Good morning, Mendips! Today we tell the story of one Mendip artist who opens her studio as part of the Somerset Art Weeks, plus a seaside day out at a Wells care home, an MP's Parliament fight over retirement housing charges, a police crackdown on Glastonbury's school-run parking, and this Saturday's Cider & Cheese Festival at Wells Cathedral.
📅 Featured Event — Wells Cathedral's Cider & Cheese Festival returns
📰 Hot News - Mendips Style — a seaside day at a Wells care home · an MP's Parliament housing fight · Glastonbury's school parking crackdown
🔤 Uxbridge English Dictionary — today's entry
Meet artist Helen Hobden
📆 What's On This Week — across the Mendips
🌡️ Weather — Wells BA5 forecast
Featured Event
This Saturday, Wells Cathedral throws open Cathedral Green for the second running of its Cider & Cheese Festival, noon until nine at night, with the best of the West Country's cider and cheese gathered beneath the nave's shadow.
Cheese comes from Barber's Farmhouse Cheesemakers, The Bath Soft Cheese Co, Glastonbury Cheese, Godminster and Wyke; cider drinkers can work through Honey's Cider, Isaac Cider, Rich's Cider, Bristol Cider Company, Bray's Cider and Dowding's, alongside chutneys from Bramble and Spice and a line-up of local gins, vodkas and rum.
Live music comes from Lipinski, Irie Fire, Boots Stompin' Country and Alphajay, with kids' entertainment from Wookey Hole Caves, giant garden games and a bouncy castle. A commemorative festival glass and tasting notes are included with entry, and proceeds go towards the upkeep of the 800-year-old building.
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🏖️ Wells Care Home Turns Back the Clock for a Seaside Day
Crandon Springs Care Home in Wells was transformed into a vintage seaside resort last week, complete with sandcastles, hook-a-duck, a Punch and Judy show and fish and chips in the sun. Dementia Care Champions Liza and Caz organised the day to spark reminiscence among residents, with manager Darius Ivana saying the aim was to bring back "the feeling of a traditional seaside day."
🏛️ Wells MP Tessa Munt Raises Retirement Housing Costs in Parliament
Wells and Mendip Hills MP Tessa Munt used a Commons debate on retirement housing to highlight families left paying years of service charges on properties they can't sell because of over-55 age restrictions. She cited one constituent's flat, unsold since 2022, and a repainting bill of £240,000 — more than £5,000 per flat — at another retirement block. "They are absolutely banjaxed," she told MPs.
🚸 Glastonbury School Parking Becomes a Police Priority
Avon and Somerset Police has made parking around Glastonbury's schools a neighbourhood policing priority, after reports of vehicles blocking roads and pavements at drop-off and pick-up times. Officers will step up patrols and work with Somerset Council's parking wardens, and residents are urged to report obstructions on 101 as they happen.
✊ The Suffragette Who Smashed Windows — and Did Time in Shepton Mallet
A century on, Shepton Mallet prison's most famous inmate is being remembered: suffragette Mabel Capper, jailed there in 1911 after smashing four windows at Bath's main post office in protest at being barred from a speech by Chancellor David Lloyd George. Barely five feet tall and "of superior education" according to the prison register, Capper was imprisoned six times for the cause and was among the first suffragettes force-fed during hunger strikes.
English Lessons from the
Uxbridge English Dictionary
T – V
Tandem
A bicycle built for an argument.
Thesaurus
An extinct reptile with a very wide vocabulary.
Turkey
A country that never stops talking about itself.
Understudy
Revision done on the Tube.
Vindictive
A grape variety with a grudge.
A little fairytale in Pilton, and a whole festival to explore
You don’t need to know your oils from your acrylics to enjoy Somerset Art Weeks. Running until 4 October, the festival is an invitation to discover the creativity on our doorstep, with exhibitions and events across the county.
Here in Mendip, 16 artists and studios feature in the programme. Among them is Pilton painter Helen Hobden, who has invited Mendiplodocus readers to visit her first little exhibition as part of Somerset Art Weeks.
Helen Hobden in her studio
Helen describes her work as “story-telling art with a folktale feel and beautiful historical landscapes”. It sounds comfortably at home in this corner of Somerset, where the landscape has never been short of stories.
Her home studio overlooks the countryside, with Glastonbury Tor visible if, she says, she stands on one leg at a particular angle. That combination of the everyday and the slightly magical runs through her approach: “My art is a dance between realism, abstract and fairytale.”
Her creative route has taken a few interesting turns. Before returning to her childhood love of painting, Helen had a young adult novel published by Andersen Press and made one-of-a-kind clothing inspired by stories, adventure and fairies. One memorable commission led to a sunrise wedding-dress photoshoot beside Venice’s Grand Canal.
By The Fire
These days, sketchbook outings and photography help feed paintings that combine realistic subjects with abstract backgrounds, layered colours and textures. She hopes viewers recognise somewhere they have known, whether in real life or in their imagination.
Evening Decisions
But Helen’s exhibition is one stop, not the whole itinerary. Somerset Art Weeks celebrates contemporary visual art and craft, with the Festival placing particular emphasis on group exhibitions, collaborations and creative events. Why not pick a few contrasting contributors from the programme and make an afternoon of it around Pilton, Shepton Mallet, Glastonbury or Wells?
Visit Helen: Studio 64, Hillview, Whitstone Hill, Pilton, BA4 4DT. Her exhibition is open 10am–5pm until 4 October, closed Mondays.
Browse the festival guide to plan your own route, and check each venue’s opening arrangements before travelling. Start with a little fairytale in Pilton, then see what else catches your eye.
All week (23–27 September)
Wednesday, 23 September
Autumn Equinox Sunrise Ceremony — dawn, Glastonbury Tor. Free, no booking — the annual gathering to mark the turn of the season.
The Songwriting Life – 6-Week Course — 10am-1pm, Abbey House, Glastonbury Abbey. Ticketed course guided by Patrick Duff. More info
Adult Performance Company — 7:30pm, Chew Magna Baptist Hall. Free, booking required — weekly theatre group. More info
Thursday, 24 September
Wells Jazz and Blues Festival — begins today, 2pm-10pm, venues across Wells. The city's first ever festival, 24 bands across four venues, running through Saturday. More info
Walk & Wine Thursday — 6pm-7pm, Wells Market Place (meet near Penniless Porch). Free weekly circular walk for women. More info
Open Mic Night — 6:30pm, Cheese & Grain, Frome. More info
True Foxes – Live At The Tree House — 7pm, Cheese & Grain, Frome. More info
Art Bank Introducing: The Blue School Rock & Pop Showcase — The Art Bank, 13 High Street, Shepton Mallet. More info
Lilith: The Other Side of the Story — Strode Theatre, Street. More info
Spa Weekend — Strode Theatre, Street. More info
Little Seedlings Parent & Toddler Group — 10am-11:30am, forest school site, Shepton Mallet. £8 per session. More info
Friday, 25 September
Wells Jazz and Blues Festival — day two, 2pm-10pm, venues across Wells. More info
The Amazons — 7pm, Cheese & Grain, Frome. More info
Mobius Loop | Candlelit Concert — evening, St Benedict's Church, Glastonbury. Folk laments and peace anthems by candlelight. More info
Music Bingo — 8:30pm, Bluebird Cafe & Bar, Wedmore. Free entry. More info
Tony — Strode Theatre, Street. More info
Bitter Christmas — Strode Theatre, Street. Runs to 30 September. More info
Saturday, 26 September
Wells Jazz and Blues Festival — final day, 2pm-10pm, venues across Wells. More info
Wells Cathedral Cider & Cheese Festival — 12pm-9pm, Wells Cathedral — see Featured Event above.
Through The Ages at Glastonbury Abbey — 10am-5pm (also Sunday), Main Abbey, Glastonbury Abbey. More info
This Ain't Texas — Bath & West Showground, Shepton Mallet. Country and western festival with tribute acts, BBQ and axe throwing. More info
Step by Step Performances — midday, Shoemakers Museum, Street. More info
Magnum — 7pm, Cheese & Grain, Frome. More info
Street Repair Cafe — 10am-12pm, Quaker Meeting House, Street. Free — bring broken items for volunteer repairers to try to fix. More info
Sam Evans — 8:30pm, Bluebird Cafe & Bar, Wedmore. Blues, soul, jazz and funk. More info
Bingo Night — Wells Scout Hut, Kennion Road. More info
Late Fame — Strode Theatre, Street. More info
Sunday, 27 September
Through The Ages at Glastonbury Abbey — day two, 10am-5pm, Main Abbey — see Saturday above.
Shepton Mallet Sunday Market — 10am-3pm, Market Place, Shepton Mallet. More info
Mark Pembrey Jazz Trio — 2:30pm-4:30pm, Bluebird Cafe & Bar, Wedmore. More info
New Amen Corner — Bringing Back the 60s, Soul and Motown — Strode Theatre, Street. More info
🗓️ Coming Up
Wells Food Festival — Wells city centre. Sunday 11 October, 10:30am-4:30pm.
Somerset Guy Fawkes Carnival Circuit — Wells, Glastonbury and Shepton Mallet. Dates confirmed for November.
🎬 This Week at Wells Film Centre
Pressure [12A]
Practical Magic 2 [12A]
Shaun The Sheep: The Beast Of Mossy Bottom [U]
🌡️ Wells BA5 Weather — Week of 23 September
It's a mild, mostly pleasant week for the Mendips — sunny intervals through Wednesday and Thursday with highs around 20-21°C, turning showery on Friday afternoon and staying unsettled into the weekend, with the best chance of rain on Sunday. Nights stay cool, dipping to high single figures, so keep a layer handy for Saturday's Cider & Cheese Festival.
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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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