Issue 5 - Volume 20 - Mendip Times

Welcome

HARVESThomes are traditional in our part of the world and we’ve been lucky enough to visit a few in the last month, as photos and waistlines show.

With autumn comes preparation for winter, both for animals and we humans, a point made by several of our contributors.

Farming expert Nick Green harks back to days when time was spent preserving some of summer’s bounty. Katy Beauchamp offers us some recipes for Halloween. We have photos from Frome Cheese Show.

The Double Hills memorial service may well have been the last – we have a special report. We preview the Mendip Rocks! Festival of geology and celebrate the 50th anniversary of Somerset Morris, one of the earliest women’s sides.

We meet a gardener who has struck gold at the age of 86 and we bid farewell to our riding expert Jane Paterson, who is hanging up her reins.

With Jane and all of our regular contributors and features, welcome to the season of mists and mellow fruitfulness.

November 2024 deadline: Friday 18th October

Published: Tuesday 29th October

Editorial:

Steve Egginton steve@mendiptimes.co.uk

Mark Adler mark@mendiptimes.co.uk

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Lisa Daniels lisa@mendiptimes.co.uk

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Publisher: Mendip Times Limited

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Clock restored

THE Victorian clock high on the east face of St Thomas a Becket Church tower in Pensford is back in place, with a new clock face, after a £10,000 refurbishment.

Tower tours and teas will be back next summer. David Coffin is pictured putting the clock back with Conservation Trust project manager Alex Carr overseeing the work.

Memories of the mines at reunion

Taking advantage of some early September sunshine

MORE than 30 former Somerset Coalfields employees gathered at the Old Down Inn at Emborough for the annual reunion lunch organised by the Somerset Miners’ Welfare Trust.

Somerset Morris celebrate 50th anniversary

INOctober 1974 a group of women got together in Bath to form a Morris side. This was quite controversial at the time, as, since the 1930s, Morris dancing had been seen as a men's pastime.

People had forgotten that, with blessing of dance collector, Cecil Sharp, the Morris dance revival of the early 20th century had been driven by women.

Nowadays there are at least as many women dancing as men and that 1974 “side”, as a group is known, is still in existence as Somerset Morris. Based in Marksbury, they are celebrating their 50th year, with two of the original members still dancing – proof that Morris can keep you fit!

As part of the celebrations, and armed with gold hankies for the occasion, the side organised a dance tour of some of the

places that they had visited on their first ever tour.

Accompanied by Bristol Morris Men, Beetlecrushers clog dancers and Mendip Morris, they met in the village of Priston, with which they have a long association, moving on to Timsbury, where they danced at the Seven Stars, and then

Kilmersdon. The whole event was rounded off by tea and cake in the village hall.

A reunion of former members is planned for late October. If anyone reading this used to dance with them and has not received an invitation, get in touch on sm50reunion@gmail.com

Pictured (l to r): Mendip Morris, Beetlecrushers, Somerset Morris, Bristol Morris Men

Art in the Mendip landscape

Chris Howard

THEMendip Hills National Landscape and Westonsuper-Mare will feature as a major hub in a £2million ground-breaking national art project called Nature Calling. The project is funded by Arts Council England, the Department for Environment, Farming and Rural Affairs (Defra) and National Landscapes in England.

It aims to inspire communities across England to connect with National Landscapes, increasing their access to nature, improving their wellbeing and inspiring a sense of belonging in these special places.

Nature Calling will bring together the 34 National Landscapes in England, local arts organisations and community groups from within a 30-minute journey time of their nearby National Landscape.

They will work together to co-create artworks inspired by these iconic places and the results will then be shared with the public in a Season of Art from May-October 2025. It is expected that 70,000 people will take part.

Tim Haselden, Project Development Officer for the Mendip Hills National Landscape Team said: “We’re so excited to be part of Nature Calling and to be working with communities in Weston-super-Mare.

“We’ve partnered with Super Culture and commissioned Sound UK to help us inspire and connect local people with the Mendip Hills National Landscape and new Mendip ‘super’ National Nature Reserve.

“We’re delighted to have a writer-artist collaboration between Jason Singh, Gwyneth Herbert and Chris Howard. As the project develops, we’re looking forward to sharing more information about how people can get involved.”

Details: www.naturecalling.org.uk

Threat of bracken

READING the article One way of controlling bracken (Vol 20 Issue 3) I was reminded that there is another way bracken can be a health risk. When it dies and the fibrous stalks dry out, if caught at the right orientation they can slice through flesh as cleanly as a scalpel. The less of the stuff there is the better. Unfortunately, in the absence of domestic browsers and large wildlife to replace them it, like bramble, spreads creating an

Connecting with nature

A LOCAL nature and wildlife group for people living with dementia and their carers has been awarded substantial funding from the National Lottery.

Since 2020, Wild Memories has enabled people living with dementia and their carers in and around Frome to get involved with a diverse programme of nature and wildlife activities, from creating ponds to telling stories over tea and biscuits.

The sessions have helped more than 100 people connect with nature, with benefits including improved communication abilities and mood, feelings of community and shared support, and as put by several participants, “laughter”.

Marion a participant said: “It’s about being active rather than passive, linked in with activities which also contribute in a useful and meaningful way - that's what I miss. I'm talking about something that I can feel pleased with myself for achieving or accomplishing.”

Wild Memories is organised by the UK Reptile and Amphibian conservation charity Froglife, which has a strong focus on including vulnerable and disadvantaged communities in its activities around the country.

Zak from Froglife said: “We are thrilled to announce we have recently been awarded just under £100,000 from National Lottery’s Reaching Communities fund, spread across the next five years, enabling us to continue working to create a dementia friendly community, involving our participants and volunteers to ensure our sessions are beneficial, accessible, safe, and fun.”

Details: Zak 07949 572849 zak.mathergratton@froglife.org www.froglife.org/wildmemoriesfrome/

overgrown mess. I don't know whether that is good or bad for small wildlife, but I cannot see how it could be good compared to the type of habitat that would arise in a more balanced ecosystem.

The bugs that sustain life

BACKto meadows again this month with a look at some of the insects which are seen – or are mainly unseen by us – for most of their lives anyway. Nevertheless, meadows are teeming with many insect species.

Generally, if a habitat reflects a healthy population of birds, particularly birds of prey, amphibians and small mammals such as bats, voles, hedgehogs and mice it suggests a healthy population of insects as their food source.

Most insects have three stages to their lifecycle and in August adult insects such as moths and butterflies may already be flying having passed through the egg and larval stages. Crickets and grasshoppers are more likely to be heard rather than seen.

However, an entomologist is needed to identify those insects that keep a very low profile. For example, there are 4,000 species of beetle in the UK. They really are everywhere. I cannot identify these myriad life forms that live so successfully on stems, shoots, roots, leaves and flowers plus on and in soil, but some leave evidence of their existence (see later).

This is why I enlisted the help of the Bristol Naturalists’ Society’s, John Smith, who came to do a short survey of insects in July 2016. He realised that the meadow is damp and so should be host to insects enjoying such a habitat

With two sweeps of his enormous net, he quickly recognised a species-rich environment. In all he trapped 180 insects representing 41 species belonging to six orders, all within the class Insecta. Since they are so rarely seen, they mostly retain their Latin names similarly to mosses.

Generally, he highlighted large numbers of certain insects such as flea beetles that have enormous thighs for jumping out of trouble. Damsel bugs look more like miniature praying mantis. Capsid bugs and plant hoppers are tiny.

There are tiny devil’s coach horse beetles that feed by shooting out their adapted pharynx just like a chameleon to catch even tinier springtails.

Then there are tiny pea weevils with a pear-shaped body and a long curving proboscis to bore a tiny hole into small fruits (can’t use tiny again but I wanted to!) such as sorrel. Then they turn round, lay an egg which hatches as a maggot that subsequently feeds on the fruit it was laid in.

The name reflects that this weevil enjoys eating members of the pea family such as bird’s foot trefoil, vetches, clovers and garden peas. Bird’s foot trefoil is the food plant of 130 species of different invertebrates. It is easily grown from wild seed. The seeds resemble a bird’s foot.

These are just a very few examples. You really couldn’t make this up! Here are just 4 pieces of evidence that these cryptic insects exist. Cuckoo spit

Here on bird’s foot trefoil, cuckoo spit is easily spotted in early spring. It is produced by jumping bugs particularly frog hoppers. The nymphs take sap from their host plant and then surround themselves with a froth exuded from their rear end that prevents them from drying out whilst transforming themselves into an adult. The spit protects them from some predators too. They hatch in May

and live until September when they lay eggs and overwinter as such. Springtails

Springtails are minute wingless adults about one sixteenth of an inch long that lay eggs in small groups on moist soil. After three weeks or so they hatch as nymphs. They moult six to eight times before becoming adults that feed on decaying organic matter, bacteria, fungi and algae within the meadow and valuably in compost heaps. Of course, they are a food source for many other insects that, in turn, feed other wildlife.

Six spot burnet moth

This is a day flying moth which is immediately recognisable by the red spots on its wings that have a green luminosity. Red warns predators that these moths are poisonous. They release hydrogen cyanide when attacked. I think this poison is passed on to the larvae as well. Their favourite nectar comes from knapweed, thistles and scabious.

The moth lays its eggs on its food plant in July or August and the young caterpillars hatch within a few days. The caterpillars start feeding in the autumn and then hibernate through the winter on the plants.

They start feeding again in the spring and are usually fully grown by the end of May. While growing the caterpillars moult several times. Feeding is almost a non-stop activity apart from a day or two to rest at each moult and they grow quickly.

Sometimes they remain as caterpillars over a second winter. The fully grown caterpillars spin cocoons with silk from their spinnaret, a special gland near their mouth. The tough cocoons are attached high up grass stems.

They change into a pupa inside the cocoon. Inside the pupa the body of the caterpillar breaks down and re-forms into an adult which hatches in June or July. It lives for only two or three months once the female has mated and laid her eggs.

Grasshopper and crickets

On occasions in July and early August the meadow can be quite noisy with the sound of grasshoppers. I am pretty sure that this is a photo of a grasshopper since crickets are more nocturnal. I am willing to learn if a reader would like to correct me. Apart from the clicking sound it is the twitching of grass that alerts the walker to grasshoppers.

The grasshopper has three life stages – egg, nymph and adult. There is no caterpillar stage. The cycle takes about two months. They moult repeatedly and each instar becomes larger and more like an adult including wing development.

After the final moult wings are inflated ready to use to find food or escape predators. After a week or two the female mates. Her eggs mature inside.

She then lays a batch of eggs in a hollow in the soil near food plants which she covers with soil and litter. The eggs pass the winter like this. As the weather warms up the eggs hatch, shed their membranes and their exoskeletons harden. The grasshoppers can then jump to avoid predators and to find food. The adult lives for only two to three months.

DIANA REDFERN

Steady progress on canal restoration project

A NEWskilled volunteer, Adrian Iles, has made great progress in restoring one of the four wing walls on the Terminus Bridge site of the old Somersetshire Coal Canal.

He recently moved to Paulton and approached the Somersetshire Coal Society on their stand at Paulton Party in The Park.

The society said: “Over the last month

we have seen some fantastic progress.” Its main goal is to restore the full 10.5 mile stretch of the northern branch of the coal canal from Timsbury to Bath. It’s always grateful for more volunteers.

Five years of “no dig” growth

WANSTROW Allotment

Group has celebrated its fifth anniversary by holding an open day at the site. The allotment group uses a “no dig” technique with 11 plots and it now has a thriving, welcoming community which has gone from strength to strength. The event raised more than £260 for the group.

Details: Stu Ashman

Allotment holders at the open day celebrations

A recipe book created by the group

Local produce was on sale

Livestock from a nearby rare breeds farm joined in the fun

Food our grandparents knew

IT’S harvest and all is safely gathered in. There is no shortage and whatever we want, when we want, we can get from the supermarket. This is a part of the world we live in but a couple of generations ago the only way food would have been available out of season was if it had been preserved. Frozen food has become a way of life, mainly by purchasing goods that have already been frozen, but there are opportunities to freeze our own.

Blackberries are a great example. Bramble bushes seem to be hanging with blackberries this year just dangling there ready to be picked. Mix them in with some apples when they are being stewed, let it cool and pop it in the freezer and the mix will be there ready for some time in the winter.

Those who grow their own vegetables will be well versed in preserving. Potatoes laid out in a cool, dark and dry place will keep for ages. Carrots stored in some dry sand will last just as long.

It’s great to eat seasonally but it does get a bit boring in the

middle of winter when there is just potatoes, swede and parsnips, so preserved greens add colour and variety to the day’s meals.

Pickling is a great way of using up surplus purchases or production. Vinegar is a great preservative and lends itself ideally as the basis for pickled onions, chutneys, pickles and a host of other things.

Cheese is an interesting example of preserving. Before the advent of refrigeration and the ability to deliver milk all around the country, farmers converted their surplus “spring flush” of milk into cheese. By the time the cheese had matured sufficiently winter had arrived and it was ready to eat.

And if you wanted something to drink, apples could be juiced and kept as juice or converted into cider. There are many other examples and something many of us could think more about. At home we stew blackberries and apples, juice our apples and freeze some things but there is so much more we could do.

Whether it’s laziness, thinking we haven’t got enough time or just thinking we can buy it from the supermarket I’m not sure, but the one thing I am sure about, we ought to try harder in our house and go back to what our grandparents did.

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

Ploughing matches

THE North Somerset Tractor Club’s annual ploughing match was held at Halfway Farm, Stanton Drew.

Pictured (l to r) are judges Tony Dibble, Fred Anthony, Steve Raymont and Diane Haberfield.

The North Somerset Ploughing match is being held on Sunday, September 29th on land at Havyatt off the A38 and Ashey Lane, 10am-4pm.

As well as ploughing there will be rural crafts, trade stands, BBQ, entertainment, ploughman’s lunch and licensed barsomething for everyone to enjoy.

Entry is £2.50, children free.

Details: www.nsas.org.uk

With NICK GREEN

A celebration of the countryside, farming –and cheese!

WITH 300 trade stands, 11 competitive sections ranging from livestock to homecraft – and, of course, hundreds of entries in the Global Cheese Awards – as well as children’s entertainment and live music – this year’s annual Frome Cheese Show also enjoyed near perfect weather.

Making hay Wren, aged six, and Eli, aged eight

Frome and District Young Farmers

The Mangled Wurzels

Pygmy goats were popular

Managing the queue for the face painting

The supreme champion in the grand parade of livestock

Award-winning sheep in the Main Arena

FROME CHEESE SHOW 2024

John Rendall takes advantage of the late summer sunshine

Charlie and the Fun Kitchen in the Cheese Pavilion, one of many free activities for children

R2, a harris hawk, delights children with his low-flying skills on the Village Green. The bird was one of several displayed by Mere Down Falconry

A farming future. Young handlers were out in force this year, winning the praise of main ring commentator Simon Ledger

Sophia, riding Goose, with sister Martha, leading Royal, two shire horses

Judging a blue vein hard cheese during the Global Cheese Awards

Sheila Golden (left) and Tina Carter in the We’ll Meet Again 1940s café

The Mendip Mindbender

1 Albert & Harold sing this Music Hall song? (3,3,4)

6 Swimming pool located in sunbathing centre (4)

9 Loathsome (10)

10 So far has no right for place to sit (4)

12 Close-fitting necklace (6)

13 Finish –the answer is easily cracked (8)

15 Smooth posterior seen on the Mendips . . . (6,6)

18 . . . by huge carthorse clumsily missing start of gallops (12)

21 Take off (8)

22 All met randomly after Shepton (6)

24 Sport car has a hole in it (4)

25 Musician needs these for playing chicken (10)

26 Tax (4)

27 Repeats (10)

1 Kidnap (6)

2 Only one sober found within that N Somerset village (6)

3 Conservative outcome of 4th July (4,8)

4 Terrible Russian Leader years before Putin (4)

5 Commitment (10)

7 Italian liqueur served in’t tearoom (8)

8 Mazda light perhaps? (8)

11 Someone not quick off the mark (1,4,7)

14 Inflate price (10)

16 Lifted apples? (8)

17 Chivalrous knight (8)

19 Extract (6)

20 Assist misplaced inactivity (6)

23 Leave out (4) By Fairlight Cryptic Clues are in italics

Supporting Somerset food

THEMendip Hills alongside the Quantock Hills and Exmoor Farming in Protected Landscapes (FiPL) teams have generously helped kick start, through an injection of initial funds, the new South West food and farming conference –Land Alive.

The Land Alive conference will be held at the Bath and West Showground on Friday 22nd and Saturday 23rd November 2024. It will feature a two-day programme of talks by experts in regenerative farming and sustainable food. Whilst primarily aimed at farmers, this is the first conference in the region to look at the place of regenerative farming within the wider food system aiming to ‘join the dots’ across the supply chain and support farmers and local economies in the years ahead.

The DEFRA funded FiPL programme seeks to support and champion projects that support nature, climate, people and place within the National Landscapes. It was clear that by supporting the conference it would help local farmers and other members of the public engage with our food and farming systems, old and new, and engage people in how public money is being spent on public goods through

programmes like FiPL and the Environmental Land Management Schemes (ELMs). The event will root much deeper than just talking however, as it will help local food producers and consumers to actively transition to a more nature and climate friendly farming future through access to expert advice on regenerative farming. Investing in a more sustainable food and farming future was a no-brainer for FiPL!

For further information about grants and support contact go to mendiphills-nl.org.uk

(Photograph courtesy of First Milk)

East Brent Harvest Home

Food arrived in a traditional way

Tessa Munt MP (in apron) with other helpers

Weston Sea Cadets lead the parade to the marquee

Christmas pudding is always served

Lunch is served

The banner

High Littleton and Hallatrow Village Day

Hutton has a party!

HUTTONenjoyed four days of events, making full use of a marquee on St Mary’s field. First up was the Taste of Somerset Market & Classic Car Show, organised by Hutton Parish Council.

There was a quiz night organised by St Mary’s Church; annual flower show organised by Hutton Horticultural Society; the "Hutton Big Bash", organised by HuttonDabaso Twinning Association; and United Benefice Songs of Praise, organised by St Mary's Church.

The weekend ended with the annual proms concert, featuring Weston Brass and local soloists, also organised by Hutton Horticultural Society.

Johnny G. children's entertainer

The dog show

City of Bath Brass Band

The flower show

A Taste of Somerset

The annual proms concert featuring Weston brass

Entries in the produce show

With KATY BEAUCHAMP

It’s so scary how time flies

I was shopping in a branch of a well-known supermarket chain the other day and found myself staring at several rows of Christmas-themed boxes of sweets, biscuits and other festive items. Finding them on display in the middle of September was scary enough, but I thought how sad it was that we have so much else that’s fun and exciting to look forward to between now and December, including Halloween! Despite the look of these dishes, they are really tasty and perfect for a fun autumn al fresco meal.

DEVIL EGG EYES

METHOD

Hard boil the eggs (around eight minutes) and crack the shells under cold water trying not to break off any bits as you’ll need them. Place in a bowl of water and peel when cool. Halve the eggs and remove the yolks, mash them together in a bowl with the rest of the ingredients and refill the egg halves. Decorate with almonds and raisins with a dot of food colouring for their eyes and serve!

INGREDIENTS

(makes six halves)

3 eggs

Tbs butter

Tbs mayo

Teaspoon cumin powder

Salt and pepper

Red food colouring (optional)

RATS BRAINS AND ENTRAILS!

A ghoulish version of spaghetti and meatballs

METHOD

Fry the onion for five minutes and then add all the other sauce ingredients and simmer for 20 minutes. Squeeze the meat from the sausages and roll into little “rats’ brains” and drop straight into the sauce. Simmer for a further ten minutes and serve on green spaghetti (cooked spaghetti with a squeeze of green food colouring stirred through).

INGREDIENTS

(serves 2/3)

Six fat sausages (For the sauce)

Tin of chopped tomatoes and half a can of water

One chopped onion

Tsp garlic

Tbs dried mixed herbs

One carrot (grated)

Tbs vinegar

Tbs sugar

Green food colouring (to taste)

APPLE CAKE

An autumnal treat – apple cake

METHOD

Cream together butter and sugar; beat in the eggs and mix until smooth. Fold in the flour and cinnamon. Grate three of the apples and fold into the cake mixture. Spoon into a round deep baking tin. Quarter and core the remaining two apples and slice them thinly. Arrange them on the cake in a spiral pattern, pushing them halfway in. Bake at 170˚C for 50 mins. I served mine warm, with clotted cream!

INGREDIENTS

(makes 10-12 slices)

5 smallish red apples

200g softened butter

200g soft brown sugar

4 eggs

250g self-raising flour

3 tsps cinnamon

Spooky – but tasty

Harvest festival

ST HUGH’SChurch in Charterhouse will be opening its doors for a harvest festival on Sunday, September 29th, at 11am.

It will give visitors a chance to see inside this unusual church, which has been open on Sundays during the summer. There will be a light lunch served afterwards. Any donations which are not perishable will be donated to the food bank in Weston-super-Mare, which St. Andrew’s Church in Blagdon also supports.

Frankie Howerd’s Community

Cafe’s second birthday

THE Frankie Howerd OBE Trust’s community hub and café in Loxton is celebrating its second birthday and said it wishes to thank all the customers, volunteers and others (especially the chef, Kieran) for their amazing work.

Sevier Road, Loxton, Axbridge, Somerset BS26 2XE OPEN EVERY DAY

9.30am-4.30pm

Serving Breakfast, Ice Creams, Cakes, Lunches and Cream Teas

All our profits go to The Frankie Howerd OBE Trust

They say they are also grateful to the National Lottery for funding Kieran’s wages for a year and to National Grid and Garfield Weston for their combined grants to help them build their extension.

From the start of October, they will be closed on Mondays and Tuesdays but will keep the previous times. Groups can book a special evening meal by contacting Kieran, and he will be doing takeaways on Fridays.

Sexeys Arms

THE Visitors of Hugh Sexeys Hospital, Bruton have asked us to point out that the Sexeys Arms in Blackford, which we featured in September, is still owned by the charity, though the business now has a new owner. We are happy to make this clear.

Big cook, little cook

WELLS Food Festival is looking forward to another day of celebrating local food and drink, on Sunday October 13th.

Running from 10.30am to 4.30pm, the Artisan Market is one of the star attractions, with its array of regional produce. But there are also other exciting other areas to explore, including a Celebration of English wine and the Food for Thought marquee. There is also a whole section of the festival devoted to the younger visitors.

The Children’s Zone, located next to the Bishop’s Barn, is supported by PTAs from local primary schools who have been busy preparing lots of fun foodie activities. There are applethemed crafts courtesy of Wells Cathedral Preparatory School, some tasty treats from Millfield and the 5th/7th City of Wells Scout Group is organising a food labelling quiz and a human fruit machine.

Simon Gray and his team from Fun Kitchen return offering some easy recipes for youngsters to create. This year Simon will be running four different workshops, showing how to create apple cinnamon whirls. The workshops are suitable for ages 3+ and are free to join in, but numbers are limited so head over to the Fun Kitchen marquee in the Recreation Ground early on the day and book a place. Then it’s time to explore the rest of the festival with the popular interactive Children’s Trail, with a prize at the end for all correctly completed sheets.

For details, visit www.wellsfoodfestival.co.uk

& DRINK

Sweet tooth WILD FOOD

I DOhope you are looking forward to autumn – I know I am. The changing colours of the trees, walking through fallen leaves, the sights and smells of the season for me are so evocative. An unmistakable splash of colour in our autumn hedgerows, the bright red fruits of the dog rose and wild rose are hard to miss. This wild fruit might not be as abundant as blackberries.

But they are quite common and unlike many other berries, rose-hips can remain on the plant very late in the year, if a little soft and squidgy by then. Pick too early and they are very hard but be warned when picking late in the season, the resultant sticky mess and orange/yellow staining of fingers is challenging to remove.

Historically, rose-hips were used in many sweet dishes, particularly when other fruits were scarce. Packed with Vitamin C, they have been used to prevent and treat scurvy. Indeed, during WW2 many tons were gathered and processed into syrup.

There is even a tale of a Roman soldier who was cured of hydrophobia (the fear of water) after being bitten by a mad dog, with a wild rose hip preparation.

Dog rose (Rosa canina) is a tall shrub with long arching stems with hooked thorns along its length, sometimes reaching up to 3m in height.

The leaves are serrated or toothed and are in opposite pairs except the very top leaf which is singular.

The flowers are large with five petals, white to pink in colour. The elliptical, bright red fruits are best picked when ripe from September onwards. It’s a very common plant of woods, hedges and scrubby areas, common throughout the UK.

Rose-hips can be eaten straight from the plant but one must be aware of the furry and prickly seeds within that may irritate the throat, so these need to be removed – you have been warned.

I have been told that Scandinavian peoples made a sweet soup out of them, but I prefer my soups to be savoury thank you. If you do have a sweet tooth, the classic use of these fruits is to make syrup which requires a huge amount of sugar to make.

As a result it stores well and can be poured over desserts or used to sweeten a long drink. Enjoy!

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

GARDEN FOOD

Mid-autumn

With

CHARLES DOWDING

HOWto say this nicely? A winter feeling can set in during October and by October 10th, day length is the same as in late February.

It always feels too rapid a change, when there is insufficient light to ripen fruits any more. Hence the saying that on October 10th, the devil spits on all blackberries.

Frost-tender fruits

Therefore, now or very soon, it's good to harvest remaining squash, courgettes, beans, tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, aubergines and chillies. Or bring chilli plants in pots into the house.

Winter squash this year may be problematic to store. There has been a lack of light and warmth this summer, especially in June. Squash fruit need to be hard skinned and with a dry neck to store successfully. If they are soft in any way, best use them before Christmas and they will be less sweet than normal.

Plantings

In any under-cover space with decent light, you can transplant leaf vegetables to crop through winter. I grow some in mushroom boxes, lined with a little newspaper, on greenhouse staging for example.

Outdoors it’s a great time to plant garlic. Use cloves from your own bulbs, even if they had rusty leaves. I use a longhandled dibber to make shallow holes, then spread an inch or so of compost on top.

At the end of October, sow broad beans outside, to crop next June. I find that Aquadulce is winter hardy, especially from home-saved seed.

Compost

Increase your heaps with new material! One great combination for autumn is three quarters grass clippings or any cleared vegetable leaves, with one quarter fallen tree leaves. Add the materials in layers to ensure a decent balance throughout the heap.

It could be 6cm of green leaves for example, then 2cm tree leaves together including other woody material in small pieces. Plus other goodies, including weeds and all kitchen scraps!

Now is a great season for asking tree surgeons to drop off woodchips. Use them as path mulch now, or next summer as a brown material for compost heaps, sieved to 12mm. No worries if the chips are conifer, they will not make your soil acidic.

Charles Dowding has made no dig popular with millions of readers and viewers. Currently he grows vegetables in Somerset. He has written 14 books and gives talks plus courses at home and abroad.

With ADRIAN BOOTS

Autumn flavours celebrated at Hartley’s

THE team of highly-skilled chefs led by the much-accomplished Lynda at Hartleys Café Bistro at Binegar are buzzing with excitement at the sumptuous choice of ingredients they have in front of them which reflect the autumn.

They are creating rich game stews with dumplings, roasted pheasant with autumn fruit gravy and venison burgers for the New Year’s Day Jazz Brunch with grand sauces lovingly made by Jack, their sous chef, and a melee of desserts under the expertise of Albie.

The array of ingredients in the kitchen includes chestnuts, apples, pears, figs and dates. Marry them with vegetables and fruit fresh from the field and orchard. Think autumn soups, roasted beetroot, winter cabbage with crispy bacon, butternut squash, parsnips for crisps, pumpkin pie, Bramley apples and blackberries in “hot from the oven” crumbles.

Fresh from the harbour comes hake, monkfish, squid and John Dory with wedges of lime and lemon served with crispy local potatoes and winter salads.

Autumn leads Hartleys neatly into the Beaujolais Nouveau Festival on Thursday 21st November, an absolute French feast followed by Christmas. Hartleys say this is their favourite time of year in the kitchen creating the absolute best Christmas menu.

We source, create, cook and serve dishes with emphasis on the seasons

Breakfast – served all day with a full menu of traditional and international dishes

Lunch – With an ever changing menu we love to cook with the seasons especially autumn with its rich vegetables, fruit, meat, game and fish.

Afternoon Tea – Posh is the word, delicious is the taste . . .

Sunday Lunch – four roast meats, fish, vegetarian delights and a grand selection of local seasonal vegetables

ursday 21st November is Beaujolais Nouveau Day and vive la France all the way!

And now we must mention . . . Christmas – our menu is out …

Hartley’s Kitchen at Rookery Farm, Binegar, BA3 4UL 01749 841718 • www.hartleyscafebistrot.co.uk

oPeN:

Noon-11pm (Mon-Sat) • Noon-10pm (Sun)

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

T: 01225 962669

e: info@tuckersgraveinn.co.uk

W: www.tuckersgraveinn.co.uk

Soup is served

SOUPlunches will take over from summer ploughman’s in Pensford’s Old School Room from Wednesday, October 2nd, 122pm and will then be held every two weeks.

One of the organisers, Eilish McNickle, said: “I know I speak on behalf of all the volunteers when I say we have enjoyed the lunches.

“We’re a cheery team and would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone for their support.”

There is no charge but a donation is invited from the guests, which helps towards the cost of the lunches.

Details: Eilish McNickle 07907 910529 or Jane Garner 07780 677253

ROCKTOBER AND MORE – THERE’S SOMETHING FOR EVERYONE!

Fri, Sept 27th Elevation: 8.30pm Sun, Sept 29th Macmillan coffee morning Wed, Oct 2nd Charity Quiz in aid of HEART (dogs and cats rescue)

Sat, Oct 5th The Dylan Smith Band: 8.30pm Sat, Oct 12th MaxOutput: 8.30pm Fri, Oct 18th Elevator: 8.30pm Sat, Oct 19th ReBoot: 8.30pm Sat, Oct 26th Halloween Fancy Dress Party (ticket only)

ere’s still time to enter the inaugural Mother Tuckers 10k trail race. october 6th. organised by Somer Valley AC and raising funds for charity. Visit: www.somerac.org.uk

Parlour/Café: Baguettes, locally produced pasties and sausage rolls available Friday 8am to Sunday 5pm Breakfasts Saturday and Sunday 8.15-11.30am Friday/Saturday evenings 6-9pm – Fish and chips, gourmet burgers, freshly made pizzas and more. Look out for the specials board!

Venue Hire • Camping • Holiday Cottage

Pictured (l to r) Anita Bridges, Janet Dando, Margaret Adams and Christine Godfrey

Four decades of outstanding quality and service

TECHNIGLAZE, one of the south west’s largest window and door suppliers is celebrating its 40th anniversary and its standards of workmanship and customer service are as exacting as the day it was founded.

With founder and former surveyor Nick Candy at its helm as MD – and now joined by son Oliver – Techniglaze has grown from a glazing installation company to opening its own factory at its site in Westfield and manufacturing its own products.

Covering the south west and beyond – as required – the company currently employs more than 50 people – along with sub-contractors – and is still looking to expand. Techniglaze serves both the commercial and domestic sectors. It has worked on many prestigious commercial projects and bespoke domestic commissions, where only the highest standards of design and manufacturing will suffice.

They install all types of aluminium windows and uPVC windows, doors, extensions, and curtain walling and many of its workforce have been with the company for many years,

A bespoke conservatory

developing unique areas of expertise across the sector.

Techniglaze provide all customers with free, no obligation quotes and offer genuine advice on the best product for their specific requirements. The head office also boasts a showroom featuring some of the latest innovative designs in doors and windows.

Nick said: “Over the years we have been privileged to work on some very high-profile projects in the commercial sector, but we have always placed the same emphasis on meeting a client’s specific requirements in the domestic world and seeing their response to the result of a bespoke – and sometimes challenging commission – is always extremely satisfying to us all here.”

Techniglaze’s 40th anniversary logo

Great support for village day

RESIDENTS of Stratton-on-the-Fosse and neighbouring villages flocked to the annual village day, despite the threat of thunderstorms, raising funds for local good causes.

Echo, a 17-week-old labrador, Bluey, a six-and-a-half-week-old dachshund, and Daphne, the five-months-old labradoodle, were the winners in the puppy class which opened the dog show

Pictured (l to r): Karen Pearce, Dave Stock and Rita Treasure, ran the village hall raffle stall

Saying it with flowers: (l to) Isla 14, Sully, eight, and Marie, 12, with a bouquet from Root Connections – a present for their mum

Country dancers from St Vigor and St John Church School ahead of their performance in the main arena

Evercreech Village Show

Church market is popular

THElatest pop-up market held at St Andrew's Church in Blagdon raised £647 for church funds.

Linda Geary from the Avon Guild of Spinners, Weavers and Dyers

The show offered fun for all the family throughout the afternoon

Gerald and Trish Burridge relax next to their Riley car

Flower judge Roy Cheek and his display of carnivorous plants

(Photos courtesy of Geoff Corris)

Nicky Fairley painting six-year-old Poppy’s face

Lena’s debut –at 93

ALMOST £200 was raised for St Augustine Church in Clutton by 93-year-old Lena Church, who held her first exhibition, a large variety of her photographic work in the village hall. It was combined with a coffee morning, organised by a small committee, and attracted more than 60 visitors. Lena was supported by three generations of her family, as well as friends from Bishop Sutton, Stanton Drew and Buckinghamshire.

Church exhibition

ANexhibition featuring more than 50 pictures of landscapes, flowers, houses and churches by the late Violet Graham was held in St Andrew’s Church, Congresbury.

Violet died suddenly while pruning roses in her garden in 1991 and villagers filled the church for her funeral.

A friend said: “She would be delighted that the two-day exhibition raised £550 for the Friends of St Andrew's, paying for church repairs.”

Visitors to the exhibition

Morph makes headlines for Clevedon Salerooms

With CHRIS YEO

HEmay only be small but Morph – the little plasticine man beloved of a generation of children – certainly had a towering presence in Clevedon Saleroom’s Fine Art sale on September 12th. The diminutive but instantly recognisable figure had been modelled by his creator Aardman co-founder Peter Lord and was offered with a handwritten note of authenticity.

The appearance of the little chap, offering as it did the opportunity to own one’s very own Morph, generated significant press interest and led to a slew of commission bids but in the end it was an internet bidder who secured his own piece of TV history with the gavel falling at £1,100 – a record price for an original Morph.

The sale commenced with a fine selection of jewellery, where some of the highest prices were achieved. A late 19th century diamond floral and foliate unmarked yellow and white metal semi parure, sold for £11,000, whilst an early 20th century diamond 18ct gold and platinum set halo ring sold for £6,000, and a sapphire and diamond white metal three-stone ring sold for £4,000.

Amongst watches, it was the familiar name Rolex which hit the high note. A gentleman's Yacht-Master stainless steel bracelet

watch, sold for £3,800, whilst an Omega limited edition James Bond Quantum of Solace Seamaster coaxal chronometer bracelet watch sold for £2,200.

There were also strong performances amongst pictures. Leading the pack, a collection of late Victorian paintings of prize-winning greyhounds, which I discussed in the previous issue. Heralding from a country house in the North-East, they recorded a time when greyhound coursing was a popular aristocratic pastime. The source of much pre-sale interest the four pictures raced away from their estimates, selling for a combined total of £7,300.

Rounding off an excellent day, a reconstituted weathered garden statue of Bacchus, after the Antique, modelled standing against a tree stump and holding a bunch of grapes in his right hand, sold for £4,000.

Bacchus was the Roman god of wine and, with some 80% of lots sold and a total well above expectations, auctioneers toasted another resounding success for Clevedon salerooms.

A MALBY'S 18 INCH TERRESTRIAL LIBRARY GLOBE, DATED 1864

ESTIMATE: £3,000 - £5,000

CURATED INTERIORS

WEDNESDAY 16 OCTOBER

9.30am

VIEWING 12-15 October 10:00am to 4:00pm

www.doreandrees.com enquiries@doreandrees.com 01373 462 257

Dore & Rees

Auction Salerooms Vicarage Street Frome BA11 1PU

Find a unique object to enhance your interior space

October 16th

THE autumn auction schedule at Dore & Rees provides plenty of options for people looking to realise value in the items in their collection through offering them for sale by auction. And for buyers looking to add to their collection, there will be plenty of opportunity to source a unique item too.

The Curated Interiors auction on October 16th carries a wide range of furniture, pictures, decorative ceramics, collectables and more. From a beautifully detailed terrestrial library globe by Malby’s to a collection of basketware, there will be something unique to enhance any interior space.

Looking forward to November, specialist auctions headline the schedule. The Fine Asian auctions are going from strength to strength with the top-level auction of the year coming up on November 11th. Multiple private collections feature in the auction including the Collection of the Second Earl of Bantry of high-quality Chinese porcelains and the Martin Laing Collection of fine Chinese furniture.

Fine Jewellery and Watches, led by Susan Rumfitt, and Fine Silver, led by Duncan Campbell, will be held on November 27th. Offering these categories of auction together on the same date is a winning combination, along with meeting the demand for Christmas gifting. Susan, Duncan and Richard Price, well known faces on BBC Antiques Roadshow, will be holding Valuation Days at Dore & Rees auction rooms on October 1st, 2nd, 21st and 22nd appraising Jewellery, Silver, Clocks and Watches and Georgian Costume. Contact the team on 01373 462 257 or by email enquiries@doreandrees.com to arrange a free appointment to have your items appraised and valued.

A collection of basketware in the curated interiors auction on

Chew Stoke Harvest Home

The Rev Dr Ian Mills, conducting the Chew Valley West Choir

Chew Stoke WI‘s cake table (l to r) Sarah Tindle, Pat Peel, Tina Cumberlidge and Hazel Wedlake

Gary Pearce giving visitors rides in his trailer

Nutty Noah and fans

Antony Godfrey with his 1956 Rover 90

Three of the helpers (l to r) Hannah Huckman, Liz Boyd and Rachel Burgoyne

Friends of Chew Magna Primary School PTA, who were inviting visitors to Find the Dinosaur

Shipham Harvest Home

Arriving in style

The hall was filled with produce

The inaugural presentation of the Bob Shaw Shield presented by the Shaw family to members of the parish who make a difference to village life, went to Anne Oakley to acknowledge all she does helping musicians in the village and for forming and running the Shipham Collective.

Enjoying lunch

WELLS and Glastonbury Young Farmers Club took many of the top honours at this year’s Moat Boat Races on the Bishop’s Palace moat in Wells.

In the junior classes, club members triumphed in the sprint, challenge and obstacle races before taking second place in the adult section’s Bishop’s Cup.

of the

won the adult classes

The races are organised each year by the City of Wells Lions Club, raising funds for local good causes.

Glastonbury and Street Sea Cadets

Vying for space in front of the crowd

Pirates

Full Moon

in the Bishop’s Cup, Wells Lions Club Rescue Race, Community Challenge and Obstacle races.

Wells and Mendip MP Tessa Munt and Wells mayor Jasmine Browne

Wells and Glastonbury YFC

The risks of losing your driving licence

IN the United Kingdom, an older person’s driving licence can be revoked or refused renewal by the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) even if they have not committed any driving offences. The primary circumstances where this may occur include:

1.Medical Conditions:

If an older driver develops certain medical conditions that could impair their ability to drive safely, the DVLA may revoke their licence. Common conditions include dementia, epilepsy, certain vision impairments, severe heart conditions, or other neurological disorders. The DVLA might require a medical examination or additional tests to assess the impact of the condition on the individual’s driving abilities. Drivers are legally obligated to inform the DVLA of any medical condition that might affect their driving. Failure to do so can lead to a fine and legal action if an accident occurs.

2.Cognitive Decline:

Cognitive impairments related to ageing, such as memory loss or reduced ability to make decisions,

can be grounds for revoking a licence. The DVLA might request a cognitive assessment or other evaluations to determine if the individual is fit to drive.

3.Vision Standards:

UK law requires that drivers meet specific vision standards to hold a driving licence. If an older person's vision deteriorates and does not meet the required standards (even with corrective lenses), their licence can be revoked.

4.Assessment and Reports:

If a GP, specialist, or optician reports to the DVLA that an older person may be unfit to drive, the DVLA can investigate and potentially revoke the licence. Family members, friends, or the police can also raise concerns about an older driver’s ability to drive safely, prompting the DVLA to conduct an assessment.

5.Failure to Renew or Provide Required Information:

After the age of 70, drivers must renew their licence every three years. If they fail to do so or do not provide the necessary medical information when requested, their licence may be revoked.

In cases where there are concerns about an older driver’s fitness to drive, the DVLA will often allow the driver to present evidence or undergo an assessment to prove their capability before making a final decision. Decisions by the DVLA to remove a driving licence from an individual can be challenged but it would be sensible to take legal advice before going down that route.

EDWARD LYONS

From shed to shop

THE charity, Interim Spaces, has announced that its first retail incubator tenants at 10, Market Place, in Shepton Mallet, The Little Farm Shed, have successfully moved into their first commercially leased shop at 9, Market Place, a formerly vacant unit in the town centre.

This marks the first successful participant of the programme to go from rent-free incubation to a full commercial lease.

The Little Farm Shed was selected from 27 contenders to kickstart the project – a cornerstone of the charity’s strategy to help revitalise high streets.

The programme offers a unique opportunity for entrepreneurs to trial their high street ideas rent-free for nine months. The support package includes a £1,500 capital grant and mentorship, culminating in the potential transition to a permanent commercial space.

Applications for the next retail incubator placement open in January, with placement in March, for which the charity aims to attract sponsorship from a local business.

Laurel and Rosie, two schoolgirls from Shepton Mallet, set up The Little Farm Shed to earn spending money for the Glastonbury Festival, selling eggs and produce from their

grandfather’s farm.

As the business has grown, it’s become a family operation, with support from their parents and little brother Leonard.

Director, Jordan Barnes, said: “We are incredibly grateful for the retail incubator opportunity, which has allowed us to transform our family business from humble beginnings into a thriving high street presence.

“Without the support from Interim Spaces, we wouldn’t have been able to make the leap from our original farm shop to this exciting new chapter.”

Dan Simon, director of Interim Spaces, said: “We are immensely proud to have played a role in their journey and to demonstrate the viability of the retail incubator model."

Lasting Power of Attorney

Richardson’s Wills was founded by Nicola Richardson in 2013. Nicola is a full member of the Society of Will Writers and an affiliate member of STEP adhering to their strict code of conduct. Specialising in Will Writing and Lasting Power of Attorney she provides a professional, affordable service.

Nicola and her team’s friendly and uncomplicated approach make a sometimes difficult subject easy to understand. Richardson’s Wills provide a quality service where the client comes first.

Our fee for preparing LPAs is currently £199 plus VAT per document. The registration fee charged by the Office of the Public Guardian is £82 per document; reductions in the registration fee can be applied for in certain circumstances.

Contact us on 01934 441410 • www richardsonswills co uk or email hello@richardsonswills.co.uk for more information

Eco-friendly courses

CARYMOORis an environmental charity based on a former landfill site near Castle Cary. For the past 25 years they have turned this site into a vibrant and unique nature reserve and welcome around 4,000 children every year for environmental education.

As well as educating children, they also run a number of courses and events for adults and families.

In partnership with Somerset Skills and Learning they are running several fully-funded courses including rural crafts such as green woodworking, basket making courses or Wild Tots.

Or you can join their paid courses such as their Pottery Club, make beautiful bespoke willow baskets, take part in Christmas craft activities, or take your littles ones to their monthly mini explorers sessions. All of their courses can also be bought as gift vouchers for that perfect eco-friendly gift.

Details: www.carymoor.org.uk

Thanks to Charlie

PARENTS,grandparents and carers celebrated ten years of Messy Play in Paulton. The group meets in the Scout and Guide Community Hall each Thursday, where babies and school children can play in a safe and secure environment.

It was about to be closed ten years ago by the council, when Charlie O’ Connell came forward, got herself trained and has been running the group with volunteers ever since.

B&NES Councillor Liz Hardman is pictured presenting Charlie with a bouquet of flowers at the Red Lion, which hosted the event.

Two more schools join trust family

THEWessex Learning Trust has added Croscombe CofE Primary School and Stoke St Michael Primary School and Nursery to its family of schools.

The trust’s chief executive, Gavin Ball, said: “Their commitment to excellence and their strong ties to their local communities make them a perfect fit for our trust.

“We look forward to working closely with their staff, learners, and families to achieve our shared goals and continue our

School rated good

OFSTEDhas graded Bishop Sutton Primary School Good in all areas, following an inspection in July.

The inspectors commented on the school’s vision “where every child can dream, believe and achieve,” stating that it “can be seen through the ambitious curriculum”.

They also noted that “pupils are engaged in their learning and pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) are wellsupported.”

Dieter Cook, headteacher at the time of inspection, who retired at the end of August, said: “I really cannot thank staff teams enough for their hard work, dedication and service to children and their families over the last few years.”

Bishop Sutton, along with its federated school Stanton Drew, has a new head, Tim Eustace.

mission of delivering outstanding education.”

Chris Partridge, principal of Croscombe CofE Primary School and Stoke St Michael Primary School and Nursery, said: “We are looking forward to this new chapter with The Wessex Learning Trust.

“We believe this partnership will bring significant benefits to our school community and enhance the educational journey for our children.”

Children’s Lessons now available

H Two and a half hours of horse care and riding

H Saturdays: 10am–12.30pm and 1pm–3.30pm Sundays: 10am–12.30pm

H Students ride in groups of no more than six and all riders will be of the same ability

H Horse care and theory is in mixed ability groups.

H £50 per session (booking on a first come first serve basis with no obligation to attend the same group every week)

H Sessions also available during school holidays: 10am Tuesday-Friday

Call or email us for more details

Divoky Riding School, Manor Farm, Downhead, Shepton Mallet, Somerset BA4 4LG www.divoky.co.uk • Email: info@divoky.co.uk T: 01749 880233 • M: 07971 207037

Stoke St Michael

Croscombe

Dieter Cook (left) and Tim Eustace

Shoe box appeal

ST ANDREW'S Church and Blagdon Primary School will be collecting shoe boxes and filling them with gifts for children overseas this Christmas.

Woolly hats and gloves knitted by members of St Andrew's Church, or residents of Blagdon, are now available to purchase to put in your box. The money raised will be sent to the charity Samaritan's Purse to help with their costs.

One of the knitters is Win Gould (pictured) whose hats were among those for sale at the church's recent pop-up market.

One of the organisers, Penny Crawfurd, said: “A lot of these children are resident in orphanages and have nothing of their own.”

Completed shoe boxes should be left at Blagdon Primary school or at the back of St Andrew’s Church by November 1st.

Details: www.samaritanspurse.org

Penny Crawfurd 01761 462418

Record entries for ride

THERE were record entries for Wedmore’s 40/30 charity bike ride, which again raised a great deal of money for Weston Hospicecare. Save the date for next year, Sunday, August 31st.

Charity takes to the air

BALLOONIST Derek Maltby, from Bishop Sutton, is promoting the Lily Foundation charity by carrying banners on his balloon’s basket.

They were on show when he flew his balloon over Bishop Sutton village hall to launch the new solar panels on the roof. He invited Pat and Sarah Moore, from Bath to the launch. They started fundraising for the foundation after losing their two daughters, Harriet, aged 18 months and Kimberley, aged four, to mitochondrial disease.

The Lily Foundation was founded by Liz Curtis in 2007 after the death of her daughter, Lily, aged eight months, to the disease.

Mitochondrial disease, or “mito”, is a rare genetic disorder that can affect people in very different ways at any age and can involve any organ in the body.

Sarah said: “It wasn’t until 2018 when a friend

mentioned to me about the charity, I did some research and linked in with them on social media. This is where my fundraising journey started and a colleague and I from Bath Rugby (where I was working at the time) decided to do a sky dive. We raised over £20,000!”

She and Derek met while working for the police. She is now busy organising various fundraising events.

Details: sarahmoore@thelilyfoundation.org.uk

Pat and Sarah Moore

Donation to hospice

MEMBERS of Shepton Mallet 41 Club have presented a cheque for £500 to Children’s Hospice South West during a visit to the charity’s centre at Charlton Farm in Wraxall, North Somerset.

CHSW is club president Michael Flack’s chosen charity during his year in office and the funds were raised from various events, including raffles and donations. Michael was accompanied by several members of the club and their partners, including member Peter Davey who is a volunteer fundraiser for the charity. Kylie Gallagher was on hand to accept the donation on behalf of Children’s Hospice South-West.

Campers enjoy Rotary festival

WRINGTON Vale Rotary Club raised over £3,000 for charity with its second Harvest Home Family Festival, hosted at Mendip Activity Centre's campsite, Mendip Basecamp.

Hundreds camped for three days on the hill above Sandford, 1,000 people enjoyed the outdoor cinema and then on Saturday six bands performed on a professional stage. There were also fire shows, climbing wall and a host of other activities for all ages.

Details: www.harvesthome.co.uk

Garden party fundraiser

A TEA party hosted by Simon and Lucy at Redlands Farm in Pedwell has raised almost £1,000 for the charity Breast Cancer Now.

The couple said: “There was a great turnout and people were very generous. Local businesses and rriends sponsored the raffle where there were lots of amazing prizes.

“Thank you to everyone who supported it, made scones, cakes, gave raffle prizes and helped on the day.”

End of an era for

shop

Thank you Glastonbury: Maria outside the shop in the High Street just before it closed

ONE of the most popular and successful charity shops in Glastonbury has closed its doors after 35 years of fundraising.

But the Cancer Research UK shop in the High Street was also a welcoming community hub where people would gather for a chat with fellow browsers and volunteers.

Manager Maria Gregg and her team also managed to hit the headlines with several fundraising ideas, including a calendar featuring local people who had been treated for the disease.

Maria said: “It’s a very sad time, but we have had such fun over the years and have met some very special people and the volunteers here have been extraordinary.

“I’m not angry with the charity in the slightest; they have been extremely supportive but every now and again they decide shops must close and it was our turn.”

Shepton Mallet 41 Club members on their visit to Wraxall

Tea time in Pedwell

Hundreds of entries for photography competition

THEbrainchild of the Rev Richard Greatrex, the Chew Valley Nature Photography Festival took place over the weekend of September 14th/15th in St Andrew’s Church, Chew Magna.

The exhibition within the church was very busy and many people visited, both locally based and from further afield. Winning entries had been printed and displayed for all to see.

In addition, there were screens displaying every entry received. It all highlighted the extraordinary wealth and diversity of wildlife that is present within the Chew Valley.

This was the festival’s first year. Planning for the event started at the beginning of 2024. Richard and his small team had to come up with competition categories, set up an entry system and advertised that it was taking place, no easy task when it hadn’t been done before.

Along with the photo competition two talks were put on in June, Mike Dilger talking on 1000 Shades of Green –about Britain’s wild plants and Dr Justin Morris talking about the Metamorphosis of a Zoo – the transition of Bristol Zoo from its city centre base.

For the photo competition there were nearly 500 entries spread between the categories: birds, animals, plants, insects, fungi and landscapes spread between adult and children’s (under 12) sections.

Organisers say the standard of entries was very high and asked to thank the judges who had the unenviable task of selecting the winning entries.

It is likely that the festival will return in some form in 2025 so watch local press and media for the announcements.

The exhibition inside the church

A calendar featuring the photos is on sale at Chew Magna Post Office, price £6

U-12s 3rd: Sophie Green Six Spot Burnett Moth

Adult 2nd: Neil Myatt Lesser Stag Beetle

U-12s 2nd: Sophie Green Lake Edge at Sunset

Adult winner: Jill Toman Lake with Gulls

Adult 3rd: Christine Peacock Sunlight Through Tree

U-12s winner: Jesse Tippet Frog just rescued from an adder

East Harptree Flower & Craft Show

Katie Cotton again with her prize winning felted bird picture and modelled birds on a branch

Rosemary Bennett with some of her prize winning exhibits

Steve Thomas with his prize winning pottery

Ruth Knox and Keri Green giving information on their Chew Valley Arts and crafts group

Cathy Bedford Avon Needs Trees and David Harding, Chew Valley Plants Trees

Jenny Cruse and Krystina Hartry preparing hot dogs

Priston Music Festival

Rolling Harmony

The village green was packed

The Buffalo Gals

Jo Sercombe festival president

Jo Sercombe's community sing choir

Cam Valley Morris

Fun in the sun

(Photography courtesy of Richard Bottle)

Frome Street Bandits

Sadness but pride as Paulton’s Arnhem memorial ends

MILITARY personnel and members of the public gathered at the Double Hills memorial on the edge of Paulton for the last service of its kind to remember the 23 servicemen killed in a glider crash on their way to the Battle of Arnhem in September 1944.

The service has been held every year since the memorial was unveiled in 1979 and has been organised by Peter Yeates. Relatives of some of the men who died –they are all buried in Westonsuper-Mare – have attended every year.

Glider RJ113, en-route to Arnhem, crashed into the Double Hills meadow on the morning of September

Peter Yeates (far left) leads the procession of dignitaries to the memorial

17th,1944. Towed by a Stirling bomber aircraft, the glider, carrying 21 sappers from the 9th Field Company Airborne Royal Engineers had taken off from RAF Keevil airfield, near Trowbridge. They and the two pilots, from the Glider Pilot Regiment, were killed when the glider broke up and crashed to earth.

They were known as the first casualties of Operation Market Garden, aimed at landing an allied airborne army behind German lines in 1944.

l Next year, on the first Saturday in September, there are plans to open the memorial garden from 2pm for people to pay their respects, the flags will be flown and the names of those killed will be read out.

A lighter moment in the afternoon. There was no flypast this year, so Oaklee, aged seven (left) and brother Brodee (six), from Paulton, staged their own

The start of the service, led by the Rev Adam Pitt, vicar of Paulton, Farrington Gurney and High Littleton

The laying of the wreaths

The weather stayed kind for the service

Young people are always encouraged to take part

Love your ivy –and I don’t mean the restaurant chain

By CHRIS SPERRING

FIRSTLY, thank you so much for the positive comments regarding last month’s article about the return of the pine marten.

As I sit down to write this month’s nature scribble, I find myself overwhelmed with a feeling of impending autumn; just last evening, the temperature was low enough for what would have been September’s first frost.

Everywhere you look, there are tree seeds and bush berries laying the groundwork for the approaching winter season. Ivy is currently blooming in full force, making it one of the last plants to do so. On sunny days, you'll easily notice its presence as numerous nectar-feeding insects gather around, frantically feeding and of course, for some, this may well be their last supper.

If you've got your phone camera handy and can find some ivy in flower, then species such as common wasp and European hornet will be feeding on them, along with an assortment of hoverflies. Do download the app called iNaturalist. Using this app, not only will you have a

good idea of which species you’ve just snapped, but also it will record where you are and the time and date of your recording and you will have just played a major part in citizen science.

A word of advice, hornets and wasps can sting. I must say I have been observing ivy flower at this time of year for longer than I dare remember, and I have never been stung but the general rule is to keep a good distance and use the zoom on your phone camera to take the picture so that you never actually get so close that they feel threatened.

Many predators will also be patrolling near to the ivy, such as late-flying dragonflies and on cooler days will spend time resting in the autumn sunshine, offering you a good chance of photographing and identifying them. In addition, keep a watch out for the European honeybee. I’m sure many a beekeeper will agree that, yet again, ivy flower is a very important late food source for their bees, aiding the colony into the winter shutdown.

Many gardeners and parks department workers will be trimming or even removing ivy at this time of year; all that is asked is to leave the flower intact for the insects to have this vital late feeding

opportunity. Also, it takes around seven years of growth before ivy comes into flower and what it forms after flowering are the dark hard berries which will last through winter and become a food source themselves for many birds and small species.

Many tree species will also be dropping seeds, such as the large beech and oak trees; again, these seeds will form an important food source for many. My work with tawny owls has found a good “owlet spring” follows a good nut and berry autumn. This is simply because more small mammals that owls feed on can survive winter with their hidden stores of tree seeds.

Talking of owls, I’m leading my annual Owl Walks through October, November and December. I’m doing them slightly differently now. If you have a small group who wish to come on an owl walk just ring or text me with how many people and where you would like to do it.

l A book called Great Misconceptions Rewilding Myths and Misunderstandings should be published in October in which I have written a chapter. It should be available from all good bookshops or via Whittles Publishing: www.whittlespublishing.com

A walk well worth the climb

YES,it is a steep climb at the start of this circle, but the amazing views that unfold at the top are well worth the effort as are the nature reserves and a glorious line of beeches. This, one of my favourite walks, begins in Draycott and heads up onto the Mendip Way across Draycott Sleights and then down through woodland for another beautiful panorama. We continue in Rodney Stoke to visit the ancient church and then take quiet lanes, most not open to traffic, passing the strawberry fields, to return to the start. There is a chance at the Cider and Ale Barn for refreshment. There are several stiles en-route.

PARK: Draycott War Memorial Hall with the kind permission of those in charge.

With Sue Gearing

Park sensibly out of the way. The hall is down a drive next to Latches Lane. From the A371 road from Cheddar to Rodney Stoke, in Draycott, reach Latches Lane next to the Cider Barn and, turn down the drive to the hall.

START: Go up the hall drive to the main road with the Cider Barn on the left. Take the small lane opposite. At a junction with Top Road keep ahead towards Batcombe Farm.

1. FARM

Find the footpath on the right of the entrance gate. This is the West Mendip Way which leads into a field. Go up the left side of two fields and through gates. Keep on, passing farm buildings, ignoring a gate on the left. Then arrive at a gate and stone slab stile left. After crossing, follow the track up ahead and then bend right. There’s another slab stile with a large animal drinking pond down right. Stay on the track, now going up the beautiful combe. Notice the many old animal grazing terraces on the other side. Follow the track when it bends up right by a stone pillar. Continue the climb all the way to the head of the combe and a field gate ahead. It’s worth stopping to admire the view as you ascend.

2. FIELD GATE

Go up a few more yards and then leave the track and bear right across the uneven

grassy field (there was no clear path when I came). Pass to the left of a clump of bushes and continue across, still climbing, and soon you should see a gate in the boundary ahead, maybe a little up to the left.

3. MENDIP WAY

Go through and then immediately turn right down the grassy track, which is still the West Mendip Way. (Don’t go ahead by the Draycott Sleights sign). Below is the village hall where you started and behind it the tree-topped Nyland Hill. After a gate, turn left along the track enjoying the view.

4. BEECHES

Then go up slightly and come under the line of glorious beech trees. You may want a rest on the very rustic large bench just on the other side of the trees facing the panorama. Continue all the way to a lane. Cross with care as it can be busy. Cross the stone slab stile and head up the bank and continue on. Pass to the right of a stone barn and maintain direction all the way across to reach a metal tube stile leading into Rodney Stoke National Nature Reserve.

5. NATURE

RESERVE

Now the going is quite steep and the path uneven in parts, as you leave the wood and come out into a field with a wonderfully sited seat on the right,

Shepherds Rest, which gives a great view down the field and across to Glastonbury Tor. Our route now goes straight down to the bottom. Cross onto a stony path which leads to Scaddens Lane. Turn right. Stay with this, ignoring a side path, until you reach the main road in Rodney Stoke.

6. RODNEY STOKE

Rodney Stoke was listed in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Stoches, meaning “a stockaded settlement” from the Old English stoc. In 1291 the place name was recorded as Stokgifford. The Giffords were Saxon nobility at the time of Edward the Confessor with Walter Gifford (then spelt Gifard) as the Earl of Buckingham.

The village was the home of, and is probably named after, Sir John Rodney (c1561–1612). The most notable was the first Baron Rodney (1718/19–92), who was a British naval admiral of Napoleonic times.

Take the lane ahead, Stoke St, on the other side and follow it through the village, ignoring Millway, and passing at the end on the right Manor Farm. Reach the church of St Leonards.

7. CHURCH

Rodney Stoke is one of the nine Thankful Villages in Somerset which suffered no fatalities during WWI. There is a memorial window in the church with a new plaque that testifies to the village's enduring pride in their good fortune. At the centre of the window is St. Leonard,

4.5 miles, about 2.5-3 hours walking. OS Explorer 141 Cheddar Gorge & Mendip Hills West, grid ref 512 472, postcode BS27 3UE. What3words: allowable.maternal.dares.

the patron saint of prisoners of war and of expectant mothers – a strange combination! Of note in the church also is the 1630 tomb of Anne Lakes – a magnificent example of the use of Somerset alabaster, quarried near Watchet and probably carved by Dutch masons. Anne who had a somewhat chequered life and unhappy first marriage ended up marrying George Rodney by whom she had one son and so kept the Rodney line going.

Turn right on the farm track between fences passing a large animal drinking pond on the right.

Come to a very old outbuilding to Manor Farm on the right dating back to the late 16th century, known as the gatehouse, but probably a summer house. In the early 19th century it was converted into a stable and granary. The central classical-style doorway has been blocked up. Note the interesting terraced water supply flowing on the far side.

Once past, keep straight on through a gate and follow the right field edge. Half way along, turn right over a stile in the hedge and turn left on a Tarmac track. Soon pass the Cheddar strawberry fields being grown in poly tunnels on each side and in season easy to smell! Go through a gate and continue on to reach Draycott.

8. DRAYCOTT

Carry on to a staggered crossroads and go on towards Cheddar. Keep straight on in the village. At a junction keep ahead towards Cheddar passing a walled green area on the left. Go straight on at the next junction and then bend left. Wet Lane turns into Station Road. Pass the popular Strawberry Special village pub (see end for opening times) which is opposite the old Draycott Station and house. Take the first left, Milking Lane, and then right in Hardmead Lane. When it ends, keep straight on through a kissing gate, past stables and then on through another gate and along a path. A kissing gate leads into a field. Head straight across to a gate on the far side. Come onto a lane (Latches Lane) and turn right.

9. RAIL BRIDGE

Cross the bridge over the former Strawberry Line and go all the way to the main road, ignoring a side turn. Turn back right on the drive to the memorial hall.

If you come on a Sunday, you can call in at the popular Strawberry Special pub, otherwise it opens evenings only. Tel 01934 742177. The Cider Barn, Draycott 01934 741837.

West Countryman’s diary

THEREstill seems to be an unpredictable and unseasonable weather pattern at the moment. I’m wondering if my hopes of a kind autumn will ever be realised or will we move straight into winter? The natural environment has a knack of balancing things up and the sorry state of forage maize in July now seems to have been turned around, with a massive amount of growth having been put on.

Perhaps the weather will behave accordingly. As the rainwater yet again runs down the window pane, I can see little encouragement to get out and about. Thankfully these days I don’t have to do quite so much outdoors in all winds and weather, although I’m still working; well, that’s what I call it anyway.

I’ve checked my records to see if there’s anything interesting relating to September from previous years and found it! September 1st in 1990 was my first day as the Assistant Countryside Warden Mendip Hills AONB. The late Tom Elkin, MBE was warden in a time that seems so far back now.

It was a different world with different priorities for a countryside that didn’t seem under so much visitor pressure as it is today. Perhaps Sue Gearing and myself have added to the pressure, or have we helped to inform and direct those who are keen to find out more about the countryside?

The sun will shine again and everyone will want to be out and about seeing what’s going on. Sue will be having another walk for you all to enjoy and no doubt walls, hedges and fences will be encountered at some stage on the journey. In order to cross these field boundaries a host of what in modern speak could be termed “furniture” is used.

These are gates and stiles to you and me. Gates and stiles that have for centuries allowed people access but contained the livestock in the field. That is until someone leaves the catch or chain off the gate. Take a look the next time you’re out at these gates and stiles, because there is an amazing variety still out there.

Many stiles have been replaced by pedestrian gates that allow access by less agile walkers and at times I can relate to that. The word “stile” is defined as a set of steps that help you climb over fence, wall or hedge and originates from the old English word “Stigel”. There are still plenty of stiles around, with many stone slabs on the Mendip plateau.

The size and weight of these features tell of a time when muscle power was the only aid available. These may well have been installed by the gangs of “navvies” who were employed to build many of the walls on Mendip after the enclosure acts of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. These were strong men who would burn several thousand calories a day, when manual labour was the norm.

Look for the unusual. I knew of one set of step-through

stiles where through stones have been built into the wall to climb over. Opposite St Hugh’s church at Charterhouse is a “step through stile” that leads into the centre car park. I installed it years ago and to the best of my knowledge it’s the only one still in existence.

Two cranked steel arms with chains attached are set in a wooden frame. Simply open the arms and step through. Ladder stiles are also still about and in my warden days several of these were put in to cross less stable walls.

Wooden stiles abound from the 1990s decade when local businesses on courses at Swallet Farm residential training centre would install these as part of a team building exercise. Look for familiar names such as Boots and British Airways to name but a few on the plates so proudly displayed on the stiles by those who contributed to the enjoyment of so many visitors to the hill and in their turn left a little bit of themselves behind

This work still continues with local volunteer and ramblers’ groups who carry out access improvements for walkers and horse riders to enjoy. Perhaps the greatest innovation in access was the field gate simply known as “the Bristol gate”. This was the idea of two Bristol path wardens who twinned a field gate with a pedestrian gate. The main gate could be secured, but access for walkers maintained with the smaller gate. There is a bridle gate version as well and there is no doubt that when you see one of the Bristol gates in the far hedgerow, you know you’re on the right path.

September passes into October and autumn begins. Let’s hope it’s a kind one with plenty of sunshine and colour. I have always held the view that nature lets us down slowly into winter and I can only hope that my expectations held in the first paragraph are fulfilled.

Next time, however, thoughts of the last days of summer will be with me as I bring you a little about that premier countryside day out, the Mendip Ploughing Match on September 25th. That and what to see out and about brings me onto Mendip Times contributor Adrian Boots’ new book on foraging.

Simply entitled Wild Food and Mushroom Foraging , it’s a “must have” before you go on that fungi foray you’ve been thinking of doing.

Finally, this month’s photo is of a very old step stile taken in Derbyshire. Not on a public right of way, but for the landowner’s field access. I would certainly think twice before using this.

With LES DAVIES MBE

Allerton Harvest Home EVENTS

Guests Mark Le Galle and Caroline Stovell

Elspeth Salmon teaching lunch guests to play the kazoo

Two enthusiastic players

There was a rousing rendition of the Skye Boat Song

Guests Elaine Steckler and James Rich Guests Lana Whittaker and Sea Partono

The marquee was busy

Tilly Paul and Andrew Davis

Light up the garden with bulbs

THEpromise of spring is heralded by the sight of the green shoots of bulbs emerging from the soil, but to enjoy them you need to plant them, and this is the time to get on with it. The garden centres are awash with colourful packets of a wide variety of bulbs which can be bewildering. Should you go for early flowering ones or late flowering? What colour to choose?

Then they all look quite different, some are called bulbs, some corms, and some tubers. So, what is the difference? A bulb flowers and then produces offsets which will go on to grow into bigger bulbs and then flower, such as daffodils and tulips.

Corms flower and then produce a completely new corm above the old one that you planted, as in crocus and gladiolus. Tubers are lumps of stem or root tissue and can look decidedly unpromising as in anemone, or larger ones as in dahlia tubers (not available in the autumn).

The common feature is that they can all be dug up, dried off and bagged up by the growers for convenience of purchase and planting.

The exception to planting spring flowering bulbs in the autumn are snowdrops, which should never be purchased as “dry bulbs.” They dislike being “dried” and a sizeable percentage will fail to grow. Buy them “in the green” as growing plants in the spring.

This also goes for the wonderful autumn flowering cyclamen which may be on display as “dry tubers”. They rarely do well, unless planted as growing plants, often in flower, in late summer and early autumn.

This season has not been good for bulbs. When they needed to be building up for the following year it was too dry and when it came to lifting time, it was too wet, so the bulb sizes are a tad smaller than usual and this will affect the flower size.

Narcissus and tulip varieties are classified into groups with common characteristics, including time of flowering. Choosing later flowering types, such as single late tulips, will ensure your display looks good for longer. Bulb foliage looks grim once the flowers fade.

Try planting groups of say five tulips between a group of herbaceous plants like hardy geraniums. The bulbs will flower and then the foliage of the emerging geranium or ladies’ mantle will mask the spent foliage of the bulbs.

When selecting which bag to buy look for clean bulbs that are as large as possible, without shoots or signs of mould. Look for the height of the flower as this will vary depending on where the bulbs are planted, but planting deeper does not mean that the flower stem will be shorter.

Most spring flowering bulbs and corms can be planted immediately, but tulips are best delayed until November, or even early December. The bulbs need to be chilled in the ground but dislike wet conditions which encourage “tulip fire” disease. If planting is delayed keep the bulbs cool and dry.

Most bulbs and corms should be planted so that the bulb is

covered by twice the height of the bulb. The deeper the better for tulips. If you are plagued by badgers or squirrels digging up and eating your bulbs, then before planting, shake them in a bag of hot chilli powder, or put wire netting over the patch and anchor it down.

If bulbs are planted in grass, there is no need to wait until the bulb foliage has died down before mowing after flowering. Just wait for 6-8 weeks after the flowers fade and it is then safe to mow off the foliage, even if it is still green, without affecting the future flower display.

I suggest you choose early flowering varieties, rather than a bag of mixed varieties, so that the grass can be restored sooner.

Bulbs lend themselves to being planted in pots. Choose largish pots for the best effect and there is no need to purchase “bulb fibre” to plant them in. A good multipurpose compost will be fine, with a bit of added grit to improve the drainage. Plant the bulbs and then top the pot with pansies, polyanthus, or forget-me-not.

The more adventurous might like to try planting a “bulb lasagne”. Plant a layer of tulips near the bottom of the pot, followed by a layer of compost. Then a layer of narcissus or a different tulip. Top the pot off with some crocus around the edge and you will have a succession of flowers.

Winter hanging baskets can have some of the dwarf ‘Tete-aTete’ narcissus or crocus planted, so they poke out of the sides, and they will then turn up as they grow to flower.

The cause of bulbs that fail to flower in their first year after planting is usually poor-quality bulbs that are too small. If established clumps stop flowering, then a variety of problems may be the cause. The clump may be congested, so can be lifted, divided, and replanted or the culprit may be the large narcissus fly.

The adult lays its eggs in the “nose” of the bulb when the foliage has died back. The grub emerges and eats out the centre of the bulb, including the potential flower bud. This pest is sadly becoming much more common. Dig up a bulb at flowering time and cut it vertically to see if it has been attacked. If so burn or put them out in your green bin. Do not compost at home.

Don’t delay, buy them today, but don’t forget to plant them!

With MARY PAYNE MBE

Tulip "Monsella"

• Transplant evergreen shrubs. Dig them with a generous ball of soil to protect the roots and minimise disturbance. Mulch the roots and shield the tops from drying winds.

• Reduce the height of bush roses by trimming them back by a third to a half their height. This will reduce the likelihood of the roots being damaged if the tops rock around in the winter gales. Clear up and burn any diseased leaves.

• Plant any sort of tree, shrub, climber, perennial, conifer, rockery plant and heather this month, as long as they are hardy. This is the very best month for planting!

• Plant wallflowers out to provide a great display and fantastic scent in spring.

• Plant winter flowering pansies out now but look for those that are already in flower or have buds showing.

• Plant spring flowering bulbs as soon as you can. Tulips can be left until next month but the sooner you get the others planted, the better will be the show in spring.

• Sow sweet peas for the best and earliest blooms next year! Sow them in extra deep pots or better still root trainers.

• Lift dahlia roots and store them in a frost-free place for winter.

• Clean shade material off greenhouses now. Wash the glass to get the maximum light into your plants.

• Pull up runner bean plants and put them on the compost heap.

Ray wins gold!

FORMER builder, Ray Winsley, aged 86, has won gold for his containers and baskets in the Bath in Bloom awards, having picked up silver, silver gilt and bronze previously.

Those who have admired his displays outside his bungalow in Bishop Sutton won’t be surprised. One couple drive there specially to see them – and drop off a box of chocolates.

Ray nearly gave up in 2015 when he won his first award from Curo only for someone to kill his display with weedkiller, even adding it to his water butt.

That brought him national news headlines –and the encouragement to carry on.

He said: “My dad used to make me do his garden, but I love doing it. The plants are going over now, but I’m already planning for next year.”

NORTON GREEN GARDEN CENTRE

SPRING FLOWERING BULBS AVAILABLE NOW –LOTS TO CHOOSE FROM!

SPRING/WINTER FLOWERING PANSIES, VIOLAS, WALLFLOWERS, PRIMROSES, POLYANTHUS & SWEET WILLIAMS READY NOW!

GARLIC, ONION SETS & SHALLOTS FOR AUTUMN PLANTING AVAILABLE FROM MID-SEPTEMBER ONWARDS

THOMPSON & MORGAN 2025 FLOWER & VEGETABLE SEED COLLECTION INCLUDING NEW RANGE OF WILDFLOWERS & SWEET PEAS

NEW RANGE OF GLAZED & TERRACOTTA POTS & PLANTERS JUST ARRIVED!

HERBACEOUS PERENNIALS, SHRUBS, ROSES, HEATHERS, HARDY FERNS, ORNAMENTAL GRASSES, ROSES, ALPINES, CLEMATIS & CLIMBING PLANTS

Mon–Sat 9am to 4pm • Closed Sundays

Writhlington Flower Show

Some of the flower show organisers

EXHIBIT numbers at the 135th Writhlington Flower Show were up by 90 this year, delighting organisers. There were also a number of new exhibitors.

The show committee’s next event will be the annual meeting on Monday, October 14th at 7pm in the village hall.

Fruit and vegetable entries were up to their usual high standards

Chelwood show

Elaine Barwick judging the flower arranging entries

CHELWOODFlower Show was blessed with fine weather and plenty of visitors, who enjoyed seeing 258 exhibits, ranging from vegetables, flowers, cakes and crafts to colourful glasswork, woodwork and blacksmith skills.

One of the organisers, Jackie Young, said: “Teas were enjoyed in the sunshine outside the hall and the later auction was, as usual, good natured, and we all enjoyed the laughs.”

The day raised £622 for hall funds.

Judging underway

Writing out the prize winning cards (l to r) Annie Sherborne, Pat Joyner and Jackie Young

(Photography courtesy of John Newport)

President Hilary Denning with one of the trophy winners

Why not join the winners?

THE 54th annual Frome Selwood Horticultural Society Show enjoyed an increase in entries on last year.

The society meets on the second Tuesday of the month at Critchill School, Frome, with a 7.20pm start. New members are always welcome.

For details, contact Jane Norris: jane.norris9@gmail.com

Stanton Drew’s day out

The winners of the 54th annual show

Some of the exhibits

Pygmy goats being admired by Bethan, aged 11

Anne Stephens and Pat Jones on the WI cake stall

Pictured (l to r) Dapper Darbon, Brian Collins, Alan Sparkes, Rob Storey, Dinger Bell and Paul Gulliford with Alan Sparkes' 1898 Burrell Showman’s Masterpiece engine

Winford growers beat the summer weather blues

ONCEagain, the annual Winford Flower and Produce show drew a record number of entries.

One of the organisers, Philippa Herring, said: “The show once again proved that our local villagers are more than capable of overcoming the inclement weather this summer has provided.”

The organising committee are pictured (l to r) Ewa Woodcock, Ann Morris, Philippa Herring, Gary Sale, Jackie Morris, Michelle Sale, Millie Bickley, Joe Herring, Toni Bickley and Neil Sale.

W h a t o u r re a d e r s sa y a b o u t u s . . .

with such diverse topics of interest and has such amazing coverage of small and larger local events –that would otherwise go un-heralded!

It’s a total joy, from the excellent pictures capturing a great moment and snapshot of humanity to the encouraging features bringing hope in the restorative efforts of communities and nature’s own recovery. It puts our local free paper to shame in terms of the showcasing of community events and people’s fundraising or community-spirited efforts.

Sarah Crosse

The Downhead Catchment

Andy in Carrion Slocker

Andy Watson is the registrar for the southern section of East Mendip and is the person most responsible for recent discoveries in this catchment area.

SPRINGS and surface streams draining the eastern sandstone flank of Cranmore Tower Hill vanish underground in a line of sinkholes situated just west of the road between Downhead and Heale.

The water sinks at the contact between the impervious shale and the Carboniferous Black Rock Limestone, which also marks the boundary of the Downhead Fault, a tectonic wrench which exerts a strong controlling influence, both on the direction of underground flow and on the nature of the small underlying cave systems.

The most southerly of these sinks is Carrion Slocker, where, in recent years, cave diggers have excavated more than 100 metres of small, boulder-strewn passages roughly aligned along the plane of the fault.

Not far to the north lies Heale Slocker, a rather muddy sink point, where no cave as yet has been entered. However, the water emerges underground in nearby Heale Farm Cave, which is another fault-aligned cave system, again heavily strewn with boulders. Towards the bottom of this cave, the stream enters more stable ground and cascades over a 6m waterfall into a chamber of a significant size before flowing off into a high, solid limestone passage that eventually becomes too small to follow.

Three hundred metres north of Heale Farm Cave, another stream sinks below an attractive cliff. This marks the entrance to Bottlehead Slocker, a cave which

comprises a small complex of crawls, rifts, and low chambers. There was also a narrow shaft which yielded a tiny streamway which probably joins with water flowing northward along the Downhead Fault. This is no longer accessible.

Five hundred metres north again, a stream which rises from the sandstone at Bottlehead Springs quickly sinks at Dairy House Slocker, in which cavers in the 1960s excavated a network of tiny rifts. The stream here may well once have been much bigger as part of the water emerging from the springs was artificially diverted into an elevated leat to bolster the supply of water feeding the corn mill at Downhead Swallet. As a result of this augmentation, Downhead Swallet swallows the largest wet weather stream on Mendip, although in dry conditions a tortuous series of right-angled passages and squeezes can be pursued to a choked sump.

Historically, the bulk of the water reappeared at Seven Springs, a small multispring resurgence located 2.2km to the east of Downhead, which exits into the Whatley Brook, adjacent to the abandoned Asham Wood Quarry. A small network of cave passages exists in this quarry, the largest section being the 150m long Bradshaw’s Cave. In very wet conditions this network reactivates and water flows from the normally dry entrance. Water also emerges from another small cave, Yogi Pot, on the opposite side of the quarry and it is

A crystal in Bradshaw’s Cave

probable that they once formed part of a contiguous system that was truncated by quarrying.

The flow times from the various swallets suggest that the water flows roughly northward following the plane of the Downhead Fault, before turning east to reach the surface at Seven Springs. However, the water from some of these swallets was also traced both to a borehole in Westdown Quarry and to Holwell Rising, located 2km further east, and roughly 4km from the sinks, which suggests that at least some of the water passes beyond Seven Springs at a lower level, possibly utilising the unconformity between the Black Rock Limestone and the overlying cap of Jurassic Oolite, which covers a large proportion of the surface to the east of Downhead. This might also indicate that Holwell Rising is actively capturing the water from Seven Springs. Nowadays, however, Seven Springs only rarely flows and, indeed, is often seen

swallowing water from Whatley Brook, which is augmented by water pumped from Merehead Quarry. This suggests that large scale quarrying is having a significant impact on the underground drainage, although it is not entirely clear if this is due to general dewatering or whether part of the underground flow from the sinks has actually been physically intercepted or captured.

At least one concentrated inflow has been encountered in Merehead Quarry. In either case, Seven Springs appears to have been significantly compromised and there is a danger that the ancient spring of Holwell Rising, which has already suffered pollution, may suffer a similar fate.

The Downhead catchment area has also been cited as one of the possible primary sources for the hot springs in Bath, which forms the basis of the widely accepted hypothesis known as the Mendips Model. Given the distance and the time it must take for the water to reach Bath, this is, of

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Village shop under threat

WINFORD Community Shop is at risk of closure, unless a new owner can be found.

There has been a village shop and post office in Winford for over 50 years and for the last five years it has been owned and managed by the community.

During this time, it has developed into a successful not-forprofit business, employing one person full-time, two parttime and 30 regular volunteers.

A wide range of essential and non-essential items are for sale and the shop provides a friendly service and community hub where people feel welcome.

Without the shop, organisers say many elderly residents would become socially isolated and unable to shop independently.

The shop is rented from the owner and there is a vacant three-bedroom cottage adjoining the shop.

Due to a change in family circumstances the owner is selling the whole of the premises at auction in October. An investor is urgently needed to secure the future of the shop and post office.

One of the organisers said: “Ideally the people of Winford would like the shop to stay in community ownership, but their priority is to keep a shop and post office in the village.

“If a prospective owner wishes to run it as a commercial entity the shop management would welcome their interest and be happy to talk to them about taking over the business.

“The current shop and post office is a thriving business and the management committee are willing and keen to continue running it in its current form if a prospective buyer simply wishes to buy the premises as an investment.

“If there are any potential investors out there please view the Maggs and Allen Auction website for details about the premises and/or contact the shop management committee for information about the business.”

Blue lights

ANEmergency Services Day was held in Paulton’s Memorial Park, organised by Holy Trinity Church and Paulton Parish Council.

This was the second year it had been held and involved the police, fire brigade, Blood Bikes and the Great Western Air Ambulance charity.

Chair of Paulton events committee, Anne Lyons, said: “This is such a good event to highlight what these emergency services do. We hope to put this on again next year.”

Archbishop’s visit

THE Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, made a special visit to Somerset, which included a visit to Nailsea School and Frome, where a new Christian community is being established in the former vicarage of St Mary’s Church.

Planting a tree in Frome

Meeting pupils in Nailsea

Bryan George Bishop –it’s a family affair

INthe heart of our community lives a man whose life has been dedicated to service and compassion. Bryan George Bishop, born in 1937. A dedicated family man using his compassion, empathy and understanding to help others through some of the worst moments of their lives.

Bryan’s journey began as he embarked on a five-year apprenticeship in carpentry and joinery in 1952 under Cecil Smith of Maggs & Son Ltd. This period of his life saw him travelling to Osmond Timber Yard in Temple Cloud, procuring materials, such as elm and oak, which he then used to make coffins.

Maggs & Son Ltd, were known not only as builders but as Funeral Directors, providing the backdrop for Bryan’s transformative years.

When Mr Smith injured his leg and back, the opportunity then arose for Bryan to orchestrate his first funeral for his late uncle, Arthur Bishop, from Cheddar, at St Laurence Church, Priddy. This defining moment heralded the beginning of Bryan’s journey into the world of Funeral Directing.

Upon the retirement of local man, Sylvester Cook, Bryan assumed the mantle of his Funeral Directing business, founding Bryan G. Bishop Funeral Service in 1979. He also traded as a general builder, at Springhill Farm House, Hallatrow Road, Paulton. This establishment nestled within a family home, complete with a purpose-built Chapel of Rest.

Beyond his professional commitments, Bryan immersed himself in various community endeavours. From involvement with The Lions, to delivering inspirational speeches and engaging with local organisations, such as local hospitals, police headquarters and more, his presence resonated deeply within the community.

Reflecting on his life’s work, Bryan attributes his success to the unwavering support of his beloved Wife, Grace. Together, they navigated through shifting societal norms, witnessing transformation in funeral practices from traditional burials to cremations and now direct cremations and non-denominational services with celebrants.

Bryan comments on how when the family relocated to Paulton, they saw unwavering support from the Bevan family, emblematic of the communal spirit that defines the village of Paulton. Bryan’s clients expanded beyond geographical boundaries, extending his services to distant locals, including London, Cornwall and Wales, a testament to the trust he garnered.

Over the years many local men and women

have assisted Bryan with callouts, bearing, administration and hygienic care including many members of the family - daughters, sonsin-law, nephews and grandchildren. Without the supporting roles of his team, he would not have been able to deliver his unlimited care to others.

As the baton passed to the second and third generations, Tudor and Jane Bishop (son and daughter-in-law) and Georgia Bishop (granddaughter), Bryan stands proud, witnessing the continuation of his legacy. Their dedication mirrors his own, ensuring that the values of compassion and integrity remain at the forefront.

Tudor and Jane bought the company in 2001, Bryan continues to work with them as a consultant, guiding, nurturing and supporting them.

Tudor and Jane’s initiative in relocating to Farrington Road, further exemplifies the family’s commitment to serving the community. Through repurposing the derelict Burnett Stores, they breathe new life into a space laden with history.

Bryan’s tenure as a Funeral Director has been rife with poignant tales and profound encounters. Yet, bound by the sanctity of confidentiality, many stories remain untold, safeguarded within the confines of his memories.

May his legacy continue for many more years with Georgia, his granddaughter, joining the team. The next generation of Funeral Directors.

Who knows what changes will arise in the coming years, but Bryan G. Bishop Funeral Service will continue in the same vein, showing empathy, compassion, commitment and understanding.

Georgia and Jane

Jane, Tudor and Bryan

Bryan and Jane

Jane, Bryan, Grace, Tudor and Georgia

When medicine meets the law

By DrPHIL HAMMOND

LADYJustice Thirlwall opened her public inquiry into the murders of nurse Lucy Letby by criticising those who have passed judgement on the fairness of her original trial, saying: “As far as I am aware it has come entirely from people who were not at the trial.” This was a brave move, considering she wasn’t at the trial either and neither were any of her Appeal Court colleagues who she roundly supported for denying Letby an appeal.

And if you only attended the trial, you only got half the picture. The jury didn’t hear from any of the nurses who think Letby is innocent, or from any experts for the defence who think the babies were sicker than portrayed and there were more plausible causes of death than murder.

They didn’t hear from Letby’s counsellor who encouraged her to write the Post-it notes the prosecution say were a confession. And they didn’t hear from any representative of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH), whose report exposed serious failings on the unit.

They didn’t hear from any of the pathologists who didn’t diagnose foul play in any of the postmortems undertaken. And they didn’t hear from Dr Jane Hawdon, a consultant neonatologist at the Royal Free hospital in London, who with a colleague, reviewed 17 cases and found no evidence of foul play. There was no microbiologist to discuss the evidence of an infectious disease outbreak. And there was no statistical expert on either side. Apart from that, it was a very fair trial.

Equally troubling, the most important and visible critic of the fairness of the trial has been Letby’s expert witness Dr Michael Hall, a retired consultant neonatologist and visiting professor in neonatal medicine.

He was not called to the stand but attended the trial throughout, in person or by video link, except for two or three half-days, for which he read the transcripts of the hearings and provided medical reports on all 17 babies who were the subjects of the trial.

He has a very informed view that “important elements of the medical evidence presented by the prosecution were flawed or misleading”. Thirlwall should have known this. Dr Hall convinced me that Letby did not have a fair trial. I wrote to Thirlwall in May and included these concerns from Dr Hall.

He has appeared multiple times in Private Eye, expressed his concerns across the media from the Guardian to the Telegraph and on August 25th, he headlined in The Times with “My evidence might have changed Lucy Letby trial, says expert witness”.

Thirlwall is either living in a magical judge bubble and is completely unaware of Hall, or she is completely unaware that

an expert defence witness who doesn’t take the stand still attends the trial. She certainly didn’t read my letter to her so here are my conclusions in case she or one of her judge friends gets the Mendip Times

1. I make no judgement either way as to the guilt or innocence of Lucy Letby, but merely make the point that many medical and statistical experts I have contacted believe it did not appear that the scientific evidence was presented fairly, and as a result, the whole truth may not have been heard.

2. I don’t believe the current system for the use of expert witnesses in criminal trials is reliable, particularly for highly complex cases when there are multiple alternative explanations and areas of uncertainty.

3. Key risks to justice include the use of witnesses who are long since retired or have no specific expertise in the necessary areas.

A further risk is that it is not obligatory for the jury to listen to or be presented with the (supposedly impartial) expert evidence gathered by both sides, so they may only hear the partial truth and not hear evidence that might change their verdict in some or all of the cases.

4. In high profile complex trials requiring medical experts, it should be the duty of the relevant Royal Colleges to provide a panel of the best, current expert witnesses available to serve the Court, rather than those selected by the prosecution and defence. 5. Where this is not possible, it should be mandatory for the jury to hear evidence from experts on both sides. Although this contravenes the right of a defendant not to offer any (expert) defence at all, it makes it more likely the science is correctly and fairly represented, which can only assist justice.

6. In 32 years as a journalist, I have never encountered a trial that has attracted so much dissent from other medical experts. Irrespective of Letby’s guilt, there has to be a more transparent and complete way of presenting expert evidence in court. Justice must not just be done, it must be seen to be done.

None of this will make any difference. In the UK we cherish our adversarial legal system where highly complex cases are reduced to slanging matches between statistically and scientifically uninformed barristers, leaving a lay jury to pick up the pieces. It is a hallmark of the justice system that a defendant can choose how to defend herself and if she can’t get or afford a team of experts to match the prosecution than that’s just tough. Interestingly, experts are now lining up to help her new barrister prepare for her Criminal Cases Review Commission application. But she is unlikely to win in the Court of Appeal, even if she makes it that far. Lawyers are even worse than doctors and police officers when it comes to admitting we may have made a mistake.

Jennifer Morecroft - GDC

Practice Principal – B.D.S (U.BRIST) MFGDP

Alison Chapman - GDC

Practice Associate – BDS MFDS PG Cert Endo

Nikolai Stankiewicz - GDC

Practice Associate – BDSc FDS MFGDP DPDS MSc

Sally Cantwell - GDC

Dental Hygienist – EDH

Jane Fellows - GDC

Dental Hygienist – EDHThe

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Enjoying an ice-cream

THEpatients on the John Stacey Ward at Paulton Hospital were delighted when the local ice cream man, Dan, arrived to serve delicious icecreams to patients and staff at the hospital. The visit was organised by the therapy team on the ward and funded by the League of Friends.

The ward strives to provide a caring and stimulating environment for their patients with regular activities including gentle exercise, games, crafts, and current affairs quizzes, as well as visits from Pet Therapy Dog, Mable and her owner Sarah, and a regular breakfast club on Wednesdays.

COURT HOUSE

A warm welcome at Brock & Houlford Opticians

BROCK & Houlford Opticians are very pleased to welcome both existing and new patients to their country practice at Unit 12, Westway Farm, Bishop Sutton, BS39 5XP.

They are proudly independent and are committed to their policy to invest in equipment, training and facilities. They embrace the technology available that enables them to provide the best possible eyecare now and in the future.

Brock & Houlford’s services include eye examinations and contact lens assessments. They are also specialists in Sport Vision, School Vision, Myopia Management and Dry Eye. Their advanced OCT (Optical Coherence Tomography) scanner can screen for age-related macular degeneration, diabetes, glaucoma, vitreous detachments and macular holes. They can also measure the eye's axial length, which is particularly useful in the management of myopia in children.

Mark, their Optometrist, has gained an additional Diploma in Therapeutics and Prescribing, which enables him to prescribe any medication necessary to treat eye conditions; a huge achievement that is only obtained by a very small number of practitioners. Both Dee and Katharine, the practice’s Dispensing Opticians, are also looking to achieve a further diploma in paediatric dispensing.

Brock & Houlford are also a provider of Eyeplan, eyecare plans tailored to your needs. Benefits include eyecare as often as you need, special prices on frames, lenses and additional pairs of spectacles or sunglasses (as many as you want) and the security of Accidental Damage Cover. Just ask them for more information when you visit.

Brock & Houlford’s practice in Bishop Sutton

Legion branch honours man

who “never served”

SHEPTON

Mallet Royal British Legion volunteer Ken Manship has been presented with a prestigious president’s award for dedication and outstanding service.

Ironically, Ken never served in the military but has devoted years to helping the branch. The award is presented annually to a branch member for their voluntary work.

Branch chairman Andy Ransom said: “Ken is always in the background, the unseen man delivering letters of thanks, putting up poppies around the town or collecting donations, never in the spotlight.

“All of us in the branch appreciate Ken’s dedication and ‘can do attitude’. What makes it more outstanding is that Ken never served so is not a beneficiary of the charity. A truly dedicated man who follows the RBL’s motto “Service not self”. Thank you, Ken, we salute you.”

Summer trip

Cheddar duck race

CHEDDAR Vale Lions Club went “quackers” for its annual duck race in the gorge, with 1,000 ducks twice making the descent.

As in previous years, a major part of the funds raised will be donated to Children’s Hospice South West and the remainder towards the Lions’ work in the community.

Big crowds watched the event

Mountain Rescue members helped on the day

A winner

Ken (left) being presented his award by branch president Tony Dalby-Welsh

BISHOP Sutton WI enjoyed a trip to Montacute House, a masterpiece of Elizabethan architecture and design.

Scout camp

MEMBERSof the 1st Blagdon Scouts held their annual summer camp on a farm near Lydney, just on the edge of the Forest of Dean.

One of the scouts, Eliza Gilson, said: “Overall, the camp was a perfect blend of responsibility, adventure, and fun, with every patrol excelling in both the inspections and activities, while also honing important life skills.”

Max makes steady progress

BACKin 2019, we first reported on the illness of Max Sewart, now 13, whose father Simon moved with him to Holland to get medical treatment which was not available on the NHS.

They subsequently returned to the UK, where Max has been making good progress. But his treatment is again under threat. His father, Simon, from East Harptree, takes up the story:

“When you learn that your beautiful child has a disease as horrific as Batten Disease, your world changes forever and your heart is broken.

Just 24 hours after Max's diagnosis, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) announced, that the first ever treatment for CLN2 Batten Disease (Brineura) would not be funded, despite acknowledging that it is highly effective in slowing down, and in some cases, stabilising the progression of the disease.

This resulted in a lot of fundraising and a crowd funding page raising funds to help Max seek help in Holland, where the Enzyme Replacement Therapy (ERT) is available.

Max came back from Rotterdam in December 2019 after complications with his brain port which resulted with him acquiring meningitis. After more surgery, he started to receive the Brineura infusions at Great Ormond Street.

In February 2024 he then transferred to Bristol and began to receive the infusions at the Bristol Children's hospital. He is doing

very well and is very healthy and enjoying his life!

He has a package instead of attending school, served by a budget from B&NES. This means that he gets educated at home and locally by an amazing team of TAs, musicians, speech and language therapists and conductive education.

He is really thriving and so excited to do his daily activities. Thanks to the infusions and his amazing team he can still walk with help and eats extremely well and is an utter chatter box with an infectious smile!

The five-year access to Brineura for children with CLN2 Batten Disease is coming to an end and it is a possibility that the drug will be withdrawn for UK children if NICE decide that it is not cost effective for the NHS.

This is despite much evidence of its effectiveness in drastically slowing down the progression of the disease. A decision is expected in November 2024.

The R&D costs etc for the drug are as high as any other drug. However, because it is a rare disease the 'market' is tiny and so that is why the cost is so high. The drug company BioMarin took a big risk to try and get Brineura to market and still haven't made any profit on the drug.

In 2019 the entire community were amazing in helping Max by raising funds for him that helped him in his legal battle to challenge NHS England and also to fund his emigration to Rotterdam in 2019.”

Meanwhile, Annie and John Sewart, Max’s grandparents, continue fundraising for the Batten Disease Family Association, with their latest table sale in Chew Magna raising £530 for the charity.

Max (right), with his mum and dad Ivi and Simon and brother Felix

Annie Sewart at the table sale with Max and his brother Felix

New community centre

WINSCOMBECommunity Association’s WiNSpace Team have signed a contract with Rigg Construction Ltd to build the long-awaited new community centre. They are currently waiting for a confirmation of the start date but if all goes well it could be September 2025.

They say they have hit their funding target and are really looking forward to working with Rigg who have been selected during a tender process which started in March in which four companies supplied quotes.

They say it’s going to be a great place for the community to own and use.

Details: Info@winspace.org.uk https://winspace.org.uk/

Prostate testing

GLASTONBURYand Street Lions Club has recently donated £600 to the Somerset Prostate Support Association and is supporting a prostate testing event organised by them. Sponsorship for the day has been provided by The Brue Boys, a local choir established over 15 years ago in the Baltonsborough area.

The event will be held at Glastonbury Town Hall on Sunday, October 6th and a test must be booked in advance online.

Details: mypsatests.org.uk Peter Hopwood 01458 441669 email peterhopwood46@gmail.com

Hazel’s a top volunteer

THE Rotary Club of Chelwood Bridge has awarded its annual community award to Hazel Rider of East Harptree, who was nominated by East Harptree Parish Council.

Every year the club writes to 12 local parish councils asking for nominations of individuals who have made a significant contribution to their local community.

This year the award was presented to Hazel for services to the youth and older members of the community.

The nomination letter said that Hazel was a founder member youth leader for the Adventures Youth Club (7–11 years) nearly 40 years ago and has been running it for about 25 years, only stepping down last December.

She is also part of the Open Book team, which enacts Bible stories at the local primary school and Messy Church, doing craft activities connected to the Bible story with children.

She also took over the running of the monthly lunch club for older residents from the founder, Wendy Fisher, many years ago. A hot two-course meal is served each month in West Harptree Hall and is a social occasion for older members of the community.

Rotary thanks

Umang Patel and Richard Curtis presenting Hazel Rider with the certificate

CHELWOOD Bridge Rotary Club president John Butler thanked Megan Bartlett for her support on her last evening working at the Carpenters Arms, Stanton Wick, where the club meets.

Peter Hopwood, chair of the Somerset Prostate Support Association, receiving a cheque from Lion president Derek Green

Artist's impression

Summer teas

Fiona Gregg Smith with Tan and Anna Toothill, who were serving teas

COMPTON

Dando village church raised £3,311 with its summer teas, £1,000 more than last year, making it the best year yet.

One of the organisers, Jenny Davis, said: “So many people return year after year which is great and definitely our bakers this year have really excelled themselves. A big thank you to all involved.”

The teas will start again next year on the bank holiday weekend at the end of May and run through until August bank holiday Monday.

Organiser needed

CHEDDAR Valley u3a is in full swing again now, with groups meeting for the autumn/winter sessions. However, there are no more speaker meetings booked for the time being, as the vacancy for an organiser is still unfilled.

Details: Lynne u3acvgroupliaison@outlook.com or 07762 702721

Freemasons open day

YATTONMasonic Hall held its first Community Open Day, offering a little of something for everyone, including demonstrations from St. John Ambulance, a live band, Crooked Finger, cream teas and tours of the lodge.

There were also arts and crafts stands, a local history stand, treasure hunt, bar and outside refreshments and charity presentations. Over 200 locals enjoyed the day, organised by 23 Masonic volunteers.

The main picture shows the new community support vehicle which has been donated to St. John Ambulance. Of the £80k needed, £7k has been donated by freemasons and members of the local community in Yatton.

The figure was doubled by freemason Steve Collings from Yatton who did a 100km ski trek in the Arctic circle to raise funds.

Pictured (l to r): back table –George and Alison Coldbourne, Elizabeth Brealey and Lyn Watson. Front table –Debbie and Steve Spear and Trudie Mitchell

Making homes energy efficient

BATH& West Community Energy has launched a new service, BWCE Home Energy, offering free advice on creating energy efficient, warmer and healthier homes.

It offers a local hub of impartial, expert advice and support to help people understand their options and find the right solutions.

Pete Capener, managing director of BWCE said: “As a notfor-profit community business, our goal is to support and empower people and put them at the heart of a just transition to an energy efficient, low carbon and affordable local energy infrastructure.

“Since 2010 we have been developing renewable energy projects supported by community investment and providing community benefit via grants to local community projects.

“It’s long been part of BWCE’s vision to extend beyond renewables into energy efficiency, so we’re delighted that we’re now doing this.”

Councillor Sarah Warren, B&NES deputy leader and cabinet member for climate emergency and sustainable travel, said: “While this obviously benefits the homeowners, it will also help us achieve our aim to be carbon neutral by 2030.”

Details: www.bwce.homeenergy.coop

What a summer it’s been

THE weather might now be starting to turn autumnal but we have many lovely memories to look back on from a great summer, when we have been able to get out and about, supporting village events and meeting and chatting to lots of people.

When we take an instruction to sell a property, we are doing much more than just selling your home. We are inspiring clients to buy into the whole lifestyle of what it means to live in the Chew Valley.

One of my favourite parts of that lifestyle are the village shows, which we are delighted to attend and support. It’s one of the ways we can say thank you to all the people who have supported us over the five years our business has been running.

There was the new look Compton Martin show, this year held in the village hall and following that the hugely successful Clutton show. Organisers reported a bit of a fall in produce entries, so I would really encourage everyone to get growing and see if we can increase numbers for next year.

Stanton Drew’s show is growing and this year held a well supported dog show and Chew Stoke Harvest Home saw a great turnout. As well as fundraising, we provided a lot more hospitality and the champagne we had bought from the Chew Magna Wine Rooms proved so popular that some people actually went over to their stall and bought some stocks for themselves. I love it when local businesses help each other.

None of those events could happen without the efforts of so many volunteers and I was pleased to see some of the people we had sold houses to had actually already got involved with their local show. It’s something we encourage them to do when they are considering buying a property and ensures that important village traditions continue.

Now the focus of many people is Christmas and they are keen to move in to their new homes in time for festive celebrations, so if you are thinking of selling your house this is a great time to get in touch with us because there are buyers out there.

You can rely on our three watchwords of Dedication, Imagination and Delivery to produce the result you want. That means a complete and fully personalised service which includes advice on pricing, suggestions about how best to present your home, quality photography, creative marketing and a topclass website.

We will be with you every step of the way and do all we can to make the process as stress-free as possible. The many reviews we have from satisfied customers speak for themselves so please come and have a chat with us and we’ll get you moving too.

JOANNA TILEY

Rare chance to buy rural land at Auction

Following Nancekivell & Partners third successful auction in July where The Redhill Woods sold for £20,000 per acre & “The Bells” 36acres at Northwick Dundry sold for £11,600 per acre, Auctioneer Richard Nancekivell is excited to have five lots to auction on on Tuesday, October 22nd, 7pm, Mendip Springs Golf Club, where he has been selling from for over 20 years.

AUCTION

Tuesday 22nd October, Mendip Spring Golf Club, Congresbury, 7pm

LOT 2

LOT 1

Investment land

Portbury 2.3acres

£100,000

Woods at Towerhead, Wraxall

£20,000

LOT 4

Paddocks at Cluttons

6.5acre

£12,500 per acre Or in 2 lots: Lot A 3.5 acres Lot B 3 acres

LOT 3

Land at West End, Nailsea, 10acres

£100,000

The Merry Harriers Pub site for redevelopment EX15 3TR

LOT 5

Two building plots

Berrow, Burnham

£250,000

Celebrating 25 years with £250 voucher give-away

LOCALkitchen makeover company, Dream Doors, recently celebrated their 25th anniversary and they’re asking their followers to submit their favourite family recipe, or memory in the kitchen over this time.

The company have seen kitchen trends and popular styles change over the past 25 years, but one thing that remains the same is that the kitchen space is the heart of any home. This campaign encourages customers to reminisce on their favourite times, with one lucky winner being gifted a £250 food shop voucher to recreate their favourite recipe.

Dream Doors began trading in 1999 and now has 90 showrooms nationwide, with their North Somerset showroom opening in 2012, after finding a gap in the market for affordable kitchen makeovers that caused minimal disruption to the home.

By simply replacing the doors and drawer fronts, Dream Doors allows you to completely revamp your space, for up to 50% less than a fully fitted kitchen. Avoiding the unnecessary removal of the cabinets allows for their fitters to be in and out in as little as 23 days, meaning customers can be enjoying their new kitchen in no time!

Dream Doors also have a commitment to sustainability, providing kitchens that benefit both the homeowner, and the planet. By actively encouraging customers to reuse their existing cabinetry, and ensuring all materials removed are disposed of responsibly, Dream Doors North Somerset are making every effort to reduce the impact to the environment made by the kitchen industry.

Do you have a memory to share? Visit the Dream Doors Facebook page to enter! Choosing a Dream Doors Kitchen cannot be easier, and our team of experts will be with you every step of the way.

Why not visit our showroom at 5, The Precinct, Brinsea Road, Congresbury, Somerset BS49 5JG to see how you can start your kitchen makeover journey. There you can view a wide range of kitchen doors styles and colours, as well a selection of modern appliances, storage solutions, and lighting options, to complete your kitchen makeover.

W h a t o u r re a d e rs sa y a b o u t u s . . .

I'll take this opportunity to thank you for giving us the Mendip Times every month. Through news and information and wonderful photos it does so much to foster community both in the individual towns and villages and helps us all to appreciate the riches of the Mendips: the people and the land.

Stewart Castle

Mendip Times –The local monthly magazine

Fun doesn’t have a size

I WASwatching the closing stages of the Vuelta a España (the final Grand Tour of the season) when it struck me how much of the television commentary is not really about cycling. Most of the time in a stage race the riders are together in a peloton (group) and there isn’t very much action. Breakaway riders rarely win as the aerodynamic force of the peloton will eventually catch them. Instead, the excitement relies either on sprinters in the final few minutes or the mountains where the strongest riders can gain an advantage. The rest of the time there isn’t a lot going on.

For the fans on the ground it doesn’t matter, they will have a party anyway culminating in the arrival of the riders. But the commentators have their work cut out on things to talk about.

Helicopter footage has helped by highlighting the beauty of the surrounding terrain, historical castles, vineyards and chateaux that the route passes through.

This is where the commentators can start to digress. During the Vuelta they started discussing the wines of Rioja, the different varieties and even tasting sessions. It was far more interesting and illuminating than what was happening on the road!

The best debate I have ever heard during a cycle commentary was about olive oil and which country produced the best.

Spare a thought then for the elite cyclist doing all the hard work – what is going through their mind, what is driving them on and what does it take to be the best? I happened to meet one recently.

Emily Chappell is an inspirational adventurer and endurance cyclist and she was in Bristol to talk about her epic travels and remarkable life story. Emily was not sporty at school, but when she reached her mid-20s, she began to make up for lost time.

First, she gave up her office job to become a London cycle courier. Not a switch many would make, but at the time cycle couriers were considered “cool and trendy”.

Before long she was easily cycling 60 or more miles a day and after a few years realised she had an ability to ride long distances and then spent 18 months cycling across Europe and Asia.

Then, in 2016, she entered the Transcontinental race from Belgium to Istanbul in Turkey. It is a single stage race in which the clock never stops. Riders plan, research and navigate their own course and choose when and where to rest.

They only take what they can carry and consume only what

they can find on the way. After cycling 4000km in 13 days she was the first woman home, two days ahead of the second placed woman!

However, what should have been the remarkable highlight of her career quickly became a source of self-doubt. When the winner’s ceremony took place, she was presented with her winner’s jersey which had her name and finishing time embroidered on it. As she zipped it up, she realised it was a size too small.

In her mind, she thought that the race team and sponsor had assumed that a woman capable of winning the Transcontinental would be tiny and lean, because maybe that’s what you’re supposed to look like if you’re a serious cyclist.

It took her a long time to come to terms with this until she eventually realised that finishing first demonstrated that the preconceptions about what an elite athlete should look like are wrong. A medium-sized woman could and did absolutely win one of the toughest endurance races in the world, and by a convincing margin.

Emily has written about her experience “Where There’s a Will” which was nominated as Sports Book of the Year in 2020. Listening to her was inspiring and a comfortable reminder that strength, speed or endurance doesn’t have a size!

During the evening, Emily talked about her other cycling adventures, such as cycling in Alaska at temperatures of -40°C and the concept of three levels of fun in cycling.

Type 1 Fun – is where the ride is fun the whole time and you would do it again and again.

Type 2 Fun – is not fun while you’re doing it but when you finish, you’ll be glad you did it, and will look back fondly on it afterwards.

Type 3 Fun – is not fun at all, and while you might take pride in having done it, you’d never voluntarily do it again. In fact, “Fun” probably isn’t the right word to use for this. The word suffering is more apt.

There is a lot of truth in this, but I would also add that the most memorable rides and stories are where there is less fun. It certainly is for Emily!

CYCLING with EDMUND LODITE

ACROSS: 1. Any Old Iron 6. Bath 9. Detestable 10. Sofa 12. Choker 13. Eggshell 15. Velvet Bottom 18. Charterhouse 21. Unclothe 22. Mallet 24. Polo 25. Drumsticks 26. Duty 27. Reiterates. DOWN:1. Abduct 2. Yatton 3. Lost election 4. Ivan 5. Obligation 7. Amoretto 8. Headlamp 11. A slow starter 14. Overcharge 16. Scrumped 17. Lancelot 19. Elicit 20. Stasis 23. Omit

Emily Chappell

New marathon record

THEMendip Hills Fund received a donation of £3,020 from Town & Country Harriers. The Bristol-based trail running club organises the Butcombe Trail Ultra Marathon in the Mendips.

The event has been running since 2016 with a choice of 50-mile and 56mile routes, both linking several Butcombe Brewery pubs.

Both routes take in many of the highlights of the Mendips, including the Iron Age Hill fort at Dolebury Warren, the highest point, Beacon Batch, Litton reservoirs and dam, the spectacular Cheddar Gorge and the peaceful Velvet Bottom nature reserve.

Runners also enjoy stunning views over the Chew Valley to the north, the Somerset Levels as far as Glastonbury

Park run is popular

Tor to the south and the Bristol Channel to the west.

The 2024 race took place on Saturday, April 27th and a record 117 runners completed the race. The first male and female runners in the 50-mile race were Martin Reed (in 7h 32min) and Tallulah Pudney (in 9h 56min).

Winners in the 56-mile race were Zen Sherley-Dale (in a new course record of 9h 18mins) and Jenny Crouch (10h 27mins).

Entries are now open for the 2025 race on Saturday, April 26th. There are a few changes next year, including a new distance of 50km to replace the 56-

WELTONChurch Runners celebrated their 25th free timed 5k run in the park on September 7th. Two runners, Hannah Coates and George Fryer, competed their 20th run and celebrated with a picture in the selfie frame.

The run takes place in the Midsomer Norton Town park every first Saturday at 9am and is open to all abilities. There is a free café after the event.

The course is a challenging one and runners often comment on how interesting it is and the beauty of the park.

mile (the classic 50-mile route is still on offer) and a new race HQ at Mendip Activity Centre.

Details: https://race-nation.co.uk/register/split-second-timing-ltd/midsomer-norton-town-park-5k-run Facebook Midsomer Norton Town Park 5k

Tom Farman from Town and Country is pictured with Jim Hardcastle, Mendip Hills National Landscape Manager, and Simon Dehany, from Butcombe Brewery

Three of the runners

Enter here

Summer ends on a high

THE Mendip Farmers Pony Club Show on September 1st was an absolute triumph. The Britten family hosted the show at their farm and helpers galore made it a very special day. Spirits were high, as families and ponies of all shapes and sizes and all ages had a wonderful time enjoying the friendly relaxed atmosphere in the sunshine.

There were picnics as well as excellent catering on site and from early morning until late afternoon, young and old had fun watching the not very serious gymkhana games, and the more serious Puissance jumping class which reached 1 metre 20cms of block wall being cleared by two competitors who shared a £50 prize.

We could do with more shows of this kind . . . there were lovely comments from so many people who said they hadn’t had so much fun in years. To put on a show like this generates costs which cannot always easily be met, plus having ambulance and insurance cover is essential nowadays, adding to the pressure on hosts.

However, the show attracted some excellent sponsors who generously donated prizes and fences, so it is hoped that there might be a repeat next year –we’ll have to wait and see. Enormous thanks anyway to the Britten family and their good-humoured helpers for making it such a fabulous occasion.

The younger members of the Britten family also successfully competed in the Cricklands Derby across the bridge at the Wales and West centre. Charlotte came 3rd in the 95cm class on her own Harry and Izzy was 2nd in the 85cm class on her first time out on her new ride, Cloonberry Flare, owned by Cally Moore.

This new partnership will be one to watch, as will Charlotte and Harry who have revved up the gears and the speed to produce some great results! Well done both.

With JANE PATERSON

Maggie Evans of Clutton

Frankie Drury receiving her trophy

Sophie and Libby Matthews

Other competing news

BRITISH Show Jumping Academy teams trained by Jayne Smart, gained Team 1st and 3rd in the Chard Equestrian Show. Thanks to Jayne, these lucky youngsters are gaining valuable experience and training from a top-class rider/trainer, practically on their doorstep.

The winning team members were Phoebe Crossman who also won the Big Pony Individual prize, Emma Horner, Lullah Church and William Falango. William from Mendip Farmers travelled to Offchurch Bury for the Pony Club National Eventing Championships and completed respectfully, being one of only a few who produced a clear cross country round inside the time on his 8year-old Just be Jack. He also qualified for the British Showjumping Discovery final, so was up at Stoneleigh Park for that, finishing very well on the Fairlight Stud’s Fairlight Fairytale.

It’s been a busy summer! Tom Sloper, who is based with professional event rider Jason Hobbs at Ham Farm, Yatton,

(owned by Mr and Mrs D Crossman) has just won his section in the 2* event at Cornbury House International and Young Horse Championships in Oxfordshire.

This is a huge win for Tom, who was riding Jaldo, a 17 hand 10-year-old gelding for his owner, Helen Cobb. They will have won a four-figure prize for this terrific achievement, so there will be celebrations at Ham farm for sure!

Finally, and with a tinge of sadness, I am saying cheerio to you all. It’s time to hang up my boots and pass the reins over to someone else who will give you a monthly update on horsey goings on in the Mendip area and beyond.

I have thoroughly enjoyed my few years bringing you news and views and have met some lovely folk all helping to change people’s lives by encouraging them to get involved with horses. I am in no doubt that horses and ponies can enrich your life.

There have been times when I’ve said to my daughter: “What would we do if we

didn’t have the horses?” and she says: “Mum, we’d be rich, fat, and bored!” So, we’d better keep going! I’ll still be out and about following the goings on, so will see you all soon.

Our grateful thanks to Jane for her support and for her wide-ranging reports on the very busy Mendip riding scene. We will miss her and wish her well for the future.

Sixtus Rees-Mogg with mum Helena

Tom Sloper on Jaldo

Emmie Horner

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Celebrating the equinox

THEWrington-based Cantiamo choir’s autumn programme, “Equinox” is a celebration of the earth cycle of day into night.

Cantiamo is a 16-voice auditioned choir based in Wrington but draws members from a large area. They have acquired a reputation for the high quality of their music and the attractiveness of their programmes.

They say: “First and foremost we love what we do and we hope that shows in our performances.”

The concert is on Sunday, October 13th at All Saints’ Church, Wrington, 7.30pm. Equinox will be conducted by their musical

Americana in Congresbury

FOLLOWINGtheir amazing 25th anniversary concert in May, Churchill-based Trinity Singers are planning a Sunday afternoon ramble across 100 years of American music.

It will include Leonard Bernstein (West Side Story), Paul Simon (Bridge Over Troubled Water), Henry Mancini (Moon River), Billy Joel (And so it Goes), and Scott Joplin (Maple Leaf Rag).

The concert is at Saint Andrew’s Church, Congresbury, on

Sunday, November 3rd, 3.30pm.

It will be conducted by their Musical Director, Andrew Tyrrell, and accompanied by Alison Blundell.

Tickets are available via their website or on the door, £8 (accompanied children free). After the short concert you will be able to chat to members of the choir over a complimentary cup of tea and piece of cake!

Details: www.trinitysingers.co.uk

Choir supports charity

THECheddar Male Choir is holding a concert in aid of Space, the Cheddar based mental health charity which supports young people.

It will be held on Saturday, October 26th, 7.30pm at Draycott Memorial Hall. They have challenged men to get sponsored and have a go at singing with them.

They promise an unforgettable evening filled with show-

stopping performances spanning musicals, chart-toppers, and timeless male voice classics. It will also feature the female acapella trio Three Rivers.

The Space became a charity in 2020 and supports local young people 4-17 years living or being educated in the Cheddar Valley area.

Tickets are £10 per person and can be obtained from Deane’s of Cheddar, any choir member, or purchased at the door on concert night.

director, Jeremy Martin, and accompanied by Claire Alsop. l Admission is free with a retiring collection in aid of the church.

Cheddar Male Choir

Rivers

Keep it flying!

TICKETS for a folk concert in aid of the Great Western Air Ambulance on Saturday, October 12th are flying out!

A dramatic increase in call-outs for the flying doctors has created a funding shortfall so local performers have rallied round to help keep the helicopters flying.

Ston Easton Village Hall will ring to the sound of Chas Blacker's Windfalls before an evening of entertainment.

Well-known local character, Martin Horler, has an amusing sketch to offer, while later in the evening two lads will regale the audience with something from the Jake Thackery stable.

All this, plus a mix of traditional songs and something from the glory days of music-hall, adds up to a good evening's entertainment.

Take alcohol for your own consumption, tea and coffee will be offered during the interval. Tickets are £15.

Details: https://www.ticketsource.co.uk/booking/tnoqkkle3inabar@gmail.com

Colin Emmett 01275 332735

Unusual combination

A CONCERT featuring saxophone and harp by the Polaris Duo will take place at St Mary’s, Yatton, on October 26th.

This is the second concert for the Yatton Music Society’s autumn season and will be given by Gillian Blair (saxophone) and Elinor Nicholson (harp).

Both are award-winning graduates of the Royal Northern College of Music and their programme will be a fascinating evening of eclectic music from classical and modern composers.

The concert will be a rare opportunity for music lovers to experience this unusual pairing of instruments to create a memorable musical evening.

The concert starts at 7.30pm, tickets £12, students £6, children free.

Details: www.yms.org.uk

Murder in Shipham

SHIPHAM Players will be performing The Tangled Web, a murder mystery evening in the village hall on October 25th and 26th, 7.30pm.

Tickets, £17.50, include a light supper.

Details: www.shiphamplayers.org.uk

Canine concert

BISHOP Sutton and Stowey WI are holding a fundraising evening, raising money for Mutts with Friends Dog Rescue.

Popular tribute band, the Twerzels, will be playing on Friday, October 11th, 7.30-10.30pm in Bishop Sutton Village Hall.

Tickets (Tel: 07737 255701) are now on sale at £10 which includes a ploughman's supper. There will also be a cash bar.

WI president, Jenny Harris, said: “The Twerzels already have a large following in the village and we are looking forward to a sellout exciting evening with songs we all know and love.”

Mutts With Friends Dog Rescue is based in the Chew Valley and is a non-profit team whose volunteers save unwanted and abandoned dogs from death row. They also help owners who can no longer look after their dogs.

Memorial concert for Mike Key

THEREwill be a fundraising concert on October 4th at Paulton Rovers Football Club in memory of Mike Key who died on July 9th, aged 76.

It will feature three bands he was involved with, Paulton Ukelele Band, Singing Guitars and Crazy for Uke, with dancing from Molly No-Mates.

Mike lived in Paulton and Midsomer Norton for 40 years. A boat-builder by trade, he also achieved high standards in many fields, including pistol shooting, golf, badminton and notably

match fishing.

Mike always wanted to encourage young people and launched his latest venture, Paulton Ukelele Band (PUB), in September 2023, featuring a wide mix of ages.

Mike would help anyone and often took neighbours to food banks locally. The concert is fundraising for The Trussell Trust, which supports food banks nationally.

Tickets £5 are available from band members or contact his partner Helen: helenbeckwith42@gmail.com

Mike Key

Paulton Ukelele Band

Singing Guitars

Crazy for Uke

The Mendips will be rocking again this October!

EVENTS will be taking place across the Mendip Hills this October with the return of the increasingly popular Mendip Rocks! festival of geology. Organised by the Somerset Earth Science Centre in partnership with the Mendip Hills National Landscape team and The Mendip Society, the festival takes place between October 1st and October 26th and promises a wide range of fun and inspiring events including geo walks across the Mendip Hills, family museum days and escorted tours of operational quarries.

The SESC Centre at Stoke St Michael will be hosting an afternoon of specialist geo lectures on Saturday, October 12th. Speakers are due to include geoscientist and adventurer Professor Chris Jackson

and vertebrate palaeontologist and author Professor Michael Benton.

The finale of the festival is on October 26th when the public are invited to explore the Earth Science Centre’s extensive collection of fossils, rocks and minerals during their family museum open day. Visitors are encouraged to bring their own fossils and rocks for identification by experts as well as taking part in hands-on activities.

Lou Sumbler, Festival Co-ordinator at the Somerset Earth Science Centre, said: “The festival provides great opportunities to get out and see some of the area’s best kept geological secrets, with many events being held at sites that are not usually open to the public.”

Jim Hardcastle, Manager of the Mendip Hills National Landscape AONB, said: "We are delighted to be able to deliver Mendip Rocks! again this year. It is an opportunity to share the special qualities of the Mendip Hills National Landscape

with local people and to reach new audiences.”

l Most events require booking. Visit: www.mendiphillsaonb.org.uk/news/mendi procks with details also available on: http://mendiphills-nl.org.uk/events/, http://mendiphillsnl.org.uk/news/mendiprocks/ and https://www.facebook.com/MendipRocks/ or call 01749 840156 or email info@earthsciencecentre.org.uk

Professor Chris Jackson – one of the speakers at the event on October 12th

Wells Festival of Literature

SEXand religion is a topic that always excites interest and division and now the subject is to be aired at the Wells Festival of Literature.

Diarmaid MacCulloch, award-winning writer and Emeritus Professor of the History of the Church at Oxford, is to visit the cathedral city to talk about his new book A History of Sex and Christianity on Monday, October 21st.

A former Bristol deacon, he tells the 3000-year-long tale of Christianity and discusses its attitudes to women, to same-sex love, and its exploration of gender and trans identity.

In the midst of ongoing controversy he leaves the reader to decide whether there is a single Christian theology of sex or whether it is an incomplete symphony with many competing voices.

The nine-day festival, which runs from October 18th-26th, features more than 30 speakers including poets, politicians, novelists and TV celebrities, and the opportunity to buy signed copies of their books at the pop-up bookshop.

Profits from the festival fund a year-round programme of literary events in local schools, including a special programme for around 1,000 pupils which takes place during the festival.

Details: 01749 834483

Pumpkin time

GLASTONBURY Weddings and Events are promising a real family outdoor experience on their farm taking the tractor and trailer ride to their pumpkin field, where you can choose a wheelbarrow and off you go looking for your favourite pumpkin.

There are many different varieties small, medium decorative and large, priced according to size. Then another ride back to the farm at Godney, where the children can have a ride on the bumpy barrel train.

There’s also the chance to do pumpkin carving, play in the ride-on toy barn or jump about in the large hay pit. At weekends there’s a new attraction, with demonstration remote control farm and building site vehicles with tractors, lorries, loaders and dumpers.

Homemade cakes and refreshments are available along with a licensed bar.

Diarmaid McCulloch

Festival’s unmissable events!

VALLEY Arts Fringe Festival is back for its eighth year with 2024 promising to be the largest and most exciting festival to date. The programme is full of unforgettable events and you can expect more impressive performances than ever before.

From Saturday, October 12th to Wednesday, November 20th, the Valley will come alive with a dazzling array of performances that showcase the very best in comedy, music, family entertainment and theatre.

The festival opens with a sensational Live Music Showcase on Saturday, October 5th at Chew Stoke, bringing together local bands and solo artists for a celebration of Chew Valley talent. With a mix of fresh sounds and raw energy, this gig is guaranteed to kick the festival off with amazing tunes and great vibes!

Theatrical delights for all the family include The Deep Sea Seekers on Sunday, October 13th in Dundry village hall. The festival includes lots of family theatre shows including Red Riding Could, Minny Stynker and The Zoo That Comes To You, so it is a good idea to check the Valley Arts website for the full schedule.

On Saturday, October 12th master storyteller Vic Llewellyn takes us on a haunting journey into the unknown with No One Is Listening, A Ghost Story. Prepare for a diabolical disease ridden spectacular as Living Spit perform their hilarious new show There’s Something About Typhoid Mary in Bishop Sutton on Friday, October 18th.

After last year’s sell-out performance, The Bristol Ensemble return to Chew Magna Church to perform Bridgerton in Concert by Candlelight on November 2nd. With elegant melodies inspired by the Netflix sensation, played in an incredible setting, this is sure to be an exceptional evening.

The festival is not just about watching; it’s about participation too! Valley Arts has conjured up a variety of workshops that cater for all ages and interests.

Geraldine Hill-Male, festival director, said: “This festival has always been about celebrating the unique talents right here on our doorstep. Every year, I’m blown away by the passion, creativity, and diversity of the artists, musicians, and performers.

“It’s truly inspiring to see how much our community has to offer. With the biggest line-up yet, Valley Arts is thrilled to continue creating a space where creativity thrives and everyone can come together to enjoy it.”

The Zoo That Comes To You

Santa’s on his way

AFTER a busy –but hugely successful September –volunteers at the Somerset and Dorset heritage railway at Midsomer Norton are now turning their thoughts to Halloween and the return of Santa to the station.

Before then, there is one more chance to enjoy a ride on the line’s iconic Wickham Trolley – on Wednesday, October 30th – before it retires to the engine shed for winter.

The line’s Halloween event takes place on Sunday, October 27th, with tickets selling quickly with Santa setting up his grotto on board a carriage in time to welcome visitors throughout December. Again, tickets are now available online or by calling into the station on a Sunday.

Buffet open 10.30 to 15.30 every Sunday in the season

Sunday, October 27th – Halloween event. Children in fancy dress ride free!

Santa Specials throughout December, come along and enjoy the fun!

Forthcoming highlights:

* Trains running during October including Wickham Wednesday, October 30th

* Mince Pie Special Wednesday, January 1st 2025!

Santa in his grotto last year

T HE M ENDIP T IMES W

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Wednesday September 25th

Mendip Ploughing Match, Green Ore. Details www.mendipploughingsociety.co.uk

Backwell & Nailsea Macular Support meeting 1.30pm Backwell WI Hall. Details: Sheila 01275 462107.

Harptrees History Society: Prof Ronald Hutton “The personal rule of Charles 1”. Visitors £3. Booking essential: info@harptreeshistorysociety.org

Thursday September 26th

West Mendip Walkers moderate 8.8m circular walk

9.30am from Priddy village hall, BA5 3BE. W3W: foiled. scornful. calm Details: www.mendipramblers.co.uk

Friday September 27th

Inner Wheel of Mendip Charity Quiz for Guide dogs, Easton village hall. Tickets £10, incl ploughman’s from 07979 347002.

Whitchurch Local History Society “The art of the magician” Tony Griffith, 7.30pm, URC, 24 Bristol Rd, BS14 0PQ. Visitors welcome £4. Details: 01275 830869.

MacMillan Coffee Morning, 10am-12 Masonic Hall, Redfield Rd, M Norton, BA3 2JN. Disabled access from rear car park. Details: Chris 07768 778169.

Friday Sept 27th and Sat Sept 28th Chew Valley Beer Festival. Details: www.chewvalleybeerfestival.co.uk

Saturday September 28th

Piano concert, Natalia Williams-Wandoch 7.30pm St Mary’s, Yatton. Details: www.yms.org.uk

“Chew Valley Big Sing” 10am-5pm Chew Valley School, £15. Details & tickets via Facebook or www.voxinfrox.co.uk

Wedmore Big Drop & Jigsaw sale for Weston Hospicecare 9.30-12.30 village Hall. Please deliver jigsaws to Tonkin House, Church St. Other items on the day. Details: 01934 712089. Timsbury Village Market 9.30-11.30am, Conygre field BA2 0JQ. Details: Facebook or www.growtimsbury.org.uk

Congresbury Book Sale 9am-1pm War Memorial Hall. Good quality books, jigsaws etc. Street Repair Café 10am-12 Street Quaker Meeting House, BA16 0EB. Bring domestic items for repair by volunteers. Coffee & cake. Details: Facebook or streetrepaircafe@gmail.com

Discover your Community in Street 10.30am to 2pm, Crispin Hall and touring around.

Banwell Coffee Morning & cake sale 10am-12 Bowling club. For Rotary Shoebox Appeal. RNLI Winscombe Folk Concert, Three Rivers Music, Issy & David Emeny, 7 for 7.30, Winscombe Church Centre, BS25 1BA. Cash Bar. Tickets £12 from winscombe.folk@gmail.com or 07703-538861. Sunday September 29th

North Somerset Ploughing match, Langford BS40 5DE. Details: www.nsas.org.uk

“Kathakali” traditional Indian theatre 7pm, Croscombe village hall, nr Wells. Tickets £5 to £14 from: www.takeart.org

Puxton Harvest Service, 3pm Church of the Holy Saviour, Churches Conservation Trust. All welcome. Charterhouse Harvest Festival St Hugh’s Church, 11am followed by a light lunch. Donations to W-s-M foodbank.

Monday September 30th

Norton Radstock u3a Coffee Morning 10-12noon Somer Centre, M Norton BA3 2UH. Visitors welcome, details: norrad.u3asite.uk

Cheddar Valley Singers, Mondays 7-8.15pm Cheddar Catholic Community Hall. Details: cheddarvalleysingers@gmail.com or Facebook.

Tuesday October 1st

Mendip Rocks! Radstock Coal & Railway Walk with Richard Frost of The Mendip Society, 2pm4.30pm, £5. Book: www.mendiphills-nl.org.uk/events Yatton Local History Society talk by Roy Ackrill on Backwell Station, 7.30pm Yatton Methodist Church BS49 4DW. Details: yattonlocalhistorysoc@gmail.com

The Arts Society Mendip: “Pots and frocks – the world of Grayson Perry” with Ian Swankie.11am Croscombe Village Hall and by Zoom. Details: www.theartssocietymendip.org.uk

Bath NATS talk: What is biodiversity and why does it matter? with Alan Feest 7.30pm BRSLI, 16 Queen Square, Bath BA1 2HN. Visitors welcome £3. Joyful Voices: fill your afternoon with song! Tuesdays 1.30-3pm Cheddar Catholic Community Hall. Details: joyfulvoicesafternoon@gmail.com

Wednesday October 2nd

Sing2breathe for breathlessness. Learn techniques for breathing control 1.45 to 3pm every Wed, Cheddar Catholic Community Hall. Details: Kate: vocalkate@gmail.com 07595 745884. Pensford Super Soup Lunch 12 to 2pm, Old School Room. All welcome. Details: Jane 07780 677253. Mendip Rocks! Batts Combe Quarry minibus tours. Meet at reception 10am or 2pm, £5. Book: www.mendiphills-nl.org.uk/events

Backwell & Nailsea Support Group for Carers, discussion “My favourite hobby” 2pm-3.30 Backwell WI Hall.

Clevedon Gardener’s Club 1st and 3rd Wed, 7.30pm Kenn Rd Methodist Church Hall, Clevedon BS21 6LH. Details: clevedongardeners.chessck.co.uk West of England Cricket Society, speaker Mark Alleyne, Widcombe Social Club, Bath BA2 6AA, 2pm, £5 inc tea, coffee, bar available.

Easton Friendship Group talk “My Secret Love” by Anne Brown, 2.30pm St Paul’s Church Room Easton nr Wells. Details 01749 870763

Thursday October 3rd

Chew Valley Death Café meets 12 to 1.30pm in the Community Library Bishop Sutton, first Thurs every month. A safe supportive space to talk about life, death and loss over tea and cake. All welcome. Contact: bryonyhuntley2019@gmail.com

Irish Set Dancing 8pm-10 every Thursday, Dinder Village Hall BA5 3PF. £3 incl refreshments. Fun, friendly, no need to book. Details: 01458 210051 paulrharper@btopenworld.com

Claverham Ladies’ Guild talk about the RNLI by Geoff Vian, 2pm village hall BS49 4GG. Refreshments & charity sales table. Visitors welcome, £3. Details: 01934 838017.

Congresbury Gardening Club talk by Greg Morter “Seed to Fork” 7.30pm Methodist Hall www.congresburygardeningclub.com

Draycott Art Club meets 10am-1 and 2-4pm every Thurs except half-term. Memorial Hall BS27 3UE. All welcome. Details: draycottartclub.mendip@gmail.com

Badapple Theatre with ‘The Regalettes’, 7.30pm Chelwood Village Hall BS39 4NP. Details & tickets: www.badappletheatre.co.uk or 01761 490218 / 07773 567799.

Wells Scottish Dancers Blue School Dance Studio BA5 2NR. Every Thurs 6.30–8.30pm. Beginners welcome. Tel 01934 740065 or email

ann.wellsdancers@gmail.com

West Mendip Walkers moderate 12.2m circular walk starting 9.30am from Lydeard Hill Car Park, TA4 3DY. Details at www.mendipramblers.co.uk

Friday October 4th

Radstock Folk Dance club every Friday, 8-10pm St Peter’s Church Hall, Westfield. Country dancing at a steady speed. Beginners welcome, partners not essential. £3 incl refreshments. heather.m.leverton@gmail.com

Save the Children lunch 12.30 pm Shipham village hall £5.50 for soup, bread, cheese, biscuits, tea/coffee. Do come and join us!

Mike Key Tribute & Celebration Concert with bands that Mike played with and dancing from Molly No-mates, 7.30pm Paulton Rovers, BS39 7RF. Tickets £5 for the Trussell Trust from helenbeckwith42@gmail.com

Saturday October 5th

Stargazing for charity: with Wells & Mendip Astronomers’ telescopes and talk by the Space Detective, at Windsor Hill Wood Refuge nr Shepton Mallet. Family session 6.30-8pm, adults 8-9.30pm. Suggested donations: Adults £20, U-16 £10. Families: two adults and three U16s, £50 – to incl jacket potato supper and hot drink. Details: Sue 07504 758263.

Frome Society for Local Study: with David Heath: Some of the men sent from Frome to Westminster over seven centuries, 2.30pm, Memorial Theatre BA11 1EB. Visitors welcome, £5. Churchill Music: Clarinet & piano, Michael Collins, Daniel King-Smith, 7.30-9pm St John’s Church, BS25 5QW. Details from Ticketsource. Gospel Choir Concert for the RNLI 7pm St Andrew’s Church, Congresbury. Tickets £5 from 01934 863285 or marshalltclements@gmail.com or on the door

Chew Valley Music Showcase – local talent spotlight for selected solo artists and bands, 8pm Chew Stoke Village Hall. Details: www.valleyarts.co.uk

Sunday October 6th

Free Prostate Cancer PSA Testing for men aged 40 and over, 10am to 4pm Glastonbury Town Hall, BA6 9EL. Booking essential: email peterhopwood46@gmail.com

Chit chat creations Craft fair 10.30 -2pm Marksbury village BA2 9HP. Details Joanne 07950 935658.

Service of blessing for Pets all (well-behaved!) pets welcome, 3pm Hollowtree House, Folly Lane, Stowey BS39 4DW. Teas and cakes. Details: 01275 235419.

Monday October 7th

RAFA Mid-Somerset Meeting 11am Wells Golf Club, BA5 3DS. Talk “The Baedeker Raids” by Mike Green, optional lunch: 01458 224057. Congresbury Memorial Hall Club: Friendship evening with Bingo, 8pm War Memorial Hall. Visitors welcome.

Tuesday October 8th

Mendip Rocks! Stoke Quarry minibus tours,10am & 2pm Somerset Earth Science Centre, £5. Book: www.mendiphills-nl.org.uk/events

Timsbury Gardening Club talk by James Cross about the Bishop’s Palace Gardens 7.30pm Conygre Hall, BA2 0JQ. Visitors welcome £2. Details: timsburygc@gmail.com

Shipham, Rowberrow & Star History Society: Bernard Purrier on Roman Baths, 7.30pm Shipham

Village Hall, BS25 1SG. Guests welcome £4. Details: 01934 260784.

Clutton History Society talk about Lords Wood by Andrew Hillman, 7.30pm village hall, Venus Lane, BS39 5SP. All welcome. Visitors £5 inc tea/coffee. Details: 07341 266986 or chris.border@live.co.uk

Parkinson’s Singalong group 2.30-4pm St Francis Church Hall, Nailsea, 2.30-4pm, to sing popular songs and old favourites. No skill required! Details: Chris 01275 854348.

Tuesday October 8th

Pensford Local History Group: “Pensford Coal: blood, sweat & tears” by Garry Atterton. 7:30pm Memorial Hall BS39 4HW. £3 inc refreshments. Details: pensfordhistorygroup@gmail.com

Wednesday October 9th

Camerton Craft & Gift Fayre 10am-1pm, Community Hall. To book a table: charlottemburnell@gmail.com

Mendip Storytelling Circle: stories for a grown-up audience, 7.30 -9.30pm Ston Easton Village Hall, BA3 4DA. Details: www.mendipstorycircle.com

Kilmersdon Gardeners talk by Suz Adicott “Root Connections” 7.30pm village hall, BA3 5TD. Visitors welcome £3. Free refreshments. Details: www.kilmersdongardeners.org

Mendip Rocks! Wells walk with geologist Doug Robinson. Meet 10am outside Wells & Mendip Museum, £5. Book: www.mendiphillsnl.org.uk/events

Blagdon Local History Society: Clive Burlton of Bristol Books with archive war footage and memorabilia, 7.30pm Village Club BS40 7T. Visitors welcome £3. Details: www.blagdonlhs.com

Beginners Morris Dancing, with Mendip Morris. 89.30pm War Memorial Hall, Congresbury. Details: mendipmorris@gmail.com

Thursday 10th October

West Mendip Walkers moderate 9.5m circular walk, 9.30am from White Hart Inn, Trudoxhill BA11 5DP. Details at www.mendipramblers.co.uk

Chew Valley Gardening Club: Dave Usher talk “Herbaceous Plants for your Garden” 8pm Stanton Drew Village Hall.

“From chocolate to cider” – the story of five generations of family railway workers, by Paul Stanford. 7.30pm Horsecastle Chapel, Yatton BS49 4QQ. £3. Details: www.strawberrylinecafe.co.uk/ Wells Gardening Club talk “Ten tips to give your garden the wow factor” by Neil Ross 7.30pm Wells Town Hall www.wellsgarden.club

Wedmore Festival: Wells Cathedral School soloists’ showcase, St Mary’s Church 7.30pm, £12. Details: www.wedmorefestival.co.uk

Glastonbury Townswomen’s Guild find out all about “belly dancing” at 2.30pm Town Hall. Visitors welcome. Details by text: 07763672574 or come to the meeting!

Friday 11th October

Keynsham AWT talk by Dr Natalie Sanders, “Britain’s Vanishing West Coast Orcas” 7.30pm Baptist Church, High St, Keynsham BS31 1DS. Visitors welcome £4.50 incl. drink.

The Twerzels 7.30-10.30pm Bishop Sutton Village Hall. Tickets £10, incl Ploughman’s from: 07737 255701. Cash Bar. Organised by the WI for Mutts with friends Dog Rescue.

Compton Ceilidhs village hall live music, easy dances for all, no need for a partner, 7-10pm, adults £10, U16s £4. Details: www.comptonceilidhs.com

Saturday October 12th

Congresbury Book Sale, 9am –1pm War Memorial Hall. Good quality books, Jigsaws etc.

“Keep the ’copter Flying” Folk concert for the Great Western Air Ambulance, 7pm Ston Easton

Village Hall. Tickets £15 from www.ticketsource.co.uk/booking/t-noqkkle

Mendip Rocks! Geo lecture day 12.30 to 4.30 Somerset Earth Science Centre. £15 incl refreshments. Details: www.mendiphillsnl.org.uk/events

Uphill Village Market 9.30am to 12.30, Victory Hall, Westfield Rd, BS23 4UH. Details: Leigh 01934 628373.

Brent Knoll Bazaar, farmers’ market & café 10am12 parish hall, TA9 4EH.

Avon Guild of Spinners, Weavers & Dyers demonstrations & exhibition, 11am-3pm Long Ashton Community Centre, BS41 9DP. Parkinson’s NW Somerset Support Group meeting, John Telfer on "Using Your Voice" 10.3012.15, St Francis Church, Nailsea.

NO ONE is Listening –a ghost story with Vic Llewellyn, 8pm Compton Martin Village Hall. Details: www.valley-arts.co.uk

Saturday October 12th and Sun Oct 13th

Blagdon Local History Society Exhibition 10am to 4pm, Court Lodge. Details: www.blagdonlhs.com

Bath Green Open Homes: homeowners explain how they have made their homes more energy efficient. Details greenopenhomesbanes.org

Sunday October 13th

Wrington Vale Rotary Big Breakfast Classic Car & Bike Meet at Lye Cross Farm. Cantiamo Singers “Equinox” 7.30pm All Saints’ Church, Wrington. Collection for church. Deep Sea Seekers – interactive family theatre adventure 11am and 2pm, Dundry Village Hall. Details: www.valley-arts.co.uk

Monday October 14th

Nailsea & District Local History Society AGM then talk “Victorian Surgery” by Geoff King. 7.45pm Green Lecture Room, Nailsea School. Visitors welcome £3. Details: 01275 463479.

Monday October 14th

Norton Radstock u3a talk by Ashley Jones: “Uncle Bill” Britain’s forgotten hero, Field Marshall William Slim, 2pm-4pm Somer Centre, M Norton, BA3 2UH. Visitors welcome, details: norrad.u3asite.uk

Tuesday October 15th

Arts Society Mid Somerset “From posset pots to pew groups: early English pottery” 10.30 for 11am Caryford Hall, Castle Cary BA7 7JJ. Visitors welcome £7. www.theartssocietymidsomerset.org.uk

Wednesday October 16th

Pensford Super Soup Lunch 12 to 2pm, Old School Room. All welcome. Details: Jane 07780 677253. Mendip Rocks! “Beneath your feet” walk with caver Peter Glanville. Meet 2pm Priddy Village Hall. £5, book: www.mendiphills-nl.org.uk/events

Henton & District Gardening Club Ken Thompson “Modern Gardening Myths” 7.30pm Village Hall. Details: www.hentongardenclub.weebly.com “Shipshape and Bristol fashion” talk by Steve Loader about the work of the Mission to Seafarers, 2.30pm Weston Museum, BS23 1PR. Visitors £4. Details: www.facebook.com/groups/friendsofthemuseumwsm/ Music for Miniatures preschool music session 10.30am, Chew Magna Baptist Church. Details: www.valley-arts.co.uk

RSPB Bath talk by Robin Morrison “A wildlife photographer in the South West” 7.30pm St Andrew's Community Church, Hawthorn Grove, BA2 5QA. Visitors welcome.

Thursday October 17th

West Mendip Walkers moderate 9m circular walk, 9.30am from Combe Hay BA2 8RD. Details: www.mendipramblers.co.uk

Shipham & District Gardening Club: Plants and

people from India by Neil Ross 7.30pm Shipham Village Hall BS25 1SG.

Mendip Rocks! Geology & landscape of western Mendip with Tony Watts, 10.30am –4.30pm. £5. Meet at former café Burrington Combe. Book: www.mendiphills-nl.org.uk/events

Friday October 18th

Save the Children lunch 12.30 pm Shipham village hall £5.50 for soup, bread, cheese, biscuits, tea/coffee. Do come and join us.

Mendip Rocks! Carboniferous pillow lavas – walk with John Kirby. Meet 11am Sand Point NT car park. £5, book: www.mendiphills-nl.org.uk/events

North Somerset Quilters “Back to the future in vintage quilting” by Diane Bell 7.30pm Backwell WI Hall, Station Rd, BS48 3QW Visitors welcome £7. Details 01275 463119.

Gertrude Lollipop’s Magic Flip Flops – magical preschool show, 10.30am, Bishop Sutton Library. Details: www.valley-arts.co.uk

“There’s Something About Typhoid Mary” by Living Spit 7.30pm, Bishop Sutton Village Hall. Details: www.valley-arts.co.uk

Saturday October 19th

“Behind the Scenes at Spring Watch” with Martin Hughes Games, 7pm St. Andrews Church Compton Bishop. Tickets £10, incl refreshments, from 01934 732735 / 732083.

Farmborough Craft & Gift Fayre, Memorial Hall, BA2 0AH. 10.30– 3pm.

Come and Sing Workshop with Wincanton Choral Society, King Arthur’s School Wincanton –Bach’s St. John’s Passion, MD Neil Moore. Details: Jane 01963 33194.

Frome Society for Local Study: Julian Hight: The ancient trees of Selwood Forest, 2.30pm Memorial Theatre BA11 1EB. Visitors welcome, £5. Claverham Market: 10am- 12 Village Hall. Butcher, veg, crafts etc 01934 830553. Bleadon Village Market: 30+ stalls, 9.30-12 Coronation Halls, BS24 0PG. Details: 01934 812370. Yatton & district Horticultural Society Show, 2pm Yatton Village Hall BS49 4HL, details www.yattonhorticulturalsociety.co.uk

The New Blur Album by John Osborne, reminiscence of youth, music, friends. 7.30pm, Old School Room, Chew Magna. Details: www.valleyarts.co.uk

Saturday October 19th and 20th

East Harptree Big Arts Weekend, East Harptree Theatre and Arts Hub, 10-4.30pm, various artists. Details: www.arthubharptree.com

Sunday October 20th

Little Red Riding Could, a new spin from Roustabout Theatre, 2.30pm, St.Andrew’s Church Hall, Chew Magna. Details: www.valley-arts.co.uk

Monday October 21st

Mendip Rocks! walk Ebbor Gorge & Wookey Hole with geologist Doug Robinson, 10.30–3.30pm. £5. Meet Deer Leap car park. book: www.mendiphillsnl.org.uk/events

Timsbury Nats talk by Catherine Turner, “Spiders” 7.30pm Conygre Hall BA2 0JQ. Visitors welcome £3. U16 accompanied by an adult free. Chew Valley u3a talk by a former counsellor, PA Godden about her first novel, 10am Ubley village hall.

Congresbury Memorial Hall Club: Friendship evening with Bingo, 8pm War Memorial Hall. Visitors welcome.

Winscombe District U3A talk by Dr Richard Stride: “The Pitchfork Rebellion” 2.30pm Winscombe Community Centre, BS25 1HP. £2.50. Visitors welcome. Continued overleaf

MENDIP TIMES WHAT’S

Toytrac is back

THE ever-popular TOYTRAC farm toys and model show returns to the West Woodlands Showground at Frome on Sunday, October 20th.

Originally launched in 1992, TOYTRAC has grown to become the largest show of its kind in the south and west of England. As well as model display, there are dioramas and many of the area’s agricultural dealers will be supporting the day with displays of full-size machinery.

There will be more than 100 stalls selling everything model farming related from tractors old and new to farm buildings, animals and layouts. A diorama competition takes place during the day with live demonstrations by expert Craig Pitman on how to create a diorama and opportunity to ask question throughout the day.

For details, visit: Www.bulldogfairs.com or follow on Facebook TOYTRAC2024

T HE M ENDIP T IMES W HAT

G UIDEFOR O CTOBER 2024

Tuesday October 22nd

Chilcompton Garden Club “Bougainvillea the British way” by Charlie Clarke 7.30pm Village Hall, BA3 4EX. All welcome.

Winscombe Folk Club 7.30 for 8pm, upstairs at Winscombe Club, BS25 1HD. All welcome, £2. Details on FaceBook

Mendip Rocks! Lead mining at Charterhouse: walk with archaeologist Steve Tofts. Meet Ubley Warren Drove. Book: www.mendiphillsnl.org.uk/events

Parkinson’s Singalong group 2.304pm St Francis Church Hall, Nailsea. Popular songs and old favourites. Details: Chris 01275 854348.

Wednesday October 23rd

Mendip Rocks! Stones of Frome with geologist Simon Carpenter. Meet 2pm in front of Cheese & Grain, £5, book: www.mendiphills-nl.org.uk/events

Yatton Rotary hosts a talk by Alex Ballard, “A Life in Youth Work” 8pm, the Bridge Inn, Yatton BS49 4AU. Free. Details: mrsjonquilb@gmail.com

Thursday October 24th

West Mendip Walkers moderate 11.5m circular walk, 9.30am from outside The Woolpack, Beckington BA11 6SP. Details www.mendipramblers.co.uk

Mendip Rocks! untangling geological time at Tedbury Camp; walk with geologist Martin Whiteley. Meet 10.30am Fordbury Bottom, Great Elm. £5, book: www.mendiphillsnl.org.uk/events

Yatton & District Horticultural Society: Bulbs and their selection, talk by Mickey Little, 8pm Hangstones Pavilion, Mendip Rd BS49 4HS. www.yattonhorticulturalsociety.co.uk

Six weeks in Tanzania: a talk for AWT by Liz & Ian Dagger about living with the Meru people and a Serengeti safari, 7.45pm Chew Magna Old School Room, £2.50.

Friday October 25th

Whitchurch Local History Society

“The Beauforts of Badminton” with William Evans 7.30pm in the URC, 24 Bristol Rd BS14 0PQ. Visitors welcome £4. Details: 01275 830869. Done to death by Jove! A romping British detective spoof gone wrong, 8pm, Bishop Sutton Village Hall. Details: www.valley-arts.co.uk

Friday October 25th & Sat Oct 26th

“The Tangled Web”, a murder mystery by the Shipham Players 7.30pm village hall. Tickets, £17.50, incl light supper. Details: www.shiphamplayers.org.uk

Saturday October 26th

Mendip Rocks! Somerset earth science centre museum Open Day; family activities 11am-3pm. Stone carving workshops with Nick Durnan 11am12.45pm & 1.15-3pm, £10. To book: www.mendiphills-nl.org.uk/events

Timsbury Village Market 9.30-

11.30am Conygre field BA2 0JQ. Details on Facebook or www.growtimsbury.org.uk

Cheddar Vale Lions jumble sale, 2pm village hall. Please deliver donations from 12noon- no electrical items. Yatton Rotary Arts & Crafts Fair, 10-4pm Cleeve Village Hall, BS49 4PF. Details: mrsjonquilb@gmail.com

Cheddar Male Choir concert, 7.30pm Draycott Memorial Hall, for mental health charity Space. £10. Details: contactcheddarmalechoir@gmail.com

Wedmore Repair Café 10am to 12 in the Village Hall.

Polaris Duo, saxophone & harp, 7.30pm St Mary’s, Yatton. Details: www.yms.org.uk

Vintage Hornby model railway show, 10am-4pm King Alfred's Academy, Highbridge, TA9 3EE. Adults £5 cash, accompanied children free. Details: www.somersethrca.org.uk

Saturday October 26th to Sunday Oct 27th

Chelvey Art & Craft Fair 10am-4pm St. Bridget’s Church. Refreshments by donation.

Sunday October 27th

Craft Fair Conygre Hall Timsbury 103pm. Details: Laura 07410452685 or timsburygc@gmail.com

Monday October 28th

Norton Radstock u3a coffee morning 10-12noon Somer Centre, M Norton BA3 2HU. Visitors welcome. Details norrad.u3asite.uk

Tuesday October 29th

Wells & District Wildlife Group talk: “Back to the wild” – how Secret World support each species towards release, 7.30pm, Wells and Mendip Museum. Details: www.wdwg.org.uk or 07415 350062.

Wednesday October 30th

Pensford Super Soup Lunch 12 to 2pm, Old School Room. All welcome. Details: Jane 07780 677253.

Backwell & Nailsea Macular Support meeting 1.30pm Backwell WI Hall. Details: Sheila 01275 462107.

Harptrees History Society: “John Wesley’s New Room, Bristol” by Dr Christine Jones. Visitors £3. Book by email from 16th Oct: info@harptreeshistorysociety.org

Caryford Hall lecture, “What it takes” – life in the UN by Belinda Holdsworth. 7.30pm. Details: www.caryfordhall.co.uk/event/lecturelife-in-the-un-belinda-holdsworth/ Thursday October 31st

West Mendip Walkers moderate 10m circular walk, 9.30am from Maiden Bradley Memorial Hall BA12 7JG. Details www.mendipramblers.co.uk

Draycott Art Club sessions 10am-1pm & 2-4pm every Thursday, Memorial Hall BS27 3UE. All welcome. Details: draycottartclub.mendip@gmail.com

One of last year’s displays