Issue #98 — Thursday 29 October 2026
Good morning, Mendips! Today is all about stitches and sparkle: a huge craft show at the Showground (with a very special red dress arriving on Saturday), There’s a Glastonbury chippy chasing a national title and could you be the star of your own show as a story teller? Tomorrow night Wells Cathedral goes candlelit for a Frankie Valli tribute, and further down there's a devilishly good read about Old Nick's long love affair with Mendip. Pop the kettle on and have a skim.
Featured Event
Oh, what a night! This Friday 30 October, Wells Cathedral hosts Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons by Candlelight, a tribute show performed by Walk Like a Man! with a full live band. Expect the big harmonies and showmanship of the Four Seasons, with classics like Sherry, Walk Like a Man and Oh What a Night ringing around the cathedral by candlelight.
It runs from 7.30pm to 9.30pm, and it's a rather lovely way to kick off the Halloween weekend without a single zombie in sight. Do check the cathedral's page for ticket prices and availability before you set off.
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🧵 A Dress Stitched by 380 People Is Coming to Shepton
It took 14 years, 380 people and 51 countries to make The Red Dress, a silk gown embroidered with the stories of refugees and war survivors by artist Kirstie Macleod. It's on show in Shepton Mallet for one day only this Saturday 31 October, as part of the Stitching4All and Craft4Crafters show at the Bath & West Showground, which runs from today.
🍟 Glastonbury's Knights Is in the Running for Britain's Best Takeaway
Knights Fish Restaurant in Glastonbury has made the final 20 for Takeaway of the Year at the National Fish & Chip Awards 2027, and it's the only Somerset business still in the race. The judges will whittle it down to ten in December, with the winner announced in London on 24 February. Fish Fingers crossed.
🌱 A New Fund Is Helping Somerset's Nature Bounce Back
Somerset Council has launched the Local Nature Recovery Strategy Community Seed Fund, offering grants of up to £10,000 for projects that help wildlife recover. Parish councils, community groups, charities, schools, farmers and landowners can apply for things like restoring habitats, helping priority species and linking up wildlife areas. Applications close on 4 December 2026.
English Lessons from the
Uxbridge English Dictionary
Ballylaika – A fan of Swan Lake.
Barrier – More like Barry.
Highlights – Just another name for lampposts.
Naysayer – A horse.
Stylist – Pig farmer's inventory.
Any contributions? Hit reply.
🎤 Fancy Being a Storyteller?
Ever wished you could be a performer but can't sing, play an instrument or act? Here's a thought: become a storyteller. Everyone loves a good story, and there are plenty of places to find an audience.
A friendly place to start is Tell a Tale or Two, a free workshop with Colin Emmett, a long-established storyteller, at Chew Valley Library in Bishop Sutton on Friday 30 October, 10.30am to 12.30pm. You'll learn how to tell stories from memory, where to find folk tales, fairy tales, legends and personal stories, and how to bring them to life for an audience. It suits complete beginners as well as people who already love a tale.
Colin Emmett - Tells a tale
It's for adults, you'll need to reserve a space, and it's part of the Valley Arts 10th Fringe Festival.
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Halloween Week in Mendip
The Devil Is a Mendip Man
Some visitors come to Mendip for the cheese, some for the caves, and some for the views. One has clearly been coming for centuries, and he never seems to leave. Look at the local folklore and the Devil turns up so often that you'd think he had a second home here. Going by the place-names, he might.
He did the landscaping
Legend says the Mendip Hills were once smooth and rolling, a lovely bit of handiwork that annoyed the Devil enormously. So he took a spade to them and gouged out Cheddar Gorge, Burrington Combe and Ebbor Gorge, then flung the spoil across the Levels. One spadeful is said to have become Brent Knoll. It was a huge job, and like most building work round here, nobody can find the paperwork.
He furnished the place
A second home needs furniture. On Rode Common he has his Bed and Bolster, a Stone Age long barrow, and one visitor reckons the stone at the end is his footstool. For entertaining, there's the Devil's Punchbowl near Priddy, a hollow so big it would take an awful lot of mulled wine to fill. Rode villagers used to dance round their church every Shrove Tuesday and finish with a great shout to see him off. Judging by everything else in this article, it didn't work.
He threw the party
His most famous night out was at Stanton Drew. A wedding party was dancing in the meadow on a Saturday night when the fiddler stopped at midnight, because he wouldn't play on a Sunday. A handsome stranger took over and played faster and faster until the guests dropped and were turned to stone. The stranger, of course, was the Devil.
The stones are said to be impossible to count, and anyone who tries may fall ill. The architect John Wood tried in 1749 and was rewarded with a violent thunderstorm. A later tale has a baker putting a loaf on each stone to keep track, only for the loaves to vanish every time he turned his back. Somewhere, a well-fed Devil was laughing.
The Devil’s dance party - Stanton Drew
He keeps losing
For all his swagger, Mendip keeps getting the better of him. At Compton Bishop he lost a stone-throwing contest to a local strongman. Then at Glastonbury he went to tempt young Dunstan, who was working at his forge. Dunstan grabbed him by the nose with red-hot tongs and, as the old rhyme puts it, "made him roar, that he was heard three miles or more". He only got his nose back by promising never to enter a house with a horseshoe over the door. That is said to be why we still hang them up for luck.
He's still around
So why Mendip? Perhaps it's the views, or the cider. Or perhaps he simply can't resist a place where he loses this often. Have you met him on Mendip, or heard a devilish tale we've missed? Hit reply and tell us. And maybe check that horseshoe is still over your door.
Today (Thursday 29 October)
Stitching4All & Craft4Crafters — 10am–5pm, Bath & West Showground, Shepton Mallet. Three-day craft show with workshops, demos and quilt displays; free parking. More info
Republica: 30 Years of Ready To Go — 7pm, Cheese & Grain, Frome. £30. Booking
Waiting for Godot — 7.30pm, Strode Theatre, Street. £16–£17.50, runs to Saturday. Booking
The Nut Farmer of Glastonbury — 7pm, Strode Theatre, Street. Film screening with an introduction from filmmaker Elsa Kent. £5–£8.80. Booking
Spooktacular Halloween at Shoemakers — 10am–4pm, Shoemakers Museum, Street. Free with museum entry. More info
The Mists of Samhain: A Halloween Story — 7.30pm, The Assembly Rooms, Glastonbury. More info
Family Activity: Winter Lanterns — 11am–1pm, Abbey Museum, Glastonbury Abbey. More info
Tomorrow (Friday 30 October)
Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons by Candlelight — 7.30pm, Wells Cathedral. Tribute show by Walk Like a Man! Booking
Grandmaster Flash (Four Elements Tour) — 7pm, Cheese & Grain, Frome. £26. Booking
Waiting for Godot — 7.30pm, Strode Theatre, Street. £16–£17.50. Booking
Stitching4All & Craft4Crafters — 10am–5pm, Bath & West Showground, Shepton Mallet. Day two of the craft show. More info
Spooktacular Museum After Dark — 4pm–6.30pm, Shoemakers Museum, Street. Entry with a museum pass. More info
SkABBA — 8pm, Bishop Sutton Village Hall. Ticketed, part of the Valley Arts Fringe Festival. Booking
Axbridge Community Cinema: Hunt for the Wilderpeople — 7.30pm, Axbridge Town Hall. £5.
Family Volunteering: Making Bird Feeders — 11am–2pm, Glastonbury Abbey. Free, booking required. Booking
Tell a Tale or Two — 10.30am–12.30pm, Chew Valley Library, Bishop Sutton. Free, booking required. Booking
🎬 This Week at Wells Film Centre
Wildwood [12A] — Thu 4:30pm, 7pm; Fri 7pm
Klara And The Sun [12A] — Thu 7:30pm; Fri 4:30pm
Forgotten Island [PG] — Thu 2pm, 4:30pm
Street Fighter [12A] — Thu 4:30pm, 7:30pm
Ghosts: The Possession of Button House [PG] — Fri 1:30pm, 4:30pm, 7:30pm
Wicker [15] — Fri 4:30pm, 7:30pm
Tad And The Magic Lamp [U] — Thu 2pm; Fri 2pm
Shaun The Sheep: The Beast Of Mossy Bottom [U] — Thu 1:30pm; Fri 2pm
🌡️ Wells BA5 Weather — Week of 29 October
Thu 29: Sunny intervals, 15°C / 9°C
Fri 30: Sunny, 16°C / 6°C
Sat 31: Sunny, 14°C / 6°C
Sun 1: Sunny intervals, 12°C / 8°C
Mon 2: Sunny intervals, 12°C / 7°C
Tue 3: Sunny intervals, 12°C / 7°C
Wed 4: Cloudy, 11°C / 7°C (less certain)
Thu 5: Sunny intervals, 11°C / 6°C (less certain)
Met Office forecast as read on Wednesday 28 October.
Contact Mendy the Mendiplodocus
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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