Good morning, Mendips! It's Friday, and the weekend ahead runs from 90s anthems in Frome to Mozart in Street, with a gospel choir, a Linkin Park tribute and a very special stone on a dog walk thrown in. In the news: a national award for Wells Market, a former tannery coming back to life in Glastonbury, Shepton Mallet Prison's place on a list of Britain's eeriest spots, and Somerset's new plan on domestic abuse.
📅 Weekend Planner — what shall we do this weekend?
📰 Hot News - Mendips Style — Wells Market wins national award · Baily's Building reborn · Shepton Prison's eerie fame · Somerset's domestic abuse strategy
🔤 Uxbridge English Dictionary — today's entry
🐕 Feature — The Stone on Our Favourite Dog Walk
📅 What's On This Week — across the Mendips
🌡️ Weather — Wells BA5 forecast
What Shall We Do For The Weekend?
Friday night opens with a choice of singalongs. In Frome, Jo Whiley's 90s Anthems promises a night of 90s favourites for anyone who still knows every word, while over in Wells the PRP Gospel Choir runs a drop-in evening of harmony at the Methodist church.
Saturday is a day for the creative and the culture-minded. Pick between a few quiet hours of writing at the Writers Retreat out at Friars Oven Farm in West Compton, or an Autumn Mini Yoga Retreat at Abbey House in Glastonbury. The Somerset Art Weeks Festival draws to a close this weekend too, so it is the last chance to catch it.
Saturday evening is where it really spreads out. The Strode Theatre in Street screens Mozart's Così fan tutte from the Metropolitan Opera, Wells Cathedral welcomes the Chorister Trust's Annual Evensong, and Studio 24 turns the volume up for L1NKN P4RK, a Linkin Park tribute for anyone whose teenage years had that soundtrack. Prefer something more intimate? Doe Paoro plays St John's Church in Glastonbury.
Sunday starts gently with Life Drawing with Charcoal and Bread back at Abbey House, followed by the afternoon's Wells Tuesday Strings concert for the Strode. Then it is back to Frome, where Noel Fitzpatrick brings Pets & Hugs & Rock n Roll to the Cheese & Grain for an evening aimed squarely at animal lovers.
Wells Tuesday Strings play a Concert for Strode
Times, prices and booking details for all of these, plus plenty more, are in What's On below ↓ And if you want a walk to go with your weekend, our feature article has one with a story attached.
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🏆 Wells Market Named Small Market of the Year at National Awards
Wells Market has been named Small Market of the Year at the 2026 NABMA National Awards. Mayor Cllr Denise Denis collected the trophy on Tuesday, a little over a year after Wells City Council took the market over from Somerset Council. The council now runs a monthly Sunday market pilot, and an expanded Wells City Christmas Market is planned for Saturday 12 and Sunday 13 December.
🏭 Glastonbury Factory Welcomes Workers Back After 50 Years
More than 60 staff from Candlelight Homecare have moved into Baily's Building, the Grade II listed former tannery in Glastonbury, the first workers to use it in nearly 50 years. The site once made sheepskin goods and, famously, boxing gloves for Muhammad Ali. The £7.6m redevelopment was part of the Glastonbury Town Deal.
👻 Shepton Mallet Prison Named Among Britain's Eeriest Places
Shepton Mallet Prison has made it into Peter Naldrett's book Spooky Britain: The 100 Most Eerie and Mysterious Places to Visit, published by Conway on 24 September. The book picks out the jail's reputed White Lady and C Wing. Closer to home, Glastonbury Tor and Gough's Cave also get a mention.
🏡 Somerset Launches New Strategy to Tackle Domestic Abuse
Somerset Council and its partners have launched the Somerset Domestic Abuse Strategy 2026–2029, a shared plan to prevent abuse, support victims and families, and hold those who cause harm to account. An estimated 21,084 people aged 16 and over experienced domestic abuse in Somerset in 2023–24, and the Somerset Domestic Abuse Service received 2,435 referrals. Support is available on 0800 69 49 999 (8am to 8pm, seven days a week). In an emergency, always call 999.
English Lessons from the
Uxbridge English Dictionary
E
E-mail
Yorkshire for "the postman's arrived".
Embellished
Kind of like a bell.
Equidistant
An ant who's been slagged off by a horse.
Equinox
How you know there's a horse at the door.
Ethics
It's the next county to Thuthex.
The Stone on Our Favourite Dog Walk
Five rescue dogs, one beautiful hillside above Compton Martin, and a small stone that stops me every time.
Ask our five rescues where they'd most like to go and I'm fairly sure the answer would be Hazel Manor. Angus, Luna, Jenna, Tommy and Freddie don't agree on much. Ask any of them about food, sofas or who gets the front seat and you'll get five different answers. But the woodland rides and open escarpment above Compton Martin get five wagging tails every time.
It's a gorgeous walk. You get tree-lined tracks, mature beeches, parkland-style grassland and, on a clear day, views right down over the Chew Valley to Blagdon Lake. There's usually a lot of sniffing. Freddie, in particular, treats every gatepost as breaking news.
Along the way, on a quiet verge overlooking a field, there's a memorial stone. The dogs trot straight past it, but Rachel and I always stop.
Blagdon Local History Society’s memorial
It marks the spot where, on 14 March 1944, an American B-24J Liberator bomber crashed into this hillside.
The aircraft was brand new and on its delivery flight to the war in Europe. It had come from Florida via Bermuda and Marrakesh, heading for RAF Valley on Anglesey. Bad weather closed Valley, so the crew tried to divert to Cornwall and lost their bearings on the way. The fog was thick, with visibility described as "near zero". They eventually found Filton, where flares were lit for them, but the first landing attempt was abandoned. On the second, the Liberator crossed Blagdon Lake, clipped the treetops on the Mendip slope and came down near Hazel Farm.
Children at Ubley school had watched it pass low overhead. Five of the ten men aboard were killed and five survived. Investigators blamed a young crew fresh out of training, exhaustion, filthy weather, and an unfamiliar country they probably had no maps for.
Eighty years later, in March 2024, Blagdon Local History Society unveiled the stone and plaque. A US Air Force officer attended, and so did a man who had seen the plane go over as a schoolboy.
If you're looking for a quiet, beautiful dog walk, I'd thoroughly recommend it. The Limestone Link and Monarch's Way both pass through, and much of the estate is reached by waymarked permissive paths. Please stick to the signed routes and close the gates. Keep dogs on leads around livestock and deer, and bag it and bin it. And when you reach the stone, take a moment. Ten young men were trying to find their way through the fog, and only five made it home.
The view of Blagdon Lake
Read more at the Blagdon Local History Society
https://www.blagdonlhs.com/aircrash-compton-martin-1944
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All week (Fri 2 – Tue 6 October)
Somerset Art Weeks Festival — venues across Somerset. Runs to Sunday 4 October; free. More info
Tom Winter — The Bishop's Palace, Wells. Exhibition running to 21 November. More info
Step by Step performances and Cultural Connections — Shoemakers Museum, Street. Final days (to Saturday 3 October); performances at 12 noon, free with museum entry. Step by Step · Cultural Connections
Fun Dance Class — Chewton Mendip Village Hall. Weekly at 5.30pm to 31 December; £10 drop-in or £42.50 for five. More info
Friday 2 October
Jo Whiley's 90s Anthems — 7.30pm, Cheese & Grain, Frome. A night of 90s favourites; £28.50 plus booking fee. Booking
Caitlin Krisko & The Broadcast — 7pm, The Tree House at the Cheese & Grain, Frome. Live music. More info
PRP Gospel Choir — 7.30–9pm, Wells Methodist Church. Drop-in session led by musical director Emma Wheat; £10. More info
Skimmity Hitchers with support from Imprints Duo — The King Arthur, Glastonbury. Live music. More info
Glastonbury Town Players — Assembly Rooms, Glastonbury. Performances run Thursday to Sunday (1–4 October). More info
Quiz Night — 8.30pm, Bluebird Cafe & Bar, Wedmore. Free entry. More info
Saturday 3 October
Così fan tutte (MET Opera) — 6pm, Strode Theatre, Street. Mozart's comedy screened from the Metropolitan Opera; £16.50–£18.50. Booking
L1NKN P4RK (The Linkin Park Experience) — 7pm, Studio 24, Wells. Tribute night; £20 advance. Booking
Autumn Mini Yoga Retreat — 10am–1pm, Abbey House, Glastonbury Abbey. Ticketed. Booking
Writers Retreat — 11am–3pm, Friars Oven Farm, West Compton. £35. More info
Wells Cathedral Chorister Trust Annual Evensong — 5.15pm (seated from 5pm), Wells Cathedral. More info
Doe Paoro — 7.30pm, St John's Church, Glastonbury. Ticketed. More info
George and the Drag Queen (Pipeline Theatre) — Whitstone School Hall, Shepton Mallet. £14 adults, £7 under-25s and low income; start time not published.
Reggae in da Bank — The Art Bank, 13 High Street, Shepton Mallet. £4; no under-18s after 9pm. Booking
The Gleaves — 8.30pm, Bluebird Cafe & Bar, Wedmore. Free entry; reserving a table is recommended. More info
Telescope Clinic — St Thomas Church Hall, Wells. Free; time not yet published. More info
Glastonbury Town Players — Assembly Rooms, Glastonbury, to Sunday. More info
Sunday 4 October
Noel Fitzpatrick – Pets & Hugs & Rock n Roll — 7pm, Cheese & Grain, Frome. From £35 (premium and meet & greet tickets available). Booking
Life Drawing with Charcoal and Bread — 9.30am, Abbey House, Glastonbury Abbey. Ticketed. Booking
Life Drawing with Soft Colour Pastels — 2pm, Abbey House, Glastonbury Abbey. Ticketed. Booking
Wells Tuesday Strings – Concert for Strode — 3pm, Strode Theatre Studio, Street. £10. Booking
Brushy One String — 7pm, The Tree House at the Cheese & Grain, Frome. £14.50 advance. Booking
Somerset Art Weeks Festival — final day today. More info
Monday 5 October
Roots, Routes and Resilience — opens today at Shoemakers Museum, Street (10am), running to 15 November. Included with museum entry. More info
Trio Paradis Café Concert: From Dawn to Dusk — 11am, St Thomas' Church, Wells. Pay what you feel. More info
RAFA-MSB Informal Fun Games Day — 11am, Bell Inn, Bruton Road, Evercreech. More info
Street's Sustainability Network — 6pm, management suite, Clarks Village, Street. Free.
Glastonbury Abbey: The West Gate (talk) — 7pm, Festival Hall, Glastonbury Town Hall. More info
Tuesday 6 October
Wells Cathedral School Soloist Showcase — 7.30pm, St Mary's Church, Wedmore. Adults £12, under-16s £6. Booking
Tom McRae — 7pm, The Tree House at the Cheese & Grain, Frome. Booking
Somerset Follies (talk by Jonathan Holt) — doors 7pm, talk 7.30pm, Chilcompton Village Hall. £5, with a raffle in aid of Somerset Coalfield Life at Radstock Museum.
🗓️ Coming Up
The Dairy Show — Bath & West Showground. Wed 7 Oct. More info
Mendip Swing — Bishop Sutton Village Hall. Fri 9 Oct. More info
Ozric Tentacles 'Harmonic Mind' Album Release Party — Assembly Rooms, Glastonbury. Fri 9 Oct. More info
Rising Stars Recital Series – Nurry Lee — Cedars Hall, Wells. Sat 10 Oct. More info
Wells Food Festival — Wells city centre. Sun 11 Oct. More info
Wells Festival of Literature — various venues, Wells. 16–24 Oct. More info
🎬 This Week at Wells Film Centre
Digger [15] — Fri 4.30 & 7.30pm; Sat–Sun 1.30, 4.30 & 7.30pm; Mon–Thu 3pm (tea matinee) & 7.30pm
Verity [15] — Fri–Sun 4.30 & 7.30pm; Mon–Thu 3pm (tea matinee) & 7.30pm
Sense And Sensibility [U] — Fri 7pm; Sat–Sun 1.30 & 7pm; Mon 7pm; Tue 3pm (tea matinee); Wed 7pm; Thu 3pm (tea matinee)
Pressure [12A] — Fri 4.30pm; Mon 3pm (tea matinee); Tue 7pm; Wed 3pm (tea matinee); Thu 7pm
Shaun The Sheep: The Beast Of Mossy Bottom [U] — Sat–Sun 2pm & 4.30pm
🌡️ Wells BA5 Weather — Week of 2 October
Friday is looking mild and bright locally, with sunny intervals and temperatures around 20°C. It is October in the Mendips, though, so pack a layer and a brolly for the weekend's outdoor plans and check the latest forecast before you set off.
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