Good morning, Mendips! It's Friday, and we've got a bumper weekend ahead — jazz spilling out of Wells, a Cider & Cheese Festival at the Cathedral, medieval re-enactors at Glastonbury Abbey, and a full cowboy takeover of Shepton Mallet. Plus, a rather sheepish apology from your editor about some cadets we nearly let down.

📅 What Shall We Do For The Weekend? — jazz, cider and cowboys

📰 Hot News - Mendips Style — Wells café plans · Glastonbury pub homes · Strawberry Line boost · £50m flood fund

🔤 Uxbridge English Dictionary — today's entry

Your Air Force Needs You

📆 What's On This Week — across the Mendips

🌡️ Weather — Wells BA5 forecast

The Mendips go into overdrive this weekend — three days of jazz, cider, medieval re-enactment and a slice of the American West, all within a short drive of each other.

It kicks off tonight as Wells launches its second Wells Jazz and Blues Festival, with 24 bands playing across four venues in the city right through to Sunday — perfect for anyone who fancies drifting between pubs and halls catching a set here and there rather than committing to one big show. If your taste runs louder, Frome's Cheese & Grain has The Amazons in for a full-throttle indie-rock headline show tonight — arrive early, as Frome Carnival will also be filling the town's roads (and closing some of them) from 6pm.

Saturday belongs to Wells Cathedral, which throws open its doors for its second Cider & Cheese Festival, running midday into the evening with West Country producers, street food and family entertainment from Wookey Hole Caves, all in aid of the Cathedral's upkeep.

The Jazz and Blues Festival rolls on too. Over in Glastonbury, Through The Ages takes over the Abbey grounds for the weekend — a sprawling re-enactment spanning almost 2,000 years of history, ideal if the kids (or you) enjoy people in armour, or robes, or both.

Shepton Mallet, meanwhile, goes full cowboy for This Ain't Texas at the Bath & West Showground — tribute acts, American barbecue, whiskey stalls and axe throwing, fancy dress positively encouraged. And if Saturday night calls for something heavier, Magnum bring five decades of rock to Cheese & Grain.

Sunday winds things down gently. In Wedmore, the Bluebird Cafe's Mark Pembrey Jazz Trio serenades the afternoon with sax, guitar and double bass — a nice down-tempo landing after a loud Saturday.

Back in Shepton Mallet, the town centre becomes a proper day out for the Shepton Mallet Sunday Market — stalls, DJs, live music and, yes, a petting zoo in the churchyard. Through The Ages and the Jazz and Blues Festival both wrap up too, so there's still plenty of ways to fill a lazy Sunday before the week turns over.

However you spend it, get out there and enjoy it. Times, venues and the full day-by-day list — everything from quiz nights to the Bishop's Palace — are all in the What's On This Week section below.

Plans have been submitted to build three new homes beside the Waggon and Horses pub on Wells Road, Glastonbury, while keeping the pub itself in place. It's a change of tack from a 2024 scheme that would have converted the pub into flats. Residents have until Wednesday 21 October to comment.

Read full story → (Glastonbury Nub News)

A £30,000 grant from the Mendip Hills National Landscape team is funding new signage, access improvements and path upgrades on the Strawberry Line route heading towards Shepton Mallet. The long-term goal is to extend the walking and cycling trail all the way to Collett Park. The Strawberry Line Society says it now has 450 members and around 110 active volunteers covering 29 miles of path.

Read full story → (Shepton Mallet Nub News)

Somerset Council has confirmed how it will start spending £50 million of government flood resilience funding, with more than £650k going to communities, emergency response and gully clearance before winter. As part of Flood Awareness Month, the main event is a Community Resilience Day on Wednesday 21 October at Millfield School in Street.

Read full story → (Somerset Council)

Here’s a large, rather sheepish apology from Mendiplodocus HQ. Yesterday, I failed to flag up the recruitment evening for 1955 (City of Wells) Air Cadets on Thursday 24th September. This was entirely my fault, and I am reporting for a stern talking-to, with absolutely no prospect of winning a medal for diary management.

To the squadron, its volunteers and anyone who would have liked advance notice: I'm very sorry. The least I can do is give this fine local organisation the airtime it deserved in the first place.

The good news is that new recruit enquiries are always welcome, so one newsletter editor's navigational failure needn't stop anyone getting involved.

Based at the Joint Cadet Centre, Webb's Close, Wells, BA5 2GG, the squadron welcomes prospective cadets aged 12–17 who are in Year 8 or above. Thursday evening parade nights are the local starting point, but the opportunities stretch considerably further.

Flying, adventure training, sport, cyber and space are all part of the Air Cadet offer. It's about trying unfamiliar things in a safe environment, making friends and building confidence and useful skills, rather than simply finding another evening activity.

There are also opportunities to visit RAF bases and Ministry of Defence facilities, with weekend and week-long camps offering a taste of independence. The incoming staff team hopes to broaden the activities available and work more closely with the wider Devon and Somerset area on camps and training courses.

Closer to home, cadets support fundraising for their squadron and other local charities. They also take part in parades across mid Somerset for Remembrance Sunday, Armed Forces Day and commemorations of the Battle of Britain.

Adults can join the adventure, too. The squadron is seeking volunteers over 20, and no previous military or cadet experience is required. Your existing skills could help inspire and support the next generation.

To enquire about joining as a cadet or volunteer, email [email protected]. Parents, prospective cadets and interested adults are welcome to get in touch and ask about the next steps.

Please do give them a shout. They deserve recruits; I deserve remedial calendar training.

1955 (City of Wells) Squadron
Webb's Cl
Wells
BA5 2GG

Facebook: @1955squadronatc

Instagram: @1955squadronatc

→ Full listings and booking at Wells Film Centre

🌡️ Wells BA5 Weather — Week of 25 September

A distinctly unsettled weekend on the cards — expect light rain and a fairly stiff south-westerly breeze through Friday, Saturday and Sunday, with highs hovering around 11-12°C. Pack a brolly for the Cider & Cheese Festival and the Abbey re-enactors, and layer up for anything outdoors.

→ Full 7-day forecast on BBC Weather

[email protected]

07912 499433