Good morning, Mendips! We've a hitchhiker who vanished mid-journey on the old lane out of Nunney, a Shepton Mallet fraudster jailed, an award nod for a beloved Glastonbury chippy, and a full look at what's worth doing across the Mendips this week.

📅 What Shall We Do This Week? — our look ahead to the week

🔤 Uxbridge English Dictionary — today's entry

📰 Hot News - Mendips Style — a jailed fraudster, an award-winning chippy, roadworks and a flag row, plus the ghost who didn't stay for the ride

The Ghostly hitchhiker of Nunney

📆 What's On This Week — across the Mendips

🌡️ Weather — Wells BA5 forecast

It's a quieter week across the Mendips after a run of festivals and full-on weekends, which makes it a good one for slipping into some of autumn's smaller, more rewarding events. Wookey Hole Caves' Wookey Uncovered heritage trail and Victorian papermill tours are in their final days, so families keen to explore the caves properly rather than just tick the box should get in before the season's programme wraps up on Wednesday. Theatre-lovers have the same window to catch Bitter Christmas at Strode Theatre in Street, which also finishes its run midweek — drier and wittier than the usual autumn fare.

Tuesday brings a genuine treat for anyone who appreciates musical showmanship: the Crook Peak Music Festival returns to St Mary's Church in Wedmore for an evening of solo percussion with Harriet Riley, whose array of instruments turns the church into as much a visual spectacle as a musical one — a lovely, low-key pick for an older or classically-minded crowd, with a drink thrown in.

In Chew Magna, the weekly Adult Performance Company sessions continue on Wednesday evening, part of Valley Arts' ongoing Fringe Festival — worth a look for anyone who fancies treading the boards rather than just watching from the stalls.

Thursday is for a gentler pace: Walk & Wine Thursday sets off from Wells Market Place for a sociable evening circular walk finishing at Fosso Lounge, open to women walking solo as much as in company. Friday, if little ones are more your priority, sees Little Seedlings — the forest-school-style parent and toddler group near Shepton Mallet — running its autumn term session, all mud kitchen, pond dipping and nature craft, grandparents very much included.

To finish the week, Wedmore's Bluebird Cafe & Bar runs its regular Friday quiz night, always a good bet for a cheap and cheerful evening with friends. Looking just beyond the working week, Frome's Cheese & Grain has a busy few days lined up — Jon Allen plays the Tree House on Thursday, and Friday's Jo Whiley 90s anthems night is already sold out, a reminder to book early if a big autumn gig is on your radar.

Whatever your pace this week, there's something in it — times, venues and the full day-by-day list are all in the What's On This Week section below.

Knight's in Glastonbury has been named the only Somerset chippy to make the longlist for the National Fish & Chip Awards 2027, continuing its run of top honours. The shop has built its reputation over the years for consistently ranking among the best in the region.

Read full story → (Somerset Leveller)

Somerset Council says its £4m Whitnell Corner road safety scheme near Wells remains on schedule to open by mid-December. The junction has long been a concern for road safety on the approach into the city.

Read full story → (Wells Nub News)

Street Parish Council has responded after Union Flag banners were removed from the High Street, a change that prompted criticism from residents. The council says the decision followed its usual review of seasonal street decorations.

Read full story → (Glastonbury Nub News)

Many of us have given a lift to someone who didn't say much. Very few have given a lift to someone who didn't stay much.

By day, the three-mile lane between Nunney and Frome is perfectly pleasant. But in August 1977 it made the national papers for a less cheerful reason.

The story goes like this. A driver stopped for a man standing by the road: middle-aged, in a check jacket. The passenger climbed into the back seat and remarked that it was cold. Then, while the car was still moving, he simply wasn't there anymore.

The shaken driver reported it to the police in Frome. One retelling adds that he had locked the doors once his passenger got in, which rather narrows down the exits.

Accounts disagree on the date. One puts the lift around 1975, with the story only surfacing two years later. By the summer of 1977, though, Nunney was reportedly in a proper flap. The ghost was said to be scaring people away from the village's Silver Jubilee celebrations, and vigilantes were supposedly patrolling the lane after dark. What they planned to do if they caught him was never explained.

Then came the twist. The chairman of the Jubilee Committee later admitted the panic had been a publicity stunt, built on the back of the driver's account. History doesn't record whether it sold more raffle tickets.

So, case closed? Not quite. The stunt explains the hysteria, but not the original lift. The lane also had form. A retired lorry driver recalled colleagues in the 1940s claiming to see a ghost there, blamed on the dying curse of a cyclist knocked down on the road. Go back further and the history turns grim. Men who backed the Duke of Monmouth's rebellion in 1685 were said to have been hanged from trees along it, with the gibbets heard creaking at night. One ghost-hunting database even files the spot under "Gibbet Hill".

Some say the hitchhiker has also been seen around Nunney Castle. The castle has had its own bad luck: Parliamentarian guns battered it in 1645, and its damaged north wall finally gave up on Christmas Day 1910.

So if you're driving to Frome after dark and see a man in a check jacket with his thumb out, you have a choice. Stop, and you might become part of Mendip folklore. Drive on, and you're probably just sensible. Either way, turn the heater up. He does feel the cold.

Heard the Nunney hitchhiker story, or had a lift go strangely quiet on that lane? Hit reply and tell us.

→ Full listings and booking at Wells Film Centre

🌡️ Wells BA5 Weather — Week of 28 September

Expect a mild, changeable start to the week across the Mendips, with sunny spells giving way to occasional showers by midweek. Evenings are drawing in and turning noticeably cooler, so an extra layer is worth packing if you're out late.

→ Full 7-day forecast on BBC Weather

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