Issue #68 — Thursday 17 September 2026
Good morning, Mendips! Today we step inside Henton's Christ Church, the Grade II-listed building that's traded a handful of quiet services a month for candlelit Taizé evenings, garden parties and a Boy Band tribute (Mendips style) under the nave. There's a powerful one-night show at Chew Valley's Fringe Festival, the Yeo Valley Organic Garden Festival digs in for its second day, and we've got the week's news, events and weather to get you out the door.
📅 Featured Event — Pieces of My Life at Chew Valley's Fringe Festival
📖 From Redundant to Rejuvenated — Henton's church finds a second act
🔤 Uxbridge English Dictionary — today's entry
📰 Hot News - Mendips Style — GP surgeries ranked · Clarks Village Food Festival · Shepton's firefighter call-up · Rural Life Museum exhibition
How Henton Church got back it’s MoJo
📅 What's On This Week — across the Mendips
🌡️ Weather — Wells BA5 forecast
Featured Event - Pieces of My Life
Kirris Riviere
This Friday, Chew Valley School Hall in Chew Magna hosts one of the most personal shows in this year's Valley Arts Fringe Festival: Pieces of My Life, a one-man autobiographical show written and performed by TV and theatre actor Kirris Riviere (Hollyoaks, The Sandman) and produced by the award-winning company Ad Infinitum (Beautiful Evil Things, Last Rites).
Faced with clearing his late mum's council flat, Kirris sets up a podcast studio in his childhood home and records the story of his life before he has to leave for good — weaving memories, music and journal fragments into a story of grief, identity and a lifelong struggle with systemic racism, anchored throughout by his mum's fierce optimism.
Built on original music and the kind of raw storytelling that's previously earned Ad Infinitum four stars from The Guardian and a nod from Time Out as "one of contemporary theatre's vital organs".
Doors are 7.30pm on Friday 18 September.
Book your other Valley Arts Fringe events by this Sunday for a 10%, Early Bird discount. https://www.valley-arts.co.uk/fringe-festival-3/
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🌮 Clarks Village Food Festival Brings The World To Street
This weekend, the Shoemakers Museum lawn at Clarks Village in Street turns into a genuinely international street-food line-up, with stalls covering Greek, Mexican, Persian, Pakistani, Turkish, Himalayan, South African and Jamaican cooking, plus loaded fries, crepes and festival drinks from a pop-up bar. There's live music both days, and outlet discounts of up to 60% for anyone who fancies combining lunch with a browse round the Village.
It's free entry with no booking required — just turn up. Saturday runs 11am–7pm (last admission 6pm) and Sunday 11am–6pm (last admission 5pm).
🚒 Shepton Mallet Seeks New On-Call Firefighters
Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service is recruiting on-call firefighters based at Shepton Mallet, for anyone keen to serve their local community around a day job. Applicants need to live or work within five minutes of the station, be at least 18, and meet standard fitness and eyesight requirements.
🎨 Somerset's Cultural Heritage Goes On Show In Glastonbury
The Somerset Rural Life Museum has opened a new exhibition exploring the county's diverse cultural heritage, with talks running alongside the display through the autumn. It's a fresh excuse for a wander round one of Glastonbury's quieter gems.
English Lessons from the
Uxbridge English Dictionary
N
Naysayer
A horse.
Neutron
Ronald the Newt.
Niche
Sean Connery's young female relative.
Normalise
When you don't need glasses.
Norse
Northern Ireland healthcare worker.
Norwich
Scottish person of limited wealth.
From Redundant to Rejuvenated:
Henton's Church Finds a Second Act
Every village has one: the building that used to matter enormously and now sits half-used, wondering what it's for. Henton nearly lost Christ Church to exactly that fate — a lovely Grade II-listed 1847 Benjamin Ferrey design, once the heart of the parish, latterly opened for a handful of services a month and not much else.
Then a few years of stubborn, unglamorous community graft happened, and the old girl got her groove back.
Christ Church - Henton, nr. Wells
Here's the bit worth dwelling on: nobody swapped the pulpit for a disco ball. Look at Henton's calendar today and the traditional stuff is all still there — BCP Holy Communion, Evensong, Remembrance Sunday, Sunday Breakfast, a gentle All Souls service for anyone missing someone. But now, tucked in alongside them, is a candlelit Taizé evening: chant, silence, meditation, open to absolutely anyone drawn to a bit of quiet, whatever they do or don't believe on a Sunday.
Same building, same fortnight, a 1662 prayer book one week and wordless candlelight the next. That's the real trick here — not less church, just a bigger idea of who gets to walk through the door.
None of it would work without the unsexy stuff underneath. The original stone floor, uncovered and restored rather than boxed in under carpet tiles. The pews gone — not skipped, mind, repurposed into rather elegant storage, which tells you everything about how this project thinks. A proper kitchen. Accessible loos. The kind of infrastructure nobody writes hymns about, but which is the actual difference between "lovely old church" and "lovely old church that can host your nan's 80th."
Local “Boys” MADBand play the church - Friday 25 Sept.
Roughly £350,000 in, they're nearly there — and they got there the Mendip way: not by grant application alone, but by garden parties, astronomy talks, a Blue Planet cameraman, a night of sea shanties, and, because why stop being ambitious now, five middle-aged dads doing Take That choreography under the nave.
MADband's Friday 25 September gig continues the fundraising for the common good - The Church rejuvenation and Dementia UK.
Now a space confident enough to hold Sunday Communion, silent contemplation, and boy-band tribute inside the same fortnight — and delighted to see you at any of them.
100 tickets are already sold for MADband - but still 50 to go, if you are quick. Promises to be a fun night.
All week (17–21 September)
Wookey Uncovered — Wookey Hole Caves. Family-friendly guided heritage tours of the ancient caves and Victorian papermill, running throughout September. More info
Walk & Wine Thursday — Wells Market Place, 6–7pm. Weekly circular walk for women, finishing at Fosso Lounge for those who fancy a drink after. No need to know anyone beforehand. More info
The Songwriting Life — Abbey House, Glastonbury Abbey, 10am–1pm. Six-week songwriting course guided by songwriter Patrick Duff, running through to 14 October. More info
Thursday, 17 September
Yeo Valley Organic Garden Festival — Yeo Valley Organic Garden, Holt Farm, Blagdon, 9.30am–5pm, running through Saturday 19 September. Three days of talks, panels and hands-on workshops across two main stages. Adult day ticket £31.44, or all three days for £71.26; babies free. Book here
The Tudor Domesday: Henry VIII's Survey of England — Abbey House, Glastonbury Abbey, 7–8pm. Professor James Clark on Henry VIII's Tudor survey of Glastonbury and Somerset. More info
Grain Sessions: John Kilroy & Mark Bruce — Cheese & Grain, Frome, 7pm. Intimate live music evening. Tickets
Friday, 18 September
Pieces of My Life — Chew Valley School Hall, Chew Magna, 7.30pm. See Featured Event above.
R.E.M by Stipe — Cheese & Grain, Frome, 7pm. The UK's leading R.E.M. tribute band, playing since 1996 and praised by Michael Stipe himself on the BBC's The One Show. Tickets
Antique & Collectors Fair — The Bath & West Showground, Shepton Mallet, running through Sunday 20 September. More info
Heritage Open Days: Guided Walking Tour of Clarks Historic HQ — Clarks Historic HQ, Street, 10.30am. Free, ticketed. Book here
Autumnal Produce with Colouring Pencils Workshop — Bishop's Palace, Wells, 10.30am–3.30pm. £65 (£60 Friends), materials and a hot drink included. Book here
Little Seedlings Parent & Toddler Group — Shepton Mallet (forest school site), 10–11.30am, resuming for the autumn term through to 23 October. £8 per session. More info
Saturday, 19 September
Clarks Village Food Festival — Shoemakers Museum lawn, Clarks Village, Street, 11am–7pm (last admission 6pm), running into Sunday. Free entry, no booking needed — see mini feature above. More info
Mumpfest 2026: Growing a Healthier Local Food Future — The Mump Market Garden, Burrowbridge. Community festival celebrating regenerative, no-dig growing, with live music, circus cabaret and street food. Pay-what-you-think, suggested £20. Tickets
Live Music Night with BROCK — The Waldegrave Arms, East Harptree, 8.30pm. An evening of Blues, Americana and Rock. Free. More info
Abbey House Heritage Open Days — Glastonbury Abbey: hourly tours 10am–5pm (continuing Sunday), a free evening talk at 7pm, and a guided Abbey & Town Building Stone Walk at 10.30am. More info
Hybrid Selves: Make Your Own Mythology — Shoemakers Museum, Street, 10am–3pm. Free family drop-in workshop, part of Somerset Art Weeks. More info
Glastonbury Repair Cafe — Scout Hut, Benedict Street, Glastonbury, 10am–12pm. Free community repair café — bring your broken bits along. More info
Nurture Charity Dog Show — Nurture Vet Hospital, Wells. More info
Carlton Melton, Deviant Amps, Black Helium & Sonic Trip Project — The King Arthur, Glastonbury. Touring psych-rock bill. More info
Metallica Reloaded — Cheese & Grain, Frome, 7pm. Tribute night. Tickets
Sunday, 20 September
The Great Polden Hills Mangelwurzel Day — Edington Village Hall. A full village celebration of Somerset's quirkiest agricultural heritage, born from a bet over who could grow the biggest mangelwurzel. More info
David Thomas Broughton – Live At The Tree House — Cheese & Grain, Frome, 7pm. Tickets
Clarks Village Food Festival — Shoemakers Museum lawn, Clarks Village, Street, 11am–6pm (last admission 5pm), its final day. Free entry. More info
Abbey House's Heritage Open Days hourly tours and the Antique & Collectors Fair also continue today — see Friday and Saturday above.
Monday, 21 September
A quieter day on the calendar — catch up on the week's listings above, or see All Week for the standing regulars.
🗓️ Coming Up
Wells Food Festival — Wells city centre, Sunday 11 October, 10.30am–4.30pm. More than 200 food, drink and artisan stalls, live BBQ demos, kids' cookery workshops and live music. More info
🎬 This Week at Wells Film Centre
Pressure [12A]
Practical Magic 2 [12A]
The Dog Stars [15]
🌡️ Wells BA5 Weather — Week of 17 September
Thursday starts unsettled, with early rain clearing to sunny intervals and a high of 18°C. Friday stays cloudy with a chance of an afternoon shower, before the weekend brightens up nicely — sunny intervals and highs of 20–21°C carry through into the start of next week, with a much lower chance of rain.
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Paul Branston, Editor
Hi, I'm Paul Branston and I publish the Mendiplodocus every morning, Monday to Friday. Each issue goes out to a growing base of thousands of local residents who want to keep up to date with events and local news. If you have events or news to share or you have a local business to promote, please get in touch.
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