, including our new garden sanctuary The Roost
Seasonal menus using produce from our own gardens and locally-sourced ingredients
Breakfast, morning coffee, lunch, afternoon tea and dinner seven days a week. Food served all day Sat and Sun
MENDIP TIMES • JULY 2017 • PAGE 25
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Here’s to next year! AN electric atmosphere is how organisers have described this year’s Royal Bath and West Show. England’s only four-day royal show saw the debut of an all-new equine area, the return of a live music marquee surrounded by food and drink stalls and the finest livestock in the UK. Chief Executive Rupert Cox, said: “This year’s show has been fantastic; the new equine area has had tremendous feedback from visitors and competitors and the show had an electric atmosphere! “The best of British agriculture, entertainment, food and drink were exemplified across all four days with the finest livestock in the country, an array of amazing performers, and quality food and drink from across our region. “I would to thank all the volunteers, the exhibitors, and sponsors whose hard work and dedication have made the show such a success.”
Long service awards were presented to (l:r) Pete Richards, of Shepton Mallet, Christopher Reeves from Kilmington, Malcolm Hallett from Winterborne Monkton, Diz Errington from Prestleigh, show society secretary Paul Hooper and Michael Taviner from West Harptree. Paul was celebrating his 40th anniversary with the society; the other recipients have amassed 251 years of experience between them in farming and agriculture The JCB Dancing Diggers perform in the main arena
This rare Dahlia Gloucester Old Spot piglet is part of a herd from Burnham-on-Sea
Faith Bissett, aged ten, of Weston-superMare, with one of her rare breed Bovary sheep which she keeps on her grandmother’s farm in Wales PAGE 26 • MENDIP TIMES • JULY 2017
Members of Castle Cary Rugby Club once again helped in the main arena
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ROYAL BATH & WEST SHOW 2017
High fives from these members of the HMS Somerset crew who were attending the show Show society president Sir John Cave officially named a new locomotive – Mendip –on the showground model railway with a bottle of Harry’s Cider. The loco was built by members of the East Somerset Society of Model and Experimental Engineers
Some jolly chaps from Mendip Morris prepare to dance outside the Thatchers Cider building
Little and large among the traction engines
TV presenter Kevin McCloud, who lives near Frome, was a guest judge in the cider competitions
A Cam Valley Morris dancer takes shelter from the rain on the final day of the show
Showmakers: some of the members of the Street Theatre company who offered help to visitors (l:r) Rob, Laura and John. The company’s next production will be One Man, Two Governors at the Strode Theatre from November 8th-11th
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Nigel Hewitt-Cooper, of West Pennard, is pictured with daughters Lily and Daisy on his carnivorous plant stand. Nigel won a gold medal at the Chelsea Flower Show
Black2Nature: Mya-Rose Craig, from Compton Martin, receives the 2017 Environmental Youth Award from Mendip Times’s Les Davies and Blue Peter icon Valerie Singleton. It was Mya-Rose’s idea to launch the Bristol-based youth organisation to encourage black and Asian inner-city minority groups to get involved in the natural environment
Chasing bubbles
BBC food presenter Nigel Barden led a cider and cheese tasting session in the Cider and Orchards marquee
A view of the Pilton music tent and the food areas from the roof of the Wild Beer Co. stall
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Members of WIs from across Somerset ran a quintessentially English tea marquee in the horticultural area
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ROYAL BATH & WEST SHOW 2017 The Ambling Band from Bristol have become some of the stars of the Care UK Main Lawn attractions
Wessex Morris in action
Members of the North Somerset girl guides who worked at the show collating results
Some of the team from Smart Agri, winners of the award for the best agricultural machinery exhibit: (l:r) Stuart Fuller, Claire Uphill, John Boyce and Burt St. John
Johny Ward and Lucy Gould – with three-year-old bull Carzise Claudius 1 which won the prestigious interbreed championship for the Mells Park Trust, based near Frome – receiving the trophy from show president Sir John Cave
Lottie Hill, of Nyland, with award-winning Limousin Quaish Lucky
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Furniture at the forefront
STUDENT makers are showing off their skills in the annual Somerset Guild of Craftsmen’s Furniture Prize exhibition. The exhibition at the guild’s showroom in Broad Street, Wells Last year’s overall winner, and winner – featuring the of the people’s choice, was Matt work of five Duckworth, from the David Savage schools of furniture School of Fine Furniture, who made a desk inspired by the elegance of Louis – runs until XIV period furniture Saturday, July 29th with the awards being made on Wednesday, July 19th. The exhibition started six years ago when The Somerset Guild of Craftsmen, together with Friends of Somerset Art Works, set a challenge to student furniture makers of Bridgwater College to create the finest piece of work. This year there are entries from five schools: Bridgwater College, City of Bristol College, Cornwall College, Williams & Cleal Furniture School and The David Savage School of Fine Furniture, with sponsorship from Axminster Power Tools. It is exclusively for students and apprentices who have designed and made a piece of furniture whilst on their course. Organiser Chris Tipple said: “It never ceases to amaze me how the student makers achieve such exceptional standards of work, when many of them begin their course with little or no experience. Clearly a natural talent is a prerequisite, but that talent has to be nurtured, encouraged and guided.”
At home with Ian
Blue Cluster, by Ian Marlow
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SCULPTOR Ian Marlow will open his studio and garden to the public for the only time this year during July’s Frome Festival. Ian, who is based in the village of Buckland Dinham, on the edge of town, said: “As a Fromebased artist I have always liked to support the Frome Festival and in recent years I’ve become a sponsor as well. This year I’ve decided to add to that by opening the sculpture garden and studio so that visitors and residents can to see a professional sculpture exhibition on their doorstep.”
The studio and sculpture garden will be open every day of the Frome Festival, July 8th-16th (11am-5pm). Visitors are always welcome at other times by appointment at the studio. Visit: www.marlowsculpture.co.uk
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Strong demand from the Orient
AT their sale of antiques and collectables on June 10th, Killens saw an excellent entry of some 700 lots go under the hammer with good entries of jewellery, silver and collectables in particular. The Mendip Auction Rooms always attracts strong interest for jewellery and demand showed no sign of weakening with an 18-carat gold single stone diamond ring achieving £950 and an opal and diamond five stone ring selling well at £300.
Quality pocket watches were also wanted with a 9-carat gold Waltham open faced pocket watch selling for £260 and a 9-carat gold J W Benson half hunter pocket watch £320. There was strong interest from across the world over the internet and Oriental items sold particularly well. A 20th century Chinese porcelain goldfish bowl decorated with dragons sold well above estimate for £420; a pair of Chinese famille verte porcelain vases and covers, £300, and an early 20th century Japanese dish £290. A charming early 18th century circular lacquered snuff box sold for £260 with another example decorated with a spaniel realising £340. Amongst the collectables, an intriguing carved oak and lime wood wall bracket, possibly from a ship, met fierce bidding achieving £470. A good entry of fountain pens saw keen internet interest with a Parker Duofold propelling pencil realising £190 and a further collection of various
ARTS AND ANTIQUES
Parker fountain pens and ballpoint pens making £190 as well. On June 20th, a very large entry of almost 800 lots went under the hammer on a sweltering day. A diverse range of items were on offer with excellent opportunities for those seeking to furnish a house. Entries are now being invited for forthcoming sales with the next sale being of Antiques and Collectables on July 8th. Valuation days are every Wednesday, Thursday and Friday from 10am to 5pm or members of the valuation team are happy to conduct a home visit free of charge.
The auction rooms can be contacted on 01749 840770 or email enquiries@mendipauction rooms.co.uk
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ARTS AND ANTIQUES
Glow from Chinese lanterns extends to Beijing CONSIGNED to Clevedon Salerooms by a gentleman connoisseur from Wells, this pair of Chinese Zitan wood lanterns from the late 18th/early 19th century attracted bidders in the same way that a lamp attracts moths. The only difference being that the glow from these lanterns reached around the globe. Estimated at £3,000 – £4,000 at Clevedon Salerooms’ recent specialist sale the 40cm high lanterns, having painted glass panels, attracted telephone bidders, internet bidders and bidders in the room. The successful purchaser, sat in front of their computer in Beijing, parted with £25,500 for the incredibly fragile lanterns. The sale included the usual selection of fine quality wristwatches from the second half of the Bayreuth coffee pot sold for £3,720 20th century, a niche
in which Clevedon have gained an excellent reputation when it comes to results. A Heuer Autavia chronograph case and dial, with no other workings or movement, estimated at £400 – £600, sold for £7,400. Such a result confirming the words of Clevedon Salerooms’ watch specialist Marc Burridge that a watch need not be working to be valuable. A modest looking 18th century red ware glazed coffeepot standing just over 16cm tall with a few traces of gilded decoration remaining appeared to be the work of the German Bayreuth manufactory, but the passage of time had taken its toll. Bidders were undeterred and the successful purchaser secured his caffeine fix after parting with £3,720. Clevedon Salerooms are now accepting entries for their next specialist sale on September 14th, but don’t forget the Antiques & Interiors sales each fortnight that include all sorts of interesting items, all of which can be viewed and purchased live online.
Pair of Chinese lanterns sold to a Beijing internet bidder for £25,500
Heuer Autavia chronograph case and dial sold for £7,400
For more information visit www.clevedon-salaerooms.com
Every lot in every auction, illustrated and sold with live internet bidding
Our Free Valuation Days can be a rewarding experience . . .
Fine Art Auctioneers & Valuers
FREE ANTIQUE VALUATION DAYS 3 4 5 & 17 18 19 July
9.30am–1pm and 2pm–5pm Held at the salerooms – no appointment necessary Antiques, Interiors, Collectables & Jewellery 13th & 27th July
Sales start at 10am 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 PAGE 32 • MENDIP TIMES • JULY 2017
Rolex G.M.T. Sold for £6,350
Charles II Tankard Sold for £5,580
China Trade Clay figures Sold for £5,950 George Engleheart Miniature Sold for £2,000
Quarterly Specialist Sale Thursday 14th September at 10.30am (Closing date for entries - 16th August)
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SUMMER FETE AND OPEN DAY SATURDAY JULY 29TH, 2.30PM ALL WELCOME
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Quality at The Swan
THE Swan is a bustling pub with rooms in the heart of Wedmore. This elegant 18th century building is now a haven of easy-going comfort with leather sofas, flagstone floors and bare wooden tables. There’s lots of space for alfresco dining at the front of the pub or on the lovely terrace and beautiful garden at the rear. Fantastic food is served all day, every day, with the kitchen overseen by executive chef Tom Blake, formerly head chef at River Cottage. Tom is a champion of local produce and the meat, fish, fruit, vegetables, eggs, cheeses and yoghurts, all come from named local suppliers. Menu highlights include chargrilled Old Spot pork chop with fine beans, haricot, aubergine, feta and mint, Cornish hake fillet with samphire and fennel and delicious desserts such as rocky road sundae with vanilla ice-cream (again home-made). Breads are baked on the premises, as are cakes and biscuits. There are local ales and ciders on tap with a comprehensive and interesting wine list featuring over 20 wines by the glass. The Swan will be hosting several events for Wedmore Arts Festival.
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Festival time in Wedmore
WEDMORE is preparing for a very busy month, with its street fair, opera and arts festival. It also has a great selection of new shops to add its already impressive collection. The fun kicks off on July 1st with the street fair, when ancient tradition allows the village to close The Borough for the day. The theme is Pirates, which is very appropriate, since the opera group’s production this year is the Pirates of Penzance. The fair will have over 70 stalls, kids’ zone, crafts, music, food and drink, entertainment – and plank walking! Organisers say pirate Captain Jack Black-Wedmore sailed from the Lerburne jetty in the village in 1717! The fair starts at 10am and raises funds for Wedmore First School Academy and Nursery, the Green Group, Wedmore Village Hall and Wedmore Harvest Home. Last year’s event raised £2,800.
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Years of good practice
FOCUS ON WEDMORE
LOCATED in the picturesque village of Wedmore, Wedmore Dental Practice prides itself on delivering consistent high quality dental care from its committed team. The practice has years of Investors in People recognition and is proud of its team’s achievement in completing the inspection over so many years. The practice has also completed its BDA Good Practice Scheme award, which shows dedication and commitment to the practice and patients to deliver the best care and service. The practice says it will continue to maintain its high standards with the support of the team. It says a good team makes a great business, which delivers a quality service to patients. If you are interested in joining the practice please call or visit them for a new patient pack. The practice is open daily with early morning and late evening availability. Details: 01934 713013 or got to www.wedmoredental.co.uk
New charity shop
WESTON Hospicecare is opening a shop in Wedmore, in the new Borough Mews development. It’s due to open its doors on Wednesday, July 5th. There will be a celebration wine and pudding evening on Saturday September 2nd.
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Tree services
AFTER a successful career as a teacher, Chris Hood retrained in arboriculture at Cannington College. Initially he worked sub-contracting for various firms before setting up his own business, Hood’s Tree Services, in 2012. The aim of Hood’s Tree Services is to provide a highquality service following all industry codes of practice. All team members hold City & Guilds NPTC qualifications in the required fields for the work offered and the business has recently been approved and accepted by the Devon and Somerset Trading Standards Buy With Confidence scheme. He works in both domestic and commercial settings.
All aspects of tree work undertaken Tel: 07738 678874 Email: chris@tree-surgery-somerset.com
A food gem in the heart of Somerset offering a fabulous array of local Artisan Cheese, Charcuterie and Deli goods Fully licensed Café and Garden Wedding Cheese Cake specialists Outside Catering for all types of functions Open: Monday-Saturday 8.30am-5.00pm 01934 713289 www.pumpkinwedmore.co.uk andrea@pumpkinwedmore.co.uk 1 The Borough Mall, Wedmore, Somerset BS28 4EB
The Artist’s Gallery www.tag.uk.net
4 Borough Mews The Borough Yard Wedmore Somerset BS28 4EB info@tag.uk.net
The Artist’s Gallery
SUE Godfrey is a new arrival in Wedmore where she has opened The Artist’s Gallery in the Borough Yard, following a lifetime’s interest in art. The gallery’s title describes it perfectly – it’s a venue where local established and emerging artists can showcase their work in a permanent exhibition space. Sue, from Lympsham, said: “I want to support local artists and provide an exclusive range of original art to our customers. “It was about last summer that I started to seriously consider fulfilling my ambition to open my own gallery and when the new units became available in The Borough Yard I saw that Wedmore was the perfect place for it.”
New shops in Wedmore
Opening times: Wednesday 2pm–5pm Thursday, Friday and Saturday 10am–5pm 01934 713295
Borough Mews Wedmore Inspired Bespoke Design
01934 710687 www.victoriaandscarlet.co.uk sales.bosinteriors@gmail.com
Unit 2 The Borough Mews, The Borough Yard, Wedmore, Somerset BS28 4EB PAGE 36 • MENDIP TIMES • JULY 2017
Farmers/Craft Market Saturday, July 8th 2017 9am until 1pm Then every second Saturday of the month FOR MORE INFORMATION AND PITCH INFORMATION, CONTACT 07813 340086 or email: judithlgould@talktalk.net
Owners Rex and Judith Gould with some of their tenants
BOROUGH Mews is a new shopping area in Wedmore, based in a former builder’s yard, now converted into five new retail units by owners Rex Gould and his wife Judith, including their son Stuart’s carpentry business. The historic site, dating from 1527, also has a new monthly food and craft market, launched with 11 stallholders in June, but set to grow to 17 in the next few months. The next markets will be held on July 8th, August 12th and September 9th.
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Wedmore DIY
A NEW DIY shop is now open at the old Borough Yard in the centre of Wedmore. The shop is owned and managed by Peter Underwood who comes from a background as a buyer for a local construction company. The shop offers a wide variety of fixings and tools along with fuels such as gas and logs, in addition to a number of other household items. As well as offering over 1,250 different products in-store, there is a special order facility from a catalogue of over 50,000 products. The shop boasts competitive pricing and rewards schemes for customers, as well as trade accounts. Call into the shop to see how Peter and the team can help with your project.
FOCUS ON WEDMORE
Wedmore’s new wine shop
ESTABLISHED in 2009, Santé is an independent wine importer and shop run by wine enthusiast David Schroetter who grew up surrounded by vineyards in the beautiful area of the Loire Valley. Having established his cosy and wellstocked shop in Wells, he has now opened a second at Borough Mews in Wedmore. David sources and imports French wines for his customers that cannot be bought anywhere else in the local area. With over 200 wines stocked and available to purchase now, Sante are sure to have your perfect glass. A selection of gin, port, brandy and local beers and ciders are also on offer.
Specialising in French wine for the retail and catering sector, private functions and the wine lover Borough Mews,Wedmore, Somerset BS28 4EB • 01934 713524 56 High Street,Wells, Somerset BA5 2SN • 01749 679431 sales@santewineimports.com www.santewineimports.com
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MENDIP TIMES • JULY 2017 • PAGE 37
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Opera opens festival fortnight
WEDMORE Arts Festival will run from Thursday July 6th until Saturday July 15th, promising an exceptional programme of events and exhibitions. Wedmore Opera’s high energy production of Gilbert and Sullivan’s classic Pirates of Penzance will get the festival off to a rousing start, running at the village hall from July 6th – 8th. More than 40 people are involved, an exceptional commitment for a small village, and they are promising something “big” for next year, when they celebrate their 30th anniversary. One of the organisers, Anne Richards, said: “We aim to be as professional as we can be, using local talent – and there seems to be an awful lot of it! But to secure our future we need younger people to get involved and hope this production will enthuse them.” The festival fortnight has grown Phyllida Shaw will be talking about An Artist's War – a fascinating pictorial out of the success of account of life behind the lines in WW1 Wedmore Opera and
Pale Blue
Women’s clothing and other lovely things
1 The Borough, Wedmore, Somerset BS28 4EB Email: paleblueclothingltd@yahoo.co.uk
Tel: 01934 713773 PAGE 38 • MENDIP TIMES • JULY 2017
Bobby Bass as Edith, Hannah Blake, Isobel, and Natalie Hope, Kate
the numbers attracted both to performances by the opera and Wedmore Theatre, which has now been going for 40 years. The festival involves various venues around the village. The programme includes local writer Phyllida Shaw, former Mail on Sunday editor, Peter Wright, comedy with Simon Evans, a summer concert with Marie Vassilou and a performance by Brunel Sinfonia. There are also free exhibitions, including a retrospective of the village’s famous Turnip Prize, a rustic antidote to the Turner Prize. The festival ends with a ceilidh in the village hall on July 15th. The following week, on Friday July 21st, BBC Radio’s Any Questions will be recorded in St. Mary’s Church.
Local jazz saxophonist Ed Leaker with his string quartet who will be performing at the festival
Details: www.wedmoreartsfestival.co.uk www.wedmoreopera.com
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Enjoying Wedmore
WHEN Julie Bryan’s youngest child was very young and her marriage ended she needed to do something positive to take her in a new direction. She has a flair for colour and a love of fabrics and texture and decided to enroll on a City and Guilds Course in Interior Design and Soft Furnishings at a local college. Whilst there the tutor often mentioned a shop in Bath called Atmosphere which sold doublewidth fabrics – little could she have imagined that within a few years she would be the curtain maker there and then go on to be the owner of the shop! She said: “I am very determined and running my own business is all-consuming and exceptionally hard work as I never really switch off – there is always something to do, but I have a very supportive family and network of friends and feel incredibly lucky to have a career I am passionate about.” She recently moved house and also opened a new shop, Dimity Button in Wedmore, giving her the space to showcase her fabrics and to run workshops in how to make soft furnishings – something she has wanted to do for a long time. She has a small team of very experienced ladies who help her with the sewing and they all work to City & Guilds standard. She said: “Moving to our new home, a school house opposite the village church, has provided me with stillness and space. I am enjoying the peace and quiet and moving to Wedmore will hopefully bring about a better work/life balance to my life as there is far less commuting to do!”
Fresh fish – and more
FOCUS ON WEDMORE
Sale starts Friday June 30
PISCES, now trading in its 26th year, continues to provide customers with fresh fish from Cornwall and around the coasts of the UK and Europe. Dean Downer selects produce direct from Bristol Wholesale Fruit Market, sourcing all those special culinary requirements. Their increasing portfolio of grocery lines has evolved from customer enquiries with their suppliers able to provide some products in single pack quantities. With the support of the people of Wedmore and North Somerset, Pisces remains in the heart of Wedmore’s retail community, but reminds everyone “use it or lose it”.
Selling an exclusive range of fabrics on the roll. Made-to-measure hand-sewn curtains and blinds, cushions and re-upholstery and measuring service. 10, Borough Mall, Wedmore BS28 4EB T: 01934 708953 M: 07708 340 750 E: julie@dimitybutton.co.uk www.dimitybutton.co.uk
PISCES
FISHMONGER & GREENGROCER
Direct supply of Cornish Sea Food. Loch Fyne Smokehouse stockist. Northern Water and Continental seafood specialists. Fruit and vegetables personally selected at market, exotics and the unusual, fresh herbs and the best local produce. Selection of culinary ingredients. Open all day Tuesday to Friday plus Monday and Saturday mornings.
5 The Borough Mall, The Borough Wedmore, Somerset BS28 4EB Tel: 01934 710318
NEW AND ORIGINAL DESIGNS ARRIVING DAILY ALONG WITH THE FAITHFUL LABELS OF: PART TWO, MASAI, GREAT PLAINS, BRAX, BOHEMIA,ADINI. SANDALS BY UNISA AND BEAUTIFUL ACCESSORIES FROM EUROPE.
15, The Borough Mall, Wedmore, Somerset BS28 4EB
01934 710479
MENDIP TIMES • JULY 2017 • PAGE 39
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Stylish gardens
GARDEN designer, Jane Hicks, can help you to rejuvenate a border, give restyling advice, or offer you a full garden redesign. Her services include site surveys, concept sketches and master plans. Her planting plans include plant supply, project management, implementation, aftercare service and garden maintenance plans. She has been helping her clients to create gardens for over ten years and still loves every aspect of her job from surveying to CAD drawing right through to the planting. Her job can range from a small border right up to a large garden – she listens to what her clients want.
Mendip Times reduces travel costs 100,000 potential customers within a short distance of your business
All types of poultry, meats and game. For those lazy Summer days, BBQ packs and our award winning sausages Produced on our own farm or supplied locally
Just pop in or we can take your orders over the telephone, call us at the Shop on 01934 712384
Mowbarton
Luxury self-catering for large groups or couples
Peace and quiet with wonderful views – just two miles from Wedmore
mowbartonbarn.co.uk • 07919 100455 info@mowbartonbarn.co.uk
PAGE 40 • MENDIP TIMES • JULY 2017
Wedmore in bloom
THE Wedmore in Bloom team’s volunteers are busy on the second Saturday of every month making sure the village is looking its best. The work goes on, although they gave up entering the Britain in Bloom competition some years ago after winning so often!
Mowbarton Barn and Shepherd’s Hut
DOROTHY and Peter Wright have been running Mowbarton Barn as a holiday let for four years and last year added Mowbarton Shepherd’s Hut to the mix. Just across the lane from each other, they can be rented separately or together. The barn is very popular for large family gatherings, with the hut often used as an extra bedroom! It’s also a perfect romantic retreat in its own right. Secluded and peaceful, with private terrace/bbq/sunloungers, the hut has sensational views. It’s cosy and compact with a crafty interior design to provide every modern comfort – “glamping” in all its glory. The stone barn has been beautifully converted: four double bedrooms, four living rooms, three bathrooms, a large farmhouse kitchen and a delightful walled garden with lovely terrace, plus plenty of greenery and flowers. With their own vineyard just up the lane, Mowbarton is a rural idyll.
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Green power
GREEN Wedmore is leading an ambitious scheme to put solar panels on the village hall. The idea is to install a four-kilowatt photovoltaic system on the sloping roof at the back of the hall and the adjoining flat roof. The £12,000 project will include a Tesla Powerwall battery to store electricity generated during the day for use in the hall during the evenings. It will not cost the hall management committee anything. The group has had a generous donation from a local philanthropist and has also applied for a community grant to Wedmore Community Power Co-operative – which operates the solar arrays off Quab Lane just outside the village – and to the Carbon Trust. If the project is successful, it will save the village hall around £500 a year on its electricity bills and earn it an income from the Feed-in Tariff paid for solar energy. The group says it will also be a major step towards their goal of making Wedmore a Zero Carbon community.
Wurzels play Wedmore
WEDMORE Harvest Home on Friday August 18th has evolved into a full day of events, starting with a church service, followed by the harvest home procession, led by the harvest home king, queen and princess, with local organisations and families having colourful trailers drawn through the village by tractors. There is a lunch for those over the age of 16 in the marquee on the playing fields, followed by children's sports events and then a tea. The evening sees an evening of entertainment, with the Wurzels playing this year, as well as Lauren Male and Kindred Spirit.
FOCUS ON WEDMORE
Flower power in Wedmore
A NEW flower school is to be launched in Wedmore in the autumn by local florists Trug – so far the interest shown has been encouraging and a number of people have already signed up to join one of the courses. Trug are planning to offer a variety of courses – half-day, full day – and in the future six-week courses covering all aspects of floristry, details of which will be released shortly. The courses will include floristry techniques to cover all occasions and covering the principles and elements of design and how to apply to floral arrangements. The courses will be seasonal using material only available to that time of year. Looking towards Christmas the workshops will include door wreaths, garlands and table centres. They also hope to offer lower crown workshops for hen parties which have recently become popular as part of a hen weekend entertainment. Jan Froud, who helps run the shop in the village and will run the flower school , has spent six years learning the business and recently returned to college to further her floristry skills gaining a distinction in Level 3 City and Guilds in Floristry at Bridgwater and Taunton College in Cannington. Prior to training to be a florist Jan worked in corporate travel for Thomas Cook and American Express. Jan said: “This development of our Wedmore shop is really exciting and the response so far has been very encouraging. Wedmore is a floral village and we are proud to be part of it.”
Details: www.wedmorehh.com
Cheers! Festival supports village
PLANNING is underway for the 17th Wedmore Real Ale Festival, which will be held in the village hall from Friday September 15th to Sunday September 17th. Last year’s event raised a massive £17,000 for local organisations and the total raised since the festival started in 2001 now stands at £150,571. This year’s event will include live music on both evenings as well as a live local music showcase on the Saturday afternoon. There will be 65 different real ales, ciders, perrys and wines, with food available throughout the weekend. Evening admission is £5, which includes a commemorative mug, and the popular fancy dress competition will be held on Saturday evening. Details: www.wedmorerealale.co.uk
The Masonic Hall, Church Street, Wedmore, Somerset BS28 4AB
new floristry school coming soon! MENDIP TIMES • JULY 2017 • PAGE 41
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Brolly good show
Photographs by Mark Adler
UMBRELLAS were everywhere, but they were needed to shelter from the sun, rather than last year’s rain, as thousands of people arrived at Worthy Farm for the Glastonbury Festival on the hottest June day since 1976. The gates opened to the public as the July issue of Mendip Times was going to press. We’ll have more coverage in next month’s magazine.
Julie, Sarah and Mandy were amongst the many local volunteer campsite crew members. They were raising money for St Paul’s junior school in Shepton Mallet
Let us spray: people arriving at one of the pedestrian gates were welcomed with a refreshing shower of water
Members of Mendip Vale Carnival Club have been feeding festival-goers since 1988
Manaf, Matthew and Nick on duty at Kilmersdon School PTA’s Jacket and Jill hot potato stall PAGE 42 • MENDIP TIMES • JULY 2017
Helen, Jane and (another) Jane
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GLASTONBURY FESTIVAL 2017
Festival-goers begin to congregate at the iconic hillside symbol
Becoming in-tents: many of the camping areas began filling up within hours of the gates opening to the public
Rachael and Anna on duty at the Ribbon Tower in the Park Field Queenie claims to be festival founder Michael Eavis’s “cleaner” but was also the compere on the Bandstand
Artist Alce Harfield, from Cranmore, in front of her latest festival paintings
Frill Collins were the first band on stage at the Bandstand and attracted a big crowd
MENDIP TIMES • JULY 2017 • PAGE 43
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Chew Magna Duck Race
Admiring the painted ducks
Blagdon Village Fair
The human fruit machine (l to r) Andrew, Neil and Jeremy
Large crowds lined the river bank
Watching the children's entertainer
Heading for the finish High and Dry provided musical entertainment
Sarah Hicks got first and second prize in the senior painted ducks competition. She's pictured with daughter Elodie, aged six. Her son Tom suggested the ice cream theme.
PAGE 44 • MENDIP TIMES • JULY 2017
The fete had a wonderful setting
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Swings and round-abouts at Radstock
EVENTS
ARTS and community groups joined forces for a day of events around Radstock offering fun and education for all the family. Led by DNAarts – a collaboration between the Natural Theatre Company, Desperate Men and boomsatsuma – the event featured live music, performances and a mini-market in the ground of St Nicholas Church as well as other locations around the town. DNAarts and Round-about Radstock is supported by Bath and North East Somerset Council and the Big Local for Radstock and Westfield.
The “Mayor of the independent republic of Radstock” and his consort inspect one of the stalls, run by Jo Melling and her son Alistair, at the mini-market
Signposting the way – there was much to do at the event
Clients and staff from the Bath-based charity Action on Hearing Loss get into the spirit of the occasion on their fruit and vegetable stall When Harry met … John Beedell, from Desperate Men
Staff from the B Binding book stall – actually they were from the Naturals
Rob, Emma and Sarah on the B&NES-funded Sugar Smart healthy eating advice stall. Research shows people living in the Radstock and Westfield areas have a worrying high rate of obesity
MENDIP TIMES • JULY 2017 • PAGE 45
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Holidays on Mendip
WOOKEY Hole Caves is spending millions of pounds aimed at creating an inland resort area as an alternative to the dash for the coast. They believe the investment will not only pay off for them but bring huge benefits to Somerset and the City of Wells by encouraging visitors to base themselves inland amongst the rolling hills instead of overlooking rolling waves, which are just a few miles away at the Bristol Channel. The multi-million pound investment has included new 21st century attractions at the famous Wookey Hole Caves complex and in creating a huge mix of accommodation options nearby to cater for families, adventurers and tourists. The latest investment is in Bucklegrove Holiday Park, which has now come under the Wookey Hole Resort umbrella and which provides holiday lodges with hot tubs, camping pods, cabins and pitches for touring caravans and campers with some of the best views in the West Country with swimming pool and restaurant facilities. Spokesman, Daniel Medley, said: “We are trying to change the mind-set of people who think that a holiday has to be by the sea. The dash to the coast at holiday times means those resorts are crowded and lose some of their magic. “The key has been in creating a mix of accommodation. There is luxury self-catering accommodation; hotel accommodation; cosy wooden camping pods which are a new concept; places for people to pitch tents and caravans and comfortable cabins. We now feel we have got that about right.”
CAMELEY LODGE LAUNDRY
Balloon flights over the Chew Valley, Mendips and Somerset Levels
PAGE 46 • MENDIP TIMES • JULY 2017
Duvets & Bedspreads washed & dried Sheets and Duvet covers washed and pressed Professional efficient service Collection & delivery service in the Chew Valley
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BUSINESS
Fair division of matrimonial assets FROM time to time the media reports on spectacular bigmoney divorce cases often focusing on short marriages where one or other of the fortunate spouses hits the proverbial jackpot. Those cases are rare and for the most part the courts have to wrestle with the division of rather more limited assets. In exercising its wide and flexible powers the court is guided by the principle of fairness and so
Duncan Shaw
the start point is generally an equal division of the assets unless there is good reason to decide otherwise. A short marriage, an exceptional financial contribution by one spouse or another, a significant disparity of borrowing capacity or the needs of dependent children are all capable of being reasons to justify departing from equal division. Inequality of division is particularly common where, for instance, the main asset is the former matrimonial home which is needed as a home for the children of the family. In deciding on what amounts to a “matrimonial asset” the court is more inclined nowadays to exclude those assets which were built up prior to the marriage and those which were acquired following the permanent breakdown of the marriage(for
instance pensions or inherited assets). The shorter the marriage the more inclined the court is to adopt this approach. Those who argue that they should have a greater share of the matrimonial assets because they have made an exceptional or special financial contribution to the marriage will need to establish that he or she was the generating force behind the fortune rather than the product (or idea) itself, that the scale of the wealth depended on his or her innovative vision as well as his or her ability to develop those visions and that he or she has generated such vast wealth that his or her business success can properly be viewed as exceptional. So the fact that an individual might have happened to have been in the right place at the right time and have taken full
Edward Lyons
advantage of that opportunity and worked hard to develop it is less likely to be able to establish an exceptional contribution. Bearing these principles in mind those who already have assets and who are embarking on second marriages would do well to consider entering into a prenuptial agreement with a view to “ring fencing” assets which otherwise might be seen as matrimonial assets. Be prepared! Contact Edward Lyons or Duncan Shaw in our family department.
Email: enquiries@lyonslaw.co.uk Website: www.lyonslaw.co.uk Telephone: 01275 332168 An established and progressive law firm providing a personal and costeffective 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 OFFICES AT:
Chew Magna 01275 332168
Westbury-on-Trym 0117 950 6506
Kingswood 0117 967 5252 MENDIP TIMES • JULY 2017 • PAGE 47
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Holiday fun at ESR
BUSINESS
AN exciting new event is happening at the East Somerset Railway this summer. Characters from the popular TV series Paw Patrol are visiting the Heritage Railway on Saturday July 29th for a day of “Pawsome Adventures” that is bound to be a big hit with families looking for some holiday fun. Characters from the TV series, Chase and Marshall, will be making personal appearances regularly throughout the day. Children will be able to meet them and hear exciting stories all about the brave adventures of the heroic pups!
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PAGE 48 • MENDIP TIMES • JULY 2017
Burglar Alarms ✵ Fire Alarms ✵ CCTV Systems ✵ Insurance approved ✵ Installation, maintenance, repairs and upgrades ✵ Central Station Monitoring ✵ Local engineers Tel: 01275 331914 sales@chewvalleyalarm.co.uk www.chewvalleyalarm.co.uk
Relax knowing your property is protected
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INTERNET
Password managers
IT security experts always give the same advice to keep us all safe online. Keep your computer updated, be vigilant and suspicious, keep offline backups of important data and use complex passwords that are not reused. It is the last of these recommendations that, for many, is the most difficult and causes a whole range of reactions from anxiety to outright derision. It seems that there is either little awareness of password manager (PM) applications or perhaps too much suspicion surrounds them. At a basic level, a PM is an application that is downloaded to your computer. Setting it up requires a strong, single complex password that you must remember (but, apart from the password that opens the computer, it is the only password you need). Information written into the application, including passwords, URLs (website addresses), IDs and notes, is held encrypted on the computer. Your PM password is used to encrypt all your PM stored data. If you forget it, a bit like ransomware, it is locked away and you have no chance of retrieving it. When you want to access a service on the internet and need to create your ID and password, this is the time to open your PM and create an entry which holds all the information that will allow you to login in future. Copy and paste the address of the website login page into your PM too. Always use that address from your PM so that you don't access a fake website by mistake in future. A PM is a bit more than a database for passwords. All PMs have password generators and most of them will give you some idea about the strength of your password. This is measured in terms of “crack time”, i.e. how long in weeks, years even, it will take for a sophisticated computer system to decrypt your password. Also, among the settings, is the ability to set the length of your passwords and their complexity (include upper case, numerals, symbols such as /, ],&). Simple PMs will expect you to copy and paste the passwords into the login page. If you only use a single computer, you may find a free PM meets your needs (you can look these up online) but check the maximum number of passwords it will hold is suitable for you. There are more sophisticated PMs. If you have more than one computer (including tablet and smartphone), you may find it worthwhile to subscribe to a PM that is accessible from multiple platforms. Your data is held in a “cloud” managed by your PM provider. Note that your data is always encrypted locally, before leaving your computer. The PM provider manages the application and storage, it does not know your passwords. Many PMs work with several browsers and login automatically if you request it. In the event that you become incapacitated, it is possible to arrange for an executor to have access to your online life via the PM as well. Contact us at I.T. for the Terrified: 01934 741751 (usually goes to answer phone) www.itfortheterrified.co.uk itfortheterrified@btconnect.com Now in Cheddar and Watchfield. Appointments are essential and cost £20 for a two-hour session. Registered Charity No. 1130308 • Company No. 06779600
CROSSWORD
The Mendip Mindbender
A test of your local knowledge of Mendip and surrounding areas
ACROSS 3 Small hamlet near Bridgwater (7) 6 Smallest village in the Winford parish (5) 7 ___lynch Park, used as a WWII base by US Army (3) 8 Village near Langport, its name means ‘other-island’ (6) 12 See 1 down 13 Hamlet abutting Cheddar (9) 16 Village near Glastonbury on the River Sheppey (6) 18 Strawberry Line starts in this large village (6) 20 Sedgemoor village near Meare (7) 21 Village formerly in Wiltshire before being transferred to Somerset (4) 22 _________ St. John, one of the largest villages in Somerset (9) 23 Village and civil parish near Nunney (10)
DOWN
1 & 12A Local celebrity and founder of the Glastonbury Festival (7,5) 2 & 9D Olympic goldmedallist born in Wells (4,4) 4 Home of the Somerset Showcase which takes place every May (8) 8 Site of a deserted medieval village near Aller (4) 9 See 2 down 10 & 17D Frome-born racing driving currently contracted to McLaren Honda (6,6) 11 The Webbington Hotel can be found in this village near Cross (6) 14 ––– Green, hamlet in the civil parish of Ilton (3) 15 The Sustrans cycle route 3 passes through this village near Taunton (4) 16 _______ Valley, National Nature Reserve in North Somerset (7) 17 See 10 down 19 Hamlet near Mark (4) 20 River rising at Wookey Hole Caves (3)
Answers on page 121 MENDIP TIMES • JULY 2017 • PAGE 49
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Cheddar goes quackers!
CHEDDAR Vale Lions’ annual duck race dodged the showers and attracted big crowds, raising money for Children’s Hospice South West, though one visitor said he was disappointed that the ducks weren’t real. He said his name was Donald. Visitors appreciated the event
Some needed a helping hand
Giving it some wellie!
(Photograph by Tony Bolton)
Ducks away!
WELTON Primary School in Midsomer Norton held a fundraising spring fair featuring various stalls and entertainment, including the Welton Wellies dance troupe who entertained the guests with their variation of a clog dancing routine.
PAGE 50 • MENDIP TIMES • JULY 2017
Down at the finish
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EVENTS
Jack and Jill get a soaking
KILMERSDON’S annual village day went ahead despite heavy rain, but conditions were too wet to allow the running of the Jack and Jill water race down the famous hill.
Star pup: Tasha, an eight-month-old retriever, won the best puppy class in her first show. She is pictured with judge Simon Webb, from Silva House vets in Midsomer Norton and handlers Geoff and Kathy Robinson Snakes alive – a milk snake from the Spering Court animal rescue centre at Buckland Dinham
Stars of the future? Look out for these 15-year-old Writhlington School students who made up Red Vendetta – they played a full set despite the downpours. Other bands who defied the weather included fellow youngsters Obe
Charley makes friends with a milk snake from the Spering Court animal rescue centre at Buckland Dinham
Annette Worley, from Paulton, was helping out on a plant stall run by her friend Sue
Obe perform in front of the village hall
MENDIP TIMES • JULY 2017 • PAGE 51
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Fashion show success
CHEDDAR fashion shop Katie-Boo held its ten-year celebration charity fashion show, featuring “real women looking fantastic in real clothes”. The team worked hard decorating the hall and making 150 cup cakes and raised £680 for the church house roof fund and Bella's trust, which they are delighted with, thanking everyone who supported them.
Support for Frome food bank
Aid to Chile
A CONSIGNMENT of 120 water-survival boxes has been sent to Chile by the Rotary Club of Chelwood Bridge, following floods and mudslides in the Atacama region. Half the cost was met by Rotary in Switzerland and half by Rotary in Great Britain and Ireland. In Director of Operations Hugo addition 120 School in a Pike with the boxes Bag Rucksacks were sent by the Somerset-based Piers Simon Appeal charity. The latest disaster to hit Chile devastated parts of the Atacama region when some 200mm of rain fell in 24 hours (normal rainfall in the area averages 15mm a year). As a result homes were washed away or flooded with contaminated water and normal sources of safe drinking water were polluted. The Rotary Water-Survival Box project is managed by the Rotary Club of Chelwood Bridge. Each box is equipped with an Aquafilter that can convert 100,000 litres of contaminated water into safe drinking water. It also contains a range of essential survival items and consignments have been sent to 53 disasters in 27 different countries during the 11 years the charity has been operating. Donations to help replace stock are urgently needed and cheques made out to Worldwaterworks Limited can be sent to Broadway House, Third Avenue, Westfield Trading Estate, Midsomer Norton, BA3 4XD. Online donations can be made through their website www.watersurvivalbox.org
At home with Heather
Guests enjoy the lunch at Waterlea
LESLEY Hooper from Fair Frome popped into Oakfield Academy, Frome recently to collect food donations. Year 6 pupils Zoe Fewell and Beau Maddox were on hand to help. Donations can be made at the school reception any time during school hours. PAGE 52 • MENDIP TIMES • JULY 2017
SOCIABILITY and a spread of delicious homemade food were the keynotes to Midsomer Norton and Radstock Inner Wheel’s charity lunch that raised £500 for Dorothy House Hospice. The charity was the choice of club president Heather Langridge, a volunteer at the Midsomer Norton Dorothy House shop, and the event rounded off her successful year in office. The tea was held in the garden of Sue and Roger Meadows at Waterlea. Another enjoyable social event was earlier held at the Hallatrow home of international committee member Sally Blanning, who served a cream tea in aid of the children who live on dumps in the Philippines and also for Water Aid.
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CHARITIES
Charity really does begin at home
MOLLIE and Michael Green have lived in their almshouse in Shepton Mallet for 11 years – and they are carrying on a tradition dating back to 1627. The couple live in one of the Wickham Almshouses tucked away on the north side of the town’s historic church. As they sit outside in the summer sun Mollie said: “We are very happy here.” Work is underway to refurbish the cottage next door, part of an ongoing project by Shepton Mallet United Charities, which own the properties. On the other side are the Strode Almshouses, the former Bread Room and, in the town centre, Milliner Court, making 12 properties in all.
Michael and Mollie outside their home
People over 55 and living in Shepton Mallet and the vicinity and who can show they are in need of housing can
The trust hosted a tea party as part of the nationwide Great Get Together. The town’s Knit and Chat group have made the almshouses their charity of the year
Wickham Almshouses date from 1868
apply for accommodation. Residents pay a weekly maintenance charge and are able to claim housing benefit.
One of the cottages being renovated
Trust members at the Collett Park Festival: (l to r) Graham Cockhill, Jan Goddard, Jeff Curtis (chairman) and Ernie Woodford
The trust is to hold a Shepton Mallet Almshouses Open Day on Saturday, July 22nd (2-5pm) when visitors can learn about their history and visit the properties. For details, visit: www.alms1627.org.uk
MENDIP TIMES • JULY 2017 • PAGE 53
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Crime does pay – if it’s in aid of charity By Mark Adler
ALMOST £20,000 has been raised for charity by “inmates” who spent 24 hours inside Shepton Mallet prison. Organised by SOS Africa, a charity based in the town, people were invited to nominate colleagues, friends or family to serve their time in the cells in the infamous HMP Cornhill, now closed and expected to be redeveloped. SOS Africa sponsors the education of children in townships. This year’s lock-in was also raising funds for a community project in Shepton Mallet and was organised with the help of developers City & Country and Jail House Tours, who run organised visits to former prisons. Amongst the inmates taking part – the last-time the event will be held – was Miss United Kingdom 2017/18, Rachel Metcalfe, of Street. The defendant had been nominated by her partner for the grave crime of “stealing the TV to watch Hollyoaks all the time.” Rachel will be heading to Miami in July to represent the United Kingdom at the Ms International Beauty Pageant. Rachel said: “Living locally, I knew about the work of SOS Africa and I wanted to do something which offers a different view of the beauty world.”
Rachel settles in to her cell
Inmates are marched past the SOS Africa HQ in Shepton Mallet town centre
The first of the inmates They were smiling as they prepared to enter the prison . . .
Rachel Metcalfe puts on a brave face as the defendants arrive PAGE 54 • MENDIP TIMES • JULY 2017
. . . but the nerves were apparent as their sentence began
For details about the charity, visit: www.sosafrica.com
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Amputee joins cycle ride for Pancreatic Cancer UK TWO local people are joining a small family group who are going to cycle from Land’s End to John O’ Groats raising money and awareness for Pancreatic Cancer UK. Carina Bishop, whose mother Gerry Hicks, of Redhill, died of pancreatic cancer last year, lives near Weston and has strong links with Wrington where her son Zachary goes to child minder. Carina has been planning to ride the near 1,000 miles with her brother Mark Hicks, sisterin-law, Sue Hicks, nephew, Finlay Hicks and friend, Ollie Jobbins to raise money for the charity. Carina said: “It’s known as the silent cancer as symptoms often do not present until it’s too late. I cannot explain how
important research and therefore funding is; statistics for pancreatic cancer are horrifying with only 1% survival rate, a statistic that hasn’t changed since the 1970s. Whilst many cancer charities have benefited from high profile campaigns and funding, pancreatic cancer has lagged behind.” Family friend, Mark Jenkins, who lives in Wrington has joined the team. He is an exRAF serviceman and now works at the Bristol hospitals maintaining their electronic equipment. What make Mark’s challenge more surprising is he lost his left leg following a rugby accident in 1996. Carina said: “When Mark heard of the plan he immediately wanted to join us
and help with our mission. Mark has been a very useful training partner and is an inspiration to us able-bodied cyclists, especially on whole day practice rides around the North Somerset Valleys and Mendip Hills.” Mark said: “I see pancreatic cancer treatment falling behind treatment of other types of cancer and this is an opportunity to help redress the imbalance and as spin-off, I’m getting my fitness levels up.” A local branch of PCUK is getting established in North Somerset and Bristol, by people who have been affected by pancreatic cancer. Look out for their stand at the Bristol Harbour Festival and the National Violet Flood Lighting of significant buildings during
CHARITIES
November, violet being the charity’s main colour. The riders have already raised nearly £7,000 in sponsorship.
Details: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/RideforGerry People can also donate by text through justgiving by texting CURE86 and £5 or £10 to 70070. Sponsorship forms and envelopes are also available from the family.
Mendip trek is solid silver
TWO members of the team running the Somerset and Wessex Eating Disorders Association have completed a gruelling 25mile fundraising walk across Mendip to celebrate the organisation’s silver jubilee. SWEDA is the only charity in Somerset supporting sufferers and it was established in 1992 both as a self-help group and also to support carers of people with eating disorders.
Welcome back – Sarah and Kym with their supporters including Kym’s daughter Mila Netherton-Vincent
The final stretch as Kym and Sarah reach the Market Cross in Shepton Mallet
Kym Netherton and Sarah Stevens began their walk from SWEDA’s current head office in Shepton Mallet and headed to Street, where the organisation was based for several years. They were then taken by car to Glastonbury where the walk resumed, passing through Wells – where SWEDA was also based – and back to Shepton Mallet. They completed their walk on one of the hottest days of the year so far, to be welcomed by colleagues and family.
For details about SWEDA, visit: www.swedauk.org or to donate, visit: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/SWEDA25
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Postal mystery at coaching inn solved SINCE 1798, the Old Down Inn at Emborough has seen post being delivered and collected, in one form or another. In that year, the coaching inn was declared an official Receiving House (the equivalent of today’s sub-post office) and was later awarded its own postmark, giving it the status of a head post office. The Maxine with Isabella, aged seven, and Layla, postmark was in aged three who were visiting the inn from use until around Radstock with their parents 1840. The London-Bath-Exeter mail coach service started running past Old Down in 1785, according to a copy of the Postmaster General’s minutes which hang on a wall of the inn. Mail coaches stopped to change horses, mail bags were delivered and collected and deliveries were organised to a number of neighbouring towns and villages. So, when the cast iron letter box which stood in the wall of the inn disappeared overnight, it was feared that thieves had struck. However, the Royal Mail has now admitted it took the
NEWS
box away after it apparently became unsafe – but villagers are concerned it might not be replaced and are seeing red that they were not told in advance about the A record of the inn’s unique postal history hangs in the hallway plan. The disappearance was discovered by Maxine McCluskey, owner of the Old Down, when she went to post some letters. Maxine said: “We didn’t hear a thing. I had such a shock when I saw it had gone. The Old Down Inn has a unique link with the history of our postal service and I really hope that the post box is replaced soon.” Royal Mail spokeswoman Sally Hopkins said: "Royal Mail can confirm we removed this postbox as it was unsafe. We are looking at options for reinstalling it so it is safe to use for both customers and our mail collections team. “Royal Mail is very proud of its heritage and history, of which the 115,300 postboxes across the UK are a visible reminder. We have a joint policy with Historic England (formerly English Heritage) to maintain and protect our postboxes – this can be found at: http://www.royalmailgroup.com/about-us/heritage. "If any box is in poor condition, members of the public can report this to us at postbox.appearance@royalmail.com for our engineers to inspect."
Maxine is due to give a talk about the history of the Old Down Inn to members of the Radstock History Society on Tuesday, July 4th.
Scouting for memories
THE Weare and District scout group will be celebrating its 40th anniversary in July with an afternoon of events. Anyone involved with the group is invited to join in the celebrations on Saturday, July 8th at Badgworth. There will be a church service at 1.30pm, followed by activities in the Old School Room.
Making camp PAGE 56 • MENDIP TIMES • JULY 2017
Canoeing has been a popular activity down the years
For details contact Mike Wilkinson on: 01934 713356.
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HISTORY
M u s e u m l o o k s t o t h e f u t u re
A SERIES of grants and some original thinking are giving a new lease of life to Radstock Museum. The museum – now known as Somerset Coalfield Life at Radstock Museum – has undergone everything from a fresh look at its layout and permanent exhibits to the restoration of the clock tower on the roof. Volunteers – there is just one full-time member of staff and a temporary development officer funded by one of the grants – rely on museum entrance fees, grants and donations for support. The museum receives no public funding. The focus of the museum is on the area’s coal mining history and legacy, but it also reflects the lives of others working in the industries supporting the mines, from manufacturing bricks or iron parts for colliery machinery to local transport, shops and schools. The museum also looks at the lives of people who worked in the printing and shoe making industries. One of the major grants came from the Association of Independent Museums (AIM) Hallmarks Awards. The £12,000 grant allowed the museum to employ local arts and business graduate Miranda Litchfield to oversee the revamp. Amongst the latest developments are: • The lower windows of the Market Hall – housing the café – have been covered in transfers of old photos from the museum’s
A group of students from Tours, in France, visited recently and enjoyed an English lesson with a difference in the museum’s authentic schoolroom. The 14-year-olds were on a visit to England to study Victorian times
The museum worked with Glastonbury blacksmith Richard Hoecker to redesign the forge. Richard (right) is pictured with photographer and film maker Joseph Wooltorton who lives near the museum
Miranda outside the museum
collection of the Somerset and Dorset railway, thanks to a £500 grant from the Big Local Fund. The café itself is being transformed into a “Brief Encounter” – style railway buffet. • A £1,000 grant from Midsomer Norton Town Council has paid for a new-look for the museum’s blacksmith’s forge, including a projector that shows images of a blacksmith working on the white washed walls of the forge, high quality information boards and improved labeling, and the introduction of sound effects and smells. Richard Hoecker, a blacksmith and swordsmith from the Forge of Avalon in Glastonbury, helped with the project. • A papier mache horse has been donated by the locally-based Oasis Carnival Club to “pull” the baker’s dray. • Somerset District Miners Welfare Trust donated £1,000 towards the refurbishment of the museum’s mine. • Improving public access to the museum’s extensive archive of photographs and postcards. Miranda said: “The key to all this has been working with the local community. I’ve been able to bring the creative side to the museum but the volunteers are the key.”
Art show matches fact with fiction
LOCAL artist Norman Matthews has recreated some happy memories from his youth in a series of works on display at the museum until September 16th. With titles such as “Playtime at Clandown Playtime at Clandown School, by Norman School”, “Waiting Matthews for the Racing Pigeons’ Return” and “Swimming in the Brook” photographs and information relating to the local scenes from the museum archives are also on display. A member of the Bath Society of Artists, Norman is currently providing art work for a large multi-national company. He is also working on book illustrations plus his own art which features in many local collections.
For details about the museum, visit: www.radstockmuseum.co.uk
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Litton summer fete
LITTON’S summer fete was called Litton Wonderland and certainly lived up to the name, with many people in appropriate costumes, and a street party later in the evening. Apart from stalls and other attractions, it had a duck race and parachuting teddies from the church tower.
The duck race was popular
Not every one a winner
Eliza, aged three
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Parachuting teddies
Litton and Hinton Blewett WI members
Queens of Hearts Julia Howlett (left) and Cathy Lee
Compere Mad Hatter James Orme
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EVENTS
Festival brings town together
TWO nights of live music, a community-themed day of events and a day for children attracted hundreds of visitors to Shepton Mallet’s annual Collett Festival.
Volunteers from the Forever Butterfly charity, based in Shepton Mallet, are hoping to create a butterfly sanctuary in the park. The charity supports families who have experienced stillbirths, miscarriages or neonatal deaths. See: www.foreverbutterflycharity.com
Members of Shepton Mallet Horticiultural Society on their stand. They organised the first Shepton Mallet Snowdrop Festival which took place in February. The dates for next year’s event have been announced: Friday, February 16th – Sunday, February 18th. For details visit: www.sheptonsnowdropfestival.org.uk
The main arena is filled with youngsters from Shepton Mallet Gymnastics Club
Saturday’s community festival began with a minute’s silence to remember victims of the recent terrorist atrocities. It ended with a performance of Angels, by TJ Solo
Heather Bryson-Banks, selling cupcakes in aid of Shepton Mallet scout group, with sons Harry and Rowan
A collection of soft toys for sale in the car boot area
Tim Bickerdike, of Wells, is a member of The Yeoman WWI living history group. He wore a uniform of the North Somerset Yeomanry C Company. Pictured with him is Mindygrace Roads
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THE MENDIP SOCIETY
Summer on Mendip with the Mendip Society THE weather has finally taken a turn for the better and the spectacular flora that covers our wonderful hills is providing a beautiful backdrop whichever way you look. Especially noticeable during the Society’s Saturday walks over the tops was the extensive carpet of bluebells in such profusion, possibly the best we have seen for many years. The reason, of course, must be the big cut of last year’s bracken, for the by now famous, “Brackettes”. Our wild areas in full summer on the Mendip plateau always seem so placid and quiet, slumbering in the sun, but all is not what it seems. Beneath it, all things are gearing up for an interesting, exciting and stimulating time this summer. In August school is out and children are free to enjoy what comes naturally, among favourite things is climbing trees in wild woods. The children of Blagdon are lucky; there, parent volunteers run an annual Youth Activity Week when children of all ages try new exciting things, learn new skills and have fun doing it. Somehow or other the Mendip Society has got involved. You know how this works – you meet someone, get talking, find out you both know someone else who needs something doing and hey presto, it happens. The society now has a second reserve – a long thin wood running up the hillside from the valley near Ubley, full of trees, beautiful and still quite wild at the moment – just perfect in which to hold a Forest School. Nicky, a local parent and a trained Forest School teacher, will run a day for the older children there in the youth week. Later in the month she will be holding two more days for children aged 6-10 years. If you want to find out more about these contact Nicky on nicscientist@hotmail.com or 07967 619260. By way of a trial run we welcomed ten guinea pig children to Tania’s Wood in the Easter holidays; everyone had a whale of a time, dens made, interesting bones and fossils found, eggs boiled with colours and patterns, (eaten by the boys, taken home by the girls, of course), camp fires lit and food eaten. We are very glad that the wood can be enjoyed by others, not just kept for one open day a year; this year, by the way, that open day is on Sunday September 24th. All details will be on the website in due course – www.themendipsociety.org.uk and our Facebook page “the mendip society“. Please visit us to find out details in time to join us then. At the beginning of September the National Trust South West Outdoor Festival takes place on land just above Cheddar Gorge on the weekend September 8th-10th. Whether you camp for the whole weekend, or visit for the day, with outdoor experts on hand to help and guide you, it will be a great weekend. And when you are there be sure to visit the AONB/Mendip Society stand where we will be launching the events programme of this year’s Mendip
Rocks Festival. This year we have joined the Mendip Hills AONB and the Somerset Earth Science Centre as major sponsors of this most popular festival of all things to do with geology. You can also catch us at the Frome Festival Feast event on Saturday July 8th and in Wells on Saturday September 30th when there will be a quiz trail for families to follow around the town with lots of activities and puzzles to solve at every stop. One of the society’s main aims is to co-operate with other organisations to the benefit of the Mendip Hills and its surrounds. We hope we have made a difference to Bristol Water’s mammoth project to secure a better water supply for the Cheddar area by offering a route through Slader’s Leigh our LNR, to by-pass the Shute Shelve tunnel during the pipe-laying closure of the Strawberry Line. This week, middle of June, as I write this, a small digger, a trailer and a tamping machine have moved into the meadow and I was very happy to see they hadn’t come far to get there. Mr. Bidwell’s small family firm from Yatton, Eurimex, has the contract to “fence and construct” on this section of the line, so congratulations to Bristol Water for keeping it local. With as much care as possible, because the meadow is full of orchids right now, a three-metre wide path is being laid down the centre from top to bottom; constructed of grids of re-cycled plastic laid interlocking on a bed of fine stone dust and tampered down, it will stand the weight of such vehicles as fire engines, if necessary. It should cope nicely with all the bikes, pushchairs and pedestrians which will use it until the project is finished, estimated to be by the end of November; at the end of it all it will remain in place and the grass will grow through it providing a hidden, hard surface for our visitors to escape the mud we have often had in previous winters. Yadley Lane, from the N.T. car park, Kings Wood, Winscombe Hill, will be repaired so as to be passable by everyone; from our reserve, the path running parallel to the line, eventually leads into Winscombe. The line will be closed from June 27th for a month, open for the school holidays and then shut again until November, see Bristol Water website for exact dates. The last month of the current programme has details of our visits to Arnos Vale Cemetery nature trail and the Bristol Blue Glass studios, open to non-members. Watch out for the new programme on August 1st. Richard Frost and Judith Tranter
Details: www.themendipsociety.org.uk or ring 01275 874284/472797.
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WILDLIFE
A tr i b ut e t o th e l o w l y f i e l d v o l e NESTING boxes have become a vital weapon in our conservation armoury. Countless species rely on them now that their natural nest sites By CHRIS are scarce. We can all SPERRING do our bit, whether MBE it’s providing boxes for blue tits, hedgehogs, insects or bats, but this is not the whole story. Before any animal can nest and breed successfully they must be well fed. For many animals, this will mean an abundance of caterpillars, worms or moths, but for very many other species,
Do you know of a barn owl nest? Contact Chris Chris is checking barn owl nests around Somerset
Fair game for barn owls, but field voles still need protection
achieving their reproductive potential is reliant on a very unassuming little mammal called the short-tailed or field vole. The list of predators of this animal is extensive and some, like the barn owl, are largely dependent upon it. Field voles are surface-dwelling, constructing runways and nests throughout their tussocky, rough grassland habitat. As they do not tunnel underground, like most small mammals, they are dependent on the grass being sufficiently long to provide a degree of cover. Generally, the longer the grass gets, the higher the density of voles will be. They do still need fresh shoots to eat, however, so if the grass gets too long and thick with dead material and sunlight cannot reach the ground then vole
numbers begin to decrease again. Like most rodents, field voles reproduce extremely rapidly when conditions are right, so creating rough grassland habitat can pay dividends very quickly. Modern farming methods have reduced the amount of rough grassland dramatically, but so has our often unnecessary drive to keep all amenity grass short and tidy. I visited a golf course recently which, though meticulously maintained, supported two pairs of nesting kestrels and one pair of barn owls, not to mention little owls, hobbies, red kites and buzzards! It just goes to show that even a small amount of untidy grass here and there can have a huge impact on predatory birds. We know from studying barn owl pellets that field voles make up 70-80% of the barn owl’s diet here in the South West. They suit this bird’s hunting method perfectly and can make or break a breeding season. I feel passionately that the field vole (Microtus agrestis) should be a conservation priority species. ● I am currently working my way around Somerset checking barn owl nest boxes and recording active nests. If anyone thinks they have barn owls nesting near them and would like me to visit, please get in touch. I would also love to hear from any farmers or landowners who would like help attracting owls or other wildlife to their land. I will be leading two barn owl walks in the coming weeks (22nd July and 5th August), so please contact me for more information and booking.
Chris Sperring is Conservation Officer for the Hawk and Owl Trust Contact him on 07799 413 918 or chris.sperring@btinternet.com
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Wellow railway and river walk
THE beautiful undulating green landscape south of Bath is our treat for this circle which links a railway path, the Colliers Way, with the Cam Brook – running between Wellow and Midford. It gives great views across the countryside. Walking is very easy and flat for the most part with no stiles at all but there is quite a long hill out of the Cam valley. Our route follows some of the Limestone Link and en-route we pass remains of the old Somerset Coal Canal. Enjoy the pub at Midford and at the end another pub in Wellow. There is also a
With Sue Gearing PAGE 62 • MENDIP TIMES • JULY 2017
cafe near the start of the walk on the edge of Wellow. Please note: It is not a walk for dogs as they are not allowed along this particular section of the Colliers Way at the request of the landowner. PARK: In the free car park in Wellow, well signed down Station Road in the centre of the village on the old railway line. The lane to Wellow goes off the A367 Radstock to Bath road near Peasedown St John at the Mercedes Benz garage.
START: Turn out passing the old station. The railway ran from 1874 until 1966 and was used to transport Fuller’s Earth which was processed locally, agricultural machinery, grain and watercress. It largely followed the route of an arm of the old Somerset Coal Canal which was built around 1800. There was a canal tunnel at Wellow. At the road, turn right into this pretty village. The community village shop is a short walk to the left if you need provisions. Wellow was once famous for its annual sheep fair held on October 17th during the 19th century. Sadly, it closed during the First World War. In the village centre turn right by the Fox and Badger down Railway Lane. At the side of the old signal box continue down a path dropping into the valley of the Wellow Brook.
1. WELLOW BROOK At the foot, don’t cross the bridge over the Wellow, but turn left towards the ford and go straight across to a kissing gate and marked footpath into a field. Head down
the full length of the field below the village and church. At the end of the field go through a Bristol Gate (which has a pedestrian access), between barns and sheds and join a track continuing on. You may pass horses and ponies from nearby Wellow Trekking Centre. Go on through another gate and along all the way to a lane with the Wellow Brook still on the right. 2. LANE Turn left climbing gently for a few minutes and come to Wellow Trekking Centre.
3. TREKKING CENTRE Turn up into it. Here also is Riders’ Rest Tea Room (open from 11am, closed Monday) serving very reasonably-priced light refreshments. Take the gate to the right of the cafe and soon join the Colliers Way cycle walk way using the old railway line. You may have a few young riders on ponies for a while along here and as you continue keep an eye and ear out for cyclists, who unfortunately don’t all have bells or don’t use them! Because the route is elevated you get fine views across country and there are seats and picnic benches at intervals. Wild flowers are in evidence along the sides. 4. STONE COLUMN Reach an information board about the Colliers Way and a dramatic stone column, appropriately called Stone Column, by Jerry Ortmans. This piece is formed by seven stacked boulders reflecting the geological strata of the area
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and commemorates the pioneering work of William Smith, the “father of geology” who once lived at nearby Tucking Mill and who worked as a surveyor constructing the canal system in the area. Stay on the Colliers Way ignoring any side turns for a further 1.75 miles going through a couple of gates. For a short part of the way go through a steep rocky-sided cutting. 5. MIDFORD Cross the Midford Viaduct Bridge over another dismantled railway and another section of the old Somerset Coal Canal. The canal was designed to give the Somerset coalfield (at one time with 80 collieries) access east toward London. Arrive at Midford and the Hope and Anchor, a historic pub which used to serve the old canal and railway. Go through the car park and onto the main road. Turn left in front of the Hope and Anchor under the railway arch and cross the road to join the footpath opposite which is part of the Limestone Link long distance path. This goes along under the viaduct under trees and then out into the open. You are now following the route of old Somerset Coal Canal. Ahead on your left is the old Midford Aqueduct taking the Somerset Coal Canal over the Cam Brook. As you continue, the canal becomes more and more visible on your right and later you walk for a while on the elevated old towpath. Pass an old stone canal bridge and follow the Limestone Link into woodland, under another old railway viaduct. Bend right and soon enter a field, with the old canal still on your right. Keep on all the way coming closer to the Cam Brook until you go up steps, under trees to a T-junction of paths.
WALKING
6 miles, 3.5 hours walking. OS Explorer 142, Shepton Mallet & Mendip Hills East, grid ref: 738580 (also goes on to Explorer 155, Bristol & Bath).
6. FOOTBRIDGE Turn left on the bridleway, over a footbridge, and through gates and start the long climb out of the valley on the stony path which can be quite wet as it is used for a water run-off. After about a quarter of a mile reach a track and turn right. This leads gently up to the hamlet of Twinhoe.
7. TWINHOE At the T-junction take the lane to the left which bends round and reaches another junction. Here go right and follow it, climbing a little still. At the top on a bend, ignore the first footpath gate and take the second one – a Bristol Gate.
8. FIELDS Follow the left hand edge in the field on the top of the hill above Wellow. At the hedge corner the footpath arrow clearly directs you diagonally across the field which will be planted with crops. It is a good idea for walkers to try and make a clear path for others as they go across. Aim to the left of a largish tree on the far side, and aim to the right of Wellow Church which is down below. If you feel uneasy about going through the crops, go the long way round the left edge. Go through the kissing gate on the far side and steeply down through an area of rough
grassland. There’s another gate. Head on down still towards the right of the church below. On the other side follow a steep path through rough grass and bushes and through a kissing gate. Drop down and join a grassy track in the valley which was beautifully mown when I came. You cross the route of the old coal canal and, as you go up the path on the other side, down on your left by the canal bank is St Julian’s Well, actually situated in a private garden. Go through a kissing gate into a field and along the left edge. At the next gate, turn left down the side of the church wall. 9. CHURCH Turn right into the churchyard. This is St Julian’s church, dedicated to Julian the Hospitaller, and believed to have Roman origins in connection with a local villa. A statue of St Julian holding an oar is displayed in a niche above the porch. Continue on to reach the Fox and Badger and retrace your steps back to the car park.
The Fox and Badger, Wellow 01225 832293. Ring for 0pening hours. The Hope and Anchor, Midford Tel: 01225 832296. Ring for opening hours. MENDIP TIMES • JULY 2017 • PAGE 63
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OUTDOORS
West Countryman’s Diary
WHAT isn't there to like about the weather we are having at the moment! After my comments on the weather in last month’s column, I am pleased to say that the weather did “buck up” a little and although it rained at the Bath and West Show on the Friday and Saturday evenings, it didn’t With LES really disrupt what was a wonderful show, DAVIES MBE as you will no doubt notice by the pictures in this month’s edition. The overall winner of this year’s Environmental Youth Award, (EYA) was Mya-Rose Craig from Compton Martin. This has pleased me immensely, as Mya-Rose showed flair and innovation right from the start with her “Black 2 Nature” project. This ground-breaking approach aims to include inner city Black and Asian minority groups in the environment and countryside, something that people have spoken about for years, but something she has been able to achieve! I have also been spending a little more time on Burrington Ham with school groups as well as an evening with Blagdon Brownies. The scrub clearance has made such a difference and there are plenty of pathways to follow without the danger of becoming too lost. It’s so nice to see people out enjoying a walk. It’s good exercise at low cost, but you do need to be prepared for weather change on Mendip. Tom Elkin, the head warden when I arrived to work on Mendip in 1990, always used to tell me: “Never trust a sunny day on Mendip.” So, with a whole summer of outdoor enjoyment beckoning, let’s take a look at some essentials for summer walking. Starting right at the bottom, and by this I mean ground level, boots or shoes, whichever you prefer, must have a good grip on the sole and provide support. I prefer boots, but there are those who cannot get on with them, so it’s a personal choice. I have also found that sizes can vary depending on the make. I am now wearing Barbour wellingtons at least one-and-a-half size bigger than I would normally. This extra size gives me comfort and the opportunity to have a gel insole. Having suffered with painful damage to the tendon that runs below the foot, the name of which has totally escaped me, I found the gel insoles to be invaluable. Don't ever forget that the soles of your boots/shoes are the only thing that will keep your feet in contact with the ground. It’s never the falling over that hurts, only the sudden stop when you hit the ground! Long trousers are best, especially when you are walking through bracken and rough grass areas. I have spoken before about ticks and other types of wildlife that like to bite and sting you, so best to cover up. Lightweight trousers are relatively cheap, quick drying if you get a shower and comfortable to wear. Jeans are not a good idea, especially if they get wet. When it comes to a shirt, go for one with long sleeves. I always wear my sleeves rolled up, but I can roll them down if I need to, again very important in tick country. Want to get ahead, then get a hat. Having said that I rarely wear one in the summer but always in the winter. Thankfully the “thatch” on top of my head is still thick enough to protect me, but there are many who will need the protection from the
sun, so choose one to your liking. Hats are a very personal thing and you don't want one that looks as though it has just been “dumped” on your head. Sartorial elegance is after all the watch-word on Mendip. Sun protection is also very important, even if you spend most of your time outside you can still burn and the strength of the sun seems to cause more problems these days. Sunglasses are good, they will stop you squinting in the sun’s glare and help keep the dust and insects out of your eyes. Once again it’s a personal choice from classic “aviators” and the Tom Cruise look, through something a little more free thinking and alternative in style. Remember the advice on never trusting a sunny day on Mendip and carry a waterproof coat. It need not be winter weight, as there are plenty to choose from that are both lightweight and compact. It will also serve as an extra layer of warmth should the temperature drop. Water is another essential, around a litre if you are going to be out all day. Don't be tempted by the range of energy drinks that are on the market, water is still the best when it comes to keeping the fluid levels up. There are many other extras you can take, but I have found that the type of clothing and protective measures just described are adequate for a day out. Don't forget the mobile phone, this can get help to you or someone else if needed, but please have it on silent! Finally, with sorrow and regret I heard the news recently that Ann Small, wife of John at Charterhouse Warren farm had died. I knew Ann as both a local farmer and volunteer ranger during my time as the Mendip warden. She loved her animals, especially the cats, dogs and horses she cared for, together with being as formidable as a lioness when it came to protecting her family and loved ones. At the memorial service held in St Hugh’s, Charterhouse, there were over 300 people in attendance. I was asked to read the eulogy. It was difficult to encompass Ann’s life in such a short time, but I would like to share one amusing incident that showed her stoic nature and the special relationship she had with her animals. Whilst negotiating a slope with the quad bike into Black Rock, complete with sheep dog on the back carrier, Ann rolled the bike. Fortunately she was not injured or even shaken, the machine was soon righted, and she carried on down the slope to complete the task of checking the animals. From then on as Ann was about to descend this slope, the dog would jump off the bike and run to wait for her at the bottom. She has not gone because the memories remain with everyone who knew her!
You can always contact me through my website: Westcountryman.co.uk
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I n pr a i se o f t h e hy dr a n g e a f a m il y THE ubiquitous mop-headed hydrangeas in blues, pinks and white are a familiar garden shrub offering colour from late June onwards into autumn, when their colours often change and persist, even when cut and dried. However, the hydrangea family offers other gardenWith MARY worthy plants. PAYNE MBE Self-clinging climbers are always useful where an unsightly wall or fence needs to be covered, without the constant chore of tying in the shoots. The hydrangeas are well represented by that stalwart of the north-facing wall. The so-called climbing hydrangea (Hydrangea anomala subs. petiolaris) clings by aerial roots, as do its close relatives. The traditional climbing hydrangea is deciduous and can also be grown in a sunny position, but there is a useful evergreen alternative, H. seemannii which bears big buds enclosed in white bracts that open to white flowers in June, a month later than the common form. This can also be grown on a bank as ground cover, but requires a slightly more sheltered position. Also closely related is Shizophragma hydrangeoides, a native of Japan, this is also self-clinging, bearing white flowers with more pointed sterile florets, and can be used to climb trees although it flowers best in a sunnier position. Flowering even later is the evergreen, Pileostegia viburnoides, also self-clinging, with creamy white, scented flowers and suitable for any aspect. All these climbers are slow “off their starting blocks” and take a while to get going, but the wait is well worthwhile. Shrubby members of the hydrangea family are represented by two “must haves” in the garden. Mock Orange (Philadelphus) and deutzias. Philadelphus are so valuable for June and July flowering giving that heady scent to the garden on a balmy summer evening. There are many to choose from but Belle Etoile takes a lot of beating, as it is of moderate dimensions and has an attractive maroon base to the petals. For the smaller garden P. microphyllus or P. Erectus both grow to about 1.2m (4ft.) high and are richly fragrant. P. coronarius is also powerfully scented and comes in green, gold or white variegated foliage forms. Take care when siting the golden-leaved form as the foliage scorches in hot sunshine and looks particularly unattractive, but can be very effective used in light shade although flowering will not be so prolific. The double flowered P. Virginal can reach three metres or more. Deutzias ought to be better known although the large, double white flowered D. scabra Plena does appear in many a cottage-style garden. D. hybrida Mont Rose has pale pink flowers and grows to 1.2m. (4ft.) while Strawberry Fields has darker pink flowers and is more vigorous. Both of these varieties make attractive arching bushes flowering in May/June. Shrubby hydrangeas themselves come in a multitude of shapes and sizes. The mopheads (round flower heads) and lacecaps (flat flower heads) are the best-known, bearing pink or blue flowers, depending on the soil acidity. It is the aluminium availability that influences flower colour, although a white flowered variety cannot be changed to blue or pink. On an alkaline soil the aluminium is locked up and so the PAGE 66 • MENDIP TIMES • JULY 2017
Deinanthe bifida
flowers are pink. On a more acidic soil the aluminium remains soluble and the flowers are blue. Application of Hydrangea Colourant (aluminium sulphate) available from garden centres will have the desired effect, and is particularly effective when used on container-grown plants. A new trend in hydrangeas is the introduction of mopheads and lacecaps that flower early on previous season’s growth and then later on current season’s growth making them less vulnerable to damaging late spring frosts. Look out for the Endless Summer Series. Black stems add value to hydrangeas in winter. Both Zorro (pink/blue lacecap) and Zebra (white mophead) have this feature. For smaller gardens Hydrangea serrata is ideal with delicate lacecap style flowers on twiggy bushes rarely exceeding 1m (3ft.) high. Many of this group have attractive foliage in the autumn too. Look out for Preziosa and Tiara while a newcomer H. Tuff Stuff is reputed to be hardier, and to flower on both old and new wood. Hyrdangea arborescens Annabelle is fairly well known and deserves a place in any garden. It is good natured enough to flower reliably, even when hard pruned in the spring. Indeed, the harder you prune, the larger the white flower heads that develop from green buds in June, July and August. ‘Hayes Starburst’ has double flowers on a more compact bush. H. quercifolia, better known as the oak-leaved hydrangea, is tolerant of shady places bearing large panicles of white flowers in late summer/autumn and attractive foliage that colours well. For the smaller garden the variety Pee Wee could be selected. The elite of the shrubby hydrangeas are the H. aspera variants, characterised by hairy foliage and flattish heads of lilac blue flowers in late summer and autumn. These thrive in light woodland conditions. The H. aspera Villosa Group are more compact and originate from W. China from where they were collected by Ernest Wilson in 1908. One final member of the hydrangea family is probably unknown to most. This is an herbaceous perennial for moist shaded conditions. Deinanthe bifida has unusual flowers in late summer (see picture). The foliage has a curious indented point on some leaves, hence its name. The blue flowers of D. caerulea are more interesting. The hydrangea family offer us many useful and easy-togrow, shrubs and climbers. Visually it is hard to associate the other members of the family with the more familiar genus hydrangea, except to say that they all have leaves opposite each other – but so do many other plants!
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J U LY G A R D E N T I P S
GARDENING
● It is time to sow winter flowering pansies, primrose and polyanthus. All are best sown in seed compost in seed trays. ● It is also time to sow your wallflowers; these are sown thinly into a prepared seedbed outside, prior to lifting and planting out in the autumn. ● Stake sunflowers and other tall plants. ● Trim back lady’s mantle, catmint and hardy geraniums if they are getting scruffy. Within a very short time they will produce new fresh looking leaves and perhaps some flowers too. ● Vigorous climbers such as clematis, honeysuckle and perennial sweet peas will need tying up and pruning; support them well and they will repay you well with more blooms. ● Feed rose bushes. Remove dead flowers and the tip of each shoot to encourage a strong new shoot to grow. This will give you a good show later. ● If greenhouses are getting too hot, paint Cool Glass on the outside to reflect the sun’s heat. This is easily wiped off in autumn. Wetting the floor regularly will also lower the temperature but don’t do it late in the day. ● Plant winter cauliflower, purple sprouting and leeks in the space created by digging early potatoes. ● Gooseberries/red and white currants, new side shoots reduce to 4-5 leaves; plums and cherries, now is the correct time to prune, never in the winter. Courtesy Cleeve Nursery
National Garden Scheme – the gardens of Stowey
THREE gardens in Stowey will be open under the National Garden Scheme on Sunday July 16th, 2-6pm. This year the garden at Manor Farm will be open for the first time, joining Stowey Mead and Dormers. Ample off-road car parking will be available in the field opposite Dormers (postcode BS39 5TL). The gardens are all within an easy walk, with plenty of seating in each garden. Very limited disabled parking will be available at each garden this year. These gardens have something for everyone, from vegetables to topiary and ponds, colourful flower beds and borders, orchards, exotic garden, roses, shrubs and trees and some specialist sweet peas, as well as many other delightful features. The entry fee of £5 covers all three gardens; children free. Cream teas and cakes will be on sale at Stowey Mead and plant sales at Dormers.
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NAILSEA PATIO SUPPLIES
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ALL YOUR GARDENING NEEDS – SET IN 12 WONDERFUL ACRES – PAGE 68 • MENDIP TIMES • JULY 2017
SUSAN and Tony Griffin have been developing the garden at Church Farm House since 2006. At over 700 feet up in the Mendip Hills this is not the easiest environment in which to create a new garden! It has been, and continues to be, a challenging yet hugely rewarding project. The garden around the Beanacre Barn holiday cottage was designed in a contemporary cottage style with unusual perennials, spring and summer bulbs and a mix of shrubs with climbing roses on the high walls. In the split level South Garden, the aim has been to create a progressive colour sweep from whites and yellows with blues in the shade of trees, through peach to oranges then reds and plum to end with pinks by the corner bench from where there is a fine outlook to the village church. When they arrived the old farmyard was a wide expanse of grey gravel leading up to the house. A few years ago, in order to brighten and soften the area and blend it into the rest of the garden, they experimented with planting in the gravel, which often required the use of a hammer and chisel! Early results were surprisingly encouraging, so now they have an ever-extending range of plants adding colour and interest to the area and parking space is shrinking! NGS opening details: Wednesday, July 19th; Sunday, July 23rd, 11am – 4.30pm, admission £4, children free. Visitors also welcome by arrangement throughout June and July, admission £4.50, children free. Contact information: Susan and Tony Griffin, 01749 841628, email: smgriffin@beanacrebarn.co.uk ebsite: www.beanacrebarn.co.uk Address and postcode: Turners Court Lane, Binegar, Radstock, BA3 4UA. Other Gardens Open for the NGS To see more gardens open for the NGS, see The Yellow Book, or Local County Leaflet, available from local Garden Centres. Or go to: http://www.ngs.org.uk
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GARDENING
A right royal show
LOCAL garden designer Jon Wheatley, from Chew Magna, and grower Terry Porter, from Hutton, are celebrating a memorable RHS Chelsea Flower Show, where the Queen was among the visitors to their Radio 2 Taste Garden, along with Chris Evans and Mary Berry. With over 50 different types of fruit, vegetables, edible flowers and herbs, the allotment-style garden was designed to promote gardening and healthy eating. Terry starts some of his vegetables off under artificial lights before Christmas and with careful feeding and management brings them to a peak three months before they would normally be ready. Several local companies were prominent exhibitors at the show.
Jon Wheatley (right) with Chris Evans, RHS chief executive Sue Biggs, and Mary Berry
Terry Porter in his greenhouse before the show
Terry Porter in the show garden
Choosing the best
I WRITE this having just returned from the RHS Chelsea Flower Show, where we worked very long days but also had a fabulous time with friends and colleagues celebrating the very best of garden design. Then on to the new RHS Chatsworth Flower Show, which was innovative and exciting to be involved with. Reflecting on both these shows and the wonderful private clients we are working with at present we consider ourselves very lucky to be doing a job we love. But, this leads me on to a topic very close to my heart: what do you look for in a designer and contractor when you are considering spending a great deal of your hard-earned cash on having your garden redesigned? Above anything else the person designing your garden has to be someone who is qualified and is a pre-registered or a full member of the garden design professional body, the Society of Garden Designers (SGD). Those of us who are members have all studied hard and achieved incredibly high standards to be accepted as a member. Check the construction team building your design are also accredited by either the Association of Professional Landscapers (APL) or British Association of Landscape Industries (BALI). The whole team must have the qualifications, skills and experience to design, build and plant to the very highest quality to bring out the best in your garden with skilled thought and knowledge. RHS Hampton Court is the next on our list. It is a great show, my favourite of them all, with some very exciting and beautiful gardens to look forward to. Lynn Riches, Horticolous Landscape & Garden Design
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Garden festival
C60 A mid-range garden tractor, highly capable for most applications The new C60 garden tractor is the ‘stalwart’ of the Countax range. It is ideal for customers with a large garden who don’t want to compromise the quality of finish for the convenience of a ride-on lawnmower. Fitted with a 107cm (42") XRD cutter deck, the C60 can operate in conjunction with the Powered Grass Collector or as a rough cutter. To tackle dense grass, brambles or nettles, configure the C60 with a 92cm (36") High Grass Mulching deck.
Behind Shell Garage Winterstoke Road, Weston-super-Mare, North Somerset BS23 2YS
Tel: 01934 626093/813261
Kate Wilson and Leslie Taylor from the Street Chrysanthemum, Dahlia and Vegetable Society
THE third English Country Garden Festival held by the Bishop’s Palace in Wells attracted over 4,000 visitors, celebrity gardeners and a range of stalls.
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THE TIMBERYARD • SHUTE SHELVE • CROSS • NEAR AXBRIDGE Tel: 01934 732 396 • www.timberworkbuildings.co.uk e.mail: timberbuildings@aol.com
PAGE 70 • MENDIP TIMES • JULY 2017
Secret World volunteer Elaine Lambert with Star, a tawny owl
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Churchill open gardens
THREE gardens are opening in Churchill in aid of the NGS on Saturday July 15th and Sunday July 16th, 2-5pm. They are Bay Tree House, Church View and Laurel Cottage. Entry is £5, children free.
GARDENING
Nailsea flower show
NAILSEA Horticultural Society’s summer show is to be held in Nailsea School on Saturday August 5th. There will be classes for flowers, vegetables, cookery, handicrafts and photography with special classes for children of all ages. If you would like to enter, schedules are available from Nailsea Library and PS Travel, Station Road. There will be plenty of cream teas, home-made cakes and refreshments available with raffles, stalls and entertainments including the Filton Concert Brass Band. The show opens to the public at 12noon and closes at 5pm following the presentation of awards and trophies. Admission, £2, accompanied children free.
S
afe secure and very, very strong with a Colourfence you really can put an end to your fencing problems. Tried, tested and trusted across the UK, Colourfence is guaranteed† to last. Unlike wooden fences once installed you don’t need to worry about costly, time consuming maintenance. You need not paint it, you won’t ever patch it, and it will stand fi rm in the worst of the weather. Your fence looks after itself so you can look after (and enjoy) your garden. Installed by highly trained specialists, once your Colourfence is up, it really stays up offer you a lifetime of hassle-free enjoyment of your garden. Visit www.colourfencesouthbristol.co.uk in for more information or simply call number below to arrange a FREE no obligation site visit.
Bristol South District Tel. 0117 214 1201 Clevedon, Tickenham, Portishead, Nailsea, Backwell, Long Ashton, Pill, Failand Tel. 01275 277211 Shepton Mallet, Wells Tel. 01749 321066 Weston Super Mare, Yatton, Congresbury, Cheddar, Axbridge Tel. 01934 235591 Temple Cloud, Blagdon Tel. 01761 202411
PERFECT PAVE
Perfect Pave, based on the Valley Line industrial estate, in Cheddar, has built an enviable reputation over the last 16 years for the quality of its work installing block paving and other landscaping products. Now founders Alex Howley and Simon Bethell have set up a new service run by James Starmer supplying these products to both the trade and public, as well as continuing to expand their installation team. e company now has contracts all over the South West and offers a wide choice of projects. Now supplying – as well as installing – landscaping products to the commercial and domestic trade Wider range and cheaper prices than builders’ merchants or garden centres
Showroom open 8am-5pm Mon-Fri 8am-12noon Sat MENDIP TIMES • JULY 2017 • PAGE 71
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Fun day fundraiser in Frome
ORGANISERS of the annual Frome Carnival have staged their annual fun day and dog show to raise money towards the cost of staging the spectacular procession. Victoria Park was crammed with stalls and attractions. Proceeds from the event mean that more of the monies raised on carnival day can go to the unique Frome Carnival Charity which supports the local community. Last year’s carnival raised £14,000. This year’s processions – a parade for children in the afternoon ahead of the evening spectacular – take place on Saturday, September 23rd.
Sharon Scott was offering pony rides on Gypsy Lady. They are pictured with carnival royalty Melissa White, Milly May Ayres and Demi-Leigh Hendy
Hamish tries his hand on a mini-digger under the guidance of Pete Meagor of Morphed Landscapes PAGE 72 • MENDIP TIMES • JULY 2017
Uke-kidding – comprising members of the Frukes – entertain the crowd
Laura and Arrow – a jackhuahua – get ready for the dog show
Melissa Milner, from Hot Rock Carnival Club, with youngsters trying their luck on the tombola stand
For details, visit: www.fromecarnival.org.uk
Carnival queen Aleesha White at Victoria Park
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EVENTS
Oakhill Village Festival
Village historians Lin Thorley and Percy Lambert have published their latest book: The Changing Face of Ashwick Parish. It is available from the Oakhill and Ashwick Village History Group, which meets on the third Tuesday evening of the month at the village hall, or from Lin on: 01749 840200 or email: linthorley@hotmail.com Photo bombed: Sienna in the photo booth with models Florence, Abigail and Amelia
Beatrice and Wilf
So English: welly throwing against a backdrop of a display of classic tractors
Artisan metal worker Bill Bolton offered visitors a chance to try their hands at the skill and Janis Thomson was keen to have a go
Local schoolchildren performed country dancing in front of a large crowd MENDIP TIMES • JULY 2017 • PAGE 73
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Award winner
CEDARS Hall, a state of the art performing arts centre, situated in the grounds of Wells Cathedral School, has been named RIBA South West Building of the Year for the South West and Wessex region. The hall opened last October, with a 350-seat auditorium, the Eavis Hall, named after one of the school’s most celebrated old boys, Glastonbury Festival founder Michael Eavis. Principal of Wells Cathedral School, Elizabeth Cairncross, said: “We loved the design from the beginning and now we love the building. Every day it shows us what it can do for us and the way it enhances all our music and all our learning.” Cedars Hall will now go through to the National RIBA Awards, taking place in London later this year.
We’ve got it covered
Market hit by general election nerves
ENQUIRIES from new buyers, new instructions from those wanting to sell, and agreed sales in the South West’s housing market declined once again last month, according to the latest survey from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors. It says price growth also lost momentum and is predicted to slow further over the next three months. Although a fall in property coming on to the market is a recurring theme over the past two years, RICS says the drop may have been exacerbated by the general election, as some adopted a “wait and see” approach. In May only 11% of respondents reported a rise in new buyer enquiries whilst the level of fresh listings declined for the fourth consecutive month. As with new sellers, a large portion of contributors suspect the election had an adverse impact on demand. At the same time, agreed sales continued to decline for the second consecutive month running. Going forward, it says nearterm sales expectations imply little change over the coming three months, but beyond this over the next 12 months, respondents appear more optimistic with 56% anticipating an increase in activity. Spokesman David Mckillop said: “It’s been a quiet month, most likely due to election nerves. But small properties are still fetching very good prices as there are so few. The over £500,000 market is very difficult in the current climate.”
Mendip Times Distribution Points
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. ALHAMPTON AXBRIDGE BALTONSBOROUGH BACKWELL BANWELL BARROW GURNEY BARTON ST. DAVID BECKINGTON BISHOP SUTTON BLACKFORD BLAGDON BLEADON BRENT KNOLL BRISTOL INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT BROCKLEY BRUTON BUCKLAND DINHAM BURCOTT BURRINGTON BUTLEIGH CAMERTON CASTLE CARY CHARTERHOUSE CHEDDAR CHELYNCH CHEW MAGNA CHEW STOKE CHEWTON MENDIP CHILCOMPTON
CHURCHILL CLANDOWN CLEEVE CLUTTON COCKLAKE COLEFORD COMPTON DANDO COMPTON MARTIN CONGRESBURY COXLEY CRANMORE CROSCOMBE CROSS DITCHEAT DOULTING DRAYCOTT DUNDRY EAST HARPTREE EASTON EMBOROUGH EVERCREECH FARMBOROUGH FARRINGTON GURNEY FAULKLAND FELTON FROME GLASTONBURY GREEN ORE GURNEY SLADE HALLATROW
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HIGH LITTLETON HINTON BLEWETT HOLCOMBE HUNSTRETE HUTTON KEINTON MANDEVILLE KILMERSDON LANGFORD LEIGH on MENDIP LITTON LOCKING LONG ASHTON LYDFORD ON FOSSE LYMPSHAM MARK MARKSBURY MASBURY MELLS MIDSOMER NORTON NAILSEA NETTLEBRIDGE NORTON MALREWARD NORTON ST PHILIP NUNNEY NYLAND OAKHILL PAULTON PENSFORD PILTON POLSHAM
= Mendip Times Distribution area PRIDDY PYLLE RADSTOCK REDHILL REGIL RICKFORD RODE RODNEY STOKE ROOKSBRIDGE ROWBERROW SANDFORD SHEPTON MALLET SHIPHAM SOMERTON STANTON DREW
STANTON WICK STOKE ST MICHAEL STON EASTON STRATTON ON THE FOSSE STREET TARNOCK TEMPLE CLOUD TIMSBURY TRUDOXHILL TYTHERINGTON UBLEY UPHILL VOBSTER WALTON WANSTROW
WEDMORE WELLOW WELLS WEST HARPTREE WEST PENNARD WESTBURY SUB MENDIP WHITCHURCH WINFORD WINSCOMBE WOOKEY WOOKEY HOLE WRAXALL WRINGTON WRITHLINGTON YATTON
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PROPERTY
Two for the price of one!
IT’S not often that you get one super four-bedroom bungalow with another bungalow in the grounds with a separate title and five acres of land, the perfect scenario for dual occupation, business or development. The Orchard is a smart detached bungalow located on the outskirts of the village of Cheddar. It is superbly presented with four bedrooms, a sitting room and dining room and huge cinema room, modern kitchen with plenty of space for table, a large garden and lovely southerly views over the Vale of Wedmore. Mendip View on the other side of the drive is a detached single storey property which has been modernised for family use – it could do with some finishing off, but offers some 1870 sq ft of internal accommodation – not bad for a second property! Both properties have a drive from the
road through high electric gates with an additional access through an agricultural gate to one side of Mendip View. Behind Mendip View there is also a former strawberry horticultural building and the five acres of land adjoins the rear of both properties. At present the grass is mown and
interspersed with trees, however, it can easily become land for grazing. There is water and electric and a viewing platform at the top of the land with superb south facing views over the vale. The backdrop of the Mendip Hills completes the picture. All this at a guide price of £750,000.
For more information, contact Oliver McCarthy at David James & Partners at Wrington on 01934 864300.
W
W
NE
NE
Guide Price £775,000
Canada Coombe Mendips SET IN A GREAT RIDING COUNTRY! A 20 ACRE EQUESTRIAN PROPERTY A detached period farmhouse with three bedrooms, two recep+on and farmhouse kitchen. Cloaks, U+lity, bathroom and en suite. Extensive stabling around yard for about 15 horses. Menage, walker and about 20 acres – most of which is level pasture. Easy access to Mendip Way and quiet secluded loca+on just 4 miles to Westonsuper-Mare. EPC: E. Ref: 25388.
Mark Somerset
Guide Price £850,000
RESIDENTIAL AND DEVELOPMENT! A substan+al detached 4 bedroom modern farmhouse, with detached four bedroom brick and +mber barn for conversion (PP granted) and addi+onal detached barn for conversion. Agricultural building, yards and in all 5.27 acres. EPC: D. Ref: 25342 FOR SALE BY (AUCTION UNLESS SOLD PRIOR) JULY 25TH 2017
Guide Price £750,000
Cheddar Somerset TWO FOR THE PRICE OF ONE! AUCTION SEPTEMBER (unless sold prior) Two detached bungalows with 5.6 acres on the outskirts of the village with lovely views over surrounding countryside. Bungalow one is a smart 4 bedroom property with plenty of garden and access onto the adjoining land. Bungalow two does require some finishing and offers 1600 sq of accommoda+on. Perfect opportunity for a variety of uses – dual occupa+on or re sale – due to two +tles. EPC: C & tbc Ref: 25369
Guide Price £450,000 + VAT
Loxton Somerset FOR SALE BY (AUCTION UNLESS SOLD PRIOR) JULY 25TH 2017 A substan+al detached barn with accommoda+on over two floors amoun+ng to 2264 . Formerly a modern office with exposed beams and plenty of windows and doors with planning for residen+al use occupying a south facing loca+on up a private drive. Large gardens & paddock amoun+ng to 1.80 acres. EPC: C Ref: 24899
Guide Price £320,000
Wrington Village North Somerset A charming village co,age with modernised a,rac+ve accommoda+on and long rear garden. Si-ng room with open fireplace, dining room/study with open fireplace, large live in kitchen. Two bedrooms and bathroom on first floor. Sash windows, gas central hea+ng, oak floors and staircase. Long co,age garden. Ref:25365. EPC: D.
Guide Price £195,000
Burtle Somerset FOR SALE BY (AUCTION UNLESS SOLD PRIOR) JULY 25TH 2017 A detached agricultural barn with planning for residen+al, located along a quiet country lane on the outskirts of the village and with open farmland in all direc+ons. PP for Three bedrooms, approx. 1500 sq internal accommoda+on. Paddock to rear. Available as a whole or in 2 lots. Ref: 24661/7
Wrington 01934 864300 MENDIP TIMES • JULY 2017 • PAGE 75
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Perfect place to stay
THE Crown Inn in Axbridge is enjoying a growing reputation for its bed and breakfast accommodation, as well as being known as the locals’ favourite inn. The historic building has three en-suite rooms to let, one with a four-poster bed, one twin and the third with French doors onto a grassed patio to take your morning coffee in the sun. The entire floor can be let as a self-contained flat, which can accommodate six people plus a double sofa bed in the TV lounge, ideal for groups of friends attending a family event or just seeking a weekend away in Somerset. The Crown has become popular with cyclists, many arriving in the town from the nearby Strawberry Line and has a secure shed for storing bikes. Business people and tourists are also taking advantage of its attractive rates during the week. A first-class full English breakfast is included but any breakfast can be provided by prior arrangement. All the food is home-made. For lunch and dinner there are stone-baked pizzas, quality pub grub and a changing specials board. Linda Bishop and her team have worked hard to restore the building – and haven’t finished yet. The garden and patio are beautiful – now they are planning another patio and children’s play area at the top of the garden, where you can catch the rays of the setting sun whilst enjoying a favourite drink. The Crown combines medieval charm, with modern facilities, locally-sourced and freshly-cooked food with a range of real ales and ciders.
Axbridge Day
EVENTS
The medieval square was packed
Axbridge Girl Guides provided strawberries and cream
Friendly local pub Quality home-cooked food Three en-suite B and B rooms Safe, sunny patio and a beautiful garden Opening hours Monday – Thursday 5.30pm-midnight Friday 5.30pm – 2am – look out for music nights Weekends 12noon – late
Mary Dutton (left) and Lucy Heard from the PTA
Crown Inn, St. Mary’s Street, Axbridge BS26 2BN 01934 732518 • 01934 732044 www.crowninnaxbridge.co.uk PAGE 76 • MENDIP TIMES • JULY 2017
Town crier Nigel Scott got proceedings underway
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World leaders – in Axbridge SITUATED in the middle of Axbridge, Enable Promotional Marketing is the leading, expanding and globally recognised company that make creative promotional concept ideas come to life, through compliant, secure and logistical procedures. For nearly 25 years Enable have specialised in implementing awardwinning sales promotions for worldwide iconic Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) brands. Promotions today, whether digital or traditional Willy Wonka Golden Ticket ideas, are more difficult to control, are more creative, are global and higher profile. Therefore, getting it wrong, can have an adverse effect on your brand reputation and accumulate high financial risk. The risks are high and rewards are low for carrying out in-house procedures and
protocols without thorough thought and considerations. Enable don’t enjoy hearing about promotions going wrong, and neither will you as a brand or marketing manager; therefore, use the services of the leading international expert in this field, Enable Promotional Marketing. They see promotions in their totality and offer a variety of services to ensure brands achieve optimum ROI on their promotional spend, reduce the risk involved and enhance their brands’ value. Since 1993 they have evolved and have developed processes, procedures and systems to provide a fully integrated management framework, guaranteed to deliver the best results for you and your brand whatever the challenge. They pride themselves on their high standards and on-time delivery which is why their clients’ loyalty and retention rate is exceptionally high all over the world. So, if you’re considering a promotion for your brand, whatever the mechanic, they would love to hear from you.
FOCUS ON AXBRIDGE
Axbridge plans a Rumble in the Jumble!
ORGANISERS are now recruiting for Axbridge’s next Rumble in the Jumble. A cross between a car boot and a jumble sale, this is a chance for people in Axbridge to have a clear-out and to perhaps offer pieces too big or too awkward to take to a car boot sale. It also gives buyers the chance to walk round this delightful medieval town, with maps showing where the stalls and other attractions are. It will be held on Saturday August 26th, 10am-4pm, with stalls costing £10. The event is an official fundraiser for the famous Axbridge Pageant, which will be held next in August 2020. Details: Barbara Wells on 01934 733779 or go to www.axbridgerumble.com
MENDIP TIMES • JULY 2017 • PAGE 77
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Preventing serious harm
IN 2011, I was asked on behalf of the Home Office to interview anti-radicalisation experts for a training programme for professionals to “ensure vulnerable individuals receive proportionate support at the earliest stages of radicalisation”. Prevent training, as it is called, has now been By Dr PHIL accessed in person or online by close to a HAMMOND million public sector workers and volunteers and is compulsory for many. According to the home office, 92% of those who have attended training “left the session with an increase in their awareness of radicalisation and confidence to ensure vulnerable people receive proportionate support”. I’ve received more mixed feedback, including hate mail from those who believe Prevent is anti-Islam (it isn’t), wry sarcasm from doctors who don’t rate their chances of diagnosing radicalisation in ten minutes and sceptics who (rightly) believe Prevent is doomed to sometimes fail while hate preaching is so widely accessible in person and online and police numbers have been cut. Prevention is tough enough in medicine. Every day, psychiatrists in understaffed, overwhelmed services have to prioritise the suicide risks of those who have only just started self-harming and those who have been doing it for years. Social workers overwhelmed by caseload have to juggle the risks to abused children. And police have to decide who on the short list of 3,000 terror suspects (and the long list of 23,000) deserves closer scrutiny. Unsurprisingly, many who commit suicide have been seen by doctors in the previous few weeks, many children killed by abuse are well known to social services and many terrorists who commit mass murder are well known to police and security services. Prevent views those at risk of radicalisation as vulnerable children and adults who need “safeguarding” rather than criminalising. Segregation, deprivation and social isolation are clear risk factors for turning to extremist ideology, but some terrorists are doctors whose grievances are fed by the UK’s military interventions and unethical foreign policies. More research is needed to ascertain how effectively they can be “de-radicalised” by “constructive challenge of the hate narrative”, re-integration and psychological support to prevent them progressing to mass murder. No intervention could ever be effective in all cases, so citizens must be supported to speak up if they have concerns about an individual’s behaviour. The charge that Prevent is “anti-Islam” and not trusted in Muslim communities might be mitigated by widening it to encompass speaking up about any serious crime (child-abuse, rape, murder, people trafficking, fraud, extremism) using the Crimestoppers model. There is good evidence that whistle-blowers – brave individuals who raise serious concerns in their workplace or community – can prevent enormous harm. But only if we protect them, value them, listen to them and – above all – investigate and act on their concerns. In every tragedy – from dangerous surgery to fires in social housing – there is often a trail of concerns that weren’t taken seriously or got lost in a huge mountain of complaints. It’s time authorities learned to listen and were obliged to act – but they need the resources to do so. Dr Phil’s Health Revolution tour is in Swindon on June 21st and Bradford-on-Avon on July 13th www.drphilhammond.com
PAGE 78 • MENDIP TIMES • JULY 2017
Plop the Raindrop
YOU probably know that Eskimos have lots of words for snow. Well it won’t surprise you to know that we raindrops have lots of words for the sounds that water makes. One of the most common words is “SPLASH!”, when anyone (or anything) falls into water. Like you jumping into a swimming pool. (The least used word is probably “tinkle”, when someone goes to the loo). The words describe the sound that’s made. Sometimes a tinkle can become a cascade, depending on the amount of water involved. One of my favourite words is fountain. Then you can imagine a curtain of water, sometimes making rainbows as it falls. That sound reminds me of fairies dancing in the wind. At times rain hisses like a snake as it hits a pond or lake. When heavy drops fall, it can sound like drumming on a tent or roof. Have you ever slept in a tent and heard that lovely sound? But it’s only lovely if you’re tucked up safe and dry! Water can be lazy, creeping like a snail, or go roaring like a lion over waterfalls and rapids. I like the deep, slow, “plop” as it falls into caves to make stalactites or stalagmites. Or the bubbling as it steams from a kettle when you have your breakfast. Have you heard the gurgle as water disappears down a plughole? The flush as we go down the loo? I was in a flood once that broke bridges in the Lake District. It was deafening. I was in a tsunami that flooded islands in the Pacific. Trillions of us water droplets rushing to the shore. We were so heavy all together that we flooded a lot of places and caused a lot of damage – but we didn’t mean to – we just couldn’t stop. I prefer to be a trickle, ambling slowly, so I can get a good look at what I’m passing by. People can do that by walking or riding slowly on their bikes. A meandering river does the same before it heads for the sea. Then you can hear crashing waves and the breathing of the sand as it soaks up the popping foam. “Squelch, squelch” is the sound of someone walking through the mud. “Pitter-patter”, the sound of a falling shower. A good drenching is a thunder storm in summer. “Splodge” – the sound of your wellies in a puddle. “Plop….plop” is the sound of me! A tiny water droplet that can appear anywhere at any time. I’m still trying to find my favourite old mammoth – please could you let me know if you’ve any news about where he might be? MENDIP GRANDAD
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Harry’s healthy message
HEALTH & FAMILY
(l to r): Gerry Atkinson Frome Rotary president, Rupert Kay, head of Christchurch School, Harry the Giraffe, Helen Morrell, teacher for Life Education Wessex and Renee Cole, friend of Life Education Wessex. They are pictured with school councillors Sorrel and Declan
FROME Rotary Club has donated £670 to Christchurch school in the town to pay for one year’s funding of pioneering health and wellbeing educational equipment. A specially-equipped caravan, provided by Life Education Wessex, contains videos, music, pictures and entertainment all designed to help children understand the need to eat well, take regular exercise and avoid the many things that could affect their health and wellbeing. A particular favorite of the children is Harry the Giraffe who talks to them.
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A new space for health & wellbeing in Wells
July classes at Quantum Life
Our professional prac""oners offer a variety of treatments:
● Pelvic Health (Men & Women) ● Mummy MOT (Post Natal Package) ● Massage (Thai Yoga, Chi Nei Tsang, Sports, Therapeu"c) ● Pain Clinic (Emme# Technique) ● Kinesiology ● Nutri"on & Lifestyle Counselling ● Medita"on and Mindfulness Tui"on ● Acupuncture (see website for full details)
MILL LODGE, MILL STREET, WELLS, SOMERSET BA5 2AS TEL (FOR GENERAL ENQUIRIES): 07787 506378 www.quantumlife.org.uk
Some of the Quantum Life therapists and visitors at the open evening in June
QUANTUM Life wellness and therapy centre in Wells will be running a series of trial classes in July in preparation for a permanent schedule in the autumn. The classes range from breathing techniques and improving sleep patterns using meditation to learning a calming mantra. There will also be classes at the centre for mums and mumsto-be. Quantum Life founder Karina Wilson-Meijer hopes the centre, in Mill Street, will appeal to people seeking to make a change in their lives or in those of their loved ones through complementary therapies, training, coaching, mentoring and meditation. ● In June’s issue of Mendip Times we mistakenly stated that an open evening would be held on Saturday, July 15th. The event took place in June. We apologise for the error. To find out more about the classes in July, visit: www.quantumlife.org.uk
Help with diabetes
YEO Valley Lions Club has arranged a diabetes awareness morning in the Precinct in Brinsea Road, Congresbury for Saturday July 15th, from 10am until 1pm. Information leaflets and advice will be available and the diabetic nurse from the local medical practice will carry out a simple on-the-spot test for those who would like one. All are welcome to drop in during the morning to learn more about this very common condition.
WILL YOU FLY INTO THE ARMS OF LOVE THIS JULY?
PAGE 80 • MENDIP TIMES • JULY 2017
Mendip Times reduces travel costs
100,000 potential customers within a short distance of your business
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Fitness walk
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HEALTH & FAMILY
FOURTEEN members and staff from Balance in Timsbury went on a 10km walk from the gym to Priston. It was a lovely sunny day and the two youngest were lucky enough to be carried all the way, one by their mum and one by Sue who runs the gym.
Making friends – and helping people
ARE you looking for a job that’s all about friendship? If this sounds like you, have you ever considered working as a community carer? Brunelcare is looking for people who share their passion for helping older people make the most of their lives. As a community carer you will visit people in their own homes, providing personal care and carry out tasks that support people’s individual needs. And you’ll make new friends! Brunelcare’s carers are provided with excellent working conditions, paid for every moment worked during their shifts and not just for time spent caring; along with being paid for all travel time and mileage between calls. Brunelcare is a large provider of home care and support in Somerset, including the North Somerset area. Homecare teams based in these areas provide a comprehensive range of services – all designed to meet someone’s individual care and support needs. No former experience is required and free training is provided by Brunelcare. To view their vacancies and to find out more about them go to www.brunelcare.org.uk/jobs W NO ITING U R EC
R
Now in our 76th year, we are the provider of choice for 4 x Local Authorities having recently been awarded the ‘Support to Live @home’ Contract for North Somerset Council. As we are growing we have a variety of jobs available leading to great career opportunities across our organisation. Contact us now if you would like more information.
To start your career with Brunelcare call now on 0117 914 4200 or email recruitment@brunelcare.org.uk
www.brunelcare.org.uk
MENDIP TIMES • JULY 2017 • PAGE 81
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Student reunion
ABOUT 55 former pupils plus around ten guests gathered at Frome College for their annual reunion. They were joined by Gavin Ball, principal, pictured on the right with his wife on his right, and Jane Davis, communications officer for the college. At least 12 old pupils were visiting for the first time. The most distant traveller was Dr Richard Tan from Singapore who also brought members of his family to see his old school. The oldest member was Dr Fred Morgan who was head boy in 1947.
Award winners
Fred’s brother John and sister Liz were also there. Other siblings included Stan and Eileen Berry and Rosemary and Carol Mapstone (maiden names). Gavin Ball is moving on to a new post as executive head of the Wessex Learning Trust in Cheddar and the Frome Ex-Students Association recorded its appreciation for his support by presenting him with a framed picture of the school from about 1954. This was presented by June Barnes, chair of FESA.
June Barnes, chair of FESA, presents Gavin with a commemorative photo
College principal, Gavin Ball, Rotary president, Andrew Walsh-Waring, Isabelle Book, Seb Costello and Jonathan Black, assistant principal sixth form
THE Rotary Club of Frome Selwood Young Citizen of the Year award has been won by Isabelle Book, a Year 11 student at Frome College. It is awarded in memory of Eric Cretney, a former member. His widow, Dot, is a member of the Frome Rotary Club, and regular attendee at the Frome Selwood Club as well, and presented the trophy to the winner. The award was first presented in 2004 and Isabelle was chosen this year from five candidates. She is described as a very busy and inspirational young lady, and her achievements so far on the rugby pitch and raising money for charity has been exceptional. The Rotary Youth Leadership Award was won by Seb Costello from Year 12, who was chosen from six students after a course on Dartmoor in February. PAGE 82 • MENDIP TIMES • JULY 2017
Rotary award
FOLLOWING a very successful year as president of Wrington Vale Rotary Club, Garry Carr received an unexpected surprise when he found himself to be the recipient of a very special Rotary award. It recognised his drive, enthusiasm and commitment towards the restoration and rebuilding of the homes in the village of Shiva, in Nepal, destroyed by the devastating earthquake last year. He created a fundraising exercise to raise £10,000 for the purchase of a brickmaking machine for the village. He is pictured with his wife, Pauline, receiving the Rotary Paul Harris award from incoming president, John Murphy (left).
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Helping the lonely
Lucia Chadwick (left) from Active and In Touch Frome and Sharon Blyth from Spark.
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MENDIP District Council is working alongside a number of leading local health and wellbeing service providers to launch the End Loneliness in Mendip campaign, which aims to raise awareness of the support available for older people
who are suffering from loneliness. One local organisation backing the campaign is Spark, which supports the voluntary and community sector in Mendip, offering information, advice and training to small groups and organisations. The charity helps groups to get started, generate funds and promote their project. Spark also runs a volunteer service, inspiring people to get involved and make a difference in their communities. Sharon Blyth, Spark’s voluntary sector adviser for Mendip, said: “We promote a whole variety of volunteering opportunities, helping individuals to find the best match for them and have recently launched a volunteer co-ordinators support group in West Mendip. We are on hand to offer advice on volunteer recruitment, management and best practice.” Spark works with two organisations to tackle loneliness in Mendip, Active and In Touch Frome and Friends of Shepton Mallet. Active and In Touch provide a volunteer befriending service to anyone who feels lonely and isolated either due to circumstance or a lack of confidence. Volunteers are matched with individuals who help them to identify interests and find a place for themselves. The organisation also hosts an Active Tuesday Group, bringing individuals together and inviting speakers or planning days out. Friends of Shepton Mallet is a new initiative which aims to offer friendship to those in the community who are isolated. It is an informal group of volunteers who want to offer time and a listening ear and support people to find a way back into the community, accessing other support and social opportunities whilst making new friends. Sharon said: “Both these organisations would love new volunteers who can offer a few hours of their time and would also like to hear from anyone who may benefit from their support. Spark is working with similar projects in other parts of Mendip and we are really keen to support these groups to make a real difference to the lives of individuals in their communities.” Details: Spark 01935 475914 or visit www.endlonelinessinmendip.org.uk
COMMUNITY
More tea? Volunteers are thanked
Kate Hellard, Andrew Lee, Sheila Gore (mayor) and Ali Barclay with some of the guests
FROME Town Council laid on an afternoon tea in a marquee to thank people from the many voluntary organisations in the town. Voluntea In the Park, in Victoria Park, was also an opportunity to promote the council’s new volunteering database Volunteer Frome. Organisations register for free, create their own profile and list their volunteering opportunities. Volunteers also register and also have their own profile. It is then a case of matching volunteers to appropriate volunteer The tea was a thank you from the roles. town council to Frome’s volunteers
Frome Town Band entertained guests
Weekly drop-in sessions are held in the town hall each Tuesday from 10am-2pm for anyone wishing to find out more. Visit: www.volunteerfrome.org MENDIP TIMES • JULY 2017 • PAGE 83
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Now it’s our turn
PERMISSIONS have been granted for a major restoration project at one of the most famous churches in the Mendip area. More than 26,000 people visit St John’s in Glastonbury town centre each year, many to admire a stained glass window which includes a picture of Joseph of Arimathea. But it is also popular with people who simply want somewhere quiet and to reflect. But now part of the nave is subsiding – the central tower collapsed in the 15th century and rubble used to infill the crater it created has deteriorated. Now architects, working with members of the church community, have drawn up plans to stabilise the floor and to reconfigure several parts of the church to make it more accessible to the wider community. It already hosts events such as a Christmas tree festival and the annual mayor’s parade as well as the Holy Thorn ceremony. Under the project, called Securing the Future, the main pews will be removed and flexible seating installed, along with underfloor heating. There will be a moveable altar which would allow services “in the round”. There are also plans to improve the kitchen by moving the organ, which would allow St John’s to host more concerts and other community events. And, most impressively, a new
Project manager Larry Schenk with fellow church members Joan Lewsey and Ann Merritt. The pews will be replaced with modern seating
glass-fronted lobby will be created at the west end of the church. But the project is not cheap. Original plans for a £2.5m refurbishment have been scaled down, but the costs are still likely to exceed £800,000. Church members have raised around £400,000 – although half of that has already been used – and they are hopeful that bids to the Heritage Lottery Fund and local organisations such as Viridor Credits environmental company will be
St John’s church receives more than 26,000 visitors each year
successful. A large part of the church will be closed to the public for up to nine months once work gets underway. The last major refurbishment took place in the mid-19th century when the church was restored and reseated by Sir George Gilbert Scott. Project manager Larry Schenk, a reader at St John’s, said: “The building has evolved over the centuries and now it is our turn. “We hope that the HLF and others will support us, but if someone comes to me with a cheque for £400,000, then we’re not going to say no!” Church member Ann Merritt added: “We are at the stage where we want to tell the wider community what we are proposing to do and keep them informed.”
The project logo
The church will host a number of concerts during the rest of the year, including a young singers and young musicians event on Saturday, July 8th and a performance by The Burtle Band on Friday, July 14th. For details visit: www.stjohnsglastonbury.org.uk PAGE 84 • MENDIP TIMES • JULY 2017
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Golden gift for next generation
COMMUNITY
THE Lions Club of Frome has marked its 50th anniversary by helping to fund new play equipment in the town’s Victoria Park. It split the cost of buying and installing the new climbing frames with Frome Town Council, which has also created a picnic area on the site of the former pitch and putt course. Since they were formed, the club has raised around £1 million, with the majority of the funds staying in the local area. The Frome Flyers cheerleading squad, who performed in the main arena
The new area was opened at the start of the Lions Club annual fete by BBC television presenter Sarah-Jane Bungay, who hails from Frome. Sarah-Jane is pictured with (l:r) deputy mayor Nick White, Lions member Roger Windley and club president Keith McLeod
A lesson in obedience: Frome Dog Training Club members Dave (with Jude), Kacey (Jax), Alan (Jinks) and Maxine (Willow)
Bonjour Frome!
An organisation which supports children with disabilities and also young carers is expanding in Frome. The Pod Youth Club and The Zone are about to launch Pod Plus for people aged 18-30. Members of the group were fundraising at the fete
ROTARY club members from Bayeux in France have paid their biennial visit to Frome to be hosted by the town’s Rotarians. Gerry Atkinson, Frome Rotary president, said: “Long and warm friendships have been built up over the years as we visited each other's clubs and homes and we look forward to our return visit to Bayeux next year." Raising a glass to continued entente cordiale
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Foundation seeks volunteers
SOMERSET Community Foundation is looking for volunteers to join the EDF Energy Community Fund awards panel to help communities affected by the Hinkley Point C development and build a lasting legacy in Somerset. The fund is designed to lessen the impact of Hinkley Point C on local communities by supporting projects that improve social, economic and environmental well-being and enhance overall quality of life. The awards panel will include representatives from EDF and foundation trustees, as well as local councils, but the foundation is also looking for up to three independent volunteers to help make decisions on applications to the multi-million pound fund and provide advice to the foundation’s board on the overall fund strategy. Justin Sargent, chief executive of the foundation, said: “We would like to hear from anyone who knows Somerset well – particularly the area around Hinkley Point C – and who can think and act independently. If you are committed to improving the wellbeing and quality of life in local communities, we'd be really interested to hear from you.” Details: www.somersetcf.org.uk or apply by sending your CV and a covering letter to info@somersetcf.org.uk or by post to Somerset Community Foundation, Yeoman House, Bath and West Showground, Shepton Mallet, BA4 6QN. The deadline to apply is Friday July 7th.
Keeping kids safe
MEMBERS of the Rotary Club of Glastonbury and Street joined colleagues from other clubs at the Royal Bath and West Show to welcome visitors and to hand out 8,500 child safety bracelets – an attempt to minimise parents’ concerns if a child became lost. Meanwhile, Street Parish Council chairman Tim Rice has presented club president Jon Fear with a community award after Rotarians “adopted” the roundabout at the entrance to the Sainsbury’s store on the A39.
Kelly is over the moon
Keith Jenkin, chairman of the club’s community and vocational committee, presents a cheque for £150 to Helen Bown of Somerset Trust for Arts and Recreation (STAR), to support their work with vulnerable or disadvantaged young people in the county. The money came from shoppers using the club’s wishing well at Clarks Village
(Photograph courtesy of Mike Lang)
They are all STARS
Kelly (left) and Sandra. The club meets every third Wednesday at Burnham and Berrow Golf Club at 7pm for a 7.30pm start
KELLY Rowe has succeeded Sandra Moon as president of Burnham-on-Sea Inner Wheel. Kelly said: “Sandra has had a very busy year and it has been filled with fun and friendship. I have been a member of Inner Wheel for several years and during these years I have met an amazing group of women who are such a fantastic support in everything we do. This year I intend it to be a busy year too.”
PAGE 86 • MENDIP TIMES • JULY 2017
VOLUNTEERS with community groups across Somerset have been recognised in the annual STAR awards. Voluntary organisations and members of the public were asked in February to nominate Somerset STAR volunteers who deserve special recognition for the work they do. More than 70 nominations were received and one from each district in the county has been named a district winner. The scheme was run by local voluntary organisations Engage and Spark. In Mendip, the award went to Lynn Rendell, the volunteer coordinator for the Home Library Service in Wells, Street, Glastonbury and Shepton Mallet. Lynn is the day to day contact for the volunteers for four libraries and has been prolific in not only recruiting volunteers but in bringing in new clients and has grown the service in Mendip. The Sedgemoor award went to Hands of Change for Burnham and Surrounding Area, a 530-strong group of community volunteers. The overall county winner will be named at a ceremony in the autumn.
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Centenary in flowers
COMMUNITY
A FLOWER festival has marked the centenary of Wells United Church, filling the aisles and pews with colour. Each display marked the decades since the city’s Congregational and Baptist churches combined in 1917. One of the factors was the lack of men to take leadership duties.
Sunday School Outings – 1930-1939: celebrating charabanc picnics by the coast or in the countryside (by Ann Taylor, Elaine Lewis, Madge Feltham, Carole Rumsam, Pat Squire and Sandra Lovelace)
Flappers and Jazz – 1920-1929: post WWI fun and entertainment (Pat Ardon, Janet Bartlett and Sue Fricker)
Dig for Victory – 1940-1949: flower gardens were dug up to make room for vegetables (Denny Johnson)
Fill it with flowers – the entire church was decorated for the festival
MENDIP TIMES • JULY 2017 • PAGE 87
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Peasedown parties
ALMOST 3,000 villagers went to Peasedown St John’s ninth Party in the Park community festival and enjoyed seven hours of live music and entertainment. The event, which included special guest Richard Wyatt from HTV/ITV News, featured a huge array of stalls and attractions, the village’s first ever official push kart race, the return of Peasedown Diamond cider and the results of the Party in the Park grant giveaway. The Sara Holley Community Award, set up in 2011 in memory of a life-long resident who passed away, was won by Paul Sly for his voluntary work with Peasedown Albion Football Club.
Susan Hill School of Dance Rosa Gray Band
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Peasedown's first ever Official Push Kart Race
Cheques were distributed to local organisations
Pride festival
(Photography by Sebastian Roberts)
The winning trophy is presented to Rosie Williams (centre) with Midsomer Norton mayor Councillor Paul Myers, organiser Nik Jovic-Sas, Anna Phylactic and Donna Trump
PAGE 88 • MENDIP TIMES • JULY 2017
THE second Midsomer Pride event took place in the Town Hall and one of the main events was a cake bake-off themed on Kings and Queens inspired by Marie Antoinette’s love of confectionary. Organiser Nik Jovcic-Sas said: “Even with all the positive steps that have been made for the LGBTQ+ community in the past few years, so much still remains uncertain. "Midsomer Norton Pride offers an opportunity for us to come together and celebrate the strength and beauty that comes from the diversity of our community.”
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EVENTS
Leigh Country Fayre
Pupils from Leigh on Mendip school after their traditional maypole dance Michael Renton with his 1957 Austin A35 which is being restored to its former glory
Julia and Faith sum up the summer
Lightning, a red tailed buzzard, on the Spering Court Animal Rescue stand
Clare, Amy and Sarah are members of the Friends of Leigh School and were helping to run the refreshments
MENDIP TIMES • JULY 2017 • PAGE 89
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Ubley Fete
(Photography by Crocodile PR)
Elisia and Lyla from Chew Valley Dance School
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Wartime effort at heritage railway
Rowberrow
EVENTS
MUSIC from the 1940s filled the air at a World War Twothemed weekend at the Somerset and Dorset Railway Heritage Trust station and museum in Midsomer Norton.
Residents provided cream teas . . .
. . . and home-made cakes Joyce, the station’s resident steam loco, departs for another trip
The Floorshiners provided music
Don’t tell him your names … Logan, Josh and Paul get some tips form Somerset Home Guard officer Roger Taylor
The tombola stall was busy
MENDIP TIMES • JULY 2017 • PAGE 91
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Motorcyle run around Mendip
Ready for the off – the riders gather in the Market Place
TORTOISES, snails and hares took to the roads around Wells for the annual run organised the Wells Classic Motorcycle Club. The snails – veteran and very low-powered machines – set off from the Market Place for a sedate 45-mile journey. Beefier tortoises went on a 75-mile route, whilst the hares – machines over 250cc – Ridden not hidden – the club’s motto tackled a 115-mile for the event course. John North, the mayor of Wells, signalled the start of the event with a traditional waving of the club’s flag.
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Email: sales@caravanrepairs-sw.co.uk MENDIP TIMES • JULY 2017 • PAGE 93
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More room inside
ONE of the most surprising things about so many properties in Cheddar is the deceptively large rooms inside that seem to contradict the more modestly proportioned exteriors. A cottage in Tweentown, the home of the Swift family, is a prime example. Go through their front door (it’s at the side of the house… this is Cheddar!) and it’s rather like entering the Tardis. And the time travel analogy doesn’t end there because these wonderful Victorian houses, despite the decades of changes to which they’ve been subjected, will quickly transport you back a couple of centuries. I asked Vivien Swift about their property Roundhay. In Victorian times it was a general store and a winch that remains in the loft is a reminder of the days when sacks were hoisted up from delivery carts. Vivien is fascinated by the story of Roundhay but has very little pictorial evidence of its history as a retail outlet. She said: “I know that the general store closed and it became an electric shop, but
details and evidence are hard to come by. If anyone has any photos or memories, I’d love to hear from them.” Roundhay now is a spacious, fivebedroom family home, ideally located for shops and Vivien’s job as an administrator at The Kings of Wessex Academy. Bit by bit the Swifts are working their way through the house, ensuring the character of the property is not compromised. Vivien said: “Above all it has to be a family home. With boys of 13 and 17 it needs to allow for hobbies to be practised and it is has to have the capacity to absorb sound.”
I spotted the drums in the music room as I left. The Swifts, like so many people who are upgrading older properties, chose the local firm of Kingfisher to install doors and windows. They said: “Kingfisher really understands what works in houses like ours and the advice, guidance and the total lack of pressure have been well received and welcome. The quality of their products and their workmanship is first class and I know now why so many people recommend them. We certainly do.” Tony Thurling
Tony Hucker TV Service – Sales – Rental
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FAMILY BUSINESS BASED IN THE CHEW VALLEY FOR OVER 100 YEARS
PAGE 94 • MENDIP TIMES • JULY 2017
Satellite Installations Aerial Systems TV wall mounting Custom Installations Networking Signal Solutions
01275 332888 www.tonyhuckertv.co.uk Email: tony@tonyhuckertv.co.uk Unit 4, Fairseat Workshops, Chew Stoke BS40 8XF Open: Mon – Thurs 9.00am – 6.00pm Fri – 9.00am – 5.30pm
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HOMES & INTERIORS
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Telephone: 01761 417654 Facsimile: 01761 417207 email: office@techniglaze.co.uk www.techniglaze.co.uk
Page 96
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HOMES & INTERIORS
Valentino Kitchens – family values from a family firm
WITH the kitchen increasingly becoming the focus of many families, Valentino Kitchens are the perfect people to talk to about bringing the room to life. That is because Valentino Kitchens is a family-run firm with strong family values and 50 years’ experience in the world of design, manufacture and installation of kitchens, from project management to completion. Owners Adrian, Kim and daughter Samantha bring their individual skills to bear on the business, based at West Harptree, which prides itself on exceptional service, innovative design and offering maximum value, whether the client is on a limited budget or looking to create that “wow factor”. Adrian “an ideas man” brings his lifetime of innovative experience in the manufacturing industry, with Kim always at his side. Samantha draws on her design skills – she studied fashion design at the University of the West of England – to turn a client’s wish list into reality. The showroom at West Harptree houses 15 kitchen displays complete with suggested floor and wall finishes. The kitchens themselves are manufactured in both Somerset and Coventry and all major appliances are available. The experienced team of fitters cover all of Somerset, Bristol and Bath but are happy to travel further afield – even Scotland. Samantha said: “People who came to us for their kitchen in their main home come back and want us to install one in their holiday cottage. Clients become friends and we are always on the end of the phone if anyone has any queries.”
Adrian, Samantha and Kim at the Valentino Kitchen showroom
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Going wild in Wookey
WOOKEY Hole Cave has always been open, as evidenced by the Iron Age and RomanoBritish bones and artefacts discovered there over the years. With PHILIP Since mediaeval HENDY times, intrepid visitors have been shown around the cave by enterprising locals. But it was not until 1927 that Captain G.W. Hodgkinson developed it as a commercial show cave. So 2017 is the cave’s 90th anniversary. Wild Wookey, launched in January, is the latest attraction, adding to the many developed over the years. Unlike the others, it is not for everyone, as a taste for physical exertion and adventure is required. The experience is an adventure caving trip into parts of the cave not accessible to the general public. It has been developed by Christopher Binding, an experienced caving instructor, who is Wookey’s technical advisor and trainer. The original plan was to develop Chamber Twenty, opened up by tunnelling only in 2015, but this was set to one side as there were operational difficulties, one example being the terrain beyond the pathway being too rugged for efficient caving. The Wild Wookey experience takes in various challenging parts of the rest of the cave not seen by the public, linked by the show cave chambers, so visitors see that as well. The operational leader is Becca Burne, who started at Wookey as a cave guide, so she knows much about the history of the cave as well as about caving. Becca can call on other qualified leaders if necessary at busy times. The expedition begins at the Bat Cave, a briefing and changing room. A conservation and safety video is shown, and the kitting-up procedure and safe use of equipment is also explained. Lockers are provided for valuables – caves are not very phone-friendly, and no-one wants to go scrabbling around for the contents of their pockets in the middle of a crawl. When everyone’s equipment is in order,
Abseiling into the Witch’s Kitchen
and they are ready, the party walks up the river valley to the main cave entrance, where steel, via ferrata steps lead up, over the safety tunnel, up a steel staircase and into the cave through a small opening. A via ferrata is a method of climbing rocks developed on the continent without actually having to use traditional rock climbing techniques. U-shaped steel rods are fixed to the rock with resin anchors; they then form a series of steps which people can climb, using a system of two carabiners on short ropes as a safety connector attached to a harness to prevent them from falling off. From the entrance, the cavers then crawl, walk and climb through the dry maze of passages running parallel to the first part of the show cave. During the planning work, some Romano-British pottery was found here in a side alley. The route ends at a tenmetre drop to the lake in the Witch’s Kitchen, where an abseil takes cavers down to the edge of the subterranean River Axe. The party then walks through the show cave to the Third Chamber, the Witch’s Parlour, where they climb the steps up into the parts of the system discovered by cave divers, and subsequently opened to the public by miners in 1975. At the small Eighth Chamber, the group then uses a via ferrata to climb around the pool and towards the Ninth Chamber. This is much larger, and the clear water is ten metres deep. A traverse then takes people along one wall and over a swinging steel bridge across the lake. Another traverse soon leads
CAVING
to a walk along under the visitor’s walkway to enter the large and lofty continuance of the Ninth Chamber. This is the usual start point for divers exploring the upstream river, but our party skirts the sump pool to a narrow rift at the end. Here another via ferrata is climbed 30 metres up to a crawl, at the end of which is a steel platform, from where everybody abseils back down to the floor. The trip ends with a visit to the spectacular Chamber Twenty, before everyone walks out along the Kilmersdon Tunnel to the open air. Once everyone is de-kitted and cleaned up, they can make their way to the cafeteria for some wellearned refreshment. Each trip takes about three and a half hours. The first tour took place in January by the BBC’s Blue Peter, and more than 150 visitors have enjoyed the experience so far. Anyone planning to do the trip should be reasonably fit and have a sense of fun and adventure; there are a few narrow spaces to crawl through, so body size may be a limiting factor. The lower age limit is 14. Wookey Hole usually offer two sessions per day and the adventure will be particularly attractive to active families and keen youth or adult groups. Wild Wookey promises a strenuous but exciting and rewarding adventure caving experience. It is early days, and the trips have proven popular. Even so, Chris is working on plans to offer more thrills and challenges, and maybe in the future a caving experience suitable for younger children.
Details: www.wookey.co.uk/wildwookey. 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.
MENDIP TIMES • JULY 2017 • PAGE 101
Photography: Mark Burkey, copyright Wookey Hole Caves Ltd.
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More than one way to be the best THE Royal Bath & West Show. In through the Green entrance, past the Army – great motto “There’s more than one way to be the best” – to a showground waking up to early morning sun lighting up the arboretum, smelling bacon and coffee, a dog barking, horses neighing, past the iron horse – through With RACHEL his ears the finest view (reminiscent of THOMPSON Snaffles) – to slide onto a bench, site map MBE open to plan my daily equestrian tour. This show is crammed with horses, the equine catalogue runs to 182 pages. Anxious not to miss a thing, my frequentlywalked circuit takes in the fabulous new equestrian facilities around the Moet & Chandon ring, the woodland and countryside arena, the heavy horse village, the main ring and show jumping rings and the former village green to finally collapse under my favourite oak tree dedicated to Lt Col J. A. Garton CBE MC JP (shoeing and wrought iron creation steward 1947-1969). He would be justifiably proud of the lads and lasses making shoes in the forge today. So many interesting people – visitors, exhibitors, staff and volunteers – to meet and sights to see! Gemma Groves, from Maesbury, is showing her retired racehorse, 14-year-old gelding Gwanako, under the beady eyes of judges Henrietta Knight and Guy Landau. “What’s it like, retraining a racehorse?” I ask. “Sometimes you just have to sit and suffer,” Henrietta twinkles.
Scurry driving in the main arena – the course offered a tough challenge for the teams
Emma Collis from Fordingbridge: “You looked great in the ring,” I say (red hair, red ribbon, red turn out). A huge red equine juggernaut too. She says that Benny (18.3hh Canadian Belgian heavy horse) is very naughty! Woodland worker Kipp (13-year-old Ardenne) is naughty too, demonstrating his log pulling abilities between munching grass. He stuffed five bales of hay down in four days and had his own paddock! Visiting the stewards’ tent, Jinks bestows on me a smile, tea, lemon drizzle cake. Everyone is happy here. Not many falls, few complaints about judges, such nice weather, efficient arena management provided by the Castle Cary rugby team. “Did you really kneel down and kiss the new turf?” I ask. Laughs, yes – well, it is magnificent – the rings newly-levelled and drained, Head of Shows, Alan Lyons tells me on a pre-show visit of the new facilities which include woodland horse walks, new parking and safe, one-way entrance and exit tracks. The long-limbed show jumpers, smart in boots, exercise sheets and flynets wait serenely in the collecting ring for their turn. The commentator’s voice floats through the air: “You have to be fit to be in the pony club!” Running down the ring members of the Wylie Valley, the Oakley, the Romney Marsh and the wonderfully named Sir Watkin Williams Wynns’s – to name just a few of the teams a packed and noisy grandstand has come to support. My favourite? The milk bottle race culminating in dressing up as an Ayrshire cow. What a fantastic seed bed for our future Olympic equestrian stars. I talk Jasper Wicks, aged five, into taking a turn on the big wheel with me. From our vantage point high aloft, band music floating up, the showground with its trees, green spaces, marquees and buildings, is alive with people and animals – celebrating country living in Mendip at its best. A Wylye Valley Pony Club member in action in the main arena
Emma Collis has the full attention of these heavy horses
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Happy birthday to us!
The outdoor arena boasts hard and soft lunge areas to help assess horses and also provides for horses to be ridden
THE team at Stables Equine Practice, near Wells, will be opening the doors of the purpose-built complex to clients and friends to celebrate their 20th anniversary. The open evening will be held on Friday, July 14th and promises to be a fun event as well as raising money for Hannah’s Wilberry Wonder Pony cancer charity. SEP was founded by vet Nicko Robertson from his home with the ethos of being 100 per cent dedicated to equine care – at a fair price. And that philosophy continues today. Now based at Conkerfield at Burcott, the practice has a team of five vets – including Nicko – who are both on the road and That’s my boy: proud mum clinic-based, with state-of-the-art Faith with her foal at just a equipment and facilities. few hours old
Puppies on parade
RIDING
THE Mendip Farmers’ Hunt held its puppy show at the hunt kennels in Priddy. The champion hound, Housewife, l to r) George Pullen, Lilly Clothier and Vicky and best Heal bitch hound, was walked by Lilly Clothier of Chewton Mendip. Lilly has been walking hounds for the hunt for eight years and has walked 20 hounds in total. Housewife was one of four she walked last year. Another that Lilly walked, Holdfast, was second in the dog hounds. Lilly is going to the British Racing School in Newmarket before securing a role in a national hunt racing yard. This is the second championship that she has won. The reserve champion hound, Hornet, winning dog hound, was walked by Kerry Pullen of Greendown.
Putting your horse’s health in the hands of the experts since 1997
SEP vet Ed Blyth checks over this new-born – as-yet unnamed – shire foal at Binegar
The open evening will run from 5-8pm. For details, visit: www.stablesequinepractice.co.uk
★ Treating horses and ponies throughout Somerset from our purpose built clinic base near Wells ★ Providing a personal and professional service for all horses at your home or at our clinic ★ 24 hour emergency cover – our dedicated equine vets always available at the end of a phone ★ Fully mobile service with state-of-the-art equipment for dentistry, pre-purchase examinations, fertility work (including AI) as well as all aspects of routine health care Stables Equine Practice, Conkerfield, Pennybatch Lane, Wookey, Wells BA5 1NH Tel: 01749 830666 • website: www.stablesequinepractice.co.uk
MENDIP TIMES • JULY 2017 • PAGE 103
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Top names compete at Nunney
NUNNEY International Horse Trials once again attracted some of the biggest names in the equestrian world for three days of competitions. William Fox-Pitt, Zara Tindall and Kitty King were joined by overseas competitors as well as local riders including Millie Dumas and Georgina Nicholls. The trials were held in the grounds of Southfield House, home to Mrs Angela Yeoman, and were supporting Mendip YMCA.
Anthony Hart, on Tredstep Romeo, clears the first of the Hopkins Gypsy Wagon fences on the cross country course
Pippy, a recently-rescued terrier, enjoys her first event with owners Jane and Polly
PAGE 104 • MENDIP TIMES • JULY 2017
RIDING
Becky Littleton, on Chacoa Roulette, clears a fence in front of Southwood House in the BE100 Plus section
All smiles for safety marshals John and James as a rideår crosses the road to the cross country course
Pumbaa Goess-Saurau, on Six For Gold, clears a challenging series of jumps in the arena
Karen Collins (left), senior fundraiser for Mendip YMCA, is joined by Ann Ralls, chairman of the Wells-based charity Youth With A Future
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Death of Lindsay Game
THE Chew Valley has lost a remarkable woman, Lindsay Game, who has died aged 60, after coping with cancer for nearly half her life. She died at home in Chew Stoke on Wednesday June 21st, after final days of treatment at the RUH. She was admitted after she and husband Nigel had fulfilled their wish for a last holiday in the Austrian Tyrol. Friends have praised her cheerfulness and zest for life, despite facing 28 years of treatment. She was an active supporter of the WI, Singaholics, Lynne Joyner's Fitness Classes, Chew Stoke Film Club and other local organisations. She and Nigel ran Geni Printing in the village. Both were former teachers and first met when working at a Children's Summer School in Hastings some 40 years ago. When her sister Kathryn Walsh died of ovarian cancer in 2009, Lindsay did a sky dive, raising £3,000 for charity. During her own treatment she organised Wacky Wig Events in 2015. These events raised nearly £8,000 for the RUH Forever Friends Appeal for their new Cancer Treatment Centre. Mourners will be asked to support the appeal. Funeral arrangements were being finalised as Mendip Times went to print. Details: www.justgiving.com/lindsay-game
Wishing on a rainbow
Blooming hopeful
NEWS
SOUTH West in Bloom judges are due to visit Peasedown St John this month after the village decided to enter the competition for the first time. South West in Bloom, part of the national Britain in Bloom initiative, is held every year to showcase and recognise some of the best looking gardens and landscaped community green spaces across the region. The village’s Bath and North East Somerset councillors, Karen Walker (left) and Sarah Bevan are coordinating the village’s entry. Cllr Walker said: “We’ve seen neighbouring communities such as Midsomer Norton and Radstock achieve success in the competition, now it’s time for Peasedown to show what it can do!” They have been working with residents, community groups and local businesses to prepare 12 local sites for viewing. Peasedown in Bloom has been sponsored by Peasedown Party in the Park through the 2017 grant fund. Festival chairman, Nathan Hartley, said: “Since the festival began in 2009 we’ve given over £10,000 away to local projects and initiatives. We are extremely pleased this year to be able to support the first ever Peasedown in Bloom Competition. Our grant fund was set up to support schemes just like this.”
Council earns praise
COMPTON Dando Five Villages youth group children enjoyed their latest meeting as they made rainbow jars. This involved a lot of chalk and even more salt and some sugar paper. The coloured chalk was rubbed into the salt and then poured in layers into glass jars to create magical rainbow jars. Organiser, Alison ter Haar, said: “Some of the kids were so pleased with their jars that they made a second one!” The group is open to all children living in the villages of Standard bearer Fred Payne lead Compton Dando, Burnett, Chewton Keynsham, Woollard and the procession to the church Queen Charlton, and meets, usually, on the first Friday of most months. Details: 01761 490903
MENDIP District Council has been praised for its “truly inspiring” partnership working and the “commitment and dedication” of its staff, as part of a wide-ranging review of the authority. The review was carried out in the spring by the Local Government Association, which saw staff and councillors from other councils around the country spend several days at Mendip, finding out more about how the council delivers services. The team’s positive feedback about Mendip included “fantastic story of sustained improvement” and “Mendip clearly punches above its weight”. Among the challenge team’s recommendations for the council were to “further develop your approach to customer engagement, including more collaborative working with town and parish councils” and to “continue work to deliver your budget”. Cllr Harvey Siggs, leader of Mendip District Council, said: “I’m delighted with the peer group’s findings, which highlighted Mendip as having a culture of innovation and learning and as a council that is willing and able to take on and try new and different approaches.”
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Tour in the mountains
THE Tour de France gets underway during the month of July and it’s likely that the mountain stages will play a key part in CYCLING determining the with EDMUND eventual winner. LODITE The Tour was first organised in 1903 but it wasn’t until seven years later that the race first ventured into the mountains, over the high passes of the Pyrenees. This became a watershed moment in the history of the Tour and made the race what it is today. Anyone who then wanted to win the Tour had to learn to climb and, just as importantly, to descend, these formidable roads. On a recent holiday to the Pyrenees there was time to cycle a few of the mountains that regularly feature in the Tour and compare that to cycling over the Mendip Hills. The first mountain pass to be climbed by the Tour was Col de Peyresourde. It is not the hardest or steepest in the Pyrenees, but as the first it now has a guaranteed place in cycling history. So, it also had to be the first mountain to cycle during our stay in the Pyrenees. Riding up through uneven gradients surrounded by lush and placid green flanks this was a challenging and picturesque ride. As I counted down the km marker stones I thought how hard it must have been for the riders in those PAGE 106 • MENDIP TIMES • JULY 2017
early years of the Tour tackling the same route but on much heavier bikes over gravel roads. What makes these mountain climbs hard is the unrelenting gradient over long distance that saps your energy. There are hills across Mendip that have steeper gradients, for example King Alfred’s Tower, near Bruton or Draycott Steep near Cheddar. They both reach 1 in 4 gradients for a section of over 100 metres or so, and you’ll be out of breath afterwards. But that high intensity performance is different to the endurance required for cycling up long mountain passes. Burrington Combe is probably as close
as you can get but you’d need to ride it many times to cover anything like the same distance. A few days later, there was a chance to cycle up two more of the iconic mountain passes. The first, Col d’Aspin has to be one of the most scenic in the mid-Pyrenees. The views of snowcapped peaks were stunning but the most memorable sight was three vultures circling overhead. That first visit to the Pyrenees became known as the Circle of Death because of the wild creatures that roamed the area. Although the vultures can occasionally be seen, the bears are now a rare sight in this part of France. From there it was time to face Col du Tourmalet with 17km of riding mostly at a gradient of 8% to 10%. It is a brutal mountain and ranks as one of the hardest in the Tour. After climbing up through the pouring rain and mist the only thought at the summit was to get off the mountain as soon as possible! Back in 1910 when the Tour passed by here the riders shouted “murderers” and “assassins” at the race organisers. That only fuelled the publicity and interest in the Tour de France and the following year the organisers included the Alps as well. To experience what it’s like to cycle these mountain passes you simply have to go there. The uphill climbs drain your energy but then the scenery is outstanding and the reward is a speedy descent along sweeping roads.
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SPORT
Rugby fun in the sun
TEAMS from Wales took the honours in both the men’s and women’s main tournaments at the annual Frome 7s rugby festival. A total of 50 teams took part in the serious – and not-too-serious – competitions, with sides from Olorun Ponty Butchers, from Neath, reaching both finals, but were beaten by fellow Welsh teams from Swansea and Camarthen. Bath Ladies in action
7 Bamboos score against Ponty Butchers ladies, but they were to reach the final Exeter University ladies (in green) take on Bath Ladies
Ponty Butchers (in blue) opened the tournament against Team 14
Sailor’s sporting success
AXBRIDGE-based yachtsman Jamie Harris has been named Young Sportsperson of the Year by the Somerset-based sports charity TS5C. TS5C – celebrating its tenth anniversary – aims to assist talented 14-to-24-year-olds, who live or train in the county, in their dream of competing at regional, national and international levels. Jamie’s success comes after being crowned Cadet World Champion. along with his crew mate Antonia Wilkinson, at a competition in Argentina. The 16-year-old has now joined the 420 GBR team going to the European Championships in Athens this summer. Alan Gloak, chairman of the charity, said: “Jamie has impressed us all at TS5C. Sailing throughout the year on our cold waters takes a strong commitment and determination, and we are delighted at his success at cadet level has moved across to the 420 Class. We have high hopes!” Runners-up in the awards were 17-year-old swimmer Brodie Williams, of Street, and Bertie Kelly, 11, a table tennis player from Bridgwater.
Jamie Harris in action
TS5C relies solely on donations for its funding. Alan added: “We are committed to supporting young athletes in Somerset, both able and non-able bodied. We have funded people who have become Olympians and Commonwealth medallists and it is important that we continue to do so. “The costs of training, specialist equipment and attending competitions are daunting for any family, yet essential if a young person is to achieve their full potential. TS5C grants make an important contribution in meeting these costs.”
For details, visit: www.ts5c.org
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Pavilion is a big hit BATCOMBE Cricket Club welcomed villagers and friends to the official opening on their new-look pavilion. The barbecue and drinks party at the club was a thank you to the community who supported the project. On the field, Batcombe hosted Litton CC in a friendly game with the visitors going down by 114 runs, chasing the home side’s 237.
Batcombe and Litton players on the verandah of the new pavilion
Batcombe opener Ashley Christopher, who made 17
Steve Priscott was Litton’s best bowler, taking three wickets for 31 runs
Batcombe captain Mark Matcham (left) and Litton skipper Martin Hodge. Litton won the toss and put the home side into bat first PAGE 108 • MENDIP TIMES • JULY 2017
Out for a duck: the Batcombe player judged to have played the worst innings goes home with this souvenir of batting failure
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SPORT
Norton’s big bash
ALL Star Cricket – a new scheme to encourage youngsters to take up the sport – is proving to be a massive hit in Midsomer Norton. More than 50 youngsters – aged five to eight years old – have signed up for the coaching course at the club where the emphasis is on fun. The youngsters receive a personalised shirt along with a cap, rucksack, bat, ball and water bottle. Other clubs in the area, such as Wells, Cheddar, Witham Friary, Butleigh, Clevedon and Congresbury are also running the eight-week-long course, which is an initiative by the England and Wales Cricket Board and has the support of Somerset County Cricket Club. The idea originated in Australia. But Norton CC is in the top five per cent of clubs nationally for its recruitment level, said proud club chairman Graeme King. He added: “Friday evenings have become a social event, as parents, grandparents and friends are welcome to have a drink whilst watching the children train and we get the barbecue going.”
Some of the Norton youngsters with coaches Kevin Messenger and Jennie Webb A coaching session begins
This determined youngster has her own ideas about the game A perfect summer evening at Withies Lane
Teach the basics and the rest will follow
For details, visit: www.ecb.co.uk/play/all-stars
Throwing practice underway
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Felton celebrate 70 years
MORE than 30 tug of war teams descended on Wrington for a tournament to celebrate Felton Eccles’ 70th anniversary. The team was originally named after an Eccles caravan kept in a field by the team’s founder at Felton! They have won numerous national and international honours in the past, but missed out this time, with the Dutch team Gold Heure taking gold in two of the heavyweight classes. One from the scrapbook
Taking the strain
More than 30 teams took part
Holden, from Devon, were women’s champions
Club veteran Dave Perry, aged 77, from Wrington with a national championship medal, which was presented to him by Miss World, Lesley Langley PAGE 110 • MENDIP TIMES • JULY 2017
Spectators enjoyed the weekend
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Badminton finalists
AFTER winning the regional finals of the National Junior League Badminton Finals in March, Chew Valley U-14s went on to represent Avon in the National Junior League finals at The National Badminton Centre in Milton Keynes, coming away with a silver medal after battling their way to the final. The team were Katie Whitmarsh, Regil, Amy Whitmarsh, Stanton Drew, Harvey Thompson, Ubley and Barney Pridmore, Wells. The coaches are Will Mellersh and Liz Whitmarsh. Silver in the national junior league finals is a fine achievement for such a relatively new club and an improvement on the bronze medal achieved last year at U-12s. The medal on the day was won by four young players but belongs equally to all of the 80+ junior players at the club. Chew Valley Juniors play at Chew Valley School from 6pm8pm on Tuesday evenings all year round (breaking for the summer school holidays) and on Saturday mornings from 9am1pm from September to the end of May. Details: www.chewvalleybadminton.co.uk or contact Will Mellersh on 07721443343.
Camerton on a roll
CAMERTON and Peasedown Croquet Club’s South West Federation League wins continue to mount. The club’s five teams have now won their eighth consecutive match this season in their respective leagues. Five early matches were two against Weston-Super-Mare, and one each against Bristol, Exeter and their local sparring partner, Bath. The subsequent away match in the GC Handicap Central North League against Nailsea was won 10½:9½ with fine displays of hoop running and tactical play interspersed with cries of anguish from both teams. If you want to get involved in thes crazy game of croquet why not ring 01225 708540 and ask for Mo or Brian to arrange a croquet taster session.
SPORT
Rowers recreate historical race to land a pilot on a ship
TWO crews from Clevedon Pilot Gig Club raced to transfer a commercial pilot to The Matthew in the Bristol Channel. With the support of the Cornish Pilot Gig Association (CPGA), the club worked with Bristol Pilots Ltd and The Matthew to plan the event which generated much interest around the South West. As The Matthew sailed down the Severn on her way home from the Tall Ships Festival in Gloucester, Clevedon’s two wooden pilot gigs set off from Pill, the historical home of Bristol pilots. A furious 22-minute race ensued which saw the Blackbird crew victorious over their counterparts in Watch and Pray. In short order, the winning crew transferred their pilot, John Freegard, to the Matthew. The crews were not only competing for pride, but the total of £3.65 which is the amount that was paid in the last recorded pilot transfer in the 1930s. The day took the sport right back to its Cornish roots when pilots fought to be first to make it to an incoming vessel. If successful, they and their crew would get the job, and the pay, for bringing the vessel safely into port. This fostered a culture of racing between pilot crews which lead to the modern-day sport of Cornish Pilot Gig racing. It was also a notable event for both Bristol Pilots Ltd and The Matthew, as the month of May marked the 520th anniversary of John Cabot’s original Matthew leaving Bristol on the voyage to North America. This passage in 1497 was also one of the first records of pilotage out of Pill. Clevedon’s men’s captain, Scott Ferrier said: “The event was a remarkable success and the club will be actively looking to hold a similar race in the future with the goal of making it an annual event in the club calendar. “Thanks must go to all involved in the organisation of the day – Rick Wakeham and the Matthew, our pilots John Freegard, Tony Anderton and Steve Osborne and to Paul Wells, skipper of the Ruby D, who provided safety boat cover for our crews. “As a club we are always welcoming new members and exciting events like this demonstrate why the sport of gig rowing is one of the fastest growing in the UK.” Details: www.clevedonpilotgigclub.co.uk
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Runners on their marks in Wells
HUNDREDS of runners of all ages and abilities took part in the annual Wells Fun Runs. From a trot for toddlers around the grounds of the Bishop’s Palace to the full 10k race, the day saw five different races. Organisers, Wells City Harriers, said they were pleased with the turnout with competitors from across the country. In the 10k race, Kieran Young, from the Harriers, won in 35.08; Lynette Porter (Bitton RR) was the first woman home in 41.09.
Robert Hares, a member of Yeovil Rugby Club, had a young companion for his 10k effort
The start of the 1.2k race PAGE 112 • MENDIP TIMES • JULY 2017
Ready to race: just a few of the youngsters who tackled the Bishop’s Palace run, started by Bishop Peter Hancock
Peyton celebrates with an ice cream …
… whilst brother Oliver is a little unsure about the run
Michelle Sankey, of Cheddar Running Club, checks her time as she cross the line in the 10k race
For details and results, visit: w
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SPORT
Jemima Stillwell, from Mendip Athletics Club, was the first girl home in the 3k race
The 10k race gets underway
Wells Cathedral and the palace ruins provide a stunning backdrop for the youngsters’ race
We made it – members of the Up and Running group, which encourages people to take up the sport, reach the finish of the 5k race
sit: www.wellscityharriers.org.uk
Kieran Young powers home to win the 10k, 21 seconds ahead of second-placed Mark Tyrell, of Oxford City AC
The winners of the junior races were presented with their prizes by John and Gail North, the mayor and mayoress of Wells
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Chew Valley 10K has record entry A RECORD 723 runners took part in the Chew Valley 10k in perfect running conditions. Bath’s Olympic pentathlete, Heather Fell, started and then ran the 10km race. She said: "I am delighted to be able to support a brilliant local event like the Chew Valley 10k. I have gained so much from sport and relish any opportunity to encourage others to have a go and to reap the lifelong benefits which sport can bring.” As a charity event which supports Bishop Sutton School Society, Chew Valley School Society and South West neo-natal charity, Bloodbikes NICU Support, this year organisers invited additional charities to enter runners to raise further funds. It was therefore fitting that both male and female race winners, Graham Wadsworth (36:23) and Victoria Baker (40:48), ran for Bristol’s St Peter’s Hospice alongside runners supporting
(Photography by Steve Egginton and www.photo-fit.net)
Waiting for the start of the fun run
Men’s winner Graham Wadsworth PAGE 114 • MENDIP TIMES • JULY 2017
charities such as A Sibling’s Wish, Time is Precious and Bath Carer’s Centre. Bishop Sutton primary school head, Dieter Cook, started the 1km Fun Run with Heather Fell, setting 260 children racing around a circuit at Bishop Sutton’s football field, many in fancy dress. Local winners from the Chew Valley were this year Richard Cook of Felton (39:35) and Stowey’s Rachel Anderton (47:40). Amelia Sommer from Bishop Sutton was the overall junior female winner, finishing in 50:40.
The start
Denise Mellersh, race director, said: “A big thank you to all our local residents, marshals, helpers and sponsors, without whom we could not put on this event, and most of all thanks to our runners. “The Chew Valley 10k contributes significantly to sports equipment/training and fundraising projects at local schools. Plus, it supports the families of premature babies all across the South West at a critical point in their lives.”
Start of the junior fun run
Women’s winner Victoria Baker
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SPORT
Runners warm up for the event
Bishop Sutton head, Dieter Cook, starts the fun run with Olympian, Heather Fell
Rachel Anderton, first local female runner home
Richard Cook, the first local male runner home
The fun run entrants warm up
Mark Cadbury, supporter of Bloodbikes NICU Support, with Olympian Heather Fell and race director Denise Mellersh
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Rock ‘n’ Coleford
FROM heavy rock to ska, the annual Coleford Music Festival offered something for all tastes. Organised by the Coleford Revival Group, the day-long festival attracted around 200 people to the Royal British Legion club in the village. Bands came from the local area as well as further afield, including The Underclass, from Birmingham, and The Shakespearos, a punk band from Weymouth. The group organises the annual Coleford Day, which runs alongside the village flower show. Proceeds from events such as the music festival go towards supporting the local community.
Excel, featuring Graham Britton, on guitar, and son Sam on drums – they shared the vocals
Dagmar (front, better known as Dags) is normally on the road around the world catering for music superstars such as Elton John and ELO but still found time to run the kitchen at the festival. Dags, who lives in Coleford, enlisted the help of nieces Nicole and Gracie
Jamie Hill, on guitar and vocals with The Hammervilles
Frome-based covers band The Hammervilles
James Rideout, from Bath-based Cronos who opened the festival
This year’s Coleford Day and flower show takes place on Sunday, August 27th. For details, visit: www.colefordrevivalgroup.org
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MUSIC
Promoting arts in Chew Valley THE team behind proposals for a Chew Valley Performing Arts Centre will be holding a series of presentations at community festivals over the summer before calling an open meeting for residents in the autumn to report on progress. They recently organised a sell-out show, Sammy and the Snow Leopard, from Bristol's acclaimed young people's theatre company, Travelling Light, at Chew Valley School. Jenny Stevenson from the arts centre said: “It was great, and a big treat to have Travelling Light performing right here in the valley.” The volunteers behind the project hope to create a purpose-built, versatile performing arts centre at the school, bringing local and professional
Priddy much a sellout
performers together with local audiences, with a multi-purpose 250seater auditorium, rehearsal rooms, dance studio, café/bar and flexible exhibition space that will be used by all Details: www.valleyartscentre.co.uk
PRIDDY Folk Festival is heading for a sellout this year as the village gets ready to welcome some of the top folk talent from around the British Isles and beyond. The festival, which takes place from Friday, July 7th to Sunday, July 9th, welcomes top Irish band Flook, Scotland's The Shee and Talisk, Faustus and Mawkin from England, Mabon from Wales and leading Anglo-French band Topette!! among the 50plus music and dance performers scheduled to appear over the weekend. There is also a full programme of children's entertainment, food from around the world (and the village itself) and a beer tent stacked with local ales and ciders. And there is also a fringe tent running during the afternoon on Saturday and Sunday featuring the best of local bands along with a craft market – both of which are free entry.
the performance groups in the community and also the school students. The project’s patrons are Michael Eavis, Sarah Mead and Dr Phil Hammond.
Flook will be amongst the headliners at Priddy
To find out more or to buy tickets go to www.priddyfolk.org
RAFA band in Banwell
THE RAFA Weston Band gave a concert at St Andrew’s Church, Banwell for the Banwell branch of the Royal British Legion, under the direction of Peter Skellon. Residents turned out to fill the church and the acoustics made the band sound “out of this world”. Organisers said they would like to thank Margaret Cunningham for all the groundwork that she put in for the evening, Denis Cruse for his work in the church and all the members who helped at half time with the refreshments. The band will be back at Banwell Village Hall for a mini Festival of Remembrance on November 11th.
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Princes Road, Wells, BA5 1TD
Starts Friday 30th June Starts Friday 7th July Starts Friday 14th July Starts Friday 21st July
EVENT CINEMA FOR JULY
NOW SHOWING:
Despicable Me 3 3D/2D • Baby Driver (15)
Film fundraiser
Spider-Man Homecoming 3D/2D • Hampstead (12A) War for the Planet of the Apes 3D/2D Cars 3 3D/2D • Alone In Berlin (12A) Dunkirk 5th July La Bohème 7.30pm 20th July Angels in America Part 1 7pm 22nd July Andre Rieu 7pm 27th July Angels in America Part 2 7pm
© Ian James 2017
● Book in person ● Online 24/7 @www.wellsfilmcentre.co.uk ● Over the ’phone: 01749 673195
Courses for the serious home dressmaker or fashion student wishing to solve pattern problems. Please email Lee for more info on: lhollahan@mac.com or visit her website: ‘learnpatterncutting.com’
Next Pattern Cutting ONE Day Master Class Sunday 9th July at Chew Stoke Village Hall £60 for the day which runs from 10am to 4pm. Students will need to bring their own Sewing machine and lunch
Wells Film Centre manager Becky Cooper (left) presents a cheque for £500 to Bishop’s Palace chief executive Rosie Martin for the Great Hall Fund. The money was raised from a “Sandford Village Fete” tombola at the Hot Fuzz outdoor screenings at the palace during the Wells Film Festival
WELLS Film Centre will be holding a gala screening of the Second World War film Dunkirk in July to raise funds for the Wells branch of the Royal British Legion. The film, to be shown on Friday, July 21st, tells the story of the evacuation from the perspectives of the air, the land and the sea. Directed by Christopher Nolan, stars include Fionn Whitehead, Kenneth Branagh, Mark Rylance and Harry Styles. ● Doors open at 6.30pm for a reception before the film starts at 7.30pm. Tickets (£10 each including a drink) are on sale now.
Family fun at Haynes
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THERE’S a world of fun-fuelled action and excitement just waiting to be discovered at the multi-award winning Haynes International Motor Museum, the UK’s largest exhibition of the greatest cars from around the world. Younger visitors are able to test their driving skills at the awesome Haynes Motorland outdoor activity centre, which is packed with a myriad of motoring-themed interactive games and miniature vehicles for children. Throughout the summer the museum is bursting with lots of exciting and fun activities, including Sparky Trail, Tour and Talks, and Discovery Days every Tuesday and Thursday starting on July 25th. Aimed at families, this is a fantastic chance to explore the museum and their education centre, as well as getting handson with some artefacts from their motoring past and present. All of these activities are offered at no extra cost over the normal admissions price.
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Full steam ahead for children’s area
WHAT’S ON
THE Somerset Steam and Country Show will take place on July 22nd and 23rd near Low Ham, Langport, and 2017 looks to be an exciting year. The show will have its usual mix of over 700 exhibits including over 30 full-size steam engines, which will be giving free trailer rides all weekend. After last year’s launch of the children’s area, 2017 will be even bigger and better. This year it will include hands-on steam engines and tractors, bouncy castle, try your hand at stone carving, meet the animals, sandpit, pedal tractors and the most critical area, the parent seating! This is all free and there is no charge for U-16 show entry. Somerset Steam and Country Show will also feature a steam ploughing special with a direct steam ploughing demonstration, a very rare sight indeed. Details: www.somersettractionengineclub.com
Lots to see and do at Wells Cathedral!
WHATEVER the weather Wells Cathedral offers a day out with a difference for visitors far and wide! Join a free daily guided tour, Monday-Saturday, no booking is required and highlights could include the magnificent West Front, stunning scissor arches and medieval Vicars’ Close. Free stained glass and embroideries taster tours also continue most Saturday and Wednesday mornings, AprilOctober, from 11.10am. Again, no booking is required and a different theme is offered each month. Self-guided family trails are always available for the little ones and free summer holiday creative workshops take place this year on August 2nd and 23rd. Details of all events are available on the cathedral’s website or simply pop in to enjoy the cathedral’s popular café, serving tasty home-made food using locally-sourced ingredients. The cathedral doesn’t charge an entry fee but, as English cathedrals receive no regular funding from the government or Church of England, donations are welcome on entry.
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M e n d i p
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. Commercial entries cost £25.
Wednesday June 28th – Saturday July 1st The Bradfordians Dramatic Society, Romeo and Juliet, at the Tithe Barn, 7.30pm, tickets £12, £10 concessions from Wiltshire Music Centre. wiltshiremusic.org.uk 01225 860100. Details: www.thebradfordians.com Wednesday June 28th Backwell and Nailsea Macular Support, 1.30pm, Backwell W.I. Hall, when the speaker will be from the Friends of Bristol Eye Hospital. Details: Sheila, 01275 462107. Thursday June 29th, 30th and July 2nd Bishop’s Palace, Wells Hamlet with Wells Theatre Company. Details: www.bishopspalace.org.uk 01749 988111. Thursday June 29th West Mendip Walkers strenuous 14.3 mile circular walk from Blenheim Road, Minehead, OS Map Ex OL9 SS971466, start 10am, park in nearby car park. Details: Vi Howley 07711 662993 or vihowley@btinternet.com Friday June 30th Concert in aid of Somerset Trust for Arts and Recreation and PROMISEWorks, Tacchi Morris Arts Centre, School Road, Taunton, TA2 8PD, 7.30pm, tickets £12.50 from the box office or book online at www.tacchi-morris.com Charity Auction on behalf of the The Mother and Baby Trust, 7pm at Meadgate Farm Shop, Weekesley Lane, Timsbury, Bath, BA2 0NH, all proceeds to the trust, based at St Michael’s Hospital in Bristol. Details: Janet 07812 018959. Friday June 30th – Sunday July 2nd Yeo Valley Lions Club Claverham Beer Festival in aid of local voluntary organisations and charities as well as other Lions projects, tickets £8 includes a souvenir glass and first pint, lunchtimes 12.30, evenings 7.30pm. Details: www.claverham-beerfestival.co.uk Saturday July 1st Congresbury Horticultural Society's summer show and village fete, St Andrew's church paddock from 1.30pm onwards. Summer Nights is another eclectic selection of music being presented by Spectra Musica and musical director Peter Leech in St. Michael’s Church, North Cadbury, with concert pianist Anita D’Attellis and a string quintet, 7.30pm, tickets £12. Details: 01963 350160 or tickets@spectramusica.co.uk Mendip Society walk Beacon Batch and Burrington Ham, meet at 2pm by the Burrington Inn (BS40 7AT) ST 476589, use adjacent public car park on the B3134, a five-mile walk with a long climb up to Beacon Batch. Details: Peter 01761 221995. Wedmore Street Fair stalls, food, drink, entertainment in The Borough. See page 34. Chewton Mendip village fete, 3pm in the school field. Farrington Gurney Village Day celebrating the 20th anniversary of the village hall, stalls and attractions on the playing field, live music Friday and Saturday night. Cheddar Male Choir, Burnham Coastline Singers and the U3A Ukulele band concert to raise funds for Burnham RNLI Lifeboats, Princess Theatre, Burnham-on-Sea, 7pm for a 7.30pm start, tickets PAGE 120 • MENDIP TIMES • JULY 2017
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T i m e s
available from Burnham’s Lifeboat Shop or the Princess Theatre and Arts Centre, £10. Somerset Plant Heritage, Edington Village Hall TA7 9HA, 1.30pm members’ plant sale; 2.30pm “Herbs for Healing” by Davina Wynne Jones (Rosemary Verey’s daughter), visitors £4. Details: 01278 451631. Village Fete at St. John’s Manor Farm, Chilcompton, BA3 4HP, 2-4pm to include raffles, gifts, children’s activities and a separate raffle for a Mulberry handbag, all proceeds to St John’s Church Fund. Details: Janet 01761 233301. Paulton Party in the Park, Memorial Park, 29pm. Sunday July 2nd Romulus and Remus Italian Festival, Beech Barrow, Hillgrove, Penn Hill, Wells, from midday in aid of Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance, First Response, St. John’s Ambulance, British Heart Foundation and Orchard Vale Trust, tickets £12.50, 5-11s £7.50, U-5s free, includes food and live music or take a picnic, bar, bouncy castle and vintage car display. Tickets in advance from Julie Bollini 07929 926490 or Tony D’Ovidio 07770 994652. Tuesday July 4th Mendip Decorative and Fine Arts Society 1925 Paris Arts Decoratifs Exhibition, a talk by Mary Alexander Bath & West Bar & Restaurant, B & W Show Ground, Shepton Mallet BA4 6QN, 11am, guests welcome. Details www.mdfas.org.uk 01934 862435. Cheddar Male Choir are looking for new members and are holding two open evenings tonight and on July 11th, 7.30pm, Cheddar Village Hall next to the church. Congresbury Over-60’s Club entertainment by the Reflections Singers, Congresbury War Memorial Hall, 2.30-4pm. Details: 01934 832004. Thursday July 6th Screening of film 'Fixing Dad', the story of an ordinary family’s battle with Type 2 diabetes, Q and A and optional Tai Chi for Health session, part 2 of a series of free health and wellbeing sessions at Wells Town Hall 6.45pm – 8.30pm, booking essential! Details: Email mendip.healthconnections@nhs.net or phone 01373 468368. West Mendip Walkers moderate circular walk of 13.3 miles from Parracombe village car park, OS Map ExOL9 SS671451, start 10am. Details: Carol Jackson 01934 733568/07979 354530 or Caj7599@btinternet.com Friday July 7th and Saturday July 8th Timsbury Theatre Group, Agatha Crusty and the Village Hall Murders, Conygre Hall, Timsbury, 7.30pm, also at The Mission Theatre, Bath, Tuesday, July 11th, 7.30pm. Details: 0754 2152595 www.thettg.org Friday July 7th – Saturday July 15th Wedmore Arts Festival opera, art, literature, poetry, music, drama, comedy – see page 38. Friday July 7th – Sunday July 9th Priddy Folk Festival music, dance, food, drink and fun for all the family. Details: www.priddyfolk.org Friday July 7th Cheddar Library monthly baby and toddler story session, no need to book just drop in for 30 minutes of stories and colouring. Saturday July 8th Mendip Society special interest visit to Arnos Vale Cemetery nature trail meet 1.30pm at the cemetery, Bath Road, studiosBristol (BS4 3EW), limited to
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25 people. Details: Richard 01275 472797. Duck Race, Plume of Feathers, Rickford, from 5pm, family fun, barbecue, three bars, live music. Details: www.theplumeoffeathers.com Friends of St James, Winscombe, Jazz in the Paddock, 7pm, next to the church (BS25 1DE), with The Big R Big Band, gates open 6.30pm, tickets £10, U-16s £4, family two adults and two children £25, available from the church office and local businesses. Cantilena Choir concert We Got Rhythm, music from the Americas with supper, featuring ukulele band Simply Uke, 7.30pm, St Michael’s Church, Park Road, Shepton Mallet BA4 5BP, tickets £10, children, £1, available from Dicketts The Stationers, 6, High Street, Glastonbury or by phoning 01278 722870 or 01458 835136. Congresbury Book Sale, 9am-1pm at War Memorial Hall, good quality books, jigsaw puzzles, dvds, cds and talking books. Burtle Café at Burtle Village Hall, TA7 8NB, 10am–12 noon, always second Saturday of each month, teas, coffees, home-made cakes and hot bacon rolls available, meat raffle, assorted items for sale, handbags, cards, candles, meat products, pies, veg ....and cake! Details: Steve 01278 723 670. Wells SOUP. Four charities make presentations at Seager Hall in Union Street, Wells, in Dragon’s Den-style bid for the audience’s vote to be awarded grants. 12.50-2pm. £5 inc. lunch. Ffi: 07715 770454. Sunday July 9th Wells Boules charity tournament. 9.30am onwards. Market Place, Wells. Organised by the Rotary clubs of Wells and Avalon. Raising money for The Nepal Trust and Rotary causes. Ffi: www.wellsboules.co.uk or call Sara at The Crown at Wells on 01749 673457 ext 4. Monday July 10th Congresbury Memorial Hall Club friendship evening with a game of bingo, non-members welcome, 8pm at Congresbury War Memorial Hall. Tuesday July 11th Clevedon Art Club Clevedon School 6th Form Centre, 7.30pm, the vice president and distinguished artist, Martin Bentham RWA, will give feedback on artists’ own work. Wednesday July 12th Nailsea Horticultural Society talk and demonstration on container gardening by Val Davis, Nailsea United Reformed Church Hall, 7.30pm, £2 for members, £3 non-members, includes free refreshments, all will be made very welcome. Thursday July 13th West Mendip Walkers leisurely circular walk of six miles from Ditcheat, OS Map Ex142 ST626364, start 1.30pm, park on roadside near church. Details: Tony Strange 01934 733783/07976 902706 or anthonyestrange@gmail.com Mendip Society visit to the Bristol Blue Glass Studios, Bath Road, Bristol BS4 3EW, max 10/12 people, booking essential. Details: Richard Frost 01275 472797. Preparing “real food” putting theory into practice, part three of a series of free health and wellbeing sessions at Wells Town Hall 6.45pm8.30pm, information and inspiration, cooking demos and tasters, recipe share – bring one along for a chance to win a slow cooker, booking essential! Details:
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mendip.healthconnections@nhs.net or phone 01373 468368. Ladies champagne, canapé and cupcake evening. 6-8pm, Old Mill offices, Wells. In aid of Eady’s Journey. Therapists offering hand massages etc. and raffle. Tickets £10 pp available from the office reception or via email: jo.rossiter@oldmillgroup.co.uk. Friday July 14th Pork & Cider Evening at Burtle Village Hall, TA7 8NB, 6pm–9pm, roasted pork and stuffing rolls washed down with local cider, bar open, soft drinks available, families welcome. Details: Steve 01278 723 670. Saturday July 15th – Saturday July 29th Mendip Calligraphy Group summer exhibition, Wells and Mendip Museum, BA5 2UE, 10am – 5pm, closed Sundays, free entry. Details: mendipcalligraphy.wordpress.com Facebook – mendip calligraphy group. Saturday July 15th Cheddar Library start of its Animal Agents Summer Reading Challenge to read six books over the summer holidays, with a treasure hunt, sticker booklet, crafts, quizzes and much more. All Saints’ Church, WSM, BS23 2NL, North Somerset Music Service showcase the instrumental talents of our county’s young people, with full orchestra, jazz band, chamber groups etc., 7.30pm, tickets available on the door. Mendip Society walk Velvet Bottom, Long Wood and Beacon Batch, meet at 2pm in the Blackmoor Reserve car park, Charterhouse (BS40 7XR) ST 505 557, a 4.5 mile walk. Details: Clive 01275 848052. Brent Knoll Music on the Green with The Lipinski Band, 7.30pm, tickets £10, accompanied kids free, bar, BBQ & raffle available, tickets from the village shop or ring 01278 760308 or 760986. Concert in the village hall if wet. Butcombe Village Fete, Butcombe Old Rectory gardens, 2pm, stalls, teas, snail racing, skittles, small dog show, children’s crafts etc. Details: Frances Worle 01761 462812. Leigh on Mendip Open Gardens & Heritage Trail. Tickets £4 from St Giles church, BA3 5QJ. 11am-4pm. Tour the Open Gardens and discover the heritage buildings and associated families. Transport within village, refreshments, plants for sale. Ff: Graham 01373 812889. Stanton Drew Flower Show in the parish field, 2pm. Details: www.stantondrew.org Burrington Village Fete at Bourne House, Bourne Lane (BS40 7AF), 2pm, classic cars, cream teas, maypole display and much more – join us for an enjoyable afternoon in an idyllic garden. Saturday July 15th and Sunday July 16th Open Gardens at Camerton Court, near Radstock BA2 0PU. 2pm – 6pm. A beautiful and interesting garden with borders, lawn, rare trees and a walled vegetable and fruit garden. Admission £5. Free parking. Sorry – no dogs except assistance dogs. Proceeds for St. Peter's Church Fabric Fund. Details 01761 470606. Churchill Open Gardens in aid of the NGS, Bay Tree House, Church View and Laurel Cottage, 25pm, £5, children free. Sunday July 16th Somerton Beekeepers’ Association beekeeping taster day, Long Sutton, a full-blown bee experience to see if you would like to be a beekeeper, but no pressure to do so, £20 including buffet lunch. Details: Steve Horne steve.horne1@btinternet.com or ring 01278
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662335. Grumpy Men’s Breakfast Club at Burtle Village Hall, TA7 8NB, 10am–12 noon, a chance for grumpy old men to get a cooked breakfast, read the papers, chat and maybe get a haircut in peace, usually held on third Sunday of each month. Details: Steve 01278 723670. Tuesday July 18th Midsomer Norton Townswomen's Guild, 2pm, St John's Church Hall BA3 2HX, talk by Pat Aveyard "Inspirational China". Details: Glen Hepworth 01761 413528. Congresbury Over-60’s Club AGM followed by a cream tea, Congresbury War Memorial Hall, 2.30-4pm. Details: 01934 832004. NADFAS illustrated lecture, The Making of Venice: From Swamp to Serenissima, Caryford Hall, Castle Cary, BA7 7JJ, 11am, free parking, £6. Details: 01963 350132. Thursday July 20th West Mendip Walkers strenuous circular walk of 10.9miles from Easton, OS Map Ex141 ST514476, start 10am, park on roadside near church. Details: Tony Strange 01934 733783/07976 902706 or anthonyestrange@gmail.com Redhill Village Club Classic car and motorcycle BBQ Meet from 7pm. All enthusiasts are welcome to park up for a chat and meet like-minded people. Held on the Recreation Field (BS40 5SG) Tel: 01934 862619. Saturday July 22nd and Sunday July 23rd Somerset Steam and Country Show near Low Ham, Langport, with over 700 exhibits including over 30 full-size steam engines. Details: www.somersettractionengineclub.com Bishop’s Palace, Wells, The Taunton Garrison, weekend re-enactment. Details: www.bishopspalace.org.uk 01749 988111. Saturday July 22nd Mendip Society walk Radstock to Shoscombe, meet at 2pm in the public car park (opposite the Radstock Museum) in Waterloo Road, Radstock (BA3 3EP) ST 690 551, parking is free if staying under four hours, five-mile walk exploring the industrial heritage of this area. Details: Roger 01225 872777. St Bridget’s, Chelvey cream tea, 2.30–5pm, Youngwood Farm, Youngwood Lane, Nailsea by kind permission of John and Mary Prior, direction signs from church in Chelvey Road. Congresbury Book Sale 9am-1pm at War Memorial Hall, good quality books, jigsaw puzzles, dvds, cds and talking books. Shepton Mallet Almshouses open afternoon. 25pm. Come and visit the almshouses. Learn about their history and enjoy refreshments in the church. Ffi: www.alms1627.org.uk Monday July 24th Congresbury Memorial Hall Club friendship evening with a game of bingo, non-members welcome, 8pm at Congresbury War Memorial Hall. Wednesday July 26th Families for Children Trust, a specialist adoption agency and charitable trust, is running an information session for prospective adopters, from
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4pm-6pm at Foot Anstey, The Quad, 2000 Blackbrook Park Ave, Taunton TA1 2PX. Adoption information session. Organised by the Families for Children Trust, a specialist adoption agency and charitable trust based in the South West. 4-6pm, Foot Anstey, 2000 Blackbrook Park Ave, Taunton TA1 2PX. Ffi> 01364 645480 or visit: www.familiesforchildren.org.uk Thursday July 27th West Mendip Walkers moderate circular walk of 5.6miles from Ebbor Gorge, OS Map Ex141 ST520484, start 1.30pm, park NT car park. Details: Jill Ollis 01934 713068/ 07709 767907 or jill.m.ollis@gmail.com Friday July 28th – Sunday July 30th Weston Lions Real Ale & Cider Festival, Beach Lawns, Weston-super-Mare, everybody welcome, free entry before 5pm, open 11am until 10.30pm in aid of Breast Cancer NOW, Macmillan Cancer Support, Prostate Cancer UK & Alzheimer's Society, live music from 7pm Sat; jazz from 12noon Sun. Details: www.westonlionsrealalefestival.co.uk Friday July 28th Bishop’s Palace, Wells Family Fun Day, first of Family Fun Fridays during the holidays. Details: www.bishopspalace.org.uk 01749 988111. Saturday July 29th Mendip Society walk, Cadbury Castle, Parrock Hill, Corton Ridge and Hill, meet 2pm in the castle car park, South Cadbury (BA22 7HA), ST 632 253 a 6.5 mile walk with some steep hills but rewarded with extensive views, car park limited so car share where possible. Details: 01749 672457. Taize’ and Teas Stoke St Michael Church, BA3 5GT, 4pm, come and join in singing chants from Taize’ or just listen and relax, no charge but donations to church funds always welcome, stay for a hot drink and biscuits afterwards. Details: Janet 01225 869337 or 07376 573093. Sunday July 30th Bishop’s Palace, Wells, A Comedy of Errors with the Lord Chamberlain’s Men, bbq and bar from 6pm, take rugs, picnic and low-backed chairs. Details. www.bishopspalace.org.uk Monday July 31st Wessex Stationary Engine Club talk "A Life in Engineering" by John Blackford, 7.30pm, Old Down Inn, Emborough, BS3 4SA, all welcome, free entry. Details: 01225 754374. Friday August 4th-Sunday August 6th Valley Fest, Community Farm, Chew Valley Lake. Details: www.valleyfest.co.uk Saturday August 5th Mendip Society walk around Bleadon, meet 2pm in Bleadon village car park BS24 0PQ ST 341 569, about five miles with some hills. Details: John 01934 842868. Cheddar Library free craft session, run by the library sewing and craft group, always a popular session so please book, 2.30pm. Friday August 11th Cheddar Library free story session with Brian the Lion of the Cheddar Vale Lions, again please book to avoid disappointment, 2.30pm. Saturday August 12th
MENDIP MINDBENDER ANSWERS FOR JUNE ACROSS: 3 Dunball, 6 Regil, 7 Red, 8 Othery, 12 Eavis, 13 Tweentown, 16 Godney, 18 Yatton, 20 Ashcott, 21 Rode, 22 Peasedown, 23 Trudoxhill. DOWN: 1 Michael, 2 Mary, 4 Axbridge, 5 Lyng, 8 Oath, 9 Rand, 10 Jenson, 11 Loxton, 14 Cad, 15 Oake, 16 Gordano, 17 Button, 19 Vole, 20 Axe.
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(Photograph courtesy of Rob Bayes Photography)
High octane mowers
YMCA Somerset Coast is once again joining forces with The British Lawn Mower Racing Association to bring you the Mendip Mower Racing and Family Festival this August. The event, which will take place from August 26-28th, the bank holiday weekend, is now in its sixth year and invites racing fans and families to a weekend of fun, live music, great food and high octane family entertainment. The event supports the important and valuable work of YMCA Somerset Coast which provides supported accommodation for 16-25 year olds, homeless emergency accommodation for families and employment and training opportunities for all. It’s funded through grants and fundraising and the mower racing weekend, held in Cross, near Cheddar is their biggest fundraiser of the year.
COMPETITION WINNERS
Last month Mendip Times teamed up with the organisers of Yeovilton International Air Day to give readers the chance to win three pairs of tickets to the show on Saturday July 8th. The first correct answers drawn were from Mrs J. Robertson, Writhlington, Irene Edgell, Radstock and Henry Money, aged six, from Draycott.
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New look for famous garden
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Roger Saul on the viaduct overlooking the garden as work began
VISITORS to Kilver Court Designer Village in Shepton Mallet can enjoy the results of a mammoth redesign of the famous garden’s herbaceous border. More than 1,000 man-hours, 1,000s of plants and 100s of plant varieties have culminated in 100 metres of redesigned border set against the backdrop of the gently sweeping, giant Victorian railway viaduct. The herbaceous border has not been touched since the 1960s when the Showering family, of Babycham fame, reworked the gardens, but it had grown out of control and was in need of regeneration. Kilver Court is owned by Roger and Monty Saul who founded fashion brand Mulberry. Just as their early days at Mulberry were inspired by the vibrancy of the London fashion scene, today the inspiration for the garden at Kilver Court comes from the Mediterranean, with a little Munstead, a touch of Battlestone Hill and a splash of Lytes Cary. The leaf colour palette will move from yellow and gold through to mid greens, dark greens and chartreuse to bronze reds and wine purples then on to silver blues and white. The border runs from deep shade to full sun and back to shade adding to the challenge of selecting the right plant for the right place. Roger said: “From my days at Mulberry, I know that change is a necessary part of evolution – as a designer I’m constantly thinking about how to refresh, reinvent and inspire. This herbaceous border project has been a real labour of love because a garden is an ever-changing landscape where you’re trying to tame living things whilst battling the elements. I’m delighted with what my dedicated team of gardeners have created and hope this new herbaceous border will surprise and delight our visitors.” The gardens are open Mon–Sat, 10am-5pm and Sundays 10am–4.30pm. On Saturday, July 8th, they will host an outdoor cinema screening of Dirty Dancing at 7.30pm. For information, including a chance to win a VIP package, visit: www.kilvercourt.com
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