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Mendiplodocus Daily — Issue #37 — Tuesday 4 August 2026
Issue #37 | Tuesday 4 August 2026
Good morning, Mendips! Today we've got a candlelit Hans Zimmer tribute lighting up a Glastonbury church, a new women's fitness hub taking shape in Shepton Mallet, and free bus travel for the kids all August long — plus your full What's On rundown from now through the weekend.
📅 Featured Event — A Hans Zimmer Candlelight Experience in Glastonbury
🔤 Uxbridge English Dictionary — today's entry
📰 Hot News - Mendips Style — Landmark House · Iron Ladies fitness hub ·
Free bus travel for kids
The Witches of Shepton Mallet
📆 What's On This Week — across the Mendips
🌡️ Weather — Wells BA5 forecast
Featured Event
Live Music by Hans Zimmer - in Wells this Saturday
Glastonbury's St John the Baptist's Church glows by candlelight this Saturday for a Hans Zimmer tribute from touring outfit Lumos — the team behind a run of candlelit concerts in churches across the UK. A string trio takes on some of the composer's best-loved film scores, from the thundering brass of Gladiator to the quiet sweep of Interstellar.
Expect a set list that ranges wide: Gladiator, Kung Fu Panda, Sherlock Holmes, Madagascar, The Holiday, Interstellar, The Lion King and Pirates of the Caribbean all feature, performed entirely by candlelight. There are two sittings — 7pm and 9pm — with tiered seating from Bronze to Platinum, and a donation made to a different charity each month.
It's a lovely one to book ahead for, as candlelight concerts like this tend to sell their best seats early. Suitable for ages 8 and up, and the church is wheelchair accessible.
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📰 Hot News - Mendips Style
🚁 Wells Farm Party To Raise Cash For Air Ambulance
Palace Farm in Wells will throw open its gates on Sunday 30 August for a hog roast, live jazz and DJ entertainment, all in aid of Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance. Tickets are £30 (children go free) and include a welcome drink and the hog roast, with a bouncy castle keeping younger guests busy while the grown-ups enjoy the music.
💪 Shepton Mallet's Iron Ladies Get Their Permanent Home
Three years after Shepton Mallet Leisure Centre closed, the women-only Iron Ladies fitness community founded by local coach Alice Owen is finally getting a permanent base on the Anglo Trading Estate. The ground-floor hub will offer a women's gym, spin studio, and family sessions with childcare built in, with an open day planned for Saturday 3 October.
🚌 Free Bus Travel For Kids Runs All August
Children aged 5 to 15 can travel free on participating buses right across Somerset throughout August, under the Government's Kids Go Free scheme. Paired with the existing £3 adult fare cap, it makes a family day out to Glastonbury Tor, Wookey Hole or the coast a good deal cheaper — check Somerset Council's Bus It page for which operators and routes are taking part.
🎺 Hot 8 Brass Band Brings New Orleans Swagger To Frome
Cheese & Grain's push for more live music across the region continues on Thursday, with New Orleans outfit Hot 8 Brass Band bringing their horn-driven, high-energy show to Frome. Doors are at 7pm — expect brass, funk and a venue in full voice, part of a run of gigs the Frome venue has lined up right through the autumn.
English Lessons from the
Uxbridge English Dictionary
P
Paintings
Jamaican torture implements.
Palamino
(Any Palayorno is a Palamino)
Palisade
Financial assistance for the upkeep of the Royal Family's home.
Panache
Residue in the skillet due to excessive heat.
Panophobia
Fear of kitchen utensiles.
Jane Brooks and Alice Coward:
The Witches of Shepton Mallet
In November 1657, a Shepton Mallet boy named Richard Jones, 12, gave an old woman a slice of bread at the door. She thanked him with an apple and a stroke down his right side — and by all accounts, that was the last ordinary moment in the Jones household for months. Richard collapsed in agony, lost his speech, and when it returned, named the woman as Jane Brooks
What followed reads like a 17th-century game of Cluedo played entirely in bad faith. Neighbours were rounded up in an impromptu identity parade; the moment Brooks stepped through the door, Richard fell mute again — proof enough for everyone watching. His father beat her on the spot
Then Brooks's sister, Alice Coward, entered the story, and things got stranger still. Richard claimed a ghostly hag kept visiting him; when a witness slashed at the apparition with a knife, he cried that "cousin Gibson has cut Jane Brooks' hand."
A constable duly found Brooks with a fresh, matching wound — damning evidence to 17th-century minds, an unfortunate coincidence to anyone with a passing knowledge of household accidents
By February 1658 the tale had escalated to Richard being hoisted bodily over a stone wall and left dangling from a ceiling — allegedly Brooks's doing, and allegedly witnessed by nine people, which says rather more about mass suggestion than witchcraft
Brooks and Coward were held in Shepton Mallet's House of Correction. Coward died there awaiting trial. Brooks was condemned at the Chard Assizes and burned at the stake in the Market Place on 26 March 1658 — the case later immortalised, approvingly, in Joseph Glanvill's witch-hunting bestseller Saducismus Triumphatus
Richard, meanwhile, made a full recovery — perhaps unsurprisingly, once the frightened old women who'd become his village's scapegoats were no longer around to blame.
One wonders what the magic-fearing people of the 1600s would make of Glastonbury High Street today?
All week (4–8 August)
Mythical Creatures Trail — Wells Cathedral, daily 9am–4.30pm. Family trail through the cathedral, included with admission, running right through the summer holidays. More info
Summer Fun on the Farm — Somerset Rural Life Museum, Glastonbury, Tue–Sun 10am–5pm. Meet the visiting animals and get creative with crafts inspired by the Harry Brockway exhibition. More info
School Summer Holidays at The Bishop's Palace — Wells, running to 2 September. Trails and activities included with admission. More info
Tuesday, 4 August
Craft a Wooden Spoon Character — 11am–1pm, Abbey Museum, Glastonbury Abbey. Family craft session, included with admission. More info
Wednesday, 5 August
Thursday, 6 August
Hiroshima Day Commemorative Lantern Float — gather from 8.30pm, Bishop's Palace Moat, Wells. Marking 81 years since the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings; all welcome to join the float after dusk. More info
Hot 8 Brass Band — 7pm, Cheese & Grain, Frome — see story above. Tickets
Walk & Wine Thursday — 6–7pm, meet near Penniless Porch, Wells Market Place. Free women's walk finishing at Fosso Lounge for those who fancy a drink after. More info
Stories, Myths & Magic! — 11am, Yeast Scrapstore, Glastonbury. Weekly storytelling and craft session with Rainbow Roots CIC, £10 per child.
Create a Wood Slice Painting — 11am–1pm, Abbey Museum, Glastonbury Abbey. Family craft session. More info
Badger Walks at Glastonbury Abbey — 7–9pm, Abbey House. Evening wildlife walk through the grounds. More info
Mini Beast Hunts — 2–4pm, Main Abbey. More info
Friday, 7 August
Bishop's Palace Summer Late Openings — 6–8pm (last entry 7.30pm), Wells. Bring a picnic and enjoy the gardens after hours. Adult £8.75 | Child £4.40. More info
Birds of Prey — Somerset Rural Life Museum, Glastonbury. Get up close to some magnificent birds with a visit from Pitcombe Rock Falconry. More info
Mini Beast Hunts — 2–4pm, Main Abbey, Glastonbury Abbey. More info
Saturday, 8 August
A Hans Zimmer Candlelight Experience — St John the Baptist's Church, Glastonbury — see Featured Event above.
Wells Pride 2026 — Sadler Street, Wells. The parade sets off at 12.15pm, bringing colour and celebration through the city centre. More info
Ratrace + One Chord Wonders — 7pm, Cheese & Grain, Frome. Live music night. Tickets
Hiroshima Exhibition — 12–4pm, Wells Cathedral Green. Free exhibition marking Hiroshima Day and promoting peace and remembrance. More info
Marvellous Mosaics — Avalon Archaeology, Glastonbury. Family-friendly summer holiday session discovering Roman mosaics. More info
🗓️ Coming Up
Secret Supper Club at The Bishop's Palace — Wells. Thursday 13 August.
History Alive: King Arthur and the Holy Fail — Bishop's Palace, Wells. Thursday 13 August.
The Devout — Depeche Mode Tribute — Cheese & Grain, Frome. Saturday 15 August.
Glastonbury Repair Cafe — Scout Hut, Benedict Street, Glastonbury. Saturday 15 August.
The Jam'd Live at Studio 24 — Wells. Saturday 15 August.
🎬 This Week at Wells Film Centre
We couldn't pull this week's listings from the Wells Film Centre website in time for today's issue — the box office link below has the latest showtimes.
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🌡️ Wells BA5 Weather — Week of Tuesday 4 August 2026
It's a mixed bag after today's sunshine and near-30° heat — Tuesday turns breezy with thundery showers blowing in from the south-west. Things settle into a cooler, brighter pattern for Wednesday to Friday with plenty of sunny intervals, before a spot of light rain returns on Saturday. Worth keeping a jacket handy if you're heading to the Hans Zimmer candlelit concert Saturday night.
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Contact Mendy the Mendiplodocus
Paul Branston, Editor
Hi, I'm Paul Branston and I publish the Mendiplodocus every morning, Monday to Saturday. 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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