Mendiplodocus Daily — Issue #43 — Wednesday 12 August 2026
Issue #43 | Wednesday 12 August 2026
Good morning, Mendips! Tonight's the big one — the best partial solar eclipse the UK has seen since 1999 arrives over Wells Cathedral Green this evening, and we've got everything you need to watch it safely. Plus: sponsors sought for the Wells Festival of Literature's school reading work, prize-winning nature photos from the Avalon Marshes, free summer entry for kids at Shepton Mallet Prison, and a sunny scorcher of a forecast to make the most of.
📅 Featured Event — tonight's rare partial solar eclipse over Wells
📰 Hot News - Mendips Style — heat protocol · festival sponsors · nature photo winners · free prison entry · Abbey dancers
🔤 Uxbridge English Dictionary — today's entry
How to view the Eclipse safely.
🗓️ What's On This Week — across the Mendips
🌡️ Weather — Wells BA5 forecast
Featured Event
Wells Cathedral Green is the place to be this evening, as Wells and Mendip Astronomers host a free public viewing party for the best partial solar eclipse the UK has seen since 1999. Filtered telescopes and eclipse glasses will be on hand so everyone — young and old — can watch safely as the Moon takes its biggest bite out of the Sun in a generation.
First contact begins around 6.16pm, with the Moon creeping across the Sun's face through the evening. Maximum coverage — a striking 93% — arrives at roughly 7.15pm, before the eclipse wraps up around 8.07pm. Bring a picnic, a blanket and proper eclipse glasses (never look directly at the Sun without one), and settle in on the green for a genuinely rare Mendips moment.
The event is free and open to all, though it's weather dependent — fingers crossed for clear August skies. Astronomers on site will be happy to explain what's happening as it unfolds, making this a brilliant one for curious kids and lifelong stargazers alike.
📰 Hot News - Mendips Style
🌡️ Council Activates Heat Protocol To Protect Rough Sleepers
Somerset Council has activated its Severe Weather Emergency Protocol as temperatures soar past 26C this week. Outreach teams are out across the county offering water, sunscreen and shaded safe spaces to anyone sleeping rough, with a dedicated phone line for concerned residents to flag people needing help.
📚 Wells Festival Seeks Sponsors For School Reading Work
Wells Festival of Literature is inviting local people and businesses to sponsor its year-round schools programme, which reaches more than 3,500 children across over 50 Somerset schools. Gold, Silver and Bronze packages fund author visits, poems by post and library support, starting from £100.
📸 Glastonbury Nature Photo Competition Winners Revealed
The Prize Winners
A glossy ibis spotted at RSPB Ham Wall and an 11-year-old's photo of a peony from her Ashcott garden have won Step, Ride, Thrive's Discover Nature photo competition. The 46 entries celebrate wildlife across the Avalon Marshes and Poldens, with winning shots going on display at the Avalon Marshes Centre from 17 August.
🔐 Children Can Visit Shepton Mallet Prison Free This Summer
Up to two children aged five to 15 can get free entry to Shepton Mallet Prison with each paying adult, in a summer holiday offer running until Tuesday, 1 September. It's a chance for families to explore one of England's oldest prisons and its centuries of history without breaking the bank.
💃 Tudor Dancers Take Over Glastonbury Abbey This Saturday
Glastonbury Abbey's volunteer historical dance team will bring the ruins to life on Saturday with an hour of Tudor and Elizabethan social and courtly dances. It's included with normal admission, and organisers say onlookers are welcome to join in, not just watch.
English Lessons from the
Uxbridge English Dictionary
B
Beacon
A trick involving apians.
Behemoth
Look, a male Lepidoptera.
Behold
A secure beehive.
Believer
Equipment for raising and lowering bees.
Beware
Clothing for bees.
Bicycle
A sexually confused mode of transport.
Taking a Bite Taken Out of The Sun
Wednesday 12 August, teatime. Put the kettle down. For the first time since 1999, we’re getting a proper eclipse — and this one has the decency to happen after work.
DO NOT LOOK DIRECTLY AT THE SUN.
Spend 5 minutes on this handy DIY project to make yourself a safe and effective Eclipse Viewer.
The Moon starts nibbling at around 6.16pm, reaches maximum at about 7.14pm, and clears off by roughly 8.07pm. At peak, around 93% of the Sun vanishes over Wells and Glastonbury. Not total — that treat belongs to northern Spain — but deep enough to turn a summer evening distinctly odd. Expect flat, coppery light, a drop in temperature, and every blackbird in Somerset deciding it's bedtime an hour early.bbc+1
Where to stand
The catch: the Sun will be low, roughly 12 degrees above the west-north-west horizon, so a hedge, a barn or Glastonbury Tor itself could ruin your evening. Get height and get a clear western view — the Levels-facing slopes are perfect, the Tor's western flank even better. Or skip the guesswork: Wells & Mendip Astronomers are hosting a free viewing party on Cathedral Green from 3pm with filtered telescopes and eclipse glasses. Sunglasses do not count. Use ISO 12312-2 glasses or a pinhole projector, and never squint through binoculars.
The folklore bit
Mendip folk have always had form for sun-watching. Victorian collectors recorded a Somerset belief that if you climbed to the highest point of the Mendips on Easter morning, you would see a lamb in the Sun — a tradition remembered by a child at Dinder, just outside Wells, in the 1860s. Young men still climbed the ridge at dawn to watch the sunrise flash over Mendip for luck.
Wells has been keeping tabs on the sky rather longer. The cathedral's astronomical clock, dating from around 1390, still shows a pre-Copernican universe with the Sun and Moon obediently circling the Earth — and it was reportedly built by a Glastonbury monk. Medieval Somerset took eclipses seriously: in 1133, chronicler John of Worcester noted candles being lit across England, and the whole business was blamed for King Henry I's death two years later.
Stay out for the encore!
One more thing. The Perseid meteor shower peaks tonight too, under a new moon — up to 100 an hour. Eclipse at seven, meteors after midnight. Bring a blanket.
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All week (12-16 August)
Mythical Creatures Trail — Wells Cathedral. Free family trail included with admission, daily through 1 September. More info
Summer Fun on the Farm — Somerset Rural Life Museum, Glastonbury. Drop-in crafts, animals and galleries, Tue-Sun through 4 September. More info
School Summer Holidays at The Bishop's Palace — Wells. Trails and activities all summer through 2 September, included with admission. More info
The Unfurling — Art Exhibition by Leanne Ta'iki Anawa — Glastonbury Galleries, 10A High Street. Free entry, daily through 18 August. More info
Wednesday, 12 August
Partial Solar Eclipse Viewing Party — from 3pm (peak ~7.15pm), Wells Cathedral Green. Free — see Featured Event above for full details.
Wild Wednesdays — 10am-3pm, Somerset Earth Science Centre, Stoke St Michael. Forest-school summer club, £16-£25. More info
Mini Beast Hunts — 2-4pm, Main Abbey, Glastonbury Abbey. Family bug-hunting drop-in, included with admission. More info
Thursday, 13 August
History Alive: King Arthur and the Holy Fail — Bishop's Palace, Wells. Outdoor comedy theatre from The Three Inch Fools, ticketed separately from admission. More info
Pinocchio — Illyria — 6.30-9.30pm, Main Abbey, Glastonbury Abbey. Open-air musical theatre closing the summer season, adult £18/child £10. More info
Secret Supper Club at The Bishop's Table — 7.30-9pm, Bishop's Palace, Wells. Intimate ticketed dining evening, 3 courses £45pp. More info
Family Activity: Outdoor Bug Game — 11am-1pm, Abbey Museum, Glastonbury Abbey. Included with admission. More info
Walk & Wine Thursday — 6-7pm, Wells Market Place (meet near Penniless Porch). Free circular walk for women, finishing at Fosso Lounge. More info
Badger Walks at Glastonbury Abbey — 7-9pm, Abbey House, Glastonbury Abbey. Evening wildlife walk. More info
Stories, Myths & Magic! — 11am, Yeast Scrapstore, Glastonbury. Storytelling and craft session for kids, £10 per child. More info
Friday, 14 August
Bishop's Palace Summer Late Openings — 6-8pm (last entry 7.30pm), Bishop's Palace, Wells. Evening garden opening, bring a picnic. Adult £8.75/child £4.40. More info
Beats 'n' Bites — 5.30-10pm, The Island, outside the Town Hall, Midsomer Norton. Live music and community feasting — bring your own food and drink from local businesses. Free entry.
Saturday, 15 August
The Devout — Depeche Mode Tribute — 7pm, Cheese & Grain, Frome. Live tribute act. More info
Historical Dance Display — 11.30am-12.30pm, Main Abbey, Glastonbury Abbey. Tudor and Elizabethan dance — see Hot News above for more.
Governing Glastonbury: Monks, Management and Manuscripts — Walk and Talk — 11am-12.30pm, Main Abbey, Glastonbury Abbey. Guided walk with Dr Tim Hopkinson-Ball. More info
Glastonbury Repair Cafe — 10am-12noon, Scout Hut, Benedict Street, Glastonbury. Free community repair session, third Saturday of the month.
The Jam'd Live at Studio 24 — Studio 24, Wells. Live music. More info
Street House Mafia — 8pm, Glastonbury Assembly Rooms. Live music night. More info
Glastonbury Plant-Based Market — 10am-4pm, Glastonbury (venue TBC). Plant-based food and producers market. More info
Sunday, 16 August
Summer Sundays at Wells & Mendip Museum — 10am-4pm, 8 Cathedral Green, Wells. Family-friendly museum opening for the school holidays. Adult £6, family ticket £12. More info
🗓️ Coming Up
The Toasters — Live at the Tree House — Cheese & Grain, Frome. Friday 28 August.
History Alive: Bowlore Medieval — Bishop's Palace, Wells. Saturday 29-Monday 31 August.
Wells Festival of Literature 2026 — various venues, Wells. Thursday 1-Sunday 11 October.
🎬 This Week at Wells Film Centre
Full listings weren't available to pull automatically this issue — check the link below for this week's films and showtimes.
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🌡️ Wells BA5 Weather — Week of Wednesday 12 August
It's turning into a proper scorcher: sunny and dry today, with highs of 32C tomorrow (Wednesday) and Thursday, easing to a still-warm 25C on Friday and 23C on Saturday with sunny intervals. Sunday cools further with light cloud and 21C — a good excuse to enjoy tonight's eclipse in short sleeves.
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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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