Mendiptimes Volume 12 - Issue 2

Mendip Times

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VOLUME 12 ISSUE 2

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FREE

Celebrating life on the Mendips and surrounding areas

JULY 2016

IN THIS ISSUE: ROYAL BIRTHDAY • WEDMORE • PROPERTY • CHARITIES • HOMES & INTERIORS • SPORT • RIDING Local people, local history, local places, local events and local news

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Tel: 0800 097 8611

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

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

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CONTENTS

Welcome

IT’S been a right royal month across Mendip with street parties galore marking the Queen’s 90th birthday. Add to these village fetes and festivals and you have a marvellous display of communities coming together to enjoy themselves and support good causes.

There have also been one or two bigger events. We have a picture special from the Royal Bath and West Show and go behind the scenes for preparations at the Glastonbury Festival.

We also preview the Street Fair and Arts Festival taking place in Wedmore.

Chris Sperring explores the birdlife on Blackdown, while June MacFarlane suggests uses for the summer glut of strawberries. Sue Gearing’s walk takes us around Hinton Blewett, while Dr Phil Hammond describes the political importance of TV characters, the Clangers.

We join the search for Rural Hidden Heroes, who have served in the armed services, and meet “two ordinary elderly grandmothers” raising money for schools in Kenya.

We also hear about the extraordinary fundraising efforts by friends of Abbie Dougherty. Shortly before she died she asked for a party to support the Teenage Cancer Trust – some 1,300 people turned up.

With all of our regular features and contributors, welcome to summer on Mendip.

14

One is amused – Blagdon’s tribute – and more on the royal birthday on other pages

88

The railway children? How Pylle turned back time

104

August 2016 deadline: Friday, 15th July 2016.

Published: Tuesday, 26th July 2016.

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

01761 463888 or: email news@mendiptimes.co.uk or: letters@mendiptimes.co.uk www.mendiptimes.co.uk Design and origination by: Steve Henderson Printed by: Precision Colour Printing, Haldane, Halesfield 1, Telford, Shropshire TF7 4QQ Copyright of editorial content held by Mendip Times Ltd. and its contributors. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the express permission of the Publisher. The views expressed in this publication do not necessarily represent those of the publisher or its associates.

Front cover: Lola, five, and sister Maggie, aged three celebrating the Queen’s Birthday at Stoke St. Michael. Photo by Mark Adler. See page 68

Going out in style – sevens tournament ends on a high

Plus all our regular features Environment...................................6 Farming Mary James MBE..........10 Arts & Antiques ...........................18 Business ........................................22 Food & Drink...............................26 Internet and Crossword..............37 Charities .......................................46 Wildlife Chris Sperring MBE .......57 Walking Sue Gearing....................58 Outdoors Les Davies MBE ..........60

Gardening Mary Payne MBE ......62 Caving Phil Hendy........................70 Health Dr Phil Hammond.............72 Community...................................75 Property........................................82 Homes and Interiors....................92 Riding Rachel Thompson MBE ..100 Sport............................................102 Music...........................................107 What’s On ..................................109 MENDIP TIMES • JULY 2016 • PAGE 3

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Queen’s birthday honour for Bob

Bob Burns (standing right) with Graham White, David Lane, Bill Wallace and Steve Boucquet, at the Avalon Rotary Club’s annual charity golf day. Proceeds from this year’s event will go to Avalon School’s hydrotherapy appeal and the Friends of West Mendip Hospital

MASTER baker Bob Burns has been awarded an MBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours for his services to charity and the community.

Bob, of Glastonbury, who runs the Burns the Bread chain of shops, has raised thousands of pounds over the years for charity and is a member of the Avalon Rotary Club. He also sings with the Brue Boys Choir.

Bob said: “I was quite humbled but very proud when I received the news. I have had lots of lovely phone calls, letters and emails congratulating me.”

Meanwhile, Lysbeth Ballantine, of Wells, has been awarded the British Empire Medal. Mrs Ballantine has been a volunteer for Save the Children for more than 35 years.

G See Food and Drink page 32.

Sun shines for club day

NEWS

Five-year-old twins Louisa and Kieran Sparks with their grandfather Bob; all are members of the society

MEMBERS of Priddy Friendly Society gathered in the village for the annual roll call and club day.

The band from Weston Sea Cadets joined the procession from the Queen Victoria Inn to the village church for a service before lunch in the village hall.

The roll call is underway

The procession passes the village green

The Scysis Rockets team on the first tee

MENDIP TIMES • JULY 2016 • PAGE 5

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Avalon funset

Ceri Cambridge, from Secret World, with its resident tawny owl Star

A CELEBRATION of the work being carried out by the Avalon Marshes Landscape Partnership on the Somerset Levels attracted dozens of visitors.

The annual Avalon Marshes Open Day showcased the Heritage Lottery-funded work that goes on across the marshes by many conservation and heritage organisations.

Also on show was a special exhibition about the area’s railway history from the Somerset and Dorset Railway Trust, a chance to explore the South-West Heritage Trust’s newly-opened reconstructions of a Roman villa and a Saxon longhall and bird-box making, pond-dipping and bug-hunting as well as guided walks around local reserves and trailer rides across Shapwick Heath.

Organiser Julie Merrett, Reserves Warden for Natural England, said: “It has been a great opportunity to show how all the different organisations have been working alongside each other.”

Brothers Alfie and Harry enjoy getting messy on the Somerset Wildlife Trust painting stand

Margaret Phillips (left), of Hutton, makes a bird box with the help of the RSPB’s Pete Manley, as her daughter-in-law Andrew Phillips, of Weston-super-Mare clutches her completed box

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Organiser Julie Merrett

Kerry Macauley, from the Hildsvin Dark Age Re-enactment Society, learns how to weave willow from maker Ivor Hancock, 82

A raven joins members of the Hildsvin Dark Age Re-enactment Society in the Saxon longhall

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Cleaning our beaches

THE Marine Conservation Society is planning a mass beach clean in September to tackle the tide of litter washing up on our shores and is looking for volunteers.

Last year just over 6,000 volunteers cleaned 340 beaches, recording the largest amount of litter per kilometre – a staggering 3,298 pieces.

The society’s Beachwatch Manager, Lauren Eyles said: “Over the last decade, we’ve recorded a huge hike in the amount of litter found on our beaches – up by over 65%. We need help – and anyone can simply volunteer to take part.”

This year’s Great British Beach Clean takes place on September 16th, 17th, 18th, and 19th.

Details: www.mcsuk.org/beachwatch or telephone 01989 566017.

(Photograph courtesy of the Chapter of Wells Cathedral)

Even beauty has its floors

THE famouslyworn steps to the Chapter House at Wells Cathedral have been named as one of the UK’s top 20 historic floors by The Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings, Britain’s oldest heritage charity.

The list, including suggestions from some well-known conservationists, supports History at Your Feet, a The “sea of steps” at Wells Cathedral campaign to encourage everyone to be more aware of the importance of old floors.

Known as the “sea of steps”, they were built from 1286 and the upper flight in 1459-1460. The staircase itself divides at the top with one branch leading through to Chain Gate (which in turn leads to Vicars Hall and Vicars' Close) and the other branch leading to the Chapter House. After centuries of use, the wear and tear of tramping feet can clearly be seen on the staircase.

Joining them on the list are floors ranging from the packhorse bridge at Barton Farm at Bradford-on-Avon, mosaic floors at Bignor Roman Village in West Sussex and the floor of the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.

SPAB Director Matthew Slocombe said: “We thought long and hard when putting our Top 20 together. We wanted to include some obvious ‘show stoppers’ and clearly the wonderfully atmospheric steps at Wells Cathedral fall into that category. Yet SPAB has always been a champion of simple, vernacular buildings and materials and many of our other choices reflect that. To paraphrase the words of our founder, William Morris, we looked for the ‘beautiful and useful’, and often that beauty comes through the patina of wear and age!”

ENVIRONMENT

New manager for the Mendip Hills

JIM Hardcastle is the new manager of the Mendip Hills AONB Unit. He previously worked for the AONB team running all the projects between 2002 and 2008, when he left to work for a marketing company.

Recently he was marketing manager for a large environmental regeneration charity.

Jim’s role will be to look after the team, co-ordinate the management plan for the area and help the AONB Partnership to run effectively.

Jim said: “I’m very excited about being back on Mendip with the privilege of leading the AONB Unit. I really want to make sure that the people that live and work here and all the visitors enjoy Mendip as much as I do.

“The AONB Unit is the voice of the protected landscape and I want to make sure that voice is loud and clear. The team are doing great work across the area that people need to know about so my experience in communications will certainly help with this.

“The Mendip Hills isn't an island cut off from the outside world. Lots of issues will affect the area in the future and I need to work with the AONB Partnership to make sure we can adapt to those changes while conserving and enhancing this special area for everyone.”

The AONB Partnership is made up of important national and local organisations that influence the area, including local authorities, conservation bodies, land owners and farming groups. It produces a management plan to guide how the area is conserved and enhanced.

Quarry history celebrated

A NEW book will be published in July to coincide with the 125th anniversary celebrations of the founding of Mendip quarrying company Wainwright’s.

Local historian and writer Robin Thornes charts the company’s development since 1891 when a group of businessmen led by John Wainwright decided to take advantage of the high-quality basalt rock available for quarrying in the Mendips.

J.Wainwright & Company was born and has been growing ever since. The book is described as a tale of commercial adventure, bold investment and entrepreneurial derring-do. It is a story also about a close-knit family business, which retains its core values to this day.

The book will be launched at an exhibition about Wainwright’s at Rook Lane Chapel in Frome on Thursday, July 14th from 10am to 4pm.

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Get ready to rock

M E N D I P

W E A T H E R

S C E N E

A FAMILY fun day will be held in July at Westbury-subMendip to herald the countdown to this year’s Mendip Rocks! geology festival.

The event will take place on Saturday, July 16th and Westbury Quarry. Not normally open to the public, this event provides a great opportunity for visitors to see inside this former limestone quarry. Now designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest, it is also an oasis for wildlife with flower rich meadows alongside impressive rock faces.

There will be a guided tour by ex-quarry manager Nigel Taylor and geologist Dr Peter Hardy and activities for children. Nigel said: “This is a very special and fascinating place, there are several types of limestone rock present and quarry blasts years ago revealed over a million bones of cave bears and other prehistoric animals that roamed the Mendip Hills over 600,000 years ago. The site is also very high up with spectacular views of the Somerset Levels and Bristol Channel.”

This year’s Mendip Rock! festival runs from Saturday, September 17th to Monday, October 31st. A wide range of events will reveal the ancient stories that have shaped a unique and very special landscape. It offers a great chance to see some of Mendip’s best kept geological secrets with many events being held at sites – like Westbury – that are not usually open to the general public. The festival is organised by the Somerset Earth Science Centre in partnership with the Mendip Hills Wild Westbury Quarry Family Fun Day runs from 2-5pm.

The event is free but donations are welcome to support the Mendip Rocks! festival. Booking is essential. Call 01749 871289 or contact through website www.westburyquarry.co.uk

Midsummer madness

JUNE 24th has always been known as Midsummer’s Day, but this has nothing to do with the weather with DAVID because the MAINE meteorological summer runs from June to August.

It’s not even the longest day – June 21st. Surely Midsummer’s Day should be in mid-July, so why this “Midsummer Madness”?

June 24th is, in fact, one of the four quarter days of the year, the other three being Lady Day in March, Michaelmas Day in September and Christmas Day, all nicely spaced out through the year. They are used in the legal and business world for anything conducted on a quarterly basis e.g. rents for farms and even shops.

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ENVIRONMENT

A shining example

Beacon Hill Wood is famous for its annual display of bluebells

A COMMUNITY group set up to conserve and enhance an historic woodland near Shepton Mallet will celebrate its 20th anniversary in August.

The Beacon Hill Society works with the Woodland Trust to promote the use, enjoyment of Beacon Hill Wood for the benefit of the public.

A community party will be held in the woods – famous for its stunning views over Mendip and the annual show of bluebells – on Sunday, August 14th.

Beacon Hill Wood, at Doulting Beacon, was previously a Forestry Commission plantation and the society was formed to safeguard public access when it was put on the market. With the help of Mendip District Council, the Woodland Trust purchased the wood in 1995.

Details of the celebration are still to be confirmed. For more information, visit: www.beaconhillsociety.org.uk

But “midsummer” in July is what I want to write about: it is the warmest month of the year, August being very close, with a mean temperature of 16.5°C and a mean daily maximum of around 21°C or 70°F. One would expect every day to be very pleasant, as these temperatures suggest but, as we all know, the weather in July can be as variable as in other months in the year, us being a maritime nation and therefore much dependent for our weather type on the wind direction. The rain, when we get it, is just a bit warmer, that’s all.

We are well into the “event” season. The Royal Bath and West Show and Glastonbury are behind us (I write this before the start of the festival and we all know what an impact the weather can have on that – more next time) and the 25th Priddy Folk Festival and the Frome Festival

are nearly here.

Schools are breaking up and families are looking forward to holidays. All I can offer is that as long as it is not raining, any outdoor activity should be quite pleasant.

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Well, summer’s here. Summer items seem to go in pairs. Bath and West, sun and rain, strawberries and cream, bare legs and happy smiles, white legs and beer bellies. I could go on but might be censored.

Our spell at the Bath and West was enjoyable, showing our faces, painting others (adults as well as children), meeting friends old and new, sponsoring the vintage tractors and machinery and doing a bit for charity into the bargain. e photo is our version of a rose between two thorns, Robin and Bill with our hardworking “volunteer” face painter Paige.

Wasn’t the show good this year? It bodes well for the future and those who have put their backs into it should be thanked by us all.

I had better watch out, very little space to bore you about changes in the law and the myriad of rules and regulations that can catch you out. Just remember, if in doubt ask your solicitor. We would be foolish to say we always know the answer; my old principal always used to say that a good solicitor can’t know all the law but he/she knows where to look it up and, more importantly, to interpret it.

Are there changes afoot? Are we in or are we out? We will all know by the time you read this edition of Mendip Times. Momentous times!

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Cheddar: Roley House, Church Street, Cheddar, Somerset, BS27 3RA. Tel: 01934 745400

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A tribute to farm woman of the year THE Royal Bath and West Show was a great success – all the new areas, particularly the local food marquee, drew large crowds and many new trade stands.

One of the highlights was the Farm Woman of the Year competition where the chosen finalists appeared on the bandstand.

With MARY The winner was Gillian Dosson, pictured JAMES MBE with the chief executive Rupert Cox. Gillian packs a great deal into her life. Mother of two boys, she helps her husband on their farm at Spaxton as well as helping out on her family farm on Mudgley Hill. She is also the skilled and effective organiser for Somerset Young Farmers’ Club based at their offices in Westonzoyland.

She works tirelessly for members to help them run and organise the federation’s activities, which include public speaking, stock judging, dramatic arts, sports and social events etc etc. Gillian also happens to have a particular aptitude for finance and manages both the Somerset Federation accounts as well as the South West Area.

If that wasn’t enough she also helps to organise point to points for three different hunts, Mendip being one of them. Well done Gillian, I don’t know how you fit it all in!

Farming for the Family was successful as always, where two Guernsey cows are milked at three set times per day and the stewards talk about the process and answer questions. There is free milk tasting of Guernsey milk, pasteurised of course. The

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Show chief executive Rupert Cox with Gillian Dosson

farmer stewards say they always enjoy talking to the public.

On a different note, the referendum will be over by the time you read these notes. In early June I attended a debate organised by the accountancy firm Old Mill where some eminent speakers had their say. Some 350 farmers and farming businesses attended and listened intently to Jacob Rees-Mogg MP, Tessa Munt, Sir Peter Kendall, former president of the NFU and Derbyshire farmer Michael Seals.

There was a ballot but I am not going to give the result!

Farming is diverse and complicated but whatever happens we will all pull together.

Silage making started but rain interrupted and there’s no sign of hay at this present moment. There’s complete frustration but nothing anyone can do about it. There are some surveys going on around the farm looking at bat and insect movements etc. A young man arrived yesterday to ask if he could move a monitor “in a field which has a lot of long grass”.

He was quite put out when I told him it was mowing grass ready to be cut for hay and that he could not go trampling about in it because it would flatten the grass and make it more difficult for the mower to cut it. Then he asked when it would be cut. Well, how long is a piece of string? So he will be back in a week and the sun might have been shining with a bit of luck.

Finally, a few statistics about our beautiful county of Somerset, which is the second largest county in the South West.

There are 5,097 commercial farm holdings; 12,307 people are directly employed in agriculture and the county is the largest producer of peas, beans, top fruit, small fruit and home to the largest number of pigs in the South West. And the Mendips are wonderful!

For Royal Bath & West Show coverage, see page 54

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Reaching new heights

JASON Beasley is used to being asked by farmers, tree surgeons and chimney lining companies to solve their access needs.

His fleet of three vehicles – a fourth is due soon – provides the answer for almost everyone needing to work at height, but the call from a firm of solicitors was unexpected.

Jason, who is based in Blackford, explained: “The firm was moving offices and the staff needed to move hundreds of boxes.

They didn’t fancy taking them down four flight of stairs but I was able to set up outside the window and they passed them out to me.”

Jason, who grew up in Blagdon, set up the business just over

A bird’s eye view of one of the vehicles

FARMING

Jason with the current fleet

three years ago when he bought his first vehicle on impulse. Fully insured and certificated, Jason operates the vehicles and is happy to cover Somerset and the surrounding area on either a full or halfday rate.

The Land Rover-based access platform is suitable for most terrains and is popular with tree surgeons; the smallest vehicle can be driven down the narrowest of lanes and even footpaths and is useful for accessing street lighting – one of Jason’s regular clients is Magna Housing South West.

As well as helping out solicitors, Jason is also in demand by photographers wanting aerial views of weddings, parties and other events, organisers of clay shoots and people needing bee swarms removed.

Jason said: “The best part of the job is meeting people and every job is different.”

MENDIP TIMES • JULY 2016 • PAGE 11

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Latest sponsor announced

THE award-winning Mid-Somerset Show has announced cider producers Brothers Drinks as its latest sponsor.

Based in Shepton Mallet, the company has become diamond sponsors of the popular one-day agricultural event on Sunday, August 21st at the Shepton Mallet Showground.

Matthew Showering, director at Brothers Cider, said: “We are delighted in becoming involved with this great Shepton Mallet show and are glad we can support it and our local community.”

Ian Harvey, chairman of the Mid-Somerset Show, said: “In order to keep the show free for pedestrians, sponsorship is essential and we’re always looking for local businesses who can support us. We’re very grateful to Brothers Cider.”

This year’s show will be welcoming back the Sheep Roadshow, as well as introducing new additions such as a grandstand and meerkat display.

The Mid-Somerset Show is the largest free admission show for pedestrians in the UK. Car parking charges apply. The Mid-Somerset Agricultural Society, which organises the event, was crowned Event Team of Year at the 2015 National Outdoor Events Association Awards for the team’s great ethic and the support of volunteers.

Schedules and further information are available from the show secretary. Call 01749 980344, email secretary@midsomersetshow.or.uk for a copy, or visit www.midsomersetshow.org.uk

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Nearly a century of service WILLMOTTS Transport Ltd began trading as a haulage company in the heart of Somerset in 1918.

They now have a fleet of over 100 vehicles between their general haulage fleet in Waterlip, near Shepton Mallet and sister container company DJB Haulage in Southampton, which runs a 50-strong fleet of container haulage vehicles.

Willmotts are part of a pallet network that can deliver smaller pallets quantities over the UK and Europe. Over the last few years they have invested heavily in the company: • Euro 6 engines to improve emissions and carbon foot print

MID-SOMERSET SHOW 2016

• Modern and efficient trailers of various specification to cover all aspects of logistics • 25,000 sq. ft. warehouse expansion • ISO9001, ISO 14001 and BRC and FORs accreditation • Bespoke IT system for transport and warehousing • Training departments – offering training for driver CPC, first aid,

forklift and general H&S training They are a broad-based team of highly skilled and extremely enthusiastic staff.

They say their objective is to understand the logistic requirements of their customers, then create and apply the relevant service to suit.

They aim to offer a comprehensive service throughout the UK and mainland Europe.

MENDIP TIMES • JULY 2016 • PAGE 13

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Dance festival tribute to the Queen

WELLS

UNION flags and bunting decorated Wells Cathedral Green in tribute to the Queen’s 90th birthday during the annual Somerset Schools’ Folk Dance Festival.

And more than 1,100 primary school children and their families gave three cheers for Her Majesty before the dancing began.

Now in its 42nd year, around 60 schools took part, including one from Bristol.

The procession makes its way through Wells city centre to the cathedral

Coleford’s Bishop Henderson school PAGE 14 • MENDIP TIMES • JULY 2016

Chloe, from SS Joseph and Teresa school in Wells. Pupils performed a special maypole dance to open the event as a tribute to the Queen

Dancers from St Vigor and St John school in Chilcompton

Castle Cary school pupils

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LITTON

Compere Will Pratt snail racing

Page 63

THE QUEEN AT 90

UBLEY

Entrants in the Kings and Queens fancy dress parade

Alex Lovell, from BBC Points West, watched by MC Noel Campbell, presents a cake to Colin Peacock celebrating his mother Jill's 90th birthday

A crown fit for a princess

Her Majesty (Stephen Moss) is served by Cathy Lee

Ubley Primary School choir

Barbecue – by royal command MENDIP TIMES • JULY 2016 • PAGE 15

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Dear Mendip Times, I would like to raise a local issue about road safety. I live on the B3134, just up from Burrington Combe. As you may know it is an area of outstanding natural beauty which is appreciated by horse riders, dog walkers and cyclists. It is also a popular speeding location!

We have lived here for nearly three years and have witnessed many car crashes and near crashes. We have had two cars written off because people have been speeding and lost control.

One car ended up in our garden, where young family members play regularly, my animals hang out and I garden.

Only two weeks ago our car was written off because a driver lost control and ended up in our driveway; our friend has also had a car written off whilst parked in our driveway. I have written to the local council, (they have failed to act because there has yet to be a fatality and we are on the border of somerset/North somerset council) local MP, local police commissioner as well as several road safety sites.

I feel that a serious accident will happen at any time and would like to raise awareness of the dangers of speeding down that road. Ultimately my hope is to have a speed camera as i feel just reducing the speed limit on the road will not deter the speeders.

By writing to you I am hoping that you can help me raise awareness; you are a popular magazine, distributed throughout the local area. I have attached a photo of the most recent incident to show the seriousness of the issue.

Jenna Cole

Dear Mendip Times, I have been searching for a local dog since last bonfire weekend! On Saturday November 7th, at 5pm, local fireworks spooked Chaos, a five-year-old German wirehaired pointer, causing him to jump his back yard gate in Leigh-on-Mendip and run for hours.

Reported sightings confirmed he had travelled south to Leighton on the A361 and stopped traffic – then further south east to Wanstrow causing more drivers to stop before disappearing into the night.

No further sightings were reported for weeks and despite extensive social media posting, with plenty of eyes looking out for him, there were only random sightings. These followed him as far up as Buckland Dinham and then later across the south villages of Upton Noble, Westcombe and Stoney Stratton.

At Christmas two sightings lead us to Nettlebridge and Harridge woods and in the New Year back to Doulting. His Facebook page has tremendous support from the public with PAGE 16 • MENDIP TIMES • JULY 2016

LETTERS

1160 followers: https://www.facebook.com/Findchaismendips/posts/1740139356 265683 Along with Scampi, a spaniel stolen from Coleford a few years back and never found, Chaos is the only current dog Mendip cannot find or have closure on. It is very possible this young fit dog is still out there.

Chaos could have simply, out of necessity, gone wild in order to survive. I don’t think he has died. I think he has moved further out of the area due to needing to hunt and actually avoid humans, who he now could view with suspicion and distrust.

I think his natural selfpreservation instincts have kicked in and he is settled in his new way of life – like a fox. He has food as a hunter and access to water. The weather is kind so he doesn’t need to seek shelter and is perhaps moving over a much larger area.

As an owner, to be left not knowing eats away at your soul.

Information, even the worst outcome, would be so welcomed.

Chaos isn't my boy. Jemma Archer, her partner Ben and two young daughters are his family. He is very loved and missed.

We have kept his search alive and feel he could still be out there.

Theft is a possibility but he was running so scared it would be hard to imagine him letting someone catch him soon after that night.

We just ask that everyone always thinks of him, not just in our immediate area but anywhere, especially in the back of beyond. We have access to traps and cameras for possible sightings and would follow up any new information.

I have joined a national team, Harveys Army as a scanner.

This wonderful organisation fought for the law to ensure all deceased dogs were scanned for chips to enable owners to be reunited and be given closure.

It is the law for a driver to report any incident to the police, if they have knocked down a dog. Councils are hopefully scanning and logging any domestic animals picked up from the roads.

Legally anyone finding a dog has to notify the local authority’s local dog warden service.

Since November our council said no dogs had been reported and collected by them so I'm hoping this means we all still have to look out for Chaos.

Katie Fox Edcombe Farm, Holcombe 07947 360897 katiejfox@me.com

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Can you help solve WWII mystery?

Members of the Wiltshire Home Guard Living History Group

THE family of a teacher who served in the Midsomer Norton Home Guard in the Second World War are appealing for help to trace the colleagues who served alongside him.

The Readhead family, children of Lieutenant “Bill” Readhead who taught at Norton Hill School, have spearheaded original research into the war time records of the Home Guard.

With the help of the late Gerry Roberts – who also served in the company – and others, they believe they have managed to identify 43 of the 51 men, although some confusion remains about certain names. No official records survive.

Alan, Frank and Margaret Readhead attended a Home Guard re-enactment weekend at the Somerset and Dorset Railway Heritage Trust station at Midsomer Norton, where they Home Guard veteran Charlie unveiled the list of names Britten with Steve Winney, from known to date. the Wiltshire Home Guard They were joined at the Living History Group ceremony by Charlie Britten, 91, a former coal miner and the last-known survivor of the unit. A permanent plaque will be installed at the station at a later date.

Alan said: “We would be grateful for any help from local people to identify everyone who was a member. It’s taken two years to get this far. Things go quiet and then suddenly a new lead comes up.”

John Baxter, from the trust, who is a keen genealogist, said: “One of the problems has been that documents such as the census taken at the time were not always accurate. They couldn’t always read people’s handwriting and some of the names and occupations were put down incorrectly.”

Anyone with any information is welcome to contact Alan at: alan.readhead@btinternet.com

History of Wanstrow

NEWS

Members of the Wanstrow History Group at the launch

RESIDENTS of Wanstrow and the surrounding area packed the village hall for the launch of a new book about its history.

Researched and written by a team of keen amateur historians – who have also produced four previous books about Stoke St Michael and other Mendip parishes – A History of Wanstrow has taken some three years to produce.

The book is available at outlets in the village including The Pub at Wanstrow, Read Agri, Byrne Motors and Symes as well as at Frome Museum and from the Frome Society for Local Study.

Joyce Jefferson (left), who led the group, and Jean Lowe who has been researching the pottery finds in particular

MENDIP TIMES • JULY 2016 • PAGE 17

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Discover the art of Découpage

ANYONE who has ever admired those pieces of lovingly hand-painted furniture or objects brought to life by the art of découpage should head for The Découbox at Rookery Farm near Binegar where they can learn the skills for themselves.

Hydie Rees, who runs The Découbox, has started a series of workshops to take people through the techniques, which can transform even the blandest item.

The workshops will take place at the beginning and end of each month and Hydie is limiting numbers for each session to a maximum of five. One workshop will look at handpainting techniques and the other at decoupage.

Hydie said: “The sessions will run from 11am to 2pm.

We will work with smaller pieces and people are welcome to bring along their own items or I have some here to work on.”

Traders create a sparkle

Hand painting can bring even the dullest piece of furniture back to life

To book, call Hydie on 07847 760776 or email riddlemeree1@hotmail.com

Handpainted furniture Découpage by design Stockist of Frenchic furniture paint Workshop bookings now being taken Hydie Rees proprietor/designer Unit 4, Rookery Farm, Binegar, BA3 4UL

Tel: 07847 760776 Website: http://riddlemeree1.wix.com/mysite

PAGE 18 • MENDIP TIMES • JULY 2016

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Robin and Tanith in the new shop

THE owners of Wells Trading Post popped the prosecco to celebrate the opening of a mini-version of the emporium in the city centre.

Tanith and Robin Tothill have taken over the malthouse of a former Napoleonic brewery in Market Street Courtyard to create a downsized version of the main business in West Street. The team will divide their time between the two premises.

Robin joked: “We thought we should celebrate by cracking open a few bottles. For the first time we can say we really can organise a P-up in a brewery!”

Launches this Autumn

www.mendiptimes.co.uk

Bristol bus banners hang from the ceiling

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ARTS AND ANTIQUES

Team strengthened at Mendip Auction Rooms KILLENS are delighted to announce the appointment of two additional valuers. Chris Marks joins Killens from Tamlyns and Hayley Wooldridge has been based at Sworders in Essex. Both bring excellent knowledge and experience and join the friendly team at Rookery Farm.

At their sale on June 11th, Killens put an excellent entry of some 700 lots under the hammer with excellent selections of jewellery, silver, furniture and collectables in particular. The cabinets at the auction room were filled with jewellery and silver and met with keen demand.

An amethyst beaded necklace and bracelet set achieved £350 whilst a sapphire and diamond line bracelet realised £300. An attractive French silver gilt Ciborium and cover made £300.

There was an interesting entry of ceramics and collectables and a Chinese porcelain vase that has been converted to a lamp met with keen interest selling for £500. A 19th century flintlock fowling gun had strong bidding over the internet and from within the saleroom and made £1,200 whilst a bag of “rusty” militaria including bayonets and daggers that had been retrieved from a shed made £320.

The sale of Victorian and Later Effects including household items staged on May 17th saw another excellent entry with 750 lots going under the hammer with a diverse range of items on

offer. There was an excellent attendance of buyers with strong bidding on most items.

Entries are now being received for forthcoming sales with the next sale being of Antiques and Collectables on June 11th. The newly-refurbished and attractive auction rooms offer excellent facilities with extensive parking and the delivery and collection of items couldn’t be easier. On sale days, the Lookout Café provides bidders with a view over the saleroom and provides delicious coffees, cakes and baguettes.

The valuers in the Auction Rooms team of Killens conduct valuation days every Wednesday, Thursday and Friday or will be content to undertake a free home visit. The auction rooms can be contacted on 01749 840770 or log onto www.mendipauctionrooms.co.uk

MENDIP TIMES • JULY 2016 • PAGE 19

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Wonders in wood

VOTING has opened for people to choose the best student furniture makers in the South West.

The Somerset Guild of Craftsmen is hosting its fifth annual Furniture Prize at its gallery in Broad Street in Wells.

At least 12 pieces will be on show until the end of July in the guild’s recently-completed new exhibition area. Entries have come from students at places including Bridgwater College Oak and walnut jewellery and furniture maker Williams cabinet by Ian McFetridge, and Cleal.

Bridgwater College Pieces range from an Art Deco-influenced bureau and chair in walnut to a coffee table in oak and a jewellery cabinet, also in oak.

The exhibition offers an added incentive to spend time browsing the artwork on sale in the Somerset Guild showroom, whether it’s for a gift or for the home.

Guild spokesman John Candler said: “The quality of the entries gets better each year. The prize started on quite a small scale but has grown over time; it really is quite prestigious and offers people the chance to see the work by students who might one day be household names.”

UNTIL 31st JULY COME AND JOIN US TO SEE OUR BIGGEST EVER COLLECTION OF STUDENTS FURNITURE DON’T FORGET, YOU THE PUBLIC, JUDGE THE “POPULAR PRIZE” Jointly sponsored by Friends of Somerset Art Works and Axminster Tools

PAGE 20 • MENDIP TIMES • JULY 2016

23a Broad Street, Wells BA5 2DJ Phone: 01749 671112 www.somersetguild.co.uk

You can put your shirt on it!

Swan Artworks has been busy framing football shirts

TONY and Carrie Osborne, who run Swan Artworks on the Old Mill Trading Estate in Paulton, are making an offer no true Home Nations soccer fan can refuse – they’ll frame a national shirt for free.

But there is one, small proviso: England, Wales or Northern Ireland must make it through to the final of the Euros on Sunday, July 10th!

The couple are well-known for taking on even the most challenging of framing commissions. Carrie said: "We've had a really busy time for sports shirt framing lately, including our smallest kit to date, baby-sized!

“And from the baby-sized kit all the way up to putting three Championship referees’ shirts into one huge frame together.

“It may be a long shot, but if any of our British teams make it to the Euro 2016 final, we will frame one free England, Wales or N. Ireland shirt to the first customer to bring one in!"

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Heads of state meet at Clevedon Salerooms

CLEVEDON Salerooms’ recent June Specialist Sale included this continental parcel-gilt figure of King Gustavus Adolphus II of Sweden who reigned from 1611-1632.

Gustavus ascended to the throne aged 17 and in a short space of time earned the moniker “The Lion of the North”. The detailed model stood 41cm high and weighed 87oz. The successful bidder parted with £7,400 for the honour of a permanent audience with his majesty.

No sooner does one head of state depart the salerooms, than another arrives. Napoleon III and his wife Eugenie de Motijo travelled to the salerooms, not by horsedrawn carriage, but in a 5p supermarket carrier bag to one of the salerooms’ free valuation Model of King Gustavus Adolphus II of Sweden sold at Clevedon Salerooms days. for £7,400 Painted by Sophie

ARTS AND ANTIQUES

Pair of mid-19th century oval porcelain portrait miniatures of Napoleon III and Eugenie de Montijo, estimate £6,000 – £9,000

Lienard in the mid-19th century, the 14cm high hand-painted porcelain panels will be offered at Clevedon Salerooms’ Specialist Sale on September 1st, with an estimate of £6,000 to £9,000 – much to the surprise of the owners who attended the valuation day.

If you have royal visitors who have out-stayed their welcome, or any other items you may be thinking of selling, why not attend one of the salerooms’ free valuation days.

For more information contact them on 01934 830111 or visit www.clevedon-salerooms.com

Consignments for September Sale include...

Royal Worcester Ewer £2,000 - £3,000

Fine Art Auctioneers & Valuers

FREE VALUATION DAYS 4 5 6 & 18 19 20 July 9.30am–1pm and 2pm–5pm Held at the salerooms – no appointment necessary Antiques, Interiors, Collectables & Jewellery 14th & 28th July Sales start at 10am On view day before 10am – 7.30pm.

Sale day from 9am

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

Damien Hirst Print £2,000 - £3,000 Wurlitzer Jukebox £600 - £900

Zsolnay Serpent Ewer £4,000 - £6,000

Quarterly Specialist Sale Thursday 1st September at 10.30am JEWELLERY, WATCH, SILVER & GOLD VALUATION DAY Tuesday 9th August – At the Salerooms 10am – 4pm MENDIP TIMES • JULY 2016 • PAGE 21

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Networking event

THE Blue School in Wells is hosting a networking event aimed at improving links between businesses and education. The event on Monday July 4th at 3pm is being run in partnership with Wells Chamber of Commerce and supported by Enterprise Mendip – a joint initiative between Mendip District Council and the local chambers of commerce.

Details: email kelly.knight@mendip.gov.uk

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CAMELEY LODGE LAUNDRY

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

Tel 01761 451787

www.cameleylodgelaundry.co.uk

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£175 worth of make-up products for

£69!

Visit me at the Winchester Farm Car Boot Sale, Cheddar every Sunday!

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FREE BOOKLET! 7 Steps to buying the right energy saving boiler…

We have the following Job Vacancies available due to work demand:

D ON’T Buy a boiler before reading this information booklet. FR EE to people currently shopping for a gas, or oil boiler.

EXPERIENCED HGV/COMMERCIAL MECHANIC To work on all makes and types of vehicles including MOD work. This is a challenging role with each day never being the same. A HGV licence would be an advantage.

Phone STANDEN’S PLUMB ING Co . Ltd. and ask to be sent your copy now.

BODY SHOP TRAINEE/IMPROVER To join our Car & Commercial Body shop. You will need to be energetic, enthusiastic and willing to learn. Some experience would be an advantage but not necessary.

Telephone 01934 832250 A Professional Company serving the South West

BUSINESS

FABRICATOR/WELDER This role involves welding and repairs to tankers and pressure vessels. Coded Welders in Alloy and Stainless Steel would be an advantage. Training Given.

Please email you CV – stacey@westendgaragebruton.com

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MENDIP TIMES • JULY 2016 • PAGE 23

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EVENTS

Duck race for hospice

Waiting for the winner

CHEDDAR Vale Lions Club’s annual May Bank Holiday duck race raised more than £1,600 for Children’s Hospice South West, which is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year.

Clare Toller, from West Wick, near Banwell had a special reason for being there with children, Aiden, aged six, and Hudson, aged two.

She and husband, Richard, lost their middle child, Grayson, through a heart condition, when he was three months old.

Clare said: “The hospice looked after and supported us and helped us make the most of our time with him. Thanks to them we have happy memories of him.”

For the rest of the summer the Lions will be out and about with their coconut shy and candy floss machine and have a few spare dates if you would like them to attend an event.

Call Andy on 01278 786211 or Janet on 01934 248114.

Part of the Lions team

Fete raises church funds

AXBRIDGE Summer Fete was held in the gardens of The Court in St Mary’s Street and raised £2,500 for the local church, St John the Baptist. There were around 20 stalls and attractions, which included a performance by the children of Axbridge First School Choir.

A prize for the winning attraction was awarded by the Mayor Councillor Ian Laken to the refreshment stall celebrating the Queen's birthday. He’s pictured with his wife Nicole, with winning stall holders, Tim Hind, Liz Fostik and Margaret Hind.

PAGE 24 • MENDIP TIMES • JULY 2016

The race is on

Clare Toller with children Aiden, aged six and Hudson, aged two

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A summer of strawberries

THIS is going to be a bumper strawberry year, no doubt about it.

With berry sales up, a mild winter and spring, lots of rain and plenty of sunshine at the right time, the Cheddar strawberry fields are in heaven!

But if it is conceivably possible that you might at some point have had enough of strawberries and With JUNE cream then there are a few other things to do with MACFARLANE them. Try in a salad with baby spinach and blue cheese, or sprinkled with balsamic, or perhaps some of these ideas here.

VERY FRESH STRAWBERRY JAM (for four small jars) 800g strawberries 500g jam sugar juice of one lemon

INGREDIENTS

Very fresh Strawberry Jam

What gives this jam its fresh taste is the lemon juice and the short cooking time. You want it to be bright and zingy. Strawberries are low in pectin so jam sugar is a good idea.

METHOD Hull and quarter the strawberries and layer with the sugar in a large bowl. Leave for several hours or overnight, covered. Put jam testing saucer in fridge. Tip fruit into a large heavy bottomed saucepan, add lemon juice, bring to the boil for about 15 mins. Test for a set after seven mins.

Ladle into sterilised jars.

Strawberry Ricotta Mousse

STRAWBERRY RICOTTA MOUSSE

The ricotta cheese in this ethereal dessert makes INGREDIENTS for an elegant and (for four) balanced dish, an ideal 250g ricotta cheese end to a meal – and, 200g strawberries, hulled incidentally, great for 1 tsp vanilla extract breakfast!

3 tbsp icing sugar METHOD 150ml double cream In a blender or food processor blitz the first four ingredients together. Decant into a large bowl. Whip cream until floppy and fold into strawberry mixture. Chill for at least three hours before serving.

PAGE 26 • MENDIP TIMES • JULY 2016

STRAWBERRY YOGHOURT ICE

I have taken to making ice yoghourt rather than ice cream INGREDIENTS because I think the taste is 400g strawberries, cleaner and fresher. Buy the hulled most flavoursome berries you 3 tbsp sugar can find. Strawberries are 3 tbsp water notoriously difficult to add to 500g plain Greek ices because of their high yoghourt water content. If you add them fresh you get chunks of ice.

My suggestion is to reduce the water content by drying them out in the oven.

METHOD Preheat the oven to 100ºC. Choose a few strawberries and cut into small chunks. Place on baking parchment on a baking tray and allow to dry out for an hour in the oven.

Remove from oven and cool. Make a syrup by boiling the sugar and water just until the sugar has dissolved. Set aside until cool. Put syrup into a blender or food processor with the remaining strawberries and the yoghourt and blend until smooth. Pour into a lidded plastic container and freeze, stirring well every hour to break up ice crystals. After final stirring add the part dried Strawberry strawberries to the Yoghourt Ice mix and allow to freeze completely overnight. Soften in fridge for a couple of hours before serving.garnish with last lime wedge.

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Whatʼs new from Myrtle Farm A round-up of events from Thatchers Cider in Sandford

Our Apple Grower of the Year is . . .

CONGRATULATIONS to Gill and Richard Trace who are our Apple Growers of the Year.

The award was presented to them at our recent Apple Growers Day, to recognise the commitment to quality that they demonstrate when supplying us with fruit.

Gill and Richard have been growing apples for Martin Thatcher, Gill and Richard Trace, Richard Johnson twenty years, and provide six varieties of bittersweet apples from their orchards to us, including Dabinett, Ashton Bitter and Ellis Bitter.

Gill says, “We have a shared philosophy with Thatchers – we take great care of the apples in our orchards, and they only use quality apples in their ciders, so we work well together.”

Perfect pairings

ONCE again, we’ve been working with our friends Bini Ludlow and Tim Maddams to create some brand new recipes for you, all of which are amazing paired with cider.

About her Sweet and Spicy Chicken and Mango Curry, Bini says, “The marinade on the oven roasted chicken allows Thatchers Gold to complement the spices and heat of the chilli.”

While Tim Maddams has paired Thatchers Haze with his Italian inspired Pork Involtini. “The inherent light sweetness of Haze plays the perfect foil to the aromatic richness of the dish.”

Look out for the new recipes on the Thatchers website very soon.

Cheers from us all!

FOOD & DRINK

Light, fruity and gently sparkling OUR limited edition Summer Vintage Cider is crafted from delicious apples such as Hastings, Prince William and Braeburn, alongside our favourite bittersweets Dabinett and Somerset Redstreak. The result is a 7.4% refreshing, crisp cider with a fruityfloral aroma and a hint of spice.

Enjoy this cidermaker’s special over the summer months – it’s available at our Cider Shop at Myrtle Farm as well as at The Railway Inn.

Meet Thatcher

WE had an amazing week at The Royal Bath and West Show. The cider marquee that we share with our friends at Butcombe Brewery was as popular as ever with bands and dancing throughout the week. Martin Thatcher was judging the cider competition, and our new Thatchers Haze Cider was selling like hot cakes.

One of the highlights was making a new canine friend in Thatcher the Labrador who came to visit.

www.thatcherscider.co.uk • Follow us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook Thatchers Cider, Myrtle Farm, Sandford, Somerset, BS25 5RA Tel: 01934 822862

MENDIP TIMES • JULY 2016 • PAGE 27

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Afternoon Tea 10% off Quoting ref: 12301mdt

Bronze Package F Selection of Finger Sandwiches F Selection of Homemade Cakes F Freshly Cooked Scones with Cornish Clotted Cream and Jams F Selection of Fruit and Classic Teas F Freshly Brewed Coffee

£11.95 Per Person Upgrades available

Please speak to a member of our team PAGE 28 • MENDIP TIMES • JULY 2016

Ciders all round

CIDER maker and enthusiast Alan Stone spent a year exploring the West Country to find some of the best ciders around – well, somebody had to do it.

The result is a new book, Finding Good Cider, which is more than just about the product and the people who make it, but covers pubs, festivals and shows as well as the drink’s heritage.

Alan Stone with his new book The 201-page book also includes a fascinating section on early cider history,

by Dr. Richard Stone, Alan’s son.

G Finding Good Cider – a year in the life of a West Country cider lover – costs £7.95 and is available from outlets including Shepton Mallet Tourist Information Centre and Hecks Cider in Street or through the author’s website: www.somersethistory.co.uk

TWO COURSES £8.95

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Bread & Beyond

Ivory and artisan Kevin Newton at the opening

TEA ROOMS AND PROVISIONS

DOZENS of people gathered to celebrate the completion of the refurbishment of the function suite at the historic Best Western Swan Hotel in Wells.

Hotel managing director Kevin Newton unveiled the suite’s new name – to be known as the Ivory Suite – whilst the new bar alongside will be known as the Artisan Bar. The hotel can date its origins to 1422.

Kevin said: “The hotel has seen many changes but throughout the centuries it has remained the main Harpist Lydia Lowndes-Northcott hotel in this beautiful welcomes guests city, keeping its charm while evolving to meet the current standards of the day.

“We have during this refurbishment returned many of the areas back to their former glory, making them fully accessible and relevant to current needs, whilst at the same time incorporating some stunning new interior designs.”

Organic free trade coffee • Lunches • Cream Teas Afternoon Tea (booking only) Home-made tarts, pies, cakes and bread Local milk, cheeses and eggs Cards, prints and paintings by local artists.

Gift range including products from Mendip Lavender, Milly Green and Robert Fuller Galleries Dogs and Cyclists very welcome Open: Monday-Friday 7am-5pm • Saturday 7.30am-4pm Lunches served 11.30am–2pm

Bread & Beyond

High Street, Chewton Mendip, BA3 4LJ

01761 240820 email: breadandbeyond@outlook.com

THE RED LION VILLAGE PUB & RESTAURANT Sutton Hill Road, Bishop Sutton BS39 5UT

01275 333042

New menu and excellent specials board served Monday – Saturday 12.00–2.30pm and 5.30–8.30pm Selection of delicious roasts on Sunday, served from 12.00–6.00pm Please see our website www.redlionbishopsutton.co.uk to view our menus

• 2 COURSES £15 • 3 COURSES £18

JULY DATES

Please book to avoid disappointment

Wells Each Wed 9am—2.30pm

All other markets 9am-1pm unless otherwise marked*

SAT 2nd Axbridge & Midsomer Norton SUN 3rd SFM @ Frome Independent SAT 9th Frome (C&G Market Hall) and Keynsham SAT 16th Crewkerne SAT 23rd Glastonbury & Yeovil (9am-2pm)* FRI 29th Burnham-on-Sea

FOOD & DRINK

Travelling through or living in the village, if the doors are open – come in and enjoy what Blagdon’s little country pub has to offer.

Booking highly recommended

Smaller portions and prices for pensioners available

The Red Lion – the pub at the heart of the community

Opening hours: Monday – Thursday 12 noon – 2.30pm, 5pm – 11pm. Open all day Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

MENDIP TIMES • JULY 2016 • PAGE 29

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The Holcombe Inn

NEW TRANQUILITY GARDENS

Official opening: Sunday 10th July from 3.30pm by celebrated horticulturalist Mary Payne MBE. A garden for grown-ups. Children’s play equipment in our main garden Complimentary Pimms and Canapés Your gardening questions answered by Mary

Eat, Drink, Chill, Enjoy

The latest addition to our award-winning inn, with restaurant, ten luxury guest rooms, coffee bar, snug and fully-stocked bar with many speciality drinks and cocktails.

Open all day, every day. Food served all day, 12-9pm Fri, Sat, Sun. Mon-Fri 12-2.30pm & 6-9pm.

Stratton Road, Holcombe, Bath BA3 5EB. Tel: 01761 232478 Website: www.holcombeinn.co.uk E-mail: bookings@holcombeinn.co.uk PAGE 30 • MENDIP TIMES • JULY 2016

No ordinary beer garden

Mary Payne (left) and Jules Berry

SUMMER is here and there can surely be no more stunning location in which to enjoy the Mendip countryside than the newly-created formal gardens at the Holcombe Inn. Land at the back of the award-winning inn has been transformed by months of hard work coupled with the astonishing imagination and design skills of owner Jules Berry and her team.

This is a serious, terraced garden for grown-ups and far, far removed from the average beer garden. Firstly, it’s an area in which to relax and admire the abundance of fruit, vegetables and herbs in the raised beds which form the kitchen garden – visitors may well spot the talented chefs choosing ingredients for lunch or dinner.

Or, take time to inspect the stylish plantings in the more formal areas, with spectacular views over the surrounding countryside – including Downside Abbey.

The idea for a formal garden was part of the original business plan drawn up by Jules when she took over the inn five years ago.

She kept the original drawings and, together with partner Brad, began work back in February.

Jules said: “I imagine this garden as a place of tranquillity and one that is also sensory. It is practical as well as decorative.”

The gardens will be opened formally on Sunday, July 10th by Mendip Times contributor Mary Payne, who will host a questionand-answer session. Mary, who visited the garden to offer some advice and practical tips to Jules, said: “This is probably the most astonishing ‘pub garden’ I have ever seen. It really is breathtaking.”

Take time to relax and enjoy the scenery

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GARDEN FOOD

Amelanchier anyone?

AMELANCHIER species are now one of my favourite crops – they are completely trouble-free, great for birds and wildlife, unfussy as to soil or sunshine, and produce a delicious, distinctive berry.

There are many species, and broadly they are called Juneberries, referring to With JAKE their fruiting time in their native range in WHITSON North America (although in Britain, Julyberries would be more appropriate).

The best for small gardens is the Saskatoon (Amelanchier alnifolia), which grows only to around two metres, and there are Canadian cultivars selected especially for fruiting.

However, the fruit from all Amelanchier species is edible and it may be that you already have some growing in your garden – they are often grown as ornamentals for their showy white flowers, especially the European species Snowy mespilus.

They seem to be much more substantial than other berries, more akin to apples (to which they are closely related) and can be eaten in large quantities or dried to a rather nice chewy raisin-like fruit.

They are also great for fruit leathers for the same reason and they are also lovely cooked on their own, or with apples, in crumbles and pies. But my favourite use for them is in a cobbler – rather appropriate given their North American heritage.

To make it, first fill a large flat oven-proof dish with saskatoons, to a depth of about 1 inch. Add a little sugar and lemon juice to taste – saskatoons are not as sour as many other fruits so less sugar is needed.

Then make a simple cake batter by beating together 150g of sugar and butter, then beating in three eggs, one at a time, along with some vanilla extract – I like to make it strongly vanilla flavour – before folding in 150g of flour, one teaspoon of baking powder and enough milk to make an almost pourable batter. Spoon this mixture on top of the saskatoons in an erratic fashion to make the “cobbles”. Bake at 190c for around 30 minutes until the batter is cooked, spongy and golden.

Jacob is a former chef turned food writer, smallholder and mycologist. He divides his time between the Mendips and his nine-acre forest garden project in Pembrokeshire, and runs the business jakeswildfungi.co.uk, making specialist mycorrhiza products for tree planting.

FOOD & DRINK

WILD FOOD

Very vetching

THIS plant doesn’t seem to make much, if any, appearances in wild food texts but I have been eating it for many years now and it hasn’t affected me, yet - however, there is a caveat but more on this later!

There is some academic speculation that as vetch is so abundant it would have been used With ADRIAN as a food source by our ancestors, even back BOOTS as far as the Mesolithic period. Bitter Vetch (Lathyrus mantanus) for example was recorded in the 1500s as an edible plant yet there is evidence that the tuberous rhizomes were eaten long before this in the north of Scotland and the Hebrides Other vetches were thought to have been introduced from Asia by 18th century farmers to provide early energy-rich forage for livestock with the seed used as pigeon feed.

Old Somerset names include Gypsy Peas, Tar-Vetch and Thetches. The name that tickles me most is Twaddgers from Yorkshire, I don’t know why.

These common names give us a clue to possible edibility e.g.

Gypsy Peas indicates that the peas may well have been eaten by gypsy folk.

I have no idea what Twaddgers could possibly refer to. For most of us, this common plant’s attractive purple pink flowers add to the riot of colour we are treated to at his time of year. Dare I say it, they are very vetching indeed!

Common Vetch (Vicia sativa) is a hairy, climbing perennial with bright pink and purplish flowers ten to 15mm long without stalks, on their own or in pairs. The leaves are very narrow, oblong or oval consisting of three to eight pairs terminating in a climbing tendril.

The fruits are small, green, hairless or downy pods 25 to 70mm long, turning brown then black with maturity. It grows throughout the UK in field borders as a relic of historical cultivation and along hedgerows, verges and roadsides. Depending on the season they are available April/May for the early shoots, June/July for the pods, finally finishing in September.

Now, back to the caveat I mentioned earlier. Eat only in small amounts as in large quantities some vetch contain harmful compounds. The peas (or any seed of legumes) are only safe to eat when young, green and tender. As they mature and turn brown then black toxins are laid down to protect the seed – a great adaption for the plant to ensure the next generation but not so good for an unsuspecting animal or person if eaten at this stage.

Don’t let this put you off, it would be a shame to forgo this tasty treat in the right quantities and at the right time of year as vetch leaf tops and the sweet, tender pods are delightful to nibble on as a wayside snack with the diminutive yet sweet peas inside tasting just like, well, peas.

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

MENDIP TIMES • JULY 2016 • PAGE 31

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All you knead to know – about dough

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MASTER baker Bob Burns is so passionate about the craft of breadmaking that he wants to pass on his skills to other people.

After a lifetime in the industry Bob, 65, has set up the first school of baking in the Mendip area – Burns the Bread School of Baking – what he describes as “a true breaducation”.

Bob was 12 years old when he started working as a delivery boy for the local baker in his home village of Ilton in South Somerset. On leaving school at 16, and spending 18 months as an apprentice mechanic, Bob was offered a job as an apprentice baker. When he was 22, Bob and his wife’s family were able to buy a bakery in Honiton. Ten years later the Burns family had the opportunity to buy the Glastonbury bakery in 1983.

As well as knowing his dough, Bob also showed some sound business acumen and today there are six Burns the Bread shops; three in Glastonbury alone, with others in Wells, Castle Cary and Street.

Having stood back from the day-to-running of the shops and the bakery itself (leaving that to his daughter Terri, his two grandsons and a strong management team), Bob was able to take a more strategic view of the business and decided that a disaster recovery plan was needed should the worst happen and the bakery was forced out of action. He acquired the unit next door to Burns the Bread @Unit 12 on the Adlams Central Park in Glastonbury and equipped it as a back-up bakery – and then he hit on an idea for the space upstairs.

Bob said: “It was the ideal venue for a bakery school where I could share my passion and pass on my skills to others.

“Thanks to the various cookery programmes and a Bob Burns in the Burns the Bread School of Baking

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FOOD & DRINK

Baking blind: Bob’s grandson Max is so used to making pasties he can do it without looking

resurgence in artisan skills – look at the craft beer and cider revival for instance – people are returning to real food. But bread making by hand might seem daunting, so I want to show that anyone can do it.”

The day-long courses – for up to six people – are aimed at both beginner and intermediate bakers and the skills people acquire can be used at home without any special equipment.

Bob added: “There is something magical about taking such simple ingredients as flour, yeast, salt and water and turning them into bread.”

Anyone who has ever attended one of Bob’s pasty making evenings in Glastonbury can testify to that. Bob hosts them about 20 times a year and has raised thousands of pounds over the years for charity, mainly St. Margaret’s Hospice. A recent evening was attended by almost 20 volunteers and staff from Age UK Somerset, who tried their hands at making iconic Burns the Bread Glastonbury Pasties.

As Bob might say: “All you knead is love!”

We made these! Age UK Somerset volunteers Paul Ware (left), of Burnham-on-Sea and Richard Corp, of Cheddar, with their Glastonbury pasties ready for baking

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NOW OPEN!

Our School of Baking – a true “breaducation”!

Master baker Bob Burns has spent his lifetime making bread.

He now wants to share his passion with others.

His “Introduction to Bread Making” course is designed for both beginner and intermediate bakers.

Come and have a day of fun and baking and get an understanding of the “magic” of baking a selection of breads that you can then make at home.

Courses – 9am-4pm (and including lunch and refreshments) – are held in our purpose-built baking school next door to Burns the Bread @Unit 12 on Adlams Central Park, Glastonbury.

Quality, Commitment and Passion are the key ingredients to our success

Shops located at: Glastonbury – Street – Wells – Castle Cary

Remember – anybody’s butter, but BURNS the BREAD is best!

For details, tel: 01458 831532 email: burnsthebread@burnsthebread.co.uk

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Bastille Day celebration GOODFELLOWS in Wells is renowned for creating stunning fish, meat and vegetarian dishes that feature Adam Fellows’ signature fusion of Mediterranean cuisine married with the finest West Country produce and fish fresh from Brixham in Devon.

Alongside the daily menu you can savour light dishes for lunch and dinner, or

indulge in the full experience with Adam’s ever popular tasting menu.

Throughout the year Goodfellows offer speciality themed tasting evenings that focus on dishes from countries around the world, which offer a unique style of cuisine. Their next event will be a Bastille Celebration menu on July 14th, which will feature some of Adam’s most popular

French dishes.

Goodfellows is now open every Sunday, so diners can enjoy a relaxed brunch or roast lunch after a stroll around Wells beautiful medieval city.

Whatever the occasion for a visit, in Adam’s eyes, the ingredients for a successful dish are to cook and season the dish well, marry with complementary flavours, and accompany with friends or family and a fine wine.

To book a table at Goodfellows, call 01749 673866.

Now Open on Sundays for Brunch & Roast Lunches Seafood Tas ng Menu – 5 Courses for £48 Mid-Week Menu – 3 Courses for £29

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JON Thorner’s, based in Pylle, has won several awards at recent national and regional food tasting events.

The award winning business received high commendations and also made it as a finalist in the Britain’s Best Meat Pie category at the Meat Management Industry Awards. The event rewards the best of the best in the UK meat sector and the ceremony took place in London last month.

The success continued with the Taste of the West Awards, which champions the best produce made in the South West of England.

Jon Thorner’s received six awards ranging from Gold to Highly Commended for a selection of pies, including the popular BBQ Pulled Pork and their West Country beef burgers, such as the Beef & Chorizo Burger which was awarded a top score and received gold.

Jon Thorner’s has always used top quality high welfare meat in their products, using certified West Country beef, outdoor reared free range pork from Packington and British poultry, with solely free- range chicken, which is sourced locally from Castlemead in Radstock, going into their chicken pies.

FOOD & DRINK

John Emery, Jon Thorner’s head chef with award winning pies

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FOOD & DRINK

Taste of Timsbury

A GROUP of residents from Timsbury is organising a festival of local food and drink later this year.

The idea came from a meeting of the Timsbury Environment Group and if the festival is successful it is hoped that it will become a regular event.

Using the slogan "local people celebrating local produce", Taste of Timsbury will be held at the Conygre Hall, Timsbury, on Saturday September 17th, from 10am to 3pm. Entrance is free, with stallholders paying £10 to cover costs.

Organisers say the idea is to promote locally-produced food and drink and also to encourage people to think carefully about eating healthily and avoiding food waste where possible.

So far the line-up includes locally-produced cheese, charcuterie, gourmet sausage rolls, beer, chilli products, flavoured oils, jams, hot sauce, chutneys, authentic Indian food, plenty of cakes, fresh produce such as locally grown vegetables, desserts, bread, milk and cream, wine, luxury soft drinks and much much more.

Weston food festival IN four years, Weston Super Food Festival! has become one of the region’s largest and most popular celebrations of food and has been a finalist in the national Bring Home the Harvest Awards for two years running.

This year the festival returns with an even bigger and tastier offering at the iconic

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Tropicana venue, on September 17th and 18th with over 150 food and drink stands.

The festival is a social enterprise (not for profit CLG) established with the aim of supporting small artisan producers and the local food economy.

Organiser, Sally Packer, said: “We aim to give Westonsuper-Mare a positive identity as a significant foodie destination and endeavour to create a sense of community and local pride by involving a wide sector of the local population.”

Entry to the festival is free.

Details: sally@westonsuperfoodgest ival.co.uk 01934 813407 or 07713 8731927 www.westonsuperfoodfesti val.co.uk

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INTERNET

Good news!

FURTHER to last month’s article, we are pleased to say that although we are sad to leave The Old Cowshed in Cheddar on 15th July, we will be pleased to reopen in Cheddar Village Hall on September 5th!

We look forward to a happy cooperation with the Village Hall, and are very grateful to them for their welcome.

Things will be organised slightly differently, but our ethos of friendly, informal, relaxed and individual help to use computer, tablet or smartphone remains the same. Come to learn about to order prescriptions or library books, do your shopping, email or chat to friends and family online.

Cheddar Village Hall (used to be Cheddar Church House) is next to St. Andrew’s church and almost opposite the road to Sainsbury’s.

Although our location has changed, our phone number, email and website remain the same, as below.

Our opening hours will be flexible, because we have different trainers with different skills on different levels on different days, but we will arrange an appointment to suit both parties as quickly as we can. Appointments are essential and cost £10 per hour for a 1:1 or £15 per hour for 1:2 sessions.

Now the advice bit – if you get an email which looks genuine, (don’t open an email you suspect to be malicious) saying your account will be closed or something similar if you don’t click on a

link, it is almost certainly a scam. But there’s an easy way to be sure. On most PCs you can just hover your mouse on the link and an auto prompt will give you the address, and unless it starts with the address it is pretending to be, it won’t be genuine. E.g. if it says www.joeblogs.co.uk/itfortheterrified – it won’t be our website, it would be Joe Blogs’s. If you don’t get an autoprompt, you can right-click and copy and paste it into a word document, but make sure you Copy Link Address, not just Copy. If you are using a tablet, you can tap and hold (don’t just tap, keep your finger held down) which will reveal a pop-up menu, which should contain the word Copy. Open a new email message and press and hold in the body of the message and then tap Paste. It should paste the actual email address, not the words you saw in the original email. Treat all emails with suspicion!

Submitted by IT for the Terrified : Currently at The Old Cowshed, Station Road, Cheddar. BS27 3AG • 01934 741751 www.itfortheterrified.co.uk itfortheterrified@btconnect.com I.T. for the Terrified – for all your computer training needs. A skillsharing, community project.

Run by a Committee – Staffed by Volunteers This article is for guidance only, and the opinion of the writer. For more in depth information, please contact us.

We offer individual training, at a pace to suit you for £10 per hour.

We can cover a range of subjects – including absolute basics; photo management; shopping online; emailing; Word processing, spreadsheets; basic web design; etc. on a range of devices, including Windows W7/W8/W10: Macs: Tablets: iPads: smartphones. Or if you can spare two hours a week have skills on any level that you would like to share with others, please get in touch.

CROSSWORD

The Mendip Mindbender

ACROSS 1 Classic horserace with something put by for a nest egg (8,7) 9 It's a lot to tile – and possibly too late (3,6) 10 Man from Elgin (5) 11 Space for play to go by boat – or begin to (3,4) 12 Includes nine gates and contradicts (7) 13 Curve the French politician to make things clearer (3,4) 15 Account about a number of years takes up space (7) 16 I leave St Francis' place at junction to the south – it helps! (7) 18 Coming back I took a taxi after being poorly – bacteria it was (7) 20 Twist in fibre without going on (2,5) 22 Soar away from extractions to be seen as passé (7) 24 Bananas always are an ENT issue (5) 25 Brief examination and hesitation with charge for making judgement (9) 26 Message from the missing holiday-maker ? (4,3,4,4)

DOWN 1 So Afrikaans town was altered without my being aware of it (3,2,3,2,1,4) 2 Schubert's favourite fish?

(5) 3 Reach Bangkok in a walking holiday to Pacific island (7) 4 Debutante lopes off to find some African wildlife (9) 5 Back looking grave (5) 6 The most divine garden may not be to everyone's taste (7) 7 Dark armour became subject of Grierson documentary (5,4) 8 Auctions meet opposition, so buyers show reluctance to part with their money (5,10) 14 Money at the root . . . of this operation (4,5) 15 Stroll with team in the Lake District (9) 17 Take on about fifty in Surrey – that's in Surrey!

(7) 19 Whips to look in the middle of the road (4,3) 21 Specific human adornment (5) 23 To say 'no' is easily heard as unpleasant (5)

Answers on page 111 MENDIP TIMES • JULY 2016 • PAGE 37

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FISHMONGER & GREENGROCER

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Wedmore prepares for a party

Direct supply of Cornish Sea Food.

Loch Fyne Smokehouse stockist.

Northern Water and Continental seafood specialists.

Fruit and vegetables personally selected at market, exotics and the unusual, fresh herbs and the best local produce.

Selection of culinary ingredients.

Open all day Tuesday to Friday plus Monday and Saturday mornings.

5 The Borough Mall, The Borough Wedmore, Somerset BS28 4EB Tel: 01934 710318

All types of poultry, meats and game. For those lazy Summer days, BBQ packs and our award winning sausages Produced on our own farm or supplied locally

Just pop in or we can take your orders over the telephone, call us at the Shop on 01934 712384

WEDMORE Street Fair, on July 2nd, is one of the highlights of the village’s year and promises to be bigger than ever this year, with all stalls sold in record time.

The day starts at 10am and the entertainment goes on until 4pm. The craft area is also bigger this year and will include demonstrations from the Avalon Marshes centre.

The fair was established by Royal Charter in the 13th century, allowing The Borough to be closed during the day. It was revived in 1978 marking the 1100th anniversary of the Treaty of Wedmore between King Alfred and the Danes.

The theme this year is Parties, so expect some dazzling outfits in the fancy dress competition.

The fair raises funds for Wedmore First School Academy and Nursery, the Green Group, Wedmore Village Hall and Wedmore Harvest Home, which takes place in August.

Traditional service

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DEAN Downer is celebrating his 25th anniversary in business in Wedmore. His shop, Pisces, moved to The Borough Mall six years ago.

Before that he was in business with his parents Ann and Paul, who ran the Combe Batch Food Hall at the top of the village, with his sister, who ran Sally’s Cakes. They have since retired.

Dean specialises in high quality fresh fish, fruit and vegetables, as well as a wide range of culinary ingredients and dry goods.

He prides himself on being able to source any customer’s requirements with supply partners based in Bristol and Cornwall, who have access to London and continental markets.

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FOCUS ON WEDMORE

Investing in good practice Located in the picturesque village of Wedmore, Wedmore Dental Practice prides itself on delivering consistent high quality dental care from its committed team. The practice has recently completed its 15th year of Investors in People recognition and is proud of its team’s recent achievement in completing the inspection.

Peter Sedgwick, practice director says: “As well as this achievement the practice has also completed its BDA Good Practice Scheme award, now in its 10th year. The award shows dedication and commitment to the practice and patients to deliver the best care and service.”

Paul Devoy, Head of Investors in People, said:

PETER SEDGWICK

“Achieving the Investors in People standard is something that any organisation should be truly proud of. Working with Investors in People inspires and enables leaders, managers and employees at all levels to build their skills, improve their performance and achieve their potential. We’d like to congratulate Wedmore Dental Practice on their achievement.”

The practice will continue to maintain its high standards with the support of the team. A good team makes a great business, which delivers a quality service to patients. If you are interested in joining the practice please call or visit us for a new patient pack, or view our website www.wedmoredental.co.uk We look forward to meeting you.

B.D.S. (U.Brist) D.P.D.S. (U.Brist) L.F Hom (Dent) GDC 55821

TIM COATES B.D.S. BSc (Hons) Ph.D GDC 78105 SALLY CANTWELL Hygienist RDH GDC 2213 JANE FELLOWS Hygienist RDH GDC 3540

JENNY MURRAY Hygienist RDH RDT GDC 3693

MENDIP TIMES • JULY 2016 • PAGE 39

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A food gem in the heart of Somerset offering a fabulous array of local Artisan Cheese, Charcuterie and Deli goods Fully licensed Café and Garden Wedding Cheese Cake specialists Outside Catering for all types of functions Open: Monday-Saturday 8.30am-5.00pm 01934 713289 www.pumpkinwedmore.co.uk andrea@pumpkinwedmore.co.uk 1 The Borough Mall, Wedmore, Somerset BS28 4EB

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Community power

Mendip Times reduces travel costs 100,000 potential customers within a short distance of your business

WEDMORE’S Community Power Co-Op built its 1MW solar paddock site in October 2013, since when it has been generating renewable energy, whilst producing returns for its investors and using profits to give community grants, so far totalling £16,000.

Now organisers are planning Wedmore Energy Evening on Saturday October 15th to consider further energy saving and energy generation measures.

Spokesman, Steve Mewes, said: “Green Wedmore is now in its tenth year working with the community to lower its environmental impact. The idea is to engage with the good people of the Isle of Wedmore, and garner their ideas for how we can become more energy efficient as an island and also how we may be able to generate more renewable energy.”

Details: www.greenwedmore.co.uk Wedmore Community Power Co-Op: http://wedmorecpc.co.uk/

Opera, music, comedy, literature and more

WEDMORE Arts Festival, from July 7th – 17th, has such a diverse mix of speakers and performers at this year’s event that organisers couldn’t resist asking some of them: Why Wedmore?

Wedmore Opera, which originated in 1988, kicks off the festival with A Night at the Movies (over three nights) from July 7th.

Michael Morpurgo, War Horse creator, said he likes Somerset cider and Wells Cathedral. Michael talks about his wonderful works for children in St Mary’s Church, Wedmore on July 8th.

On Tuesday July 12th Edson Burton and Miles Chambers, fresh from the Bristol Old Vic, will have their cutting edge poetry performance Curried Goat and Fishfingers, at 8pm in The Swan.

Travel editor of the Mail on Sunday, Frank Barrett, has written a book-lover’s guide to Britain, Treasured Island. So it’s not surprising to find him quoting John Steinbeck – “Happiness is anywhere with a view of Glastonbury Tor”.

Frank will be telling more about authors and their favourite spots in Britain on Thursday July 14th following a special festival lunch.

Friday July 15th brings a first to Wedmore: Ballet Central 2016, the touring company from London’s Central School of Ballet take the first steps of their professional careers in a ground-breaking tour of Britain.

On Saturday July 16th there’s a double bill in Wedmore Village Hall, starting at 7.30pm with comedy from Edinburgh regular, Danny Ward. Danny’s link with Wedmore began in 2008 on his way to the Glastonbury Festival.

Going too fast over a hump-back bridge, his big end “or something” went, but they were rescued by a kind-hearted driver (obviously local) who took them to a pub in Wedmore to wait for help.

Danny said: “It wasn't long before I was imbibing some of that Somerset cider.”

Following Danny they have a music gig with Chris Jagger and Acoustic Roots. Chris’s affinity with Wedmore is well known. He said: “It’s the big town down the road!” He lives in Mudgley.

Details: wedmoreartsfestival.co.uk Tickets: 01278 641370 or tickets@wedmoreartsfestival.co.uk

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Welcome to Wedmore

FOCUS ON WEDMORE

Wedmore’s new Dress Agency bou que now open!

CATHY Wilkin says she is “absolutely delighted” with the response since opening Sumptuous Designerwear in Wedmore back in April.

Her range of new and pre-loved quality clothes and accessories from top designer labels is attracting a lot of attention.

She said: “We are reaching out to people who are interested in buying Gucci, Louis Vuitton and Jimmy Choo or similar labels, which is something fresh and new for Wedmore. It complements what other shops in the village have been offering.”

She’s based in the former stable block at the George.

Find us on Facebook and Trip Advisor

MENDIP TIMES • JULY 2016 • PAGE 41

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Short and long-term help with many issues including: relationships, stress, anxiety, low self-esteem, work issues, personal growth, life changes, bereavement and loss.

Mindfulness tuition • Supervision

Pale Blue

Mindfulness based therapy in Wedmore

FEELING stuck, unsatisfied, disconnected or unhappy with life? Seeing a counsellor can help explore what it is that is stopping you living a more fulfilling and satisfying life.

Mindfulness based therapy focuses on increasing our awareness of the present moment and of exploring the nature of who we truly are.

This stance enables acceptance and understanding to grow and releases us from the burden of carrying around unwanted past experience.

The philosophy is: “The present moment is the only time that any of us have to be alive, to know anything, to perceive, to learn, to act, to change … to heal.”

Will Smither is an experienced counsellor, supervisor and mindfulness teacher. Established for over 13 years in private practice in Salisbury he has now opened his doors to a new practice in Wedmore.

As an introduction to his new practice, Will is offering a free 30-minute session to see if therapy is right for you. Counselling is a confidential and safe space to explore issues that are troubling you.

More events to come

Women’s clothing and other lovely things

1 The Borough, Wedmore, Somerset BS28 4EB Email: paleblueclothingltd@yahoo.co.uk

Tel: 01934 713773 PAGE 42 • MENDIP TIMES • JULY 2016

WEDMORE Harvest Home, on Friday August 19th, has evolved into a full day of events, starting with a church service, followed by the Harvest Home procession of floats, lead by the harvest king, queen and princess.

A lunch in the marquee, for those over 16, is followed by children’s sports and tea. In the evening the marquee is usually packed for a night of music and dancing.

Wedmore’s party season doesn’t end there. The Wedmore Real Ale Festival takes place from September 16th – 18th.

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FOCUS ON WEDMORE

Berryman’s supports Wedmore Street Fair

WEDMORE’S annual street fair takes place on July 2nd, and Berryman’s estate agents will be attending with a fun, interactive stall, hosting a number of games and a competition for families to take part in.

There will be the chance for children of all ages to have a go at traditional fair games “hook a duck” and “pick a peg” for prizes, or you can test your valuation skills by asking yourself “Could you be an estate agent?” with Berryman’s street fair competition.

If you can closely guess the prices the properties sold for, you will be in with a chance of winning a hamper busting with local produce supplied by Wedmore’s The Papershop.

The village of Wedmore is known for its fantastic community spirit and there will be entertainment from Wedmore First School Academy throughout the course of the day. Berryman’s have worked closely with the school this term, holding an Easter Egg competition judged by Berryman’s Sales Manager Howard Wills.

This year’s school tea towels, which feature portraits drawn by the pupils, have also been sponsored by Howard and the Wedmore team, who are planning many more collaborative projects with the school over the coming academic year.

The Wedmore branch of Berryman’s has been open for just three months, having operated as the number one estate agent in the Burnham-on-Sea area for over 25 years, but they have sold

Howard and Catherine

and let a large number of properties in the short space of time they have been in their office on Church Street.

Howard said: “We’re delighted to be attending Wedmore Street Fair this year, marking our first summer in our brand new office in Wedmore. We’ve had a fantastic first three months which has exceeded all expectation, and the community has really welcomed us which has been fantastic. We’re looking forward to meeting many more of you on July 2nd.”

The fair kicks off at 10am until 4pm with lots to see and do for families of all ages. Pop by the Berryman’s stand on the day to have a go at their competition, and meet the team of Howard Wills and Catherine Langley who will be happy to answer any questions you may have about buying, selling or letting property. Howard and Catherine can be contacted on 01934 611998.

Looking to sell or let your home?

Or just curious as to the price of your property?

WEDMORE BRANCH

NOW OPEN! Church Street, Wedmore BS28 4AB MENDIP TIMES • JULY 2016 • PAGE 43

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BALTONSBOROUGH

THE QUEEN AT 90

CROSCOMBE

Eve Harris (left) was named the village’s best royal themed cake baker in a competition judged by professional cook Lorna Broom-Berry.

Eve is pictured with Claire Sully, one of the organisers of the tea party in the village hall

Mark Atkins, from the friends of Baltonsborough School (left), takes to the dance floor with Martin Fox, one of the organisers of the village’s celebrations, as members of the 4+1 jazz band look on

BATCOMBE

A command performance in Batcombe church by Flo and Ethan; young villagers gave a concert of poems, readings and music

Some of the youngsters who took part in the afternoon of events

AXBRIDGE

Kit, aged six, with Ann Biddle (left), Peter Gregory-Hood, a visitor from Warwickshire, and Jill Sage who enjoyed the village’s street party outside the Three Horseshoes inn PAGE 44 • MENDIP TIMES • JULY 2016

Party in the medieval square

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Are you a rural hidden hero?

ARE you part of the Armed Forces family?

Do you have a military service background? Did you complete National Service? Did your husband or wife serve in the Armed Forces? If the answer to any of those questions is yes, the Village Agents of WERN would like to hear from you for their Rural Hidden Heroes project, funded by the Armed Forces Covenant Fund.

The West of England Rural Network’s core Village Agent service provides signposting towards advice and support for people to live independently for as long as possible and Rural Hidden Heroes is a natural extension of that provision.

Alison Farrar has joined the team and says: “We have had some wonderful conversations with people who have given many years of their life for their country.

One lady called to tell us how very proud she is of her two sons who are currently serving. So even if you managed just one day of National Service, you and your close family can access many additional

WERN VILLAGE AGENTS

sources of support.”

By stepping forward, each person is also helping contribute to a mapping exercise that will better inform local authorities about where they might focus more of their resources. Bath and North East Somerset and North Somerset are counter signatories to the Armed Forces Covenant which is a promise from the nation that those who serve or have served, and their families, are treated fairly.

For those living in rural areas, that is less easy to deliver so Village Agents are key partners in ensuring that all ex-service men and women receive that fair deal. The support on offer is not just financial. The project coincided with the arrival of the Royal British Legion Admiral Nurses to Somerset. They provide support to the carers of those living with dementia.

Village Agents have been able to refer a number of people who are now benefitting directly from this excellent service.

It’s not just about formal business.

Alison Farrar (left) and Tina Huckle-Mills promoting Rural Hidden Heroes at the Dig for Victory weekend in Wraxall

WERN Village Agents love a party and their Roadshows have become infamous for providing a great day out, lots of fun and conversations, making new friendships and meeting old buddies. Tina HuckleMills, Village Agent for Wrington, Churchill and surrounding areas says: “Our events promote independence, healthy life options and discovering new choices for your future wellbeing.”

The diary is getting filled up: Pensford on July 13th for a Tea Party; August 25th for a reminiscence event with South West Heritage Trust; and a Roadshow in Wrington on September 1st.

Details: For information about those events and any aspects of Rural Hidden Heroes and the WERN Village Agents, please contact 01275 333700.

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Support for children’s charity

JESSIE May nurses in North Somerset have been kitted out for a year thanks to a donation from the Axentis Michael Charitable Trust.

The donation has allowed the local charity, which cares for terminally-ill children within their own homes in North Somerset, Bristol, Bath, South Gloucestershire and Wiltshire, to kit out its North Somerset nurses with vital equipment including sterile gloves, hand gel, ipads and a kit bag.

The donation represents over £1,000 and comes as Jessie May’s case load has grown to 104 children.

Head of fundraising, Julian Withers, said: “We provide a hospice at home service for terminally ill children which costs around £1million yearly. Jessie May is almost entirely dependent on public generosity so support like this is vital.

“Our case load is growing every year as we expand in the South West to help more families. This means it’s even more important for us to have the support of

Nurse Helen Williams with Sophie

local businesses and trusts.”

Michelle Michael of the Axentis Michael Charitable Trust said: “It is a pleasure to provide a kit for Jessie May nurses and in turn help children in North Somerset who are terminally ill.

“The medical care as well as the support provided to these children and their families by Jessie May is outstanding so we are happy to have

helped in any way.”

The Axentis Michael Charitable Trust is a North Somerset based charity created in memory of local hotelier Axentis Michael, who died in 2003. The charity raises and distributes funds to worthy causes across North Somerset.

The largest fundraising event is a biannual Ball which this year is being held on the Grand Pier on November 26th.

Details: www.jessiemay.org.uk events@grandpier.co.uk or by calling 01934 646155.

Silver tea for hospice

THE Midsomer Norton Friends Group of Children’s Hospice South West are organising a special Silver Cream Tea on Wednesday July 13th, 3-5pm in The Long Barn at Fosse Farm, Stratton on the Fosse.

Tickets are £5, children under eight free, available on 01761 412118 or on the door. The charity runs three children's hospices across the South West and celebrates its 25th anniversary this year.

Helping the elderly

OLDER people’s charity, Royal Voluntary Service, is appealing for Good Neighbours volunteers to help local older people stay independent, safe and well.

The service offers home visits to help with daily tasks such walking the dog, shopping or just sitting down for a cup of tea and a chat to help reduce social isolation.

Sharon Donkin, Royal Voluntary Service Manager for North Somerset, said: “Our volunteers provide a lifeline for many of the vulnerable and lonely residents in Somerset but demand is fast growing and we are really keen to hear from more people willing to volunteer their time.

“Royal Voluntary Service aims to help older people stay independent and active and ensure that no older person is left struggling on their own. We have volunteers of all ages and from all walks of life. They have the satisfaction of knowing that by giving a few hours each month they can transform someone's life."

Good Neighbours volunteer Louise said: “Volunteering has been a huge eye opener to me, I never realised how lonely some people are. It's easy to take life for granted without realising how much the elderly need help, even with a simple task of popping to the shop, which some are not able to do alone.”

One of those she helps, Francis, said: “It's been a lifeline, as I have been all churned up after losing my wife two years ago, which I am still trying to get over, but Louise has altered my insanity because I was at the point of feeling very lonely and being alone for long periods of time. Louise has made a big difference to my life.”

Volunteers need to be good at listening and talking to people. Training is provided

by Royal Voluntary Service and travelling expenses are paid. Driving roles require the use of your own car and a full, clean driving licence.

Details: Sharon Donkin 01275 400945 email sharon.donkin@royalvoluntaryservice.org.uk or visit www.royalvoluntaryservice.org.uk

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CHARITIES

Abbie’s legacy will live on

THE death of Abbie Dougherty at the age of 26 has devastated friends, family and team mates, but it will leave a lasting legacy for the Teenage Cancer Trust.

When she was told that her cancer was terminal, Abbie, who played for the Valley Cats women’s team at Chew Valley Rugby Club, said she would like to have a fundraising event for the trust, which helped her through her illness.

The event was set up in a week, through social media, and 1,300 people turned up. It included a match involving a South Bristol Select 15, put together by the family of Abbie’s fiancé, James Hickery, and a match involving Chew’s men and women, with the men wearing wellies.

The amount raised now stands at £75,000 and that total is still rising.

The event was organised by Abbie’s best friend, Mel Wilson, and Porge Bryant, with support from the Chew Valley Family, a group of 20-somethings.

Porge said: “The cake stall run by CVF mums raised more than £550 and the volunteers that manned the bars, ran the raffle and cleaned up afterwards showed just what the community can achieve in such a short space of time. Thank you everyone that contributed – you know who you are!”

Abbie had previously been treated for cervical cancer but had recovered enough to join the Valley Cats, when they re-formed last November. She died on June 12th just two months after being told cancer had returned.

Party time in the marquee

Abbie (centre) with Chew Valley RFC main sponsor Andrew Curtis and event organiser Porge Bryant

She lived originally in Dundry and attended Chew Valley School. She worked at a children’s nursery in Bath before her illness. She’d moved to Bishopsworth with her parents, Julie and Pete, and brother Jake.

The players

Celebrations after Chew Valley Cats first game, which they won 22-0 against Aretians at home. Abbie is pictured cheering third from the right in the bottom row.

Details: https://www.justgiving.com/AbbieDougherty

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Marathon grannies aid for Kenya

TWO “ordinary elderly grandmothers” say they want to make a massive difference to the lives of rural Kenyan children by supporting the charity Mend the Gap. Sylvia Pain, aged 76, of Langford and Anne Hutchings, aged 80, of Sandford have helped the charity grow since it was started by Kenyan Naftali Mandela Onchere after he moved to Churchill some 16 years ago.

After going to Kenya and seeing the plight of children in the remote Bochoroke village, Sylvia and her friends have kept close contact with the village and worked tirelessly to raise money.

Anne joined Sylvia’s efforts to support Mend the Gap and children in the remote regions of Kisii and Masai Mara.

Having both grown up during the war years, they say they can empathise with the children.

Using their baking, cooking, designing, sewing, knitting, stitching and crocheting skills, they have continuously raised funds and provided school uniforms to support the children.

They have convinced a number of ladies (and a few grandfathers too!) around the area to join them in knitting jumpers.

Now Sylvia, who has four daughters and two grandchildren, is throwing down the age gauntlet to fly to Kenya to participate in the series of Masai Mara Kenya Marathon events being held in aid of Mend the Gap, paying for her own air ticket and upkeep while she is there. She will be doing a

Sylvia (left) Naftali and Anne

Menyoike and Orpigilai school children

five kilometre sponsored walk.

Back home, Anne, who has two children and two grandchildren, is redoubling her efforts for a knitting marathon, having forfeited all presents for her 80th birthday towards a donation to the charity.

Mend the Gap has raised nearly £170,000 since it started and now supports 12 schools, three nursery schools and two orphanages in Kenya. It gets strong support from local churches around Churchill and groups like the WI. It has also formed links with schools in Clevedon, Gordano, Churchill, Cheddar and the City of Bristol College, whose students travel to Kenya every summer, taking jumpers and other donated items with them.

Naftali said: “We hope to involve more schools in future.

The students take part in a range of practical work, as well as going into schools or the orphanages to give support. They also learn a lot themselves and some have returned to give further help.

“Without the support of people like Sylvia and Anne, the charity is dead. We don’t receive any government funding or any significant amount from trusts or foundations. It’s through the will of individuals and the support of local schools that we survive.”

Anne is looking for more knitters to support the knitting marathon and Sylvia is looking for sponsors for her walk.

Students from Clevedon School at Bochoroke School, Kisil

Details: events@mendthegap.org.uk • https://mydonate.bt.com/fundraisers/sylviapainandannehutchings or call Sylvia Pain 01934 853078 or Naftali Mandela on 07572 432833.

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Successful sale

CHARITIES

Haircut helps to save lives

Gracie-Mai hands the cheque to Burnham-on-Sea Lifeboat Operations Manager Matt Davies

ARTHRITIS Research UK volunteers raised more than £500 with a sale of books, DVDs and CDs over three days at Bishop Sutton Football Club.

Organiser, Jean Owen, said: “We were more than pleased and also all our customers enjoyed themselves browsing and buying, including some very young ones. We are very grateful too to Bishop Sutton Football Club, who were brilliant hosts.”

She’s pictured (second right) with (l to r) Joan Barnes, Sue Daniels and customer Abigail.

A YOUNG girl who had her long hair cut off to be donated to a charity for young cancer sufferers has raised almost £3,000.

Gracie-Mai Fagan shared the money between the RNLI in Burnham-on-Sea and MacMillan Cancer. Her hair was sent to the Little Princess charity which provides real hair wigs to youngsters who have lost their own hair due to cancer.

The donation to the RNLI will go towards an appeal to replace its lifecraft. Burnham-on-Sea Lifeboat Operations Manager Matt Davies welcomed Gracie-Mai and her family to the station and said: “I thank you for this fantastic amount.”

Centenary of the Battle of the Somme The Battle of the Somme, during the 1st World War, started on July 1st, 1916.

More than 280 soldiers from The Somerset Light Infantry, who died on that day, are to be individually remembered in a unique and historic centenary art project to commemorate the fallen of the battle.

The 19240 Shrouds of the Somme aims to commemorate all 19,240 allied soldiers who fell on the first day of the battle.

Exactly 100 years to the day later, at the same time as the whistle was blown to “go over the top”, 19,240 handstitched shrouded figures representing every soldier will be revealed laid out in Exeter’s Northernhay Gardens.

The names of the fallen have been marked by the artist Rob Heard who has seven volumes of the War Graves Commission’s lists of those who died.

As each shroud is completed he reads the soldier’s name out loud and symbolically crosses them off the list.

The Somerset Light Infantry lost 282 men on the first day of the Battle of the Somme. The team behind the project are now appealing for volunteers to help on the day. Group Captain Robin Chambers, representing the Armed

Forces charity SSAFA who will benefit from the project, said: “SSAFA was there in 1916 to support the families of those who fell at the Somme and, since 1885 has supported all service personnel and their families. The 19240 Shrouds of the Somme Exhibition is another way in which we can show that we are here to help.

“The exhibition captures the brutality Details: www.thesomme19240.co.uk

and emotional impact of service life and, as an all-volunteer charity, we are honoured to be asked to supervise the exhibition and assist the public.

“As the exhibition will be very popular, we are recruiting volunteers for July 1st – 7th to assist us in interacting with the public, reading the names of the fallen and selling the shrouds.”

MENDIP TIMES • JULY 2016 • PAGE 49

(Photo courtesy of Mike Lang)

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Haircut four hundred – and counting!

Hairdresser Vicky Dyer gets to work on Matt’s ponytail

IT wasn’t quite a head shave, but Matt Gilson braved the scissors to raise more than £400 for charity during Dinder’s annual fete.

The 27-year-old parish councillor had not had a haircut for three years until the fundraising event. The money – more than £450 so far – will be split between the church and village hall in Dinder and the Against Malaria Foundation.

Matt is donating his locks to the Little Princess charity, which provides real-hair wigs for children suffering from cancer.

Donations can still be made via: https://crowdfunding.justgiving.com/matts-haircut

Choir supports hospice

MBE for charity work

JANET Parsons, a member of the Inner Wheel Club of Chelwood Bridge, was herself guest of honour at a recent meeting to describe the excitement of being presented with her MBE by the Queen.

It was awarded in the New Year's Honours list for her services to disabled and disadvantaged people in Bristol, South Gloucestershire and North Somerset.

Janet, who started her career as a teacher, initially set up the Girls' Workshop in Kingswood as a registered charity in 1985, running classes for girls in non-traditional crafts such as woodwork and metalwork which they were not able to do at school in those days.

In 1988 the name changed to Orchard Workshops to reflect the fact that it was no longer just for girls and the charity started reaching out to other groups, including carers, people with mental health problems, over 60s, young mums, disadvantaged people, women suffering domestic abuse and people with learning difficulties.

The courses currently cater for about 200 people a week, including Orchard Woodpeckers, an enterprise for people with learning difficulties who now make and sell their work.

Janet, who received her award at Windsor, said: “After pinning the MBE on my jacket I managed to walk backwards, curtsey and leave through the right door. I then sat at the back of the Waterloo Chamber to watch the rest of the ceremony. Afterwards it was then to the Hart and Garter for our meal.”

She’s pictured (right) with club president Anne Parker,

President signs off with cheques to charities

YVONNE Covill’s last role as president of the Inner Wheel Club of Frome was to present cheques to two charities.

Donations of £400 were made to Dorothy House Hospice and £100 to the Blue House elderly persons home in Frome. Pam Brewster succeeds Yvonne as president in July.

CHEDDAR Male Choir presented a cheque for £1,000 to The Children’s Hospice South West. The money was raised at a sellout concert with Launceston Male Voice Choir at St Cuthbert’s Church, Wells in May. Pam Airey is pictured receiving the cheque from the chairman Tony Brown at the choir’s annual concert held in St Andrew’s Church, Cheddar.

Cheddar Male Choir’s concerts have raised well over £135,000 in the last 21 years. It’s always on the look-out for men to join.

Details: contactcheddarmalechoir@gmail.com or http://www.cheddarmvchoir.co.uk

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Yvonne with Steph Cox, community fundraiser for Dorothy House Hospice

Yvonne presents Alison Hills from the Blue House with a cheque for £100

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CHARITIES

Turning London pink FOUR friends have raised more than £4,000 for charity by cycling 100km at night from Windsor to London and back. Sally Chilman, Gill Loveday, Carly Miller and Caroline Savage – under the team name Valley Cats – took part in Ride the Night, a night time cycling event to raise money for the charity Women v Cancer.

Along with thousands of women, many in fancy dress, they were greeted by the London Eye lit up in pink when they arrived in London.

Sally who organised the team said: “What better event than 100k with friends, raising money for a cause close to us all, for different reasons.”

Funding Hannah’s dream

THE equestrian community in the Mendips and all over the UK are following the story of Somerset 18-year-old Hannah Francis, from Frome, who has terminal bone cancer, and her mascot Willberry Wonder Pony.

Together Hannah and Willberry have inspired, amazed and brought tears to many eyes. In the horsey world you rarely see a wrist in Somerset now without a Willberry wristband.

Hannah is very, very poorly, but still fighting for her dream of establishing Hannah’s Willberry Wonder Pony Charity, to fund vital cancer research and grant equine-related wishes to seriously ill people.

Thousands of people have already raised money (standing at more than £100,000 to date) and now a new scheme has been set up to safeguard Hannah’s legacy – Friends of Willberry - which works as an annual donation, to ensure the work continues.

Charity trustee, Ian Peters, said: “The response has been extraordinary.

Whether supporters are carrying a

Ben Hobday in action at Badminton carrying Hannah's mascot on his back

Wonder Pony around cross country, holding jumble sales, baking cakes or dancing the night away, people are raising funds for Willberry.

“Now we want everyone to sign up for Friends of Willberry so we can start funding new research and grant #Willberry’sWishes”.

Charity canter

MORE than 50 riders enjoyed a rare chance to canter around Wincanton Racecourse to raise funds for the armed forces charity Combat Stress.

The canter – a curtain raiser to the Combat Stress Families and Armed Forces Day at the racetrack on Sunday, October 23rd – raised £980. It was organised by the committee of the Wincanton Races Combat Stress Families and Armed Forces Raceday.

The day gave riders the chance to experience going round a racecourse.

To donate to the charity, visit: www.justgiving.com/combatstresswincantonraceday2016

(Photo courtesy of mudsports.co.uk)

Search for Willberry Wonder Pony online and on Facebook for further details.

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Kilmersd on Village Day

Amanda O’Kane, of Kilmerdson, celebrates after Billy was named best in show in the dog show. She is pictured with judges Richard Killen and Louise Mills, from the Silva House veterinary practice in Midsomer Norton and sponsor Peter Houghton, from Oscar’s pet foods

Some of the classic cars on show on the village playing field

Lawson, aged four, is ahead of threeyear-old brother Mason in the children’s Jack and Jill Dash. The brothers are from Midsomer Norton

Benny the beagle helps collect donations for village funds as local band Bobby Martian and the Planets play in the background. Billy is owed by bass guitarist Mark Day

Village day chairman Robert Porter presents prize money to Daniel, aged six, from Stanton Drew, who won the opening race in the Jack and Jill Dash

M a k i ng a s p l a s h

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IT was all too easy for Graham Colbourne in the men’s Jack and Jill Dash race. He was leading the race until…

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Fete moves indoors

Hazel Parfitt (left) and Lucy and Maddie Clark running the raffle

BLAGDON'S church fete raised around £4,100, despite the change of venue at the last minute. Because of the bad weather the fete was moved to the Yeo Valley Conference Centre.

Church warden, Colin Parfitt, said: “We were very lucky to have that option and we are very grateful to the Mead family for stepping in to bail us out, because our original plan B was to hold the fete in the church, which would have meant a much scaled down event.”

Half of the money raised will go to St Andrew’s Church, and the other half will be split equally between the charities Project Zulu, Multiple System Atrophy Trust, and the South Weston Activity Network.

EVENTS

Oakhill Village Festival The Rec was crowded

ASHWICK and Oakhill playing fields were awash with a spectacle of activity, entertainment and laughter for the first Oakhill Village Festival, combining the local school and church’s previous summer fetes.

The festival has raised record-breaking funds for both.

One of the organisers said: “The success of the day was much greater than the financial reward.

“Bringing together families, friends and neighbours of all generations and sharing experiences has a value that cannot be measured.”

Dancing in the marquee

Naomi and John Lyons, who were on the barbecue

Oakhill Community Choir

Tina Smith (left) Ruth Stokes and Natasha Wilcock, who were serving teas

Fernhill won the five-a-side competition. Andy Howard from BBC Points West presented the trophy

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What a show – the Bath and West in pictures

Cider maker John Hecks, of Street, was honoured with the Bath and West gold medal for his contribution to the industry.

Sadly, John was unable to attend but the award was received by wife Mary and Chris, one of his two sons

Show president Michael Eavis presents farmer Geoff Bown, who lives near Green Ore, with a long service award. Geoff has been farming for 56 years. He was nominated by Roger Noble

Environment minister Liz Truss (left) with show president Michael Eavis and Rebecca Pow, MP for Taunton

The Brue Boys, a men’s choir based in the Baltonsborough area, sing on the bandstand

Countryfile presenter Adam Henson was filming in the cider marquee

Actor Martin Clunes attended the show on the final day and met Rob Taylor, of West Harptree with a champion animal from the Whistley Herd, run by Stephen Potter

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Mendip Hunt (right) battle it out against the Warwickshire Hunt in the main arena during the Inter Hunt Relay

ROYAL BATH & WEST SHOW 2016

James Elliot at work in the forge

Time to celebrate after the grand parade of prizewinning livestock

The heavy horse pairs turnout

Michael Brown, who works for Tincknells Fuels with Cordelia, his prizewinning Landrace pic and Bob the terrier

Angus Macdonald, of Higher Hill Farm at Butleigh, won the award for best standard orchard

The Head’s Up centre in Wells won gold for their pop-up garden. Clients of the charity, which supports people with mental health issues through horticulture and other therapies, contributed to the display called The Healing Garden. Pictured are Keith Peters and Lee-Anne Bone MENDIP TIMES • JULY 2016 • PAGE 55

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Banwell School won this year’s environment award, presented by Annie Maw, the Lord Lieutenant of Somerset. Banwell is an ecoschool with each class having “eco warriors”. Recent projects include caring for newly-acquired chickens and improving the school pond as a home for newts

Time for a selfie as Martin Clunes admires one of the award-winning pigs

ROYAL BATH & WEST SHOW 2016

Mendip Morris, one of the sides performing wassail ceremonies in the orchard

One way to carry the family picnic

Michael Eavis in the acoustic marquee.

Michael brought along some well-known bands such as Chris Jagger’s Rocking Cronies

Award-nominated Irish folk duo Little Hours were amongst the acts playing on the new acoustic stage Preparing cattle for the showring

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WILDLIFE

A short birdwatching walk to Blackdown

Whitethroat – Blackdown is a good place to see them

IT was a partly cloudy evening with occasional glimpses of a warm evening sun on a mid-June Sunday evening.

I was walking from Charterhouse to the trig point on Blackdown. The first bird I encountered was a cuckoo calling; it’s not a bird that is in this location every year,

By CHRIS however it was moving around a lot being SPERRING first of all heard on the Blackmoor nature MBE reserve, then I observed it flying and begin calling again in a small copse at Rains Batch and finally flying towards the Charterhouse Centre and calling again from there.

As I began ascending the small lane towards Blackdown I came across my first real patch of scrubland. There sat out perched was one of my favourite warblers, the whitethroat, calling out with small bursts of song from the top of the bushes.

As you can see from the picture he was feeling very brave a kind of: “If I can’t see you, then you can’t see me.”

The point is, though, that these small birds like scrub, because they can form dense areas which help them against predators preying on their nests. Also plants such as bramble can be very important and as bramble is in flower right now (June) the flowers then attract high numbers of insect prey for these small birds.

Lastly, before the start of Blackdown, another scrub-loving bird was on fine view, this bird however didn't have to hide and was very striking and extremely bold. The male stonechat with his black head giving way to a white collar, and almost robinlike red breast is unmistakable, not far away was the female for comparison.

Stonechat is another one of those good news stories as it was a bird which saw dramatic declines through the 1970s and 80s,

but its numbers are recovering. I finally encountered several pairs before reaching the trig point. If you have a bit of spare time on your hands, then why not go in search of whitethroat and stonechat?

I’m also leading evening wildlife watching walks throughout July. If you wish to come on one of these, please contact me and I will give you the days and details. Enjoy your wildlife watching.

Stonechat – one of our scrub-loving birds

Chris Sperring is Conservation Officer for the Hawk and Owl Trust. Contact him on 07799 413 918 or via chris.sperring@btinternet.com. Please visit www.swp.hawkandowl.org for more information

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A wander down the Cam from Hinton Blewett

HERE is an easy short summer morning or afternoon circle from the pretty village of Hinton Blewett on the northern slopes of the Mendip Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. We explore the Cam Valley and take in one of my favourite historic churches in Cameley. If it’s a clear day, do the longer route calling in at one of the best viewpoints in the area, Prospect

Stile. Walking is through meadows, full of wildflowers when I came in June.

For you, it may have been newly cut and smelling of mown hay or perhaps more grass and flowers will have emerged. There is one steady hill of about eight minutes out of Cameley to bring you up to the hill edge with good views over the valley and a short easy ascent later. There are only a couple of stiles so it is an ideal dog outing too. In Hinton Blewett is a great village local, the Ring O’ Bells with excellent food and en-route a small hotel welcomes you in for a coffee.

PARK: In Hinton Blewett round the green by the Ring O’ Bells. The village is up on a hill to the east of West Harptree, and south of Chew Valley Lake. It can best be reached from Bishop Sutton or East Harptree.

With Sue Gearing PAGE 58 • MENDIP TIMES • JULY 2016

START: Main route, taking in Prospect Stile’s wonderful viewpoint. Go up to the pub (or in to it!) and, facing it, turn left. Here is the Barbary Green a focal point of the conservation area with an information board explaining some of the history. Follow the lane which bends round, by the church and on out of the village. St Margaret’s church is largely built of Blue Lias and dates back to the 13th century. Of note are the five bells cast in the early 18th century by the famous Bilbie family of nearby Chew Stoke. Bend round right, ignoring a left turn. At a farm follow

the lane round to the left. At the next junction, turn right on a road unsuitable for vehicles.

1. PROSPECT STILE After a couple of minutes reach Prospect Stile with a seat and an amazing view over the Chew Valley and across to the main Mendip ridge. Return the short distance to the last junction and this time keep straight on. Bend left back towards the village. Ignore a residential road on the right and shortly go right following the footpath arrow down a drive/track.

Follow this through a gate to a farm.

2. FARM Just before the farm barns, turn left on the marked footpath and a metal gate leads into a field. Now go straight through the field, probably still full of waving, shimmering barley and on through another field. Look up left as you reach the end of the field and see Hinton Blewett church and the pub, which should orientate you. Continue to a gate onto the lane. Turn right.

SHORT ROUTE: Simply go down across the green from the pub and down the lane which drops downhill to the village hall a few minutes away. Follow the main route from ‘3. VILLAGE HALL’.

3. VILLAGE HALL Here both routes join. Opposite the village hall, go left on the Limestone Link footpath. This 36-mile route links

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WALKING

the Mendip Hills to the Cotswolds at Cold Ashton, Gloucestershire and is marked by an Ammonite waymarker.

Keep straight on through several fields with the Cam on your left though you can’t see much of it. Eventually the path drops downhill, still in the same direction and you get your first glimpse of the fishing lakes at Cameley and the tower of Cameley Church. In the field ahead in the near distance I could see what looked like a yellow submarine, but I have no idea what it is doing there!

Go through a metal kissing gate and go diagonally down left to a gate onto the lane.

4. LANE Turn right, passing a farm and soon coming to Cameley Lodge, where you can drop in for a tea or coffee and cake.

This is a small country hotel with fly fishing available on the lakes. Carry on to Cameley Church.

5. CAMELEY CHURCH Set in such beautiful surroundings this peaceful little gem, is now cared for by the Church’s Conservation Trust. It was called ‘Rip Van Winkle’s church’ by Sir John Betjeman because there has been little change there since the early part of the 19th century. The church itself dates back to the 13th century.

The tower is built of red Mendip stone which contrasts with the local blue Lias limestone of the rest of the church.

Inside there are fine box pews and a gallery, as well as fragments of wall paintings dating from the 12th – 17th centuries. It is well worth looking in the guide book to find out more about the church’s fascinating history.

A little further on, turn left on the drive to Court Farm, and a short way

OS Explorer 141 Cheddar Gorge & Mendip Hills West, grid ref: 594 569, also crosses onto Explorer 142, Shepton Mallet & Mendip Hills East.

4.4 miles, or 3.3 miles. About 2.5 hours, or 2 hours walking.

down, go right through a metal gate following the footpath arrow. Then go left down to another gate, which takes you into a yard. Go right and then follow the footpath, through a gate and follow the right hedge through an area of fairly new tree planting.

6. FOOTBRIDGE Cross a footbridge with a stile each end.

Follow the path to a well-marked metal gate and choose the footpath going left.

Here is a good place for a paddle on the Cam. Go through a Bristol Gate on your left and gradually start to climb following the right hedge. The going gets steeper further up but after about eight minutes reach a crossing footpath – the Limestone Link again – just before the top.

7. HILL SIDE Turn left still in the same field going

along the side of the hill with great views across the Cam valley. This is also south facing, so a great place for a picnic with a view.

Continue all the way to the end of the field and the top right corner and go ahead through the tree and bush hedge, through another gate and gate and turn up right. Then turn left along the top of the field. Near the end start to bear diagonally left down to a wooden kissing gate ahead, and on down to another which takes you down steps to Nanny Hurn’s Lane.

8. NANNY HURN’S LANE Turn left on this stony track for several minutes to reach a house on the left.

9. FIELDS Opposite this, go right on the footpath into a field. The next stretch is straight on coming alongside the Cam again on your left. Go on through fields, gates, footbridges and a little woodland always in the same direction. It is well marked. Then come out into a large field, which slopes up ahead of you.

Continue on, watching out as it is very wet at the foot here. Bear up left staying well to the left of a post in the field and climbing to a gate on the top by a power pole. Come onto a lane and turn right and follow this on and round.

At a junction, turn left and come round back to the green and pub in Hinton Blewett.

The Ring O’ Bells, Hinton Blewett, 01761 452239.

MENDIP TIMES • JULY 2016 • PAGE 59

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OUTDOORS

West Countryman’s Diary

WHERE is it all going? By the time you read this, midsummer will have been and gone.

The days will begin to get shorter, but hopefully there is still plenty of summer to come. I don’t get too excited about midsummer – yes it’s a turning point in the year but it’s not all over yet.

With LES July and August are ahead and there is DAVIES MBE usually some good weather in September and October. There are some classic summer thunderstorms rattling around at the moment. They are the ones that leave a mark across the road – dry on one side and wet the other. It’s always something that you want to see happen, but are rarely going to be there when it does.

The Royal Bath and West Show was blessed with good weather this time and a new look and lay-out, with much more of a rural feel to it. It’s always difficult to gauge the numbers, but the main alleyways are a good indication. Again they were full every time I dared to venture out from the Environmental Youth Awards stand beneath the Commentators’ Box by the arena.

There was livestock at show for all four days this year, which is a first. Normally Saturday sees most exhibitors going home and it was nice to watch that very agricultural spectacle of the livestock parade.

Congratulations to Banwell school for winning the overall prize in the Environmental Youth Awards against tough competition from Somerset, Devon and Wiltshire. If you are involved with any youth group or school that’s involved with environmental improvement, then you should look to be entering this competition, with generous cash prizes sponsored by HSBC bank.

For more information log onto the Royal Bath & West Society website royalbathandwestsociety.com and look for Environmental Youth Awards. Failing that contact me and I will get you on the right track.

I hope that you are managing to get some walks into your busy life schedule. There is never a bad time to be out on “the hill”, but there are some days that can be better than others. As always, never trust a sunny day on Mendip. Take the waterproof just in case.

Then there are those nasty little hitchhikers, the ticks. They will be about after such a mild winter, so be aware and take care.

Wear long trousers and shirt sleeves rolled down if you are moving through high vegetation. Wearing light coloured clothing, it's easier to check occasionally and brush them off.

At the end of the day do your body check to make sure that none have crept beneath your clothing and are using you as a provider for their evening meal. If you find one take a pair of tweezers, grip the little blighter behind the head, close to your skin, and pull it free with a slight twisting motion.

Sun cream or Vaseline can be used to make them loosen their grip, but never use a lighted cigarette to burn them off. This will end up with the hapless creature exploding the contents of its gut into you! Not every tick bite will lead to infection, but if you do feel unwell, or notice a raised circle around the area of the bite, then seek medical advice. Early diagnosis is easily treated. Oh, and don’t forget to check the dog.

This is one of the best years I have seen for hawthorn blossom.

It has at times been like looking into an apple orchard, where

trees are growing on rough ground. The hedgerows have been thick with the blossom and once it has done its job it will flutter gently to the ground in the breeze. Another promise of things to come in autumn, along with a good apple harvest hopefully.

Everything is green and full of colour at the moment.

It was once said that you should never work with animals or children; well I do just that and find it to be quite rewarding.

School groups on farm trips bring many challenges. The first is to establish a relationship with the teachers and adults within the group. They may be out of their comfort zone and stressed in finding the location and controlling the pupils’ exuberance.

Secondly there are the children themselves, whose expectations and knowledge levels will vary from group to group. They will be excited at having a day away from the classroom and a relationship with their teacher that is bound to be different from being in the classroom. For the schools that the charity Farmlink deal with every year, many come from inner city areas.

It is within this area that I feel there is the most to be gained.

As I am always telling people, not everyone who lives in a village drives a tractor these days, but they are closer to rural surroundings than the inner city children. Life within the inner city areas has a different set of priorities and contact with the rural way of life may not be high on their list.

However once the divide has been crossed a new relationship with these children has been established. They now know someone outside their family, outside their street and outside of their school. It has widened their social awareness. I can’t begin to count how many children must have met Farmer Nick from Alvis Bros. Ltd and visited Lower Stock Farm over the past years.

Well I'm getting ready to spend another week with the students from the University of Georgia, USA in July. As it’s my second time away with them, life should be a little easier. It will be up on the wild and windy moor to look at Wuthering Heights in the Pennines and onto the Lakes to walk in the footsteps of Wordsworth and “Wander lonely as a cloud that floats on high”.

Then onto Scotland, Loch Ness, Castle Urquhart and Edinburgh – lucky old Les!!

Finally, congratulations to Jim Hardcastle who has just returned to Mendip as the new manager for the Mendip Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB). Jim and I worked together when he was the project development officer in the AONB unit.

No doubt we will all be hearing more from Jim in the future.

This month’s photo is tranquillity itself. The ponies on Burrington Ham taken by Judith Tranter from Clevedon way back in 2010.

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

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YEO VALLEY

MENDIP TIMES • JULY 2016 • PAGE 61

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Don’t delay – sow them today

NO sooner have we got our summer bedding plants planted out than it is time to think about next spring and start to sow some of the many spring flowering plants that require a longer growing season.

July could almost be described as the beginning of the next garden year. Before With MARY we know it we will be ordering bulbs for PAYNE MBE autumn planting and 2016 will be another year that has flown by.

However, it is not too late to sow biennials to flower next year. Wallflowers have stood the test of time and put on a good show in spring, with the added advantage of scent. These can be sown direct into the ground, across a vegetable plot, ready to be transplanted in the autumn.

Even better plants will be produced by transplanting the seedlings when about three inches (7.5cm) high. This breaks the tap root and encourages a more fibrous root system that moves more easily, and makes a bushier plant ready for their final move to the flowering positions in the autumn.

Although traditional bare root wallflower plants can still be purchased in garden centres, the industry is leaning towards the dwarfer F1 strain of wallflowers known as Sugar Rush. This new strain flowers in autumn and again in spring growing to about 12 inches (30cm). If you do purchase bare root wallflowers, then plant them immediately after thoroughly soaking the roots in water.

Forget-me-nots (Myosotis) are easy to grow from seed sown now and, although available in pink or white, the traditional blue colour goes so well with the dominant yellow colour of many spring flowers. Many of you will simply allow these plants to self-seed.

Daisies are usually regarded as a lawn weed but the modern selections of Bellis make excellent spring flowering plants for pots and borders. Bellis Bellissima Series have small neat pompom style flowers, while the Habanero Series are on steroids and have large powder puff flowers. Polyanthus and primroses flood the garden centres in spring but can be sown now.

Pansies and violas complete the round-up of plants to sow now for spring bedding, but both can be encouraged to keep flowering well into summer if they are rigorously dead-headed.

For the “green fingered” among you who wish to try growing these plants from seed it is very important to keep the germinating seeds cool at a time of year when temperatures are naturally warmer. Polyanthus and primroses are especially vulnerable to too much heat during germination and may go dormant and refuse to germinate until they have had a winter chill.

For those whose fingers are a little less “green”, all these plants can be purchased as “plug plants” to grow on, or can of course be purchased ready grown but that is not half so satisfying as growing your own.

Foxgloves come in a bewildering range of flower colours and styles these days, sadly, some of them hardly recognisable as foxgloves. Give me the traditional type any day. Pure white foxgloves will re-seed and stay true to colour provided any rogue colours are promptly removed before the flowers open and the bees get to work. For a white flower, heavily spotted with maroon inside, try Pam’s Choice. Sow these delightful PAGE 62 • MENDIP TIMES • JULY 2016

Bellis Habanero Pink Tips

plants now ready to plant in their flowering positions in the autumn.

Honesty (Lunaria annua) is another easy to grow biennial that can be sown now and can then be allowed to self-seed. It comes in white or shades of lilac or purple, with green or white variegated foliage and the variety Chedglow has maroon spotted foliage and a magenta flower. Corfu Blue is reputed to be almost perennial, so may flower again the following year.

Like the foxgloves, rigorous culling is required to keep the colours true, but honesty is one of the delights of the spring woodland garden, and charms us in the autumn with its silvery seed pods.

A cottage garden favourite, not seen much these days, is the Canterbury bell (Campanula medium). These biennials produce an abundance of large cup-shaped flowers and fill the gap between the spring flowers and the mass of summer colour.

The quintessential cottage garden favourite, aquilegias, can usually be relied upon to self-seed but new plants can be raised from seed if you are quick! The aim is to get well-established young plants planted in their flowering positions before the winter in order to flower in May/June the following year.

There are so many variations on a theme of aquilegia these days, but all can be relied upon to fill the gap between the late flowering tulips finishing and the mass of summer flowering herbaceous plants blooming. They are so useful for adding colour to those difficult shady corners, but also thrive in sunny positions too.

Another traditional cottage style plant that has recently had a make-over is the sweet william. Usually grown as a biennial as for foxgloves or wallflowers (see above). They have crossed the old-fashioned biennial sweet william (Dianthus barbatus) with the annual Dianthus chinensis to make a fast-growing bedding plant that can be used for spring, summer or autumn flowering.

Seeds sown direct in the ground should be kept moist especially during the germination phase and once they are big enough to handle should be thinned to allow each plant ample room to develop. When transplanting to their flowering position in the autumn, water them in well.

July to September is the season for village flower shows when produce and flowers are in abundance. Do try to exhibit in your local show, even if you think your vegetables and flowers are not perfect it all adds to the spectacle and makes local shows special.

Stanton Drew Flower show is on Saturday July 16th. The schedule of classes is available on the village website if you would like to enter, or come along in the afternoon.

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J U LY G A R D E N T I P S

GARDENING

G Feed rose bushes. Spread fertiliser around the plants and lightly hoe it in. Remove dead flowers and the tip of each shoot to encourage a strong new shoot.

G Vigorous climbers such as Clematis, Honeysuckle and perennial sweet peas will need tying up. Support them well and they will repay you well with more blooms.

G If greenhouses are getting too hot, paint ‘Coolglass’ on the outside to reflect the sun’s heat. This is easily wiped off in autumn. Wetting the floor regularly will also lower the temperature but don’t do it late in the day.

G Plant winter cauliflower, purple sprouting and leeks in the space created by digging early potatoes. It is also time to sow winter flowering pansies, primrose and polyanthus.

G Check your fruit trees for the weight of crop they have. If there is a heavy fruit set then it is wise to thin the fruit out now.

G Trim herbs back. Remove flowers. Give them a good soaking with liquid feed to encourage new shoots. These are always the tastiest.

G Stop harvesting rhubarb and asparagus now. This will give it a chance to build up strength for next year. Check asparagus for weevils.

G If you have the odd weed or two in the lawn (who hasn’t?), spot weeding with a selective lawn weed killer now can be very effective. Get some colour back into your lawn with a high nitrogen liquid fertilizer.

Courtesy Cleeve Garden Centre

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ALL YOUR GARDENING NEEDS – SET IN 12 WONDERFUL ACRES – MENDIP TIMES • JULY 2016 • PAGE 63

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Check that fence!

DURING July the garden will be in full bloom. There’s no time to sit and relax however, as there are still lots of jobs to do to keep your garden looking its best.

Faded perennials should be cut back, wisteria should be pruned, climbing plants should be tied and there is always dead-heading to do!

Whilst the ground is dry and the weather is more settled, it’s a good idea to check your fencing for signs of wear and tear. It is an ideal time to replace damaged panels before the autumn storms arrive. Somerlap supplies a wide range of fence panels and accessories, with everything you need to have your garden looking fantastic.

Somerlap sources its timber from quality suppliers, while their fencing offers excellent value for money. Customers have commented: “quality panels with very quick delivery” and: “the fencing… looks solid, smart and natural.”

Somerlap supply quality garden products to people and businesses in Somerset and beyond; they celebrate their 35th anniversary this year. Somerlap have everything you need for the garden this summer, with a substantial range including: fencing, trellis, garden furniture, sheds, storage and gates. All of their products can be ordered via their website www.somerlap.co.uk, over the telephone or by visiting them in Mark.

Visit their blog (www.somerlap.co.uk/blog) for tips on fencing, decking, bark, and more.

NGS GARDEN OF THE MONTH

Stowey gardens

THERE will be three gardens open for the NGS in Stowey on Sunday July 17th, 2pm – 6pm. For the fourth year running the open gardens are at Stowey Mead, 2 Stowey Cross Cottages and Dormers.

This year’s opening is a month later than in previous years, so visitors can see the gardens at a different stage in the season. Each garden has a unique style, content and planting.

You will find some unusual shrubs and trees, topiary, orchards, flower-packed borders, a rose walk, vegetables, gravel and slate gardens, exotic garden, ponds and water features, rolling lawns, some serious sweet peas and pots and containers.

Ample car parking is available opposite Dormers in Stowey Bottom, between Chelwood and Bishop Sutton.

Teas, with home-made cakes and scones, will be available at The Mead, from which there are extensive views of the surrounding countryside. There will be a large and varied plant stall at Dormers. Teas and plants will be sold in aid of Stowey Church.

Admission is only £5, children under 16 free.

OTHER GARDENS OPEN FOR THE NGS To see more gardens open for the NGS, see The Yellow Book or local county leaflet available from local garden centres, or go to: http://www.ngs.org.uk PAGE 64 • MENDIP TIMES • JULY 2016

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Working in willow

ANGELA Morley, local garden designer and willow artist, is offering a new programme of willow workshops this summer at Pylle village hall.

The workshops are designed to be fun, encourage experimentation and build confidence. In this series, the groups will be kept small so you will be guaranteed lots of help and attention. It will include: Willow birds – bring a picture of the bird you want to make (e.g. hen, heron, pheasant...).

Willow piglets – great fun and each tends to have its own character.

Frame baskets – simple yet traditional basket ideal for use in the garden.

Angela said: “I love to offer the space, materials and help to allow people to get creative, I hope that participants will go home and move onto bigger projects!”

Details: www.wildgardens.co.uk • 01749 830205

Open gardens in Churchill

THREE very contrasting gardens will be open to the public in Churchill on Saturday 16th and Sunday July 17th, 2pm-5pm, supporting the NGS. They are at Bay Tree House garden, in Dinghurst Road and Church View and Laurel Cottage in Front Street.

Parking is available at Bay Tree House, together with refreshments, and plant sales will take place at Laurel Cottage.

Tickets are £5 for all three gardens.

GARDENING

Railway gardeners awarded

Annie Davenport and Gail Coleshill outside Midsomer Norton station building

VOLUNTEERS at Midsomer Norton Station have been honoured by the town council for the work they do to improve the area.

Annie Davenport was named Volunteer of the Year for her painting and crafts. Her work includes the Somerset and

Dorset emblem painted on to an old coal wagon.

The station, run by the Somerset and Dorset Heritage Trust, entered the RHS “Its Your Neighbourhood” award, which contributed towards the town’s overall win in South West in Bloom.

Volunteer Gail Coleshill said: “We were really surprised and gratified to hear of the awards. Annie had tears in her eyes when she went up to receive her cup. All of us here at the station really enjoy our work but it’s great to have our efforts recognised by the local council.”

SHOWROOM NOW OPEN

Opening 8.00am – 5.00pm Mon – Fri. 8.00am – 12.00pm Sat

WILLOW WORKSHOPS The sun shone on the Bishop’s Palace country garden festival. It was opened by gardening expert and broadcaster Roy Lancaster (right) who is pictured with the palace’s head gardener James Cross.

Willow birds - 20 July £35 Willow piglets - 20 July £35 Frame baskets - 22, 23 July or 17 August £60 Call: 01749 830205 (Advance booking only) Email: angela@wildgardens.co.uk MENDIP TIMES • JULY 2016 • PAGE 65

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GARDENING

Mendip Mowers had Honda’s “racing mower” on their stand at the Royal Bath and West Show. Andrew Brake is behind the wheel.

We now offer interest free finance Behind Shell Garage Winterstoke Road, Weston-super-Mare, North Somerset BS23 2YS

Tel: 01934 626093/813261 www.westongarden.co.uk PAGE 66 • MENDIP TIMES • JULY 2016

CUT THE COST THIS SUMMER with £65 off an Izy lawnmower plus a FREE FIRST SERVICE Terms and Conditions Apply Limited Stock, offered on a first come first served basis

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Shipham Summer Fete

The event saw the return of the soapbox derby

Timsbury Fun Day

EVENTS

There were large crowds

Teas were popular

Wish I Were Dave on stage

Killian, aged four, with face painter Jo Tasker

Timsbury Theatre Group

Stephen Brown (left) and John Wines in charge of the barbecue

Timsbury U-8s put on a fine display MENDIP TIMES • JULY 2016 • PAGE 67

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STOKE ST. MICHAEL

Chelsea Pensioners, brothers David and Tom Lyall, were guests of honour. They first visited the village for its D-Day celebrations

Lola, five, and sister Maggie, aged three

Villagers formed a pop-up choir to sing during the party

Frome Street Bandits entertain villagers PAGE 68 • MENDIP TIMES • JULY 2016

Lisa (left) and Wendy strike a “regal” pose

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PEASEDOWN ST. JOHN

The Phoenix Club open the festival with the first performance of the day

OVER 2,000 people supported the village’s eighth community festival to celebrate the Queen’s 90th birthday.

The event, opened by the chairman of B&NES Council, Cllr Alan Hale, included a huge array of stalls and attractions, the village’s second Great Village Bake Off, the return of the Peasedown Diamond cider, and the results of the Party in the Park Grant Giveaway.

The Sara Holley Community Award, set up in 2011 in memory of a life-long resident who passed away, was awarded to Joy Fraser, who has spent the last 10 years either supporting or setting up projects that benefit the vulnerable and poorer members of society.

Almost £1,500 was given to local organisations as well as Bath All Starz, Chess for Schools and the Great Western Air Ambulance.

THE QUEEN AT 90

They start them young in the Bath Spa training band

Sara Litherland (left) and Paris Griffiths from Peasedown WI

Tamsyn Hawken (left) and Claire Abrahams from the Radstock based Carers' Centre which is celebrating its 20th anniversary

Peasedown's very own royal beefeater, committee member Michael Auton, greets members of the public

Details: www.peasedownpartyinthepark.org.uk

Radstock and Midsomer Norton Lions are hoping to recruit new members in Peasedown

MENDIP TIMES • JULY 2016 • PAGE 69

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Under the minery

PRIDDY Mineries comprises the remains of two old leadworks, Chewton to the north, and St. Cuthbert’s to the south. Both were provided with artificial ponds, which collected water for washing ore and in the early days for powering machinery. Once used, the water was allowed to sink With PHILIP underground.

HENDY The outflow from St. Cuthbert’s Minery soaks away near the end of a large depression west of the ruins.

The site attracted the attention of early cavers, since digging in nearby similar stream sinks had led to the discovery of Swildon’s Hole and Eastwater Cavern.

A large pool suddenly disappeared in 1927 and then ten years later another collapse occurred, but investigation was prevented by a lawsuit in 1863, as a result of which St. Cuthbert’s Lead Works was prevented from polluting the stream which resurged at Wookey Hole, where the water was used in the paper mill. The pool served as a settling pond, and any disturbance would have broken the injunction.

However, there was another sink nearby, Plantation Swallet, and in 1944 the University of Bristol Speleological Society dug there in an attempt to find a cave. Later, the Bristol Exploration Club, whose headquarters lay nearby, carried on the dig, and also dug at several places in the floor of the depression.

They succeeded in gaining entry to a cave in 1953 and named it St. Cuthbert’s Swallet. The club controls access to this day on behalf of the landowner. The cave is very complex and one of the best decorated caves on Mendip, and so a leadership scheme is in operation.

The entrance, a descent through concrete drain pipes, leads to the constricted Entrance Rift, which is eight metres deep. In wet weather, the return can be awkward and chilling. Beyond the rift is a network of passages and chambers, some of which contain unstable boulder ruckles. Every variety of calcite formation can be seen, from the common stalactites and stalagmites, to the rarer cave pearls and convoluted helictites. Some of these are very delicate and vulnerable, so visiting parties are restricted in size.

The late Mendip Times caving correspondent, Dave Irwin, spent many years exploring the cave and in 1991 published an accurate and highly detailed survey, proving it to be second in length only to Swildon’s Hole. The current total length of the passages is 6700 metres. The largest cavern is the Boulder Chamber, from where a five metre-diameter tube, the Railway Tunnel, leads off. This in turn enters the aptly-named Rabbit Warren. There are many interconnected chambers and passages, most of which are superbly decorated.

The main stream flows at a low level beneath the main maze of passages, until at 105 metres below the surface, the cave becomes one single passage and the water flows into a sump. This was reached in 1957, but attempts to pass it were unsuccessful until 12 years later, when St. Cuthbert’s Two was entered.

The far end of the sump was excavated to drain it, although it remains wet, with only about 15 centimetres of airspace along a five metre sinuous duck. Sump Two is reached after nearly 300 metres of mainly high rift passage, though there are stalagmite obstructions to be negotiated and the Ten Foot Waterfall, which

Gour Hall

CAVING

can be free-climbed. Attempts to pass this sump have so far been unsuccessful.

The first serious attack was in May 1985, when two compressors supplied pressurised air to pump the sump water back to an artificial dam. Digging the sand and gravel infill was slow, and although nearly 12 metres of passage was excavated, during which the floor dropped two metres at one point, when the dam was full, the dig had to be abandoned. Underwater digging recommenced in 2010, and after three years, the sump has been pushed to around 30 metres in length, with a depth of eight metres.

The passage between the two sumps trends slightly southeast, and is heading towards Wookey Hole. This cave was known to be the resurgence since the 19th century lawsuit, when chopped chaff washed into the St. Cuthbert’s sink reappeared at Wookey.

St. Cuthbert’s Swallet is the closest of the major Priddy swallets to Wookey Hole and for many years efforts have been made to enter the cave passages which undoubtedly lie between them.

Almost on the direct line between Cuthbert’s and Wookey is the Templeton shaft, which at present has been dug to 84 metres deep, but is nowhere near the depth required to meet the envisaged master cave.

Further downstream extensions to St. Cuthbert’s Swallet, at least in the short term, seem unlikely, but the challenge of exploring the known cave and marvelling at the wealth of calcite formations makes the cave a “must-see” for any serious caver. Under the guidance of an experienced leader, the visitor will be able to experience one of the best and probably the most protected cave under Mendip.

Down at Wookey Hole, the opening last year of Chamber Twenty to the public has allowed diggers easy access to this part of the cave. They are attempting to force a connection through to the 24th chamber. Work continues, though the recent discovery of an unexpected sump pool has caused a frisson of excitement.

Finding a route to Wookey 24 which does not require diving will aid the diggers and exploration divers alike.

Phil has been caving for more than 47 years and is a member of the Wessex Cave Club. He has been involved in producing several caving publications and is a caving instructor in Cheddar. His main interest is digging for new caves.

PAGE 70 • MENDIP TIMES • JULY 2016

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One hundred years young!

MOTORING

For servicing, repairs and sales of all makes of caravans and motorhomes

Lining up at the start of the tortoise and hare run in Wells

MOTORBIKES dating back more than 100 years took to the roads around Mendip when two different rallies took place on the same day.

Hundreds of machines of all ages and varieties gathered in Wells for the annual tortoise and hare event organised by the city’s Classic Motorcycle Club, whilst members of the One of the many marshals on Somerset Vintage Motorcycle duty in Wells Club stopped for lunch at the Old Down Inn at Emborough during a tour of the area on their girder fork and rigid machines, including one built in 1911.

Organisers of the Wells event made a donation to the Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance.

The vintage machines prepare to leave Emborough

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Open Monday - Friday 9am–5pm; Saturday 9am–1pm

Marchants Hill, Gurney Slade BA3 4TY Call: 01749 841051 Mob: 07778 465520 Email: sales@caravanrepairs-sw.co.uk MENDIP TIMES • JULY 2016 • PAGE 71

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Let’s all be Clangers

FANS of this column will know I’m a fan of the Clangers, a community of mauve moon mice who speak in whistles, eat sensible portions of soup made by a dragon and blue-string pudding and live a gentle life built around friendship, collaboration and compassion.

Clangers is also a convenient daily recipe for all the things we need for a simple, happy life: Connect, Learn,

By Dr PHIL (be) Active, Notice, Give back, Eat well, Relax, Sleep.

HAMMOND A simple Clangers’ lifestyle is better for your health than all the drugs in the world.

The iconic Clangers TV series was the brainchild of Oliver Postgate – socialist, pacifist and green. I didn’t realise at the time that I was watching gentle socialist propaganda, but Planet Clanger was a model of the welfare state. There was no money, and no need for it, because everyone cared for each other and there was nutritious free soup and string for all.

The simple narration, gentle music and time for children to follow the story and use their imagination to decipher the whistles is probably why the recently re-made Clangers has discovered a new generation of followers.

The Clangers were an indigenous population who knew how to live on a planet without destroying it and their main pleasures were food, music and intellectual curiosity. As one reviewer observed: “The Clangers hold their planet in common and there is no ownership, no war, no politics, no competitive sport, no SATS, no exams, no shouting, no noise.

“It’s a world of time and space in which children are invited to slow down, reflect and savour. It promotes quietness and calm.”

You may not have seen my favourite episode, Vote for Froglet. During the “winter of discontent” in 1973, Postgate became disillusioned with the bitterness and unpleasant tribalism of politics (sound familiar?).

He said: “Having been in Germany at the end of the war, and seen what happened when an economy collapsed completely, I really got frightened. I thought the process of government was completely buggered by inter-party squabbling.”

So he made a one-off episode of the Clangers, which was made in three days and aired on election day in 1974 in a children’s slot, though the BBC had initially wanted nothing to do with it. Postgate described it as “a sort of tiny morality play”.

Postgate introduces politics to children as a battle for votes between the Soup Dragon – free soup for all except Froglet – and Froglet, who stands for the opposite of whatever the soup dragon wants. The Clangers consider and then reject the absurd contrary pantomime and refuse to have anything to do with it.

“On their own, people can be as loving and generous and tolerant as Clangers,” explains Postgate “but political parties can’t. Anything like that is just weakness in a political party… whoever heard of political generosity?”

Given the recent horrors and hatefilled politics on both sides of the Atlantic, wouldn’t life be much kinder and gentler if we all absorbed the timeless wisdom of the Clangers?

You can watch Vote for Froglet at http://player.bfi.org.uk/film/watch-vote-for-froglet-1974/ You can watch Dr Phil’s Clangers inspired comedies at the Frome Festival and Edinburgh Fringe

PAGE 72 • MENDIP TIMES • JULY 2016

Good-bye from Mendip Mum

IT’S been eight years since I penned my first Mendip Mum and now this, my hundredth article, will be my last. That it’s number 100 is pure coincidence. Eight years ago my youngest child was two and my eldest only nine-years-old and still at primary school.

Soon she will be leaving home and youngest son is spending his last few weeks at our local village school. It feels like a natural end.

When I set out to write Mendip Mum my aim was to steer clear of anything that added to the pressure today’s parents feel. We are all bombarded with good advice and are living in an increasingly competitive world.

Mendip Mum was always about the trials, tribulations and joys of parenting. I hoped it showed that our family, like most others, is flawed at best and probably very dysfunctional at worst.

Even if I’ve bored my readers I hope that after mining my family for stories every month for eight years, the children will be left with a fond record of their childhood. What defines us will be memories of a frantic mum losing the plot searching for her threeyear-old son as he launched a plastic diver-man from the first floor of a department store or the children crowded round a bonfire roasting marshmallows while I worried, in the midst of potty-training, if we’d make it home before an accident occurred.

Perhaps we’ll remember the camping holidays, like the one where middle child, always the entrepreneur, set up a stall selling unwanted rubbish to other campers while Mendip Dad and I stocked up on painkillers to relieve the back ache and tried to pretend we hadn’t blown the budget on camping gear in our quest for a cheap holiday.

I hope I won’t remember too vividly how hard I’ve found it at times to juggle work and parenthood, sweeping beads off my desk, sitting my children in front of the electronic baby-sitter and taking calls on my way to work in order to resolve a dispute between eldest and youngest child involving Crunchy Nut Cornflakes.

Looking back on the previous months, as I’ve sat down to write copy, it’s struck me that despite the struggles there has always been and should always be a place for laughter. If all else fails love, laugh and have fun, it costs nothing.

I would like to thank all those that have read and enjoyed my column, I hope I helped you realise that family life is never perfect but can be funny. I would also like to thank all the staff at Mendip Times who have supported me in my writing.

I will miss being part of the Mendip Times family.

But most of all I would like to thank my own family, who have been my source material and inspiration for all these years.

MENDIP MUM The children have all grown up! A fond farewell to Mendip Mum from all at Mendip Times.

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Shoulder and elbow surgery?

Advantage Shepton Mallet NHS Treatment Centre!

SHEPTON Mallet NHS Treatment Centre offers a variety of procedures for shoulder and elbow problems, all of which are available to patients on the NHS. If you think you might benefit from having one of these treatments, speak to your GP and, if they agree, ask them to refer you to us.

If a shoulder joint needs replacing, the damaged ball and socket are removed and replaced with artificial components called a prosthesis.

Frozen shoulder is caused by the inflammation and thickening of the flexible tissue surrounding the shoulder joint.

Steroid injections or contraction release can help and in extreme cases it may be necessary to remove the inflamed tissue.

For frozen shoulder treatment joint manipulation and capsular release performed with keyhole surgery are used.

This is performed under general anaesthetic and releases tightness in the joint and separates adhesions. Antiinflammatory medication may also be injected into the shoulder.

The rotator cuff is a group of muscles and tendons wrapped around the shoulder. When they are damaged they can be repaired by reattaching the tendon to the bone.

Keyhole surgery is used to repair damage to the rotator cuff

HEALTH & FAMILY

tendons and ligaments in the shoulder like SLAP tears and long head of biceps tendon ruptures.

The team at Shepton can surgically re-stabilise a shoulder for recurrent dislocations and stabilise a clavicle with an artificial ligament graft.

Sub-acromial decompression stops the impingement of bones and tendons in the shoulder. Inflamed tissue and bones spurs can be removed.

For arthritic elbows Shepton offers arthroscopic debridement and the removal of debris which may reduce pain and improve joint motion.

Sometimes, the ulnar nerve can become compressed. When this happens there can be numbness in the ring and little fingers – minor surgery can correct this.

MENDIP TIMES • JULY 2016 • PAGE 73

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OPEN YOUR HEART AND LET LOVE FLY THIS JULY! Caroline Crowther is a truly local personal introduction agency helping you meet someone new in your area. We offer a long term personal service until you find your perfect match.

For a professional and personal service call 01934 744788

HEALTH & FAMILY

Celebrate the grand opening of the new Frome Sport & Fitness Centre!

FUSION Lifestyle, the leading charity leisure operator, is holding a free celebration open day on Saturday July 2nd at the brand new Frome Sport & Fitness centre, following its extensive £2.5 million refurbishment.

A ribbon-cutting ceremony will see the revamped centre officially opened by the Mayor of Frome, Councillor Toby Eliot, before a host of fun and free activities for all the family commence, including soft play, family roller disco, access to the swimming pool, and classes such as body combat, spin and yoga.

Allister Wood, Frome Sport & Fitness general manager, said: “We are thrilled with the new facilities and think you will be too!

As a registered charity, Fusion Lifestyle is on a mission to make sport and leisure affordable and accessible to all, and we are constantly investing back into our centres to ensure they are the highest standard for the local community.

“From our renowned swim school and soft play activities, to high-impact classes and an extensive fitness suite – there really is something for everyone, both young and old. We would love to invite families from across the region to experience our outstanding new facilities – for free – on the July 2nd!”

The new centre opened to the public on June 1st.

Details: www.fusionsportandfitness.com

PAGE 74 • MENDIP TIMES • JULY 2016

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Riding to the Diamond Challenge

Heads for heights!

Annie Maw and the team will begin their 60-mile wheelchair challenge on Monday, July 18th

THE Lord Lieutenant of Somerset is planning a unique tour of the county as part of the 60th anniversary celebrations of the Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme.

Prince Edward set up the Diamond Challenge to mark the anniversary, inviting people to do something related to the multiple of 60.

Annie Maw, of Pilton, who uses a wheelchair, decided to “ride to the challenge” and will set out on a 60-mile journey to visit every district. Annie plans to travel 15 miles each day in her electric scooter – or “tramper” – and will be joined by students and staff from schools and colleges who support the DoE scheme.

Annie will begin her journey on Monday, July 18th, riding from Radstock to Wellow and back along the National Cycle Route.

She will be accompanied by students and staff from Writhlington School and the Mendip Studio School, including some wheelchair users from the schools’ inclusive sports team. Writhlington executive head teacher Mark Everett will also take part.

Members of the schools’ combined cadet force will also provide back-up to Annie and others on the second leg of her journey, from Weston-super-Mare to Cheddar along the Strawberry Line.

She will be joined by students from Weston College.

The third leg will take in Exmoor and the Quantocks with the final part of the adventure starting near Bruton and ending at Glastonbury Abbey. The final day will also promote the abbey’s Rescue our Ruins appeal.

Annie has been joined in the planning of the challenge by Deputy Lieutenant Tom Lang, who lives near Axbridge. Ann said: “The whole thing is meant simply to raise public awareness of the DoE and other worthy public causes and to demonstrate how the Lieutenancy is trying to work in partnership with them to support what they are endeavouring to achieve for public benefit.

There will be no appeal for funds or sponsorship. Everything is being done voluntarily and I would like it to be a lighthearted, fun endeavour for all those who are involved!”

COMMUNITY

Here we go: Preparing to go over the side

Bruce Hain shows he has a head for heights

THE head teachers of Writhlington School and the Mendip Studio School put aside their nerves to abseil down the side of the main campus building.

Mark Everett and Bruce Hain were joined by other members of the senior leadership team in the challenge as part of the 60th anniversary celebrations of the Duke of Edinburgh award scheme. Other staff took part later in the day. The abseil was run by professional climbing instructor Peter Goldsmith, of Radstock.

Maddy Flagg, Susan Kreter, Bruce Hain, Carolyn Lanning, Nick Russon, Mark Everett and Nicola Wilcox

MENDIP TIMES • JULY 2016 • PAGE 75

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Friendship down the years

Bill Attwood (centre), whose late wife Kate was one of the founding members, was the guest of honour. He is pictured with other founders of the club (l:r) Janet Searle, Christine Watts, Val Collis and Jane Reakes

A CLUB in Holcombe for older people celebrated its 40th anniversary with a lunch party for members and guests.

Holcombe Friendship Club now welcomes members from towns and villages in the surrounding area and holds twicemonthly meetings and events.

The Rev. Clarissa Cridland, Associate Priest, Coleford with Holcombe, said grace before lunch. She added: “I want to say how wonderful Holcombe Welcome Club is.”

Raising a glass to 40 years; members and guests sit down for lunch

Members have kept scrapbooks since the club was founded in May 1976

PAGE 76 • MENDIP TIMES • JULY 2016

Time to relax for Grenville and Mollie

Mollie and Grenville try out the gift from villagers

AFTER 60 years as churchwarden, Grenville Reakes has decided to take a back seat – and grateful villagers in Binegar have made sure he and his wife Mollie have something on which to relax.

The couple – Mollie has also been heavily involved in life at Holy Trinity – were presented with a garden bench to mark their retirement at a tea party in the village hall.

The presentation to the couple was a surprise to them; the afternoon had been promoted as a party to mark the end of a series of events for the 950th anniversary of Christian worship in Lynn Emery, Anne Caley and Margaret Coggins the village.

Mollie Reakes helps young Oscar choose his tea

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Summer reading challenge

THE summer holidays are fast approaching and all the libraries in Somerset are getting ready for the influx of children to take part in their annual Summer Reading Challenge organised by the Reading Agency.

This year the theme is the The Big Friendly Read, which is based on the works of Roald Dahl. Children who participate will be encouraged to read up to six library books during the school summer holidays and will be rewarded with stickers and a certificate.

Those who read all six will get a medal and entry into a free prize draw to win some Roald Dahl books. The challenge starts on Saturday July 16th. Drop into your local library to sign up.

Last year 7,937 children in Somerset participated in Record Breakers, the challenge for 2015, and 5,580 completed by reading six books or more.

G Cheddar library has a regular story-time session, each Friday afternoon, during term-time, 2.30 – 3.00pm. It’s free and there’s no need to book. The sessions encourage and develop a life-long love of reading and prepare toddlers for early years education.

Caring and sharing

Carers and members of various support groups gather at The Lawrence Centre

CARERS and workers from support groups across Mendip gathered at The Lawrence Centre in Wells for tea, cakes and chat as part of National Carers Week.

The centre provides activities and social events for older people, including those living with memory loss and health issues; some of their clients attended the two tea parties.

Other support groups taking part included Age UK Somerset and CARES – Carers Action Representing East Somerset.

CARES is run by carers and former carers to provide support for unpaid carers in the area.

Bookstall on the move

THE Rotary Club of Nailsea and Backwell raised £260 for local good causes with a bookstall at Nailsea’s community market.

The next stall will be outside Waitrose on Saturday July 16th, from 8.30am to 4pm.

It says “sadly it will be the last of its kind” although books, jigsaws and DVD sales will continue in some format at another location.

COMMUNITY

Back for more SOUP

A COMMUNITY event with a difference returns to Wells in July – a Dragon’s Den-style opportunity for charities or local good causes to share in £670.

The first Wells SOUP attracted 70 people to the city’s Connect Youth Club members at the Seager Hall for first SOUP lunch before four local groups made a pitch for their support with Connect Youth Club coming out on top.

G The event takes place on Saturday, July 2nd from 1-2pm.

If you belong to a charity or good cause with a project to benefit Wells and/or the surrounding villages you can apply to present at future Wells SOUP events online at: http://wellsindependents.org/soup/

Community grants available

THE Community Action Fund, operated by Avon and Somerset Police and Crime Commissioner, Sue Mountstevens, is now inviting new applications from communities and voluntary organisations.

During her first term, she awarded £600,000 to over 180 projects from skate parks to street pastors, with grants of up to £5,000.

She said: “I never imagined the level of interest that we saw over my first term and it’s been a privilege to be able to support such a variety of projects and initiatives which are clearly making a difference on the ground in our local communities.”

Details: www.avonandsomerset-pcc.gov.uk or more information about the Police Community Trust and other grants available visit www.avonandsomerset.police.uk/pct

Day trip to Minehead

FARMBOROUGH Goodwill Club spent an enjoyable day out on their monthly trip, when they visited Minehead, travelling by coach to Bishops Lydeard, then on to the coast by steam train.

The club meets every other Thursday at Farmborough village hall at 2.30pm to enjoy entertainment and interesting talks, with customary tea and cakes, and all retired people are very welcome to join. The next meeting is on July 14th.

MENDIP TIMES • JULY 2016 • PAGE 77

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Award first for Blagdon

ST. ANDREW’S Church in Blagdon has won an award for its new community area, which has opened up the Grade II listed building to a variety of different uses.

It’s the first project to win a Marsh award, launched last year and run jointly by the National Churches Trust and the Marsh Christian Trust, and designed to show the positive impact that installing new facilities can have on churches and local communities.

The Space@St Andrew’s project provided toilets, a kitchen and mezzanine floor. As a result it’s able to host a whole range of groups and activities.

Rector, the Rev Jane Chamberlain, said: “This project was never about just ‘putting in a lavatory and a servery’. It was always about asking the bigger question: ‘What kind of church is God calling us to be?’ We asked this question boldly and prayerfully and it led us to a fresh vision for St Andrew’s, one strand of which was to reach out and serve the community.

“The re-ordering of the church was necessary in order for us to realise this dream. The church is now serving the community in ways that we could not have imagined at the start: Monday Mix, Wi-fi Wednesday, Prayers and Bears, hosting the village toddler group, charity lunches, funeral teas and even a wedding reception.

“It has also enabled us to diversify our pattern of worship so we now have a monthly Cafe Church and a Taize-style service which reach different congregations. We have hosted concerts, art exhibitions, mosaic, flower arranging and cardmaking workshops and a talk on dementia. The Pilgrim course runs regularly in the Upper Room.”

She’s pictured receiving the award and a £1,000 cheque from Chris Hawkings, a trustee of Somerset Churches Trust.

Community awards

Silent stars from our communities will once again be recognised and celebrated by Avon and Somerset Police and Crime Commissioner Sue Mountstevens. She is now calling on people across the area to put forward nominations to recognise those working tirelessly in their communities. In her previous term in office she gave out 90 awards.

Details: www.avonandsomerset-pcc.gov.uk/Take-Part/PCCsPride-Awards.aspx.

PAGE 78 • MENDIP TIMES • JULY 2016

Priest’s fond farewell

Victor and Anthea

THERE was great activity in Chew Stoke and Nempnett Thrubwell to mark the retirement of their associate priest the Rev Dr Victor Barley and his wife Anthea.

Victor, as he is known to everyone, was appointed less than seven years ago in September 2009 but having reached a significant birthday is obliged to retire (after two extensions granted by the diocese) much to the regret of the two village communities.

Throughout the weekend there was a wonderful display of flowers at St Andrew’s, Chew Stoke and on Saturday June 12th there was a drinks reception attended by over 100 villagers.

Victor was presented with a photobook containing photographs taken over the last seven years of people and events in the parish and containing many dedications including the following preface: “This book has been put together for Victor and Anthea as a token of appreciation of their service and dedication. Victor’s caring and patient nature and the example he has given of how to lead a loving Christian life have been an inspiration to many here; and his ministry has been wonderfully complemented by Anthea’s warmth, kindness and hospitality.”

On Sunday June 13th Victor and Anthea attended a farewell lunch at the Nempnett village hall. It was followed by an organ recital at St Andrew’s given by Victor’s son Peter Barley, the principal organist at Limerick Cathedral.

One of the many tributes to Victor was a cake printed with a photograph of St Andrew’s, which he and Anthea cut together.

Victor joked that being presented with such a beautiful cake felt rather like a wedding and so it was entirely appropriate that he sealed things with a kiss with Anthea which was caught in the photo (above).

Before his ordination Victor was a consultant oncologist and lead clinician of Avon, Somerset and Wiltshire Cancer Services Network.

Victor and Anthea will continue to live in Chew Stoke. The church wardens of the two parishes, Rosemary Porter, Nick Houlton, Alison Hoddell and Andrew Troup said: “From the moment they arrived here, Victor and Anthea threw themselves into community life, giving support and encouragement to countless events and activities.

“The care and dedication that they have given to our two villages and wider group of churches will be greatly missed.”

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COMMUNITY

Taking pride in Norton

PEOPLE in Midsomer Norton celebrated their culture and community spirit with a weekend of events.

The Midsomer Arts Festival included an arts trail, craft market and exhibitions as well as live music and community films.

Its celebrations coincided with the town’s first Pride event.

Organised by Nick Jovic-Sas, it featured a bake-off competition and champagne tea, a film screening and disco. A minute’s silence was held during the bake-off in memory of the victims of the Orlando shootings.

Cheddar Gorge-ous who was making a film about the Pride event to be shown on Facebook, in Midsomer Norton High Street

Daisy, six, of Radstock, at the town’s arts festival craft fair

Can you make time for tea?

A CHARITY which supports lonely elderly people is appealing for volunteers in the Mendip area to help with a new project – hosting tea parties.

Contact the Elderly is extending its work in the area and is looking for people to collect a couple of people by car and take them to a host’s home for tea one Sunday afternoon each month.

It is also appealing for people to hold tea parties in their own homes and for a co-ordinator. The tea parties are due to start in September.

The project is being supported by Health Connections Mendip which runs a directory of health and wellbeing support groups, services and organisations. The service is run through local GP practices. Services range from regular talking cafes and health walks to pain management workshops and relaxation classes.

It is also helping to support a new group set up in Shepton Mallet for sufferers of Parkinson’s Disease.

G To volunteer to help with the tea parties, contact Helen Ker and Contact the Elderly at:

Some of the arts and craft stalls in the town centre

Ali Jeffrey (left) and Cheryl Stevens, from Health Connections Mendip at their stand at the Collett Festival in Shepton Mallet

helen.ker@contact.the.elderly.org.uk or phone 01225 873812.

Health Connections Mendip can be contacted at: mendip.healthconnection@nhs.net or phone 01373 468368.

MENDIP TIMES • JULY 2016 • PAGE 79

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Collett Festival

THE sound of silence left hundreds of music fans disturbed on the opening night of Shepton Mallet’s three-day Collett Festival.

A serious fault with the sound system meant the headline band – a Queen tribute act – pulled out of their performance.

The system was replaced in time for the second day of the event, held in the town’s Collett Park, which featured many of the town’s organisations and charities.

A children’s festival took place on the final day.

Members of Shepton Mallet Gymnastics Club performed in the main arena

Gabe Donohue and Jack Cooper, both 17, on the bandstand. The pair are both pupils at the Blue School in Wells and will be taking part in Priddy Rising, during the Priddy Folk Festival. The music project is a collaboration between the school, Halsway Manor and the festival. Students will perform a free concert at 11am on Saturday, July 9th

Historian Fred Davis, the retired manager of Collett Park, with his two latest books: a history of the park itself and another volume of old and present-day photographs of the town. Fred suffers from Alzkeimer’s but said: “Writing these books has been a therapy for me.” Both books are available from Fred by email: fred_davis@btopenworld.com A model of a jet skier on the park lake.

It was controlled by Russell Chilcott, from Sedgemoor Model Boat Club

Daffy (Rebecca Dando, community fundraiser for Marie Curie) with volunteers Alison Maidment (left) and Sandra Morris. The charity is appealing for more volunteers: www.mariecurie.org.uk PAGE 80 • MENDIP TIMES • JULY 2016

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Clutton Fun Day

Isobel and Isabelle enjoying Clutton Fun Day

EACH year Clutton Social Club holds a summer fun day, when family and friends enjoy a host of activities and fun at the playing field behind the village hall. This year was no exception as everyone also celebrated the Queen's birthday at the event.

Tower open for teas

EVENTS

Organiser Jane Flower with a tray of strawberries and scones

THE Friends of Pensford Church Tower held their annual tea party to encourage interest in this medieval building and to raise some money to help the Churches Conservation Trust, who have restored it and are maintaining it.

Josef Bojanowski and Natasha Woorward from the Great Caper teaching Sue and Roxanne Elsbury to Morris dance

Wilson Sherborne getting into the spirit of things

Jess, Martha, the Rev Mark Cregan, Blythe and Kati manning the stall for Year 6 at Clutton primary school who are raising money for their Enterprise project

Taking the strain in the tug 'o war

Details: For further information about the tower and becoming a Tower Friend call Jane Flower 01761 490234.

MENDIP TIMES • JULY 2016 • PAGE 81

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Looking to build a new home or restore an ageing one to its former glory?

WITH a well-established reputation as one of Somerset’s finest building contractors, McIntosh DBR are specialists in designing and constructing luxury new build homes and extensions, and restoring period and listed buildings. From ambitious ground-up constructions and high-concept conversions to expansive extensions and grand Georgian refurbishments, McIntosh DBR are the professional, trustworthy choice.

McIntosh Design In designing your bespoke new build or home extension, McIntosh DBR can source an architect for you or work with one of your choosing. And after many years of collaboration with some of the best interior designers in the world, they have an eclectic toolbox of visual references for you to draw on.

McIntosh Build McIntosh DBR understand that property is both a commitment and an investment. Their diverse team of experienced professionals will develop your new home or extension to perfectly suit your needs, using high-quality materials sourced from all over the globe.

McIntosh Restore McIntosh DBR pride themselves on their knowledge of traditional restoration techniques, from the use of lime mortar to the installation of period-appropriate heating systems. When restoring listed properties, they always remain design-led while working with local building control and heritage authorities.

Publicly accessible examples of McIntosh DBR’s recent work include the continuing restoration of Babington House, sister hotel to London’s famous Soho House, and the total refurbishment of The Talbot Inn in Mells.

A family-owned business putting quality, aesthetics and client satisfaction first, McIntosh DBR are anything but the average builder.

Details: Whether you’re at the earliest stage of development or have a design ready to be realised, call Dom Sharp on 01373 752700 to find out more.

PAGE 82 • MENDIP TIMES • JULY 2016

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PROPERTY

A new look for David James & Partners

Ideal family home

IF you are looking for a family house in a beautiful setting, look no further than Coombe Orchard, approached down a long drive in the centre of the Chew Valley village of Compton Martin, it offers an oasis of peace and seclusion.

The house itself offers the family plenty of space with a large hall, study, which could double as a playroom or second sitting room, sitting room with an open fire, separate dining room and conservatory and four good bedrooms.

Passing through the electronic gate to the long drive, there is a stone and tile outbuilding (opposite the pond) making a perfect gym/studio or home office and there is a separate garage and plenty of parking.

It’s positioned in the centre of the village with easy access to the public house, church and village hall with the school bus for Chew Valley Academy stopping very close to the top of the drive.

DAVID James & Partners proudly celebrated their 25th anniversary last year and during the last quarter of a century their well-recognised and respected brand and identity have remained largely unchanged.

Their brand has become synonymous with selling land and advising on all professional matters relating to rural land and property; however what they are not so well known for are the other services they offer, which have evolved in recent years through the growth of their business.

They have expanded to become a diverse and dynamic company of surveyors and property agents, whose expertise and experience cover all aspects of land and property from sales and lettings to surveys and from detailed drawings to auctions and everything in between.

Their strength is in their diversity, which allows them to take a holistic approach to projects, meaning clients can expect a complete service “under one roof”.

So moving into the next 25 years they say they felt it was time to promote these now significant areas of their business more effectively and move forward with a modern and discerning livery that fully reflects their multi-disciplined practice.

Their name and commitment to clients will not change, but they have introduced some fresh new colours to complement their traditional dark red and represent the four departments, namely Rural, Residential, Commercial and Design.

They have also introduced a new shortened version of their name and logo, DJ&P, which will appear on their new-look adverts, sign boards and on their stationery.

They say they hope you like their new look and will agree that it instantly conveys what their business is all about; and if like many people you didn’t appreciate the extent of their services, then why not give them a call to see if they can assist with your project 01934 864300.

COMPTON MARTIN CHEW VALLEY

BANWELL NORTH SOMERSET

CHEDDAR SOMERSET

SUPERBLY LOCATED FOUR BEDROOM DETACHED HOUSE

DETACHED COTTAGE SMALL HOLDING WITH 7.18 ACRES

DETACHED STONE FARMHOUSE AND BARN

Located down a long drive and occupying a secluded private location in the centre of the village. Large garden, outbuildings and plenty of parking!

Three/four reception rooms, conservatory, modern kitchen and bathrooms. Charming walled garden and views to Mendip Hills. EPC: E. Ref: 25085 GUIDE PRICE £750,000

Cottage with substantial adjoining stone and tile outbuildings, agricultural building, polytunnel and caravan club listing for 5, set in over 7 acres of good pasture with lovely views over the surrounding countryside in good catchment for holiday business if required. EPC: E. Ref: 2504 GUIDE PRICE £725,000

A detached farmhouse with approx 2600 sq ft of accom.

Parking, garage and garden, with additional detached barn with separate entrance comprising 767 sq ft. Four reception rooms, 29ft Kitchen, Four bedrooms, two bathrooms, detached garage and garden.

EPC: E. Ref: 25003 GUIDE PRICE £400,000

WRINGTON NORTH SOMERSET

DETACHED BUNGALOW IN CENTRE OF VILLAGE

A detached three bedroom bungalow located close to the centre of the village with level gardens, garage and plenty of parking. Occupying a corner plot with views towards the playing field and Mendip Hills.

Short walk to all village facilities and offered in move into condition. EPC: D Ref: 25072 GUIDE PRICE £300,000

Wrington 01934 864300 MENDIP TIMES • JULY 2016 • PAGE 83

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PROPERTY

Delightful country property on the market with Killens SITUATED in an enviable position within the Somerset countryside, Home Farm is a most appealing Victorian farmhouse which has been magnificently upgraded and restored into a splendid family home. On the ground floor is an entrance hall with stairs to the first floor and a fine flagstone floor. There are two reception rooms to the front of the house each having open fireplaces, one with a modern wood-burning stove and both have attractive slate mantles and surrounds.

The second reception can also be accessed off the stunning open-plan kitchen/dining/family area through double doors.

This most flexible space incorporates a bespoke hand-made kitchen which has been wonderfully designed to include integrated modern appliances and an Aga. The floor is of limestone tiles and the dining area enjoys attractive views over the garden through full length windows and doors which provide access to the outside.

To the rear of the property there is a boot room, utility room and a playroom. Also on the ground floor and of particular note is an excellent family room, a stunning room of generous proportions, tiled floors and doors that lead out to the gardens to the rear and courtyard to the front.

Home Farm offers six double bedrooms with both the principal and guest bedroom having en-suite bathrooms.

There is a further bathroom on the first floor and one on the

second floor. All the bathrooms have been refitted with classic white suites. There are two further rooms on the first floor which offer spacious and light accommodation.

Around an impressive courtyard are ranges of attractive period farm buildings. The two- storey former coach house previously had planning permission for use as an annex comprising two bedrooms and a bathroom on the first floor and a large open plan kitchen, dining sitting room on the ground floor. This has now been converted at ground floor level into the family room.

The property is approached through a five-bar gate and over a long tree-lined gravel avenue ending with a turning circle and ample parking. There are formal walled gardens to the front and sides of the house. In total the property has approximately 9.4 acres of gardens and paddocks that surround the house.

For further details, contact the Wells office of Killens on 01749 671172 wells@killens.org.uk

MENDIP TIMES • JULY 2016 • PAGE 85

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Referendum hits house prices “temporarily” HOUSE prices are set to fall over the next three months, according to the latest survey from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors.

It says house price expectations turned slightly negative for the first time since 2013, with prices already falling in central London.

Across the rest of the UK it says prices have been climbing modestly, while in the South West 25% more respondents said prices had risen rather than fallen over the last three months.

However, it says price momentum looks set to ease further in the near term with 7% more respondents predicting that prices would fall rather than rise over the coming three months. This is the first time that a fall in prices has been predicted since 2013.

RICS Chief Economist, Simon Rubinsohn, said: “Sadly, for the many young people looking to enter the property market, it is unlikely that we are seeing the emergence of a more affordable market.

“Instead, it appears to me that we are looking at a short-term drop caused by the uncertainty resulting from the EU referendum coupled with a slowdown following the rush to get into the market ahead of the tax change on the purchase of investment properties.

“Certainly, that’s the story we are hearing from our members. There is not at this point a sense that a fundamental shift is taking place in the market.”

The survey shows buyer demand fell in the South West for the second consecutive month and at the fastest pace since mid-2014 with 43% more property professionals saying that demand decreased last month rather than increased.

The number of agreed sales also fell with a net balance of 18% of

OAKHILL, SOMERSET £2,750,000 A stock farm of over 240 acres of pasture & arable capable land with an extensive range of modern buildings and a wellappointed three/four-bedroom bungalow. The farm buildings total about 45,000 sq.ft plus open yard space. Available as the farmstead and a smaller acreage; comprising 125 acres in a ring fence with the buildings and dwelling. EPC Rating E.

CHELYNCH, SOMERSET £785,000 A handsome and substantial historical Grade II listed farmhouse in need of some refurbishment with a glorious walled gardens and grounds including courtyard with traditional stone outbuilding.

Superb views over adjoining countryside. Land available by separate negotiation.

PROPERTY

respondents reporting a fall rather than a rise in activity. Last month agreed sales remained flat whereas at the beginning of the year 40% more surveyors reported an increase in agreed sales rather than a fall.

The survey revealed that in the longer term, while house prices are thought likely to regain momentum, rents look set to outpace them with UK rents predicted to increase by 4.6% on average year-on-year for the next five years compared to house price increases of 4%.

RICS South West spokesman, Roger Punch, said: "Predictably, until the referendum is over we will see a degree of stagnation and it is possible that we will see a flat period for a while afterwards.

“However, underlying demand is unlikely to be supported by adequate fresh supply, meaning that market price levels will continue to grow steadily, although at varying rates across the region."

Jim King retires

COOPER and Tanner say it is with sadness but warm wishes that they announce that Jim King has decided to retire after 46 years as a chartered surveyor, spending the last 13 years working for them.

Jim started work alongside his father Bill at the old firm of King Miles and Co in Chew Magna. He qualified as a chartered surveyor in around 1970 and quickly established himself as one of the principal auctioneers at Winford Market.

Jim had a strong client base. He acted for many local farmers dealing with the sale and valuation of land, farms and residential property whilst conducting many on-farm dispersal sales of cattle, agricultural machinery and vintage machinery. One of the largest property sales Jim undertook was the sale of farms for Showerings of Shepton Mallet.

He was the founding member of the Chew Valley Chamber of Commerce and has been the Hon Sec of the Mendip Ploughing Society for 50 years. He ran Priddy Sheep Fair for over 15 years and was a vice president of Chew Valley Young Farmers Club. He is a member of Western Counties Agricultural Valuers.

Outside of work he is a keen follower of Bath Rugby, having played himself for many years for Clifton RFC. He also played cricket for many years for Chew Magna CC. On Jim’s retirement his clients and area will be served by Tim Hector who was recently made a partner of Cooper & Tanner.

Tim can be contacted at the Standerwick office on 01373 831010 or by email tim.hector@cooperandtanner.co.uk

PAGE 86 • MENDIP TIMES • JULY 2016

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EVENTS

Passport to pleasure

By Mark Adler

PASSPORT control was intimidating – although the cultural ambassador was friendly – and the citizens were rather a strange lot… welcome to the Republic of Radstock.

For one day only, part of the town was transformed into a very different place than is usual by Round-about Radstock.

Organised by community arts project DNA, the day offered a free programme of arts activities, workshops, performance, live music, dance, street theatre and a celidh.

DNA is a consortium bringing together arts professionals, outdoor performance companies The Desperate Men and Natural Theatre Company. It was commissioned by Bath and North East Somerset Council to deliver community arts projects and playful cultural interventions to three communities across the area.

Passport control: Pavel Douglas, from the Naturals, at work Heather Westwell, from the Natural Theatre Company, in her caravan.

She was an explorer trying to discover more about the republic

Maggy Large meets The Swimmers. Having swum the English Channel in 1926, the intrepid duo go in search of their next challenge – the River Somer

Carmel Gillett, of Radstock, tries her hand on a cello ahead of a workshop to create an orchestra from scratch

Reginald Nantwich, the cultural ambassador, greets visitors with the help of Molly Bishop

MENDIP TIMES • JULY 2016 • PAGE 87

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Pageant prompts present from peer

By Mark Adler

ORGANISERS of a pageant celebrating the arrival of the railway in a Mendip village were delighted to receive a “substantial” donation from the descendant of one of the main characters they were portraying.

The Pylle Pageant was a mythical recreation of the opening of the Somerset Central Railway Company branch line to Wells and was held to raise funds towards the refurbishment of the village hall.

Lord and Lady Portman were amongst

Lord and Lady Portman. Lord Portman said the railway would bring jobs, prosperity and housing to the area The procession makes its way to the Old Rectory

PAGE 88 • MENDIP TIMES • JULY 2016

Residents of the Threshing Mill complex in the village gather before the start of the procession

the VIPs at the “opening” in 1862 and pageant organisers decided to contact the current holder of the actual title – Viscount Portman, of Bryanston in Dorset – to ask him for a letter of support for their efforts.

Not only did Viscount Portman, greatgreat-grandson and the tenth viscount, reply, but made a substantial donation to villager’s efforts.

Stephen Tudsbery-Turner, one of the organisers and who played the part of The Rev. William Gale, rector of Pylle, said: “We thought it would be an idea to contact Viscount Portman and ask whether he might write us a letter of support which we could use as part of our fundraising efforts so we were very delighted when he responded in such a generous manner.”

More than 100 villagers dressed in Victorian costume and staged a procession from Pylle Church to the Old Rectory for speeches from Lord Portman – the then Lord Lieutenant of Somerset and lord of the manor – and others and music.

Stephen joked: “Most people were very happy to take part and dress up, but a few had to be ‘persuaded’. Today was very much a one-off event.”

The Somerset Central later joined forces with the Dorset Central Railway to become the Somerset and Dorset Railway and the pageant also marked the closure of the railway 50 years ago.

G Viscount Christopher Portman, aged 57, leads the family’s management of the Portman Estate.

George Warry, chairman of the Somerset Central Railway

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HISTORY

Josh, Teal, Alba and Sheelagh

Villagers gather for the start of the ceremony

A village character arrives at church

The rector addresses the crowds

The wife of a drunk villager protests as he is led away by the local policeman

VIPs in all their finery

Isabelle, playing a milkmaid, and Gaby, a housemaid MENDIP TIMES • JULY 2016 • PAGE 89

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A man for all reasons

By Mark Adler

IF it’s dirty, call for Rob. You might also want to call him if it’s broken or if there’s a pile of rubbish that needs removing.

The actual language they use at the Glastonbury Festival site to describe the work carried out by Rob Kearle and his team can’t be repeated here; suffice to say, his key role is to prepare the site and then clear up everything – literally everything – left behind by 200,000 people in the 5,500 toilets and 3,500 bins, not to mention elsewhere.

Running the recycling and waste management side of the festival is a year-round role for Rob, who lives in Pilton and has worked at the festival for 32 years. This year’s crew totalled 3,800 and many will remain on site for many weeks yet, even though this year’s festival is over.

The festival employs many local farming contractors during the build-up and the event itself. Will Davis, for example, who farms near Shepton Mallet, oversees the

Rob Kearle in a relaxed moment before the start of the festival

Geraniums to decorate the Meeting Place were grown by Tim Crew, of Wells, who provided plants across the site

Medics at the ready: (l:r) A&E consultant Michael Kiüber, surgeon Kate Adams and retired GP Chris Howes were part of the medical team. Chris, of Croscombe, is managing director of Festival Medical Services and has been helping to run the medical centre at Glastonbury since 1979. Nearly all the 24/7 team give their services for free. FMS raises funds for various charities including health projects in India and Afghanistan

PAGE 90 • MENDIP TIMES • JULY 2016

emptying of the toilets and this year employed his biggest crew to date.

For others like Lee Brooks, the festival now accounts for almost three-quarters of his workload. Lee, who runs Lee Brooks Agri, said: “We came on site at the end of January and have been here pretty much ever since, doing whatever we are asked in terms of groundworks.”

Rob said: “We try to use local contractors if they are equipped and able to do the job, but that’s not always possible.

“But the crew come from all walks of life… students, the

On top of the world – stewards Teresa Dowling, Rachael Abbott and Anna Watts at the top of the Ribbon Tower. They were helping to raise funds for Hindhayes School in Street

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GLASTONBURY FESTIVAL 2016

G # a S # r

# a m c F A Matt building a maze of bins

Painting the concrete benches ahead of the opening of the gates to the public

We’ll get there – people were determined to get to the party

Campsite stewards Julie, Clive, Sarah and Mandy. They were part of a team raising funds for St. Paul’s School in Shepton Mallet

unemployed, lawyers, doctors and I know a surgeon who comes here because he enjoys working at the festival.”

Although a member of the festival’s senior management team, Rob is a firm believer in delegation. He said: “I don’t believe in micro-management. You have to let people use their initiative and solve problems in their own way even if sometimes they make mistakes; I don’t have all the answers.

“If I’ve learnt anything from being here, that applies in all walks of life. If people want to set up their own business, I tell them ‘go for it’ and ‘make your own way’.”

e

United in grief: crowds gather at the Park Stage for two minute’s silence in memory of shot MP Jo Cox to mark what would have been her 42nd birthday

Making a splash – early arrivals make their way through the puddles MENDIP TIMES • JULY 2016 • PAGE 91

# #

# m

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A childhood dream comes true

THERE is definitely something magical about the view from Under Copse cottage that has stood in Redhill since the 1680s.

Stand in the garden, take in the view and gaze south. You could be back in the 17th century.

Then you hear the distant sound of traffic, recall that the airport is just up the road and you’re brought back to reality.

Or are you?

You’re drinking coffee with the owner, Andrew Jackson, when he hands you a cannon ball and says: “They found this embedded in the wall when they were building an extension in the 1960s. It had probably been there since the Monmouth uprising.”

It’s not every day you have a cup of coffee in one hand and a cannon ball in the other. You get the feeling some more interesting tales are in store. You’re not going to be disappointed. You start to expect the unexpected.

Andrew is Redhill born and bred. His great grandfather, William, was a gamekeeper on what was then part of the Wills Estate. His grandfather, Rupert,

bred Wessex Saddlebacks. His father, Percy, was a champion ploughman (winning the British National Competition in 1969).

As a child Andrew often visited Under Copse and he’d always been in love with it; so when it came on the market in 2015, he just knew he wanted to renew that love affair. As these things often do, for one reason or another negotiations were protracted, but Andrew finally moved in just before Christmas last year.

It is easy to understand Andrew’s passion for the place. He’s in the process of a fairly major refurbishment and this, of course, needs to be undertaken with care. When Archdeacon Sam Woodhouse undertook his 1960s renovations he had a timber lintel from St Paul’s Cathedral fitted above the fireplace in the sitting room; with other features like that throughout the house, any building work needs a sensitive approach.

Andrew said: “One area of particular concern was the windows, they all needed replacing and because there was such a mix of shapes and sizes, I

HOMES & INTERIORS

anticipated this would present quite a challenge to whoever took on the job.”

Initially he contacted a major national company, believing they would have the knowledge and resources. After more than three hours of high pressure sales, Andrew’s choice was to show them the door rather than ask them to fit windows.

His mother, who lives opposite, suggested he get in touch with local firm, Kingfisher.

Andrew said: “I have nothing but praise for Kingfisher. They are understanding, considerate and not in the slightest bit pushy. They answered all my questions, arranged for me to take a reassuring look at a comparable installation they had done in Sandford and were helpful throughout. The installers were punctual, tidy and meticulous. Nothing was too much trouble. I was sorry to see them go!”

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• Digital Aerials • Full Guaranteed • Repairs • Satellites • Free Quotes • OAP Discounts • Additional TV Points • Poor Reception Problems Solved • Humax Recorders 0117 967 9028 www.theaerialman.co.uk

PAGE 92 • MENDIP TIMES • JULY 2016

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JACKSONS

Jacksons Fencing – news, topical treats and more . . .

The Curve shelter is to be the star of Jacksons shows this summer

N ew to t he ra n g e . . .

IT’S quite hard to come up with new ideas for fencing. Panels do tend to fit into a fairly predictable format of a certain width, normally 1.8m wide with varying heights, and of course, if they are timber, which is more often than not the case, they are woody in appearance – we like wood, so that’s just fine. Our challenge is to come up with fresh ideas that will inspire our customers, giving them some new choices for their garden and other outdoor areas.

Hooray for some new additions to the already abundant and attractive range of fencing that we offer. And even if I say it myself, I think they are some winners in this new crop!

We’ve noticed that even though a lot of our customers prefer to stick with traditional types of fencing, like featherboard (AKA closeboard), there has been a sizeable swing towards the more modern and clean lined panels like our Venetian. In fact, this style has become so popular that we’ve found it has been imitated, I’d say in most cases rather poorly!

The first new panel to introduce you to is a variation on the Venetian theme; I just mentioned how popular they are, but I’d say the one draw back is its see-throughness. It looks contemporary and sleek, complimenting the chic suburban garden beautifully.

But when it comes to the balancing act of light versus privacy, the scales come down heavily in favour of light, and privacy is sacrificed!

So how do you get the stylish look of horizontal slats that still allows some air and light through, but doesn’t allow the neighbours a view of you baring your body to catch some rays?

Answer: new Venetian Hit and Miss panels. They look as stylish as standard Venetian, but have another set of horizontal slats on the other side. These are fixed to cover the space between the slats on the first side. The slats alternate, in much the same way as hit

New Tartan panels looking pretty with summer planting

and miss panels are made. Which means some air and light can still pass through, but the view through is obscured. Another big benefit is they are what we refer to as ‘good both sides’ so you and your neighbours don’t have a view of rails, which can be a bone of contention.

I’m aware I’m only going have enough space to tell you about two of our lovely ‘newbies’ here, so will save the other additions for another time, and tell you about my personal favourite; Tartan trellis, there it is at the top of the page, how pretty is that? I think it fits into the ‘less is more’ school of design – by not putting a baton at every third spacing, we’ve created a pattern that looks really great. I’m amazed at how effective it looks.

Enough said, I hope I’ve whetted your appetite, if you’d like to know more about these or our other new products, go to your dedicated web page www.jacksons-fencing.co.uk/bathlocal louise@jacksons-fencing.co.uk

The new Venetian Hit and Miss panel is on the right of the photo

WIN £300 OF JACKSONS VOUCHERS

To enter the free prize draw and be in with a chance to win £300 of Jacksons vouchers simply log on to your dedicated page, address below and follow the easy instructions on how to enter. The draw closes 30.8.16.

To enter go to: www.jacksons-fencing.co.uk/bathlocal

For info on any of Jacksons products or brochures please call 0800 408 4754 to talk to your local Jacksons Fencing Centre.

MENDIP TIMES • JULY 2106 • PAGE 93

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HOMES & INTERIORS

Tony Hucker TV Service – Sales – Rental

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01275 332888 www.tonyhuckertv.co.uk Email: tony@tonyhuckertv.co.uk Unit 4, Fairseat Workshops, Chew Stoke BS40 8XF Open: Mon – Thurs 9.00am – 6.00pm Fri – 9.00am – 5.30pm

Telephone: 01761 417654 Facsimile: 01761 417207 email: office@techniglaze.co.uk www.techniglaze.co.uk

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MENDIP TIMES • JULY 2016 • PAGE 95

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G Oil, Gas and LPG boiler specialists G Servicing G Breakdowns G Maintenance G Up to 10 Year manufactures guarantee on new Worcester Bosch boilers G Full systems installed and maintained G Oil tank inspections TI/133 G Emergency oil tank pump outs G New oil tanks and replacements G 10 year guarantee on bunded oil tanks G Free oil tank inspection and TI/133 certificate when you mention this advertisement

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Tel: 01761 410798 Email: boilers@jamiecrawfordheating.com PAGE 96 • MENDIP TIMES • JULY 2016

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HOMES & INTERIORS

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HOMES & INTERIORS

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EVENTS

Leigh-on-Mendip Country Fair

Country dancing by children from Leigh-on-Mendip School

(l:r) Pam Withers, Shelagh Haywood and Pat Fry on the human fruit machine

Lightning, a red-tailed buzzard. She is owned

by Roy Staggles, who runs Speringcourt Animal Rescue in Buckland Dinham

Jessica with Quinn, a harness goat

Waiting to sign up for the dog show

MENDIP TIMES • JULY 2016 • PAGE 99

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Carriages from the Jutland era resonate at the Bath & West

IT might seem a long leap from a great World War One sea battle to the Royal Bath and West Show one hundred years and one day later.

It goes without saying that the brave naval heroes of the Battle of Jutland played their part in ensuring the freedoms that we With RACHEL enjoy today, but as always wherever we go THOMPSON there are connections that draw us back into MBE history.

Contemporaneous with that era were the collection of gigs, phaetons, dog and country carts proudly paraded by period dressed drivers in the ring on the opening day of the show. The smartly elegant carriage horses and ponies, superbly turned out, trotted around the ring, performing figures of eight and backing up on command.

Catching up with Alan Lyons, the show’s manager, he told me they were thrilled that the Private Driving class returned to the show after several years’ absence. Their main ring class is testament that the organisers have listened to competitors’ needs by guaranteeing the beautiful antique carriages a mud-free slot on the show’s first day.

Just before the class I cruised around the impressive horses and equipages awaiting inspection, seeking a local competitor and had the good fortune to fall in with the Morris family from Long Sutton near Langport, who also had a naval connection.

Estate agent Victoria Morris, 22, who has been driving since the age of 11, was busy polishing her 1890 Round back gig whilst her groom, brother and Royal Navy Petty Officer Michael (lately of HMS Somerset, now Yeovilton) steadied their 13.1hh pony Danny (Drysiog Daniel AP Jet).

Victoria inherited her passion for driving as a child from her uncle, Gloucester-based Andrew Hamilton Rhodes. The family has three ponies all Welsh Section C. Seventeen-year-old Barney is always keen to transport them all to the Halfway House pub at Pitney for a pint on a summer evening. Danny, once a show pony, was spotted by Welsh friend Alison Thomas

Victoria Morris

and made a good transition to driving and five-year-old Bob is waiting in the wings. Victoria and Alison have been involved with the amazing Riding for the Disabled Stepping Stones Centre helping to arrange drives and other events.

The Morris family compete at about 20 shows a year from very local to right up to Suffolk. Their beautiful gig was acquired from the horse-drawn carriage auction in Reading and Victoria’s outfit mostly located in charity shops. What was Victoria’s worst experience I wondered? “Oh that’s easy – getting drenched in the show ring – particularly the Royal Welsh.” And the best? Meeting the Queen at Smiths Lawn Windsor where Victoria won the Junior Whip Trophy. The Queen was “chatty and encouraging”. Top tip for other drivers?

It’s fun, enjoy it, no point otherwise!

Victoria (left) with some of the other competitors

Victoria is a member of the British Driving Society: www.britishdrivingsociety.co.uk. Driving looks a lot of fun so get in touch if you want to find your local group and have a go.

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RIDING

Praise for horse trials

COMPETITORS and visitors were united in praise of this year’s Nunney International Horse Trials.

A revamped cross-country course provided a tough challenge, especially in the wet weather on the Sunday, but earned top marks from some of the leading three-day eventers from home and abroad.

There was particular praise for the volunteers from British Eventing who were positioned at each fence on the cross-country course and around the venue in the grounds of Southfield House, whilst members of the 4th Frome Guides acted as the show jumping ring party.

Rider Arabella Craig took to Twitter to say: “Fab event, one of my favourites and loving the revamped cross-country.”

Amongst the top riders were Zara Tindall, Sam Griffiths – he led a popular course walk – and Sir Mark Todd, who took first place in the Intermediate Section U on NZB Campino.

David Doel from Chippenham headed the prestigious CIC2* at Nunney International Horse Trials riding Patsy Mason’s 12-yearold gelding Mr Hiho.

Event organiser Bridget Parker said: “It was three fabulous days of competition and we’re delighted with all the positive comments we have received from competitors. Visitor numbers were up quite considerably and we were pleased that Friday, which is free, attracted plenty of spectators.”

G Kitty King, who is hopeful she will represent Great Britain at the Rio Olympics, rode each round with Bonnieberry, a pony toy who is part of the Willberry Wonder Pony charity, tucked into her back protector. She said: “I rode all four horses cross country with Bonnieberry in support of Hannah Francis’ charity. Hannah CIC2* winner David Doel with is an inspiration and she has Patsy Mason never given up hope.”

Southfield House provides a stunning backdrop as Dannie Morgan on Quantanamo Z clears a fence in the show jumping arena on their way to fourth place in the BE100 section Laura Collett and Cor de Cyrkon clear the TH White House fence

Safely over

Mark Ford on Ferona tackles the water hazard

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RFU accreditation for rugby club CHEW Valley Rugby Club has been awarded RFU accreditation after an evaluation process.

David Rowlands, the club’s junior chairman, Andrew Molyneux and Doug Streatfield James spent the last two years working closely with the RFU to get all the necessary paper work in order.

The accreditation is a great asset, showing the club’s commitment to its adult sections, mini, youth, women, girls and touch rugby, while demonstrating that this is all achieved in a friendly, welcoming environment.

The scheme is based upon six “key drivers” identified as crucial to a strong club: retaining and developing players, recruiting new players, recruiting and retaining high quality coaches, volunteers and referees, effective and efficient facilities, effective and efficient management and governance and integration with the local community.

The award was made at the end of a weekend of presentations. The new Curtis Cup was presented to Dom Ford, captain of the third XV, followed by the awarding of the President’s Cup to Alex Cox. The Village 7s tournament will place at Chew Valley RFC on

Juniors celebrate after receiving their awards and medals

Winning team

AFTER successfully competing in former world pilot gig championships, Andy Littler, who lives in Pensford with his wife Lesley, was delighted when he heard he had been picked for this year's event, and even more delighted with the final result, when his team won.

The World Pilot Gig Championships take place on the Isles of Scilly and Andy’s team faced 140 gigs in the Men’s Handicap race. Andy (pictured third left) said it was great to be in a winning team.

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The accreditation plaque was awarded to David Rowlands and Andrew Molyneux by Paul Hull (right), ex-England Saxons assistant coach, ex-Bristol coach and head coach at Chew Valley.

Paul will be running a five-day summer camp at Chew Valley in August. For details, visit: www.hqrugby.com/rugby-camps

Saturday, August 6th and will feature men's and women's competitions with teams drawn from villages in the Chew Valley.

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Tour of Wessex

THE Somerset Levels and Mendip Hills were featured recently in the Tour of Wessex, one of the biggest and most established multi-stage cycle-sportive events in the UK. For over 10 years, dedicated sportive riders have been making their way to CYCLING Somerset to experience the challenge of with EDMUND LODITE riding three days back to back, while enjoying West Country hospitality. This year was no different with over 1,000 participants.

Starting at Langport near Somerton, each day saw riders set off in a different direction to complete a loop that takes in the best scenery across Wessex. The mix of iconic landmarks and terrain on each stage makes this tour a truly unique event.

Although this is a non-competitive event, results are graded by age category so most riders were keen to record a quick time. Some use this event as training for even longer multi-day events such as the Tour de Force, where riders complete some of the stages of the Tour de France, one week ahead of the professionals.

Most took part in the long route covering 330 miles and 7,500 metres of ascent over three days. For newcomers to multi-stage

SPORT events there was an option to do a shorter route of 225 miles and riders could also complete just one or two of the day stages.

The long route of 101 miles on day one headed north across the Somerset Levels before facing the first major climb of the day at Cheddar Gorge, then crossing the Mendip Hills before descending into Wells.

From there, the tour headed over hilly terrain through Evercreech and Bruton before reaching the hardest climb of the day, at King Alfred’s Tower, where the gradient reaches a heart pumping 25% at its steepest. Following a descent to Stourton the route once again passed through Bruton, and with all the big climbs behind, riders returned via Glastonbury and Somerton.

The second day took riders on a more challenging southerly loop of 117 miles to the Purbeck heritage coast, as far as Corfe Castle in Dorset. The final day of 112 miles was the most punishing, heading west over the Quantock Hills to reach the leg destroying Exmoor hills and Exmoor heritage coast, before returning to base.

This event is recognised as the ultimate gruelling yet rewarding sportive experience passing through some fantastic scenery. There may be other single day events that are tougher than each of the individual stages, but the cumulative effect of three long days in the saddle make the Tour of Wessex a real test of endurance and recovery.

Several hundred riders completed just one of these tough stages, so chapeau to the 350 riders who did all three.

(hotograph coutesy of www.charleswhittonphotography.com)

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Hockey club – here’s to the next 40

MENDIP Hockey Club finished its 40th season in style with a presentation night awards ceremony and with an eye on the future.

The club started back in 1975 as Timsbury Ladies Hockey Club and now prides itself on being known as Mendip Hockey Club, the largest hockey club for the Midsomer Norton and Radstock area.

The club has expanded over the years and currently boasts three ladies’ league teams and two men’s league teams It also

boasts an expanding junior section that offers the chance to gain hockey skills and build team spirit within a friendly and safe environment. Weekly training takes place at Norton Hill School on Sunday mornings from September to March, is run by qualified coaches and caters for all levels of skill and ability.

The club, which plays all its home games at Norton Hill School, has also started “Back to Hockey” training session for anybody who would like to give hockey a go or wants to return to the sport after a break.

New members are very welcome. For more information about joining or to enquire about the “Back to Hockey” sessions contact club secretary Hayley Young by email hayley.young@cfh.com or visit: www.mendiphockey.org.uk

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The Cary rugby “family” RUGBY players have said a fond farewell to one of the friendliest men’s and women’s sevens tournaments in the country.

The annual Kays Cary 7s festival at Castle Cary Rugby Club has been held for the last time.

Since it began in 2010, the K7s weekend has raised more than £25,000 for Macmillan Cancer Support. It was started in memory of local rugby player and enthusiast Kay Booker, who passed away from cancer in 2009. Kay represented women’s rugby at various levels and was one of the founding members of the Moody Cows sevens side.

The Moody Cows and The Slingbacks line up together before the start of the opening match – the Kay Booker Memorial Game

At the closing awards ceremony her father-in-law, Ron Pamplin, said: “It has been a wonderful occasion. You are all

The Moody Cows and The Slingbacks in action

Relaxing on the touchline in typical sevens style with energy drinks and cider

Tournament organiser Viv Armson (second left) presents Moody Cows manager Lou Stewart with the trophy for winning the women’s competition as Ron Pamplin (left) and Chris Booker, Kay’s father, look on

PAGE 104 • MENDIP TIMES • JULY 2016

friends and you are all rugby ‘buddies’.

Make sure you stay in touch with each other.”

Becca Rowe on her way to scoring the Moody’s opening try of the tournament

Sailor Jerry’s – the winning men’s side

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Boules champions

Anya takes control

SPORT

Anya on her way to an unbeaten 60

Winners McCrossends namely (l to r) Scott Passey, Quinn McArthy and Tim Townsend

CROWNS and bunting for the royal birthday weekend greeted the 14 enthusiastic boules teams and their supporters who turned out for the annual Boules on the Green tournament in Winscombe.

This was a real community day with the event on the community-owned site bringing all parts of the parish together.

There was a great atmosphere for the friendly heats in the morning and the sun shone brighter and brighter for play-offs in the afternoon.

Last year’s winners McCrossends won a gripping final against The Browne Family. At one point they were down 11 games to four, but kept their nerve and went on to win with a final score of 13 – 11, winning the coveted Monsieur Claude Trophy.

A fly-past from the Red Arrows was the icing on the royal cake and there were great good spirits all round.

SOMERSET women’s cricket team enjoyed a successful return to Midsomer Norton’s ground when they beat a Berkshire side by 15 runs in a 50-over ECB women’s county championship Division One match.

Leading the way for Somerset was Anya Shrubsole, the England international all-rounder, who scored 60 not out before taking two Berkshire wickets. Earlier this year, Anya, 24, was named the England Women's Cricketer of the Year for the first time.

Anya was joined in the Somerset team by her sister Lauren.

Somerset’s Nicole Richards is clean bowled by Berkshire’s Rachel Hardy

Victoria victorious

The Browne family in action – father, Gerry and sons Richard and Nicky

VICTORIA Watts, aged 20, from Bishop Sutton won the ladies’ club championship at Farrington, scoring 82 and 80 over two days.

She was Somerset ladies’ champion in 2014 and will represent the county this month. She currently plays off six and is studying at university in Dundee.

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SPORT

Another successful race AFTER a week of torrential rain, the 572 Chew Valley 10k runners woke up to perfect running conditions on Sunday June 19th. With all 90 marshals (and hundreds of cupcakes) in place, the race was started by Andy Marsh, Chief Constable of Avon and Somerset police, who then ran the race with his wife Nikki Watson, Assistant Chief Constable).

First to finish was James Rodgers of North Somerset Athletics Club in 33:20, narrowly missing Nathan Young’s 2014 race record of 33:05. Rodgers is on form after winning both the Pensford and Clevedon 10k races.

The fastest female runner was Anna Godfrey of Reading Athletics Club, 42:36, who posted her fastest time at this event which she has run every year (well supported by her family in Stanton Wick).

This year’s new Team Trophy was won by the four-man Clevedon Athletics Club Men’s team, with a combined time of 2:37:07.

The local winners were Martin Ford

from Paulton (38:17), whose sons also ran the 1km Rio Run, and Nina Davies, also of Paulton (43:24). Nina is training for the Bob Graham Round, a 66-mile fell running challenge in the Lake District, to raise money for the Motor Neurone Disease Association in memory of her late father. To donate: http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/team/t imhartfinalround).

As always the event was well supported by many local businesses and the community as a whole. Runners were entertained by Vox in Frox choir,

(Photography coutesy of www.photo-fit.net)

Some of the marshalls

The winner James Rodgers PAGE 106 • MENDIP TIMES • JULY 2016

The Fun Run

The start

local band the Sombrero Society, Chew Valley Leisure Centre dancers and Bishop Sutton Primary School’s African drummers.

Denise Mellersh, race director, said: “Every year we’re delighted to see the mix of old and new faces at the Chew Valley 10k. The race really attracts everyone – whether from the local area or further afield, novice or experienced runners, the young and old.

Congratulations to all our trophy winners and everyone who took part or supported the race in any way.”

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Youth theatre’s success

WINSCOMBE Youth Theatre celebrated its 26th birthday on Saturday June 11th with a musical play written by John Butler called Hen House Horrors! which they staged at Churchill Academy.

WYT is for students aged 4-16 years and runs on Saturday mornings at Churchill Academy. The students are taught drama, singing and dance by a qualified and dedicated team of specialist teachers and have the use of a purpose-built dance studio, a drama studio and music rooms.

They take part in local arts festivals and do LAMDA Acting and LAMDA Verse and Prose examinations. Once a year the students take part in a major production and as the youth theatre is affiliated to NODA (National Operatic and Dramatic Assoc) a representative reviews their productions.

Theresa Hemming runs the youth theatre, ably assisted by John Butler, Flora Lacy and Theresa’s daughter Maria. Theresa trained at Birmingham School of Drama and John Butler at The Bristol Old Vic Theatre School.

WYT was started by Theresa in 1990. It was then known as Winscombe Speech and Drama Group and first and foremost was for the children of Winscombe village and the surrounding area. In those days the group met in the local community centre and put on productions at St James’ Church hall, including Our Day Out, The Wizard of Oz and The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe.

As the group grew in size it moved to Winscombe Primary School and then to Churchill Community School (now Churchill Academy). Whilst there the shows became more ambitious and included Fame, West Side Story, Guys and Dolls and Annie.

WYT became partners with Churchill Community School in their successful bid for Performing Arts Specialist School status and that was the start of a collaboration which has been fruitful over the past ten years. All in all WYT has staged 45 productions, the most recent being Disney’s The Little Mermaid

MUSIC

in 2015 and Hen House Horrors! this year.

Students now come from a wide area of North Somerset and Somerset including Wells, Burnham and Cheddar.

Theresa said: “Over the years we have provided coaching for hundreds of children and some have gone on to National Youth Theatre, RADA, Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, Cygnet Training Theatre, Drama Centre, Mountview and Italia Conti, forging a career in the theatre and television.

“Harvey Robinson was in the West End and Broadway with Jez Butterworth’s play Jerusalem. Darren Martyn was in the touring production of Grease and is now touring Starlight Express. Stefanie Martini graduated from RADA and starred in BBC’s Dr Thorne, Endeavour and is now doing The Emerald City with NBC. “Whether it is a hobby or leads to a career in theatre and television, WYT has given students the confidence and selfesteem to pursue their goals and reach their full potential. We provide a happy, caring, safe and stimulating environment where they can develop creativity and acquire skills in speaking and listening and working as a team.”

Details: For more information and to arrange a free taster session contact: Theresa Hemming 01934 843952 or visit the website www.winscombeyouththeatre.com

Concert for carers

THE Somer Valley Singers will be performing their first major concert under the leadership of David Simmonds on Saturday July 16th. David was appointed their new Musical Director at the end of 2015, following a difficult few months for the choir without a permanent leader.

The concert will be held at The Somer Centre in Midsomer Norton, starting at 7.30pm. It has been organised by the Carers’ Centre in Radstock to celebrate their 20th year of supporting carers in the area.

The centre works with over 4,000 local residents who look after family or friends needing extra help day-to-day. Caring can be very rewarding, but it can also be tiring and lonely. The centre makes sure carers get all the help they need to manage their role and works to make sure carers are recognised and respected within the community.

The choir will be sharing the programme with the Midsomer Norton and Radstock Silver Band. Tickets cost £7 (£6 for carers) and can be purchased from the Carers’ Centre on 0800 0388 885.

Somer Valley Musical director, David Simmonds, with chairwoman, Shirley Parker

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WRINGTON

THE QUEEN AT 90

CHEW MAGNA

A special day

Crowds outside the Queen's Arms

Amplify on stage

ALL the clubs and local businesses of Wrington came together to put on a special party to celebrate the Queen’s 90th birthday and raised over £5,000. Not since the Silver Jubilee in 1977 has the village’s Rec been so colourful and full of people.

President of the Wrington Sports and Social Club, Roy Clements, who has lived next to The Rec all his life, said he wished to thank everyone for their support and hard work which made it such a special day for the whole village.

DUNDRY

Ghost Weed opened the event

Just Chillin’ PAGE 108 • MENDIP TIMES • JULY 2016

The Chew Magna Society team

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WHAT’S ON

Weddings exhibition

ALL Saints’ Church in Farmborough will be holding its first exhibition of wedding dresses and memorabilia as part of a weekend of events in July. The exhibition will take place on Saturday, July 2nd and Sunday, July 3rd when couples will also be renewing their marriage vows during a family and friends service. As well as the exhibition, which will include wedding photographs and stories, there will be organ and piano recitals and a range of stalls. The exhibition is open from 10.30am-4pm on Saturday and from midday-3pm on Sunday.

The church service will be held at 11am.

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New attraction at palace

THE Bishop’s Palace in Wells, has been given the go ahead by Mendip District Council to create The Dragon’s Lair, an outdoor activity zone in the arboretum of the palace gardens in time for the school summer holidays.

It’s already a popular area with families for its beautiful trees, picnic tables and balancing logs – and will be set apart from the more tranquil areas of the grounds.

Rosie Martin, chief executive of The Palace Trust said: “We are absolutely delighted to be able to forge ahead with this exciting project. In recent years we have been attracting more and more family visitors and members and we are keen to help

them to experience the palace in new, fun and educational ways.

“We are extremely grateful to all of our supporters locally who have encouraged us with these plans.”

So far, a substantial donation has been given to the project by Viridor Credits and the palace is seeking further investment to enable it to complete the project.

Details: Rosie Martin rosie.martin@bishopspalace.org.uk or call on 01749 988111.

Gardens open for abbey appeal

Princes Road, Wells, BA5 1TD

Starts Friday 1st July Starts Friday 8th July Starts Monday 11th July Starts Friday 15th July Thursday 21st July Starts Friday 22nd July

NOW SHOWING: Absolutely Fabulous (15-tbc) Now You See Me 2 (12A) Ghostbusters (12A-tbc) 3D/2D

Ice Age Collision Course (U) 3D/2D Richard III 7pm LIVE BFG (PG-tbc) 3D/2D

Book in person Online 24/7 @www.wellsfilmcentre.co.uk Over the ’phone: 01749 673195

PAGE 110 • MENDIP TIMES • JULY 2016

GARDENING enthusiasts can satisfy their passion and help raise funds for Glastonbury Abbey by visiting two private gardens opening to the public in July.

Westbrook House, in West Bradley near Glastonbury, will be open on the afternoon of Saturday, July 2nd whilst England’s Side, at Queen Camel near Sparkford, will open on Sunday, July 3rd, again in the afternoon.

There will be cream teas at both events and both will be raising funds for Glastonbury Abbey’s Rescue Our Ruins Appeal: The Final Chapter, which aims to raise £100,000 this year. Admission is £5 at each open garden.

Sue Medlicott, the abbey’s community fundraiser, said: “The weekend will offer lots of insight and pleasure for gardeners. In 2004 the owners of Westbrook House began the exciting and challenging task of transforming four acres of agricultural paddocks into a garden.

“Twelve years later there are three distinct garden; a formal structure which provides a complement to the 19thcentury architecture of the house and is softened with deep mixed borders; a meadow planted with spring bulbs and species roses and accessed by wide mown paths and lastly an orchard bordered by the famous Bradley brook.

“The design and planting demonstrate an experienced eye together with extensive knowledge of the form, colour and flowering of plants and shrubs, and remarkably and very skillfully produce a garden so relaxed that the visitor simply wants to linger and absorb the entirety.

“On the following day the garden at England’s Side in Queen Camel, will also support the appeal. This is a charming, wellestablished garden, which contains many elements of the original cottage garden style plan developed in the 1930’s. It is a haven of roses, clematis and fruit trees, as well as established Beech and Wellingtonia trees.”

Westbrook House garden will be open from 2-6pm on Saturday, July 2nd. England’s Side will be open from 2.305.30pm on Sunday, July 3rd.

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WHAT’S ON

OUT D L O S

Tickets on sale now at the abbey shop, online at www.glastonburyabbey.com or call 01458 832267 Registered charity no. 1129263

MENDIP TIMES • JULY 2016 • PAGE 111

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M e n d i p

Please send entries for these listings as a single paragraph of approximately 25 words. We’re happy to list entries for charities and voluntary groups free of charge – but please submit them in the format below. Commercial entries cost £25.

Wednesday June 29th – Saturday July 2nd Bristol Hippodrome, The Taming of the Shrew, Birmingham Royal Ballet, evenings at 7.30pm, matinee on Thursday, 2pm, matinee on Saturday at 2.30pm, tickets from £16.40.* Wednesday June 29th Backwell & Nailsea Macular Support, Backwell W.I. Hall, 1.30pm, speaker from Age UK, Somerset.

Thursday June 30th Holcombe Duck Race, £1/numbered duck, Duke of Cumberland pub, Holcombe, 6pm, with barbecue and music, too.

West Mendip Walkers – Mod circular walk 9.5m, from Stourhead. OS Ex142 ST779341. Start 10.30am, National Trust car park. Contact Margaret Donkin: 07543696675 or margkdonkin@aol.com Friday July 1st to Sunday July 3rd Yeo Valley Lions Claverham Beer Festival at Claverham Village Hall BS49 4NF, beers, ciders, food and entertainment!

Details: 01934 838899/832438 and www.claverham-beer-festival.org.uk Friday July 1st The Hotwells Howlers acclaimed show Stony Broke in No-Man’s Land, commemorating Somerset Light Infantry’s losses at the first Battle of the Somme, Town Hall, Midsomer Norton, in aid of the British Red Cross.

Saturday July 2nd and Sunday July 3rd Shipham Open Gardens, with a special feature adopt and decorate a gravestone in St Leonard’s churchyard. Details: Jill Smith 01934 842291 or Margaret Howell 01934 842201.

Backwell Festival, music, food, entertainment. Details: www.backwellfestival.co.uk Saturday July 2nd – Sunday July 31st Open Gardens in aid of Dorothy House hospice at various locations during the month. Details: www.dorothyhouse.co.uk Saturday July 2nd Wedmore Street Fair – see page 38.

Duck Race Plume of Feathers, Rickford, 5pm, raising money for local causes.

Air Day, RNAS Yeovilton Details: www.royalnavy.mod.uk/yeovilton-airday Holcombe Family Fun Day, 12pm start, dog show, music, food and refreshments etc on Holcombe Playing Field. Come and join the fun.

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T i m e s

Mendip Society Walk, Ebbor Gorge, 2pm meet in the car park (half way up the hill) on Deer Leap (near to BA5 1AY) a walk of about five miles through Cook's Field Nature Reserve and Priddy, with some superb views over Somerset. Details: Judy 01749 672196.

Chewton Mendip Village Fete, stalls, country dancing, brass band, food and drink, 3pm-6pm.

Bishop’s Palace, Wells stitching workshops weekly on Saturdays until July 16th, 10.30am-4.30pm, £28 for the series.

Details: www.bishopspalace.org.uk 01749 988111.

Compton Dando village fete, stalls, duck race, church tower open, music, tractor rides etc, to be opened by BBC Antiques Roadshow expert, Duncan Campbell, 2pm.

Compton Martin Village Fete, Ring O’ Bells, 2pm.

Sunday, July 3rd Open Garden. Alban and Angela Bunting will once again open Spindle Cottage Garden in Binegar for Dorothy House Hospice. 2.30pm-5pm. £4pp, children free.

Refreshments and music. Spindle Cottage, Binegar Green, Binegar, nr Radstock. BA3 4UE. Tel: 01749 840497.

Monday July 4th – Saturday July 9th Bristol Hippodrome, Chicago, starring Hayley Tamaddon, John Partridge and Sam Bailey, evenings at 7.30pm, matinees on Wed & Sat at 2.30pm, tickets from £15.* Tuesday July 5th Mendip DFAS A Concise Chronology of Early Meissen Porcelain, a talk by Anton Gabszewicz, Bath & West Bar, B & W Showground, Shepton Mallet BA4 6QN, 11am, guests welcome. Details: www.mdfas.org.uk 01934 862435.

Thursday July 7th "A Roomful of Songs" a relaxed evening with the Jenny Peplow Singers, Paulton Wesley Hall 6.30pm, donations for local Alzheimer's "Singing for the Brain" group.

Details: Kath 01761 418324 or Chris 01761 471357.

Friday July 8th – Sunday July 10th Hazy Days Music and Arts Festival in Weston-super-Mare’s newly refurbished Tropicana, an action-packed weekend of contemporary music and arts, free if tickets booked in advance, guaranteed entry £20 for a day or £50 for the weekend. Details: www.hazydaysfestival.co.uk Friday July 8th Band of the Royal Marines concert at Queens College Taunton in aid of the charity Go Commando, 7.30pm, tickets £23. Details:

W h a t ’ s

www.bookings.queenscollege.org.uk or call 01823 340880.

Friday July 8th to Sunday July10th Priddy Folk Festival – see page 114.

Details: www.priddyfolk.org Saturday July 9th Brent Knoll Bazaar, Farmers’ Market and Café, 10am-12noon in Brent Knoll Parish Hall, free admission. Details: 01278 760308.

Mendip Society walk – a moderate 4 to 5 miles at Star, nr Winscombe, followed by tea & cakes, ST 439 585, meet 2pm at the Star Inn, BS25 1QF. Details: Mary 01934 843789.

Postcard, Stamp and Ephemera Fair, Glastonbury Town Hall 10am-4pm.

Admission free. Refreshments. Organised

by Mendip Postcard Club.

Hands On celebration concert for piano tutors Douglas Simper and Lorna Zhulan who are leaving the area, St Luke’s Church, Wellsway, Bath, 7.30pm.

Sunday July 10th The Better Than Chocolate Summer Concert, 7pm, in Winford Church, tickets £6 each, under 16s £3 available from a Singaholics session, choir members, emailing betterthanchocolatechoir@gmail.com or calling 07970 043026.

Tuesday July 12th – Saturday July 16th Bristol Hippodrome, Guys and Dolls, a Chichester Festival Theatre production, starring Richard Fleeshman and Maxwell Caulfield, evenings at 7.30pm, matinees on Wed/Thu/Sat at 2.30pm, tickets from £15.* Tuesday July 12th Old Bowlish House, Shepton Mallet, owner-narrated tour of Clothiers’ mansion with tempestuous history, built c. 1618, modernised by Georgians and Victorians, five modest gardens, one with historic ruin, cream teas. Details: Booking essential via www.invitationtoview.co.uk or 01206 573948.

Clevedon Art Club Ray Balkwill presents "Top Tips for painting en plain air" at Clevedon School 6th form centre, 7.30pm members free or £3 at the door.

Wednesday July 13th Nailsea and District Horticultural Society "plants for shade" by Adrian Hutchinson, United Reformed Church, Nailsea, 7.30pm, members £2, visitors £3.

Details: Martyn Davies 01275 855563 or June Knight 01275 855342.

Kilmersdon Gardeners – Personalising Your Garden – a talk by Steve Taylor at our monthly meeting, Kilmersdon Village Hall BA3 5TD, 7.30pm, visitors very

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welcome (£2).

Cream tea organised by Midsomer Norton Friends of Hospice South West, Long Barn, Fosse Farm, Stratton, 3-5pm.

Saturday July 16th Music on the Green, Brent Knoll Village Green, with Kick the Cat, tickets £10, under-14s free, available from Brent Knoll Village Shop or call 01278 760308 or 760986.

Burrington Village Fete at Burrington House, BS40 7AD, 2pm, classic cars, cream teas, maypole display and much more. Details: Frances 01761 462301.

Somer Centre, Midsomer Norton concert organised by the Carers’ Centre, Radstock to celebrate their 20th year of supporting carers in the area, with the Somer Valley Singers and Midsomer Norton and Radstock Silver Band, tickets £7, carers £6 from the Carers’ Centre on 0800 0388 885.

Saturday July 16th Mendip Society Walk, Chilcompton, 2pm, meet at the Holy Cow Café, Manor Farm, Church Lane, Chilcompton (BA3 4HP), a five-mile walk from Old Chilcompton along the Somer River and then along the disused Somerset and Dorset railway line to Midsomer Norton Station. Details: Gill 01934 742508.

Sunday July 17th Bristol Hippodrome Des O’Connor and Jimmy Tarbuck live on stage, 7.30pm, tickets from £30.65.* Sunday 17th July Romulus and Remus Italian Festival.

Beech Barrow, Hillgrove, Penn Hill, Wells from 12 noon onwards. Charity event in aid of Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance, Wells First Responders, St. John Ambulance, British Heart Foundation and Orchard Vale Trust.

Tickets: adults £12.50, 5-10s £5, under 5s free. Available Tony D’Ovidio on 07770 994652 or Julie Bollini 01749 675177.

Monday July 18th – Saturday July 23rd Bristol Hippodrome, The Rocky Horror Show, starring Liam Tamne as Frank N Furter and Norman Pace as The Narrator, Mon/Tue/Wed/Thu 8pm, Fri/Sat at 5.30pm/8.30pm, tickets from £16.90.* Tuesday July 19th NADFAS illustrated lectures, Lucian Freud – Paintings to astonish, disturb, seduce & convince Caryford Hall, Castle Cary, BA7 7JJ, 11am, free parking, £6.

Details: 01963 350 132.

Thursday July 21st Redhill Club Classic Car and Motorcycle evening gathering, 7pm10pm, BBQ food available, plus hot and

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cold beverages, all welcome, Church Road, Redhill, BS40 5SG. Details: 01934 862619.

Friday July 22nd Organ Recital at St James’s Church, Winscombe BS25 1BX by Ian Tracey from Liverpool Cathedral, performing a varied programme of works by Charpentier, Albinoni, Bach, Haydn and many others, tickets £8.50 in advance, £10 on the door.

Details: The Church Administrator 01934 844650 or Brian Hooper on 01934 732473.

Saturday July 23rd Mendip Society Walk, Combe Hay, 2pm, meet at Combe Hay Parish Church (BA2 7EG). Please park considerately on the adjoining road. A walk of about five miles starting with a gradual uphill climb. On the return leg the walk will follow the route of the former Somersetshire Coal Canal taking in the derelict Combe Hay lock flight and pumping station. Details: Roger 01225 872777.

Monday July 25th Bristol Hippodrome, The Simon and Garfunkel Story, ticket from £22.65.* Wessex Stationary Engine Club, Isambard Kingdom Brunel with Mike Rowland, at the Old Down Inn, Emborough BA3 4SA, 7.30pm, all welcome, free entry. Details 01225 754374.

Bishop’s Palace, Wells family muddy Mondays, herbs in the garden with community gardener Amanda Clay.

Details: www.bishopspalace.org.uk 01749 988111.

Tuesday July 26th Bristol Hippodrome, One Night of Elvis, 7.30pm, tickets from £29.15.* Wednesday July 27th Bristol Hippodrome, The Chicago Blues Brothers, 7.30pm, tickets from £27.40.* Thursday July 28th Bristol Hippodrome, Psychic Sally, 7.30pm, tickets £27.90.* Friday July 29th Bristol Hippodrome, Russell Watson Songs from the Heart, 7.30pm, tickets from £32.90.* Bishop’s Palace, Wells Family Fun Fridays, seeds and plants, 11am-3pm.

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Details: Details: www.bishopspalace.org.uk 01749 988111.

Saturday July 30th Bristol Hippodrome Motown’s Greatest Hits, 7.30pm, tickets from £22.90.* Mendip Society Walk, Oakhill to Stoke Bottom, 2pm, meet in the Oakhill Recreation Ground car park, Zion Hill (BA3 5AN), a walk of 5 1/2 miles through fields and lanes and returning through parts of Harridge Wood. Details: Bob 01934 820575.

Backwell & Nailsea Macular Support, Talking Newspapers Backwell W.I. Hall, 1.30pm.

Taize and Teas at Stoke St Michael Church, 4pm, come along and join in with singing or come and listen, free event but donations to the church would be gratefully appreciated. Details: Janet 01749 840409.

Sunday July 31st Bristol Hippodrome Puppetry of the Penis – The Vegas Show, 7.30pm, tickets £24.40.* Bishop’s Palace, Wells, Much Ado About Nothing with the Lord Chamberlain’s Men with barbecue and bar or take your own food and drinks. Details: www.bishopspalace.org.uk 01749 988111.

Monday August 1st – Saturday August 6th Bristol Hippodrome, Footloose, starring Gareth Gates and Maureen Nolan, evenings at 7.30pm, matinees on Wed & Sat at 2.30pm, tickets from £18.* Sunday August 7th Bradford on Avon Lions Club annual art exhibition, Westbury Gardens, Bradford on Avon, 11am – 4pm, free admission, refreshments. Details: Keith Yates 01225 863404.

Sunday August 21st Mid-Somerset Show. See page 13.

BRISTOL HIPPODROME Further information and booking at www.atgtickets.com/bristol or 0844 871 3012. Bkg fees apply and all calls 7p per minute, plus your phone company’s access charge.

MENDIP MINDBENDER ANSWERS FOR JULY Across: 1 National Savings, 9 Too little, 10 Nigel, 11 Set sail, 12 Negates, 13 Arc lamp, 15 Acreage, 16 Assists, 18 Bacilli, 20 In brief, 22 Extinct, 24 Nasal, 25 Criterion, 26 Wish you were here.

Down: 1 Not as far as I know, 2 Trout, 3 Okinawa, 4 Antelopes, 5 Stern, 6 Vinegar, 7 Night mail, 8 Sales resistance, 14 Cash basis, 15 Ambleside, 17 Shirley, 19 Cats eye, 21 Fichu, 23 Noise.

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THE 25th anniversary Priddy Folk Festival is promising to be one the best ever with a line-up that draws top musical talent from all corners of the British Isles.

This year, to mark the special landmark, organisers have assembled a fabulous bill for the festival, which runs from Friday, July 8th to Sunday, July 10th.

In all there are more than 30 top quality acts appearing over the three days, plus a host of up-and-coming local acts in the Fringe Tent. There are also a lots of dance events from ceilidhs to morris and traditional step dancing and workshops for anyone who wants to have a go! There are also plenty of things for the younger ones in the Children’s Festival.

Priddy Folk Festival began as a one-day event in 1991 and has grown to become one of the most popular and influential in the country without ever losing its friendly, village feel.

Friday night features two duos who have become festival favourites – Belshazzar’s Feast and The Drystones, who hail from Priddy itself. Headlining on Saturday night are Altan from County Donegal and who are one of the most popular Irish folk bands in history. From Scotland there is an array of young folk talent including Dallahan, Laura Beth Salter and Jenn Butterworth and the incredible Breabach who will be closing the festival.

Talented five-piece Calan from Wales will be bring their exciting brand of Celtic fusion to Saturday’s programme and also appearing on Saturday are English trio Lady Maisery – Hannah James, Hazel Askew and Rowan Rheingans – who combine stunning vocal harmonies with incredible musicianship.

WHAT’S ON

Sheep and celebrities at Frome Cheese Show

QUESTION: What is everyone currently talking about?

Answer: bake off competitions.

Anyone attending the Frome Agricultural and Cheese Show on Saturday, September 10th will be able to enjoy not just one, but three bake offs with celebrities, farmers and students using cheese as a key ingredient.

Show secretary Julie Harding said: “We haven’t secured Mary Berry, but we plan to have a lot of fun with various people cooking recipes with a cheese theme — of course it had to be.

“We will be announcing our celebrity line up in due course, while we are inviting applications from farmers from all over the West Country, with shortlisted candidates judged in a Facebook campaign. We are hoping people will nominate friends and family members. It is our way of bringing the farming community – which is going through a tough time at the moment – to the fore and highlighting the hardworking members of the industry in a fun way.”

Local chef Josh Eggleton, from the BBC’s Great British Menu, who is passionate about cheese and local produce, will be joining the show as celebrity chef.

The show is well-known for its exciting – and fun – attractions and this year is no exception. New this year will be Bob Hogg’s “Lamb National” – sheep racing in the Countryside Arena. Prince Charles is a fan, apparently.

Julie said: “If the Prince finds it funny I’m sure our audience will.”

The show’s legendary cattle show returns once again, as do the horses. New this time for equestrian fans is the exciting Six Bar show jumping class, with a large prize pot to the winner of this knock-out contest.

Judging of the cheese competitions takes place on the Thursday trade day before the show itself, with the winners announced at a gala dinner that evening.

Anyone interested in taking part in the farming bake-off should email admin@fromecheeseshow.co.uk with a 100word description of themselves as well as a recent, high resolution photograph. Show tickets are now on sale — buy online at www.fromecheeseshow.co.uk and enjoy early-bird discounts.

Single and looking for a social life . . . then join SPA

An enthusias c and friendly group of single people who enjoy organised events

For more informa on go to www.singleprofessionalsassocia on.co.uk email: wellsandmendip@yahoo.co.uk Or contact Anne – 01934 743139 Jackie – 01458 840958

PAGE 114 • MENDIP TIMES • JULY 2016

JUNE’S

COMPETITION WINNERS

LAST month we gave you the chance to win tickets to the Air Day at RNAS Yeovilton on Saturday July 2nd. The first three correct answers drawn were from: Eileen Shaw, Mells; Martin Harrington, Evercreech; John Fry, Tunley, Bath.

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