Issue #20 | Tuesday 14 July 2026

Good morning, Mendips! It's a big weekend shaping up in Godney, with two days of live music at The Godney Gathering, plus a candlelit Westlife show at Wells Cathedral and a packed diary right across the hills. There's also disruption to plan around at Whitnell Corner, and an update on the Britannia Inn's future in Wells — read on for the full rundown.

🎪 The Godney Gathering - Today's featured event
📅 What's On This Week — across the Mendips

GHOST STORY - The white lady of the George & Pilgrim

Whitnell Corner Shuts For Next Phase Of £4m Roundabout Scheme
Britannia Inn Pub Site Can Be Developed After Appeal Win
Wells MP Warns Rural Transport Risks Being Left Behind In Devolution Push
Glastonbury Community Rallies For Family After Compton Close House Fire
Wells Cathedral Set For Westlife By Candlelight This Friday
🌡️ Weather — Wells BA5 forecast

The Godney Gathering returns to Garslade Farm, Godney, on Friday 17 and Saturday 18 July, bringing two days of live music, family entertainment and local food to the fields between Glastonbury and Wells. Friday's music runs from 6pm until midnight, Saturday from midday until midnight, with last entry for new arrivals at 10pm on both days.

This year's line-up leans firmly into feel-good favourites: Reverend and the Makers, The Pigeon Detectives, Dodgy, The Wurzels and Fun Lovin' Criminals headline across the Main Stage, the This Feeling stage, Glastonbury Calling and the Silent Disco, with Land of the Giants and Mista Trick Collective also on the bill. It's homegrown in every sense — Godney sits right on the doorstep for Wells and Glastonbury regulars, and the festival has built a loyal following as one of the summer's most reliably fun local weekends out.

Adult weekend tickets are £55 (plus a £1 booking fee), with Saturday-only tickets at £45; under-10s go free with a paying adult. Camping at Garslade Farm is booked separately (£12.50 per adult per night, gates open from Thursday 16 July) and dogs aren't permitted on site. Drivers should expect a temporary one-way system on Godney Road, Crannel Lane and Polsham Lane from Friday afternoon through the weekend, so allow extra time if you're heading that way from Wells or Glastonbury.

→ Full details and tickets at thegodneygathering.com

→ Full listings and booking at Wells Film Centre

Glastonbury's most famous inn has been serving ale since 1475 — and apparently, some guests simply refuse to leave.

There is a building on Glastonbury High Street that has been minding its own business for over 550 years . Built around 1475 by Abbot John Selwood as a grand hospitium, essentially a medieval Premier Inn, but with considerably better architecture and far more drama. The George & Pilgrim is, in fact, the oldest purpose-built pub in the whole of the South West . It has welcomed pilgrims, kings, and bewildered tourists ever since. And a few guests, it turns out, have simply never left.

The star of the show is the Lady in White . She has been drifting elegantly about the place for centuries, and in 2012 a patron photographing friends in the bar accidentally snapped what appeared to be her shadowy figure lurking in the background . She did not appear in the photos taken before or after. Atmospheric, one might say. Or, if you prefer: deeply unsettling.

The story behind her haunting is either deeply romantic or a cautionary tale about keeping your love life uncomplicated. Back in the heyday of Glastonbury Abbey, the Lady fell for one of the monks . Now, monks in the 15th century faced something of a scheduling conflict when it came to romance, what with the small matter of vows of celibacy, but this particular fellow decided that rules were made to be creatively reinterpreted .

A secret underground tunnel is said to have run between the George & Pilgrim and Glastonbury Abbey . The lovers reportedly used this subterranean shortcut for their clandestine meetings, which must have added a certain frisson of excitement, though the commute was presumably damp and carried limited opportunities for candlelit dining . For a while, the arrangement worked splendidly — until, as tends to happen with secret tunnels and forbidden love, someone found out.

The consequences were, by modern standards, a touch severe. The monk was bricked up alive in the cellar, which even the most hardline abbot today would struggle to get past HR . The Lady, presumably distraught, took up permanent residence in the building and has been seen wandering its oak-beamed corridors ever since, wearing the expression of someone who has waited rather longer than expected for a second date .

A German medium, a regular guest at the inn, has reportedly confirmed to management that the pair were indeed lovers, and that their unresolved romance has left them both spiritually earthbound, doomed to haunt the place together for eternity . Which is either heartbreakingly sad or the world's most commitment-proof relationship.

The Lady is not the only permanent resident, of course. There is also a jolly, rotund monk who wanders through walls in the upper rooms, laughing as he goes . One presumes he did not take his own vows quite so catastrophically seriously.

So next time you find yourself in the George & Pilgrim with a pint, do spare a thought for the Lady in White — still searching the corridors after 550 years . The least we can do is hope she's finally found the bar.

Whitnell Corner, near West Horrington and Wells, closed to traffic yesterday as work began on the next phase of a £4 million scheme to replace the junction with a roundabout. The Bath Road crossroads has seen 67 crashes in 20 years, including a fatality in 2019, and Somerset Council says diversions will stay in place while the work continues. Drivers are urged to plan ahead and allow extra time for journeys in the area.

Read full story → (Somerset Leveller)

Plans to build five homes on the site of the former Britannia Inn in Bath Road, Wells, have been allowed on appeal, despite Somerset Council refusing the scheme last December. The East Wells Community Benefit Society, which has raised around £100,000 to buy and reopen the pub, said it was "shocked" by the decision, even though the inspector recognised strong public demand to save it. The group says it will meet shareholders in the coming days to decide its next steps.

Read full story → (Somerset Leveller)

Wells and Mendip Hills MP Tessa Munt has warned that rural communities must not lose out as politicians pursue greater devolution of powers away from Westminster. The Liberal Democrat said public transport across rural Somerset is often "sporadic, badly thought out or non-existent," and called for it to be a priority under any change in government. Ms Munt said she hoped a new Prime Minister would bring "a change in mindset" towards rural areas.

Read full story → (Wells Nub News)

A fundraiser has been launched for a Glastonbury family who lost everything in a serious house fire in Compton Close on Wednesday 8 July. Multiple fire crews, including engines from Glastonbury, Street and Wells, fought the blaze which left the property around 75 per cent fire-damaged; the family are safe and the cause has been confirmed as accidental. More than 80 donors have already given to the GoFundMe appeal set up to help the family get back on their feet.

Read full story → (Glastonbury Nub News)

Wells Cathedral turns candlelit concert venue this Friday for The Music of Westlife by Candlelight, a 7:30pm show of the band's biggest hits performed by West End vocalists and a live band beneath the cathedral's arches. It's the latest in a run of candlelit concerts to hit Wells Cathedral this summer, and organisers say the setting turns even the most-loved pop hits into something rather special. Tickets are still available, but early booking is recommended.

Read full story → (Concerts by Candlelight)

🌡️ Wells BA5 Weather — Week of 14 July 2026

It's a hot start to the week, with sunny spells and highs near 29°C on Tuesday and Wednesday before things turn a little more changeable — expect light rain moving in on Thursday and Friday, with a good scattering of drizzle for Saturday. Temperatures stay warm throughout, rarely dropping below the mid-teens overnight, so it's shorts-and-sunscreen weather for the Godney Gathering weekend even if a shower or two blows through.

→ Full 7-day forecast on BBC Weather

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