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Mendiplodocus Daily — Issue #47 — Tuesday 18 August 2026
Issue #47 | Tuesday 18 August 2026
Good morning, Mendips! Wessex Water's first hosepipe ban in 50 years kicks in today, a Wells skater has been marathon-ing for a new skate park, and Glastonbury Abbey turns back the clock this weekend for a Medieval Life Experience. Plenty to get out for this week too, from dog days at Clarks Village to a shoe-story appeal in Street.
📅 Featured Event — Step back into medieval life at Glastonbury Abbey
🔤 Uxbridge English Dictionary — today's entry
📰 Hot News - Mendips Style — Hosepipe ban · Skate park skate marathon · Rural thefts warning
The Witch of Wookey Hole
📆 What's On This Week — across the Mendips
🌡️ Weather — Wells BA5 forecast
History Adventures: Medieval Life Experience
This Saturday and Sunday, Glastonbury Abbey turns back the clock for History Adventures: Medieval Life Experience — a full day of hands-on Middle Ages fun in the Main Abbey grounds, 10am to 5pm both days. Three lively shows run through the day: Here Comes the Sheriff at 11.30am (medieval money, taxes and Robin Hood-era law), the Medieval Time Show at 1.30pm (how people told the time before clocks), and Mad Medieval Medicine at 3pm — a gruesome, funny look at cures and treatments that will have kids and grown-ups wincing and laughing in equal measure.
Expect storytelling, live demonstrations and plenty of audience participation as History Adventures bring the realities of medieval life to the Abbey's ancient stones — costumed characters, combat displays, and hands-on crafts that let visitors get properly stuck in rather than just watching from the sidelines. It's the kind of day that turns a school-holiday visit into a proper family adventure, and it's included with standard Abbey admission or membership, so there's no extra ticket needed.
All children must be accompanied by an adult during the shows and activities. If you're planning ahead, booking your Abbey admission online in advance saves a little and helps you make the most of the day — well worth doing before the weekend crowds arrive.
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📰 Hot News - Mendips Style
💧 Wessex Water Announces First Hosepipe Ban Since 1976 Across Wells And The Mendips
Wessex Water has confirmed its first hosepipe ban in 50 years, taking effect from today across roughly 1.4 million customers including Wells and the wider Mendip catchment. The move follows weeks of drought and record demand, with usage peaking at 449 million litres in a single day in July. Bosses say supplies remain stable but the network can't move water fast enough to meet demand, and are asking households to let lawns go brown and check for leaks.
🛹 Wells Skater Completes Marathon Distance To Fund New Skate Park
Will Chadwick, 42, skated a full marathon distance — 26.2 miles round Bath's Odd Down cycle track — in full hockey kit at the weekend, raising money for Wells's planned £500,000 skate park. He's clocked over £1,000 towards a £5,000 target, though organisers still need around £138,000 more within five months to meet their building contract deadline. Trustee Beverley Smith called the effort "a real community effort" that has drawn support from local businesses to civic leaders.
🚨 Police Urge Vigilance As Rural Thefts Rise Around Shepton Mallet
Mendip Neighbourhood Policing is warning of a rise in thefts of machinery, tools and fuel from farms and rural properties around Shepton Mallet, and has made tackling rural crime a standing priority. Officers are running targeted patrols and are asking residents to lock up vehicles and outbuildings, remove keys and valuables, fit lighting and CCTV, and mark equipment with serial numbers. Anyone with information is asked to call 101, or 999 in an emergency.
🐾 Clarks Village's Pawsome Pooch Dog Weekend Returns Bigger Than Ever
Street's Clarks Village will host its annual Pawsome Pooch weekend on Saturday–Sunday 12–13 September, with free pet photoshoots, grooming, agility sessions and a new "Pawfect Match" feature for single dog owners. One lucky pup will be crowned the centre's next honorary "CEO" with a prize package worth up to £500. Centre director Mike Jones promises "a full dog-takeover" of the village for the whole weekend.
English Lessons from the
Uxbridge English Dictionary
E
Erection
How the Japanese vote for a new parliament.
Escalator
An Australian word meaning to delay the questioning of a lady.
Exact
The performance denoting poverty during a divorce hearing.
Excrete
No longer a Greek Island.
Exorbitant
The now retired first insect astronaut.
The Witch of Wookey Hole
Deep inside the first chamber of Wookey Hole, the light catches a stooped, hooded shape in the rock. According to a story told in the Mendips for at least six hundred years, that shape is a woman. She lived alone in the caves with a dog and a few goats, and when milk soured, crops failed or hearts were broken in the village above, the blame drifted downhill to her.
The “Witch” rock formation.
In the best-known version, the Abbot of Glastonbury sent a monk, Father Bernard, into the darkness with a candle and a Bible. He found her bent over her cooking pot, scooped a handful of water from the underground river, blessed it, and flung it. The witch turned instantly to stone. She has been there, the story goes, ever since.
It is a wonderful legend, and Wookey Hole has known it. When Captain Hodgkinson opened the caves to the wider public in 1927, the "Witch's Kitchen" was already the star of the tour. Herbert Balch — the Wells archaeologist who founded the town's museum — had spent years preparing the passage for visitors, and every guide since has slowed the party at the same stalagmite for the same gasp.
Balch's own excavations added irresistible fuel: bones and household objects from the cave floor, including a polished alabaster ball, a dagger and the remains of goats, were quickly folded into the myth.
In 2009 Wookey Hole Ltd auditioned more than 3,000 women for the paid role of resident witch, eventually crowning Carole Bohanan as "Carla Calamity". The witch has since sold tickets, drawn Most Haunted into the caves for a primetime episode, and appeared on more souvenirs than any real Mendip figure of the last millennium.
Yet spare a thought for whoever the original woman was. There is no evidence that she cursed anyone, and none that she practised anything we would today call witchcraft. In the Dark Ages, "witch" often meant no more than a woman who lived alone, kept animals, knew a few herbs, and made her neighbours uneasy.
Poverty, widowhood or eccentricity were enough. A monk did not need a spell to justify her ruin — only a rumour. Nine hundred years on, we still charge admission to see her turned to stone, and forget that the real story is probably far sadder, and far more human, than the legend.
All week (18–22 August)
Wookey Uncovered — Wookey Hole Caves, Wookey. Ongoing to 30 September, included with admission. Wookey Hole
Harry Brockway: Ways With Wood — Somerset Rural Life Museum, Glastonbury. Tue–Sun 10am–5pm, to 2 September. £11/£9/£5.25. Rural Life Museum
Mythical Creatures Trail — Wells Cathedral, daily 9am–4.30pm, to 1 September, included with admission. Wells Cathedral
Summer Fun on the Farm — Somerset Rural Life Museum, Glastonbury. Tue–Sun 10am–5pm, to 4 September. Rural Life Museum
School Summer Holidays at The Bishop's Palace — Wells, to 2 September, included with admission. Bishop's Palace
Tuesday, 18 August
The Unfurling — Art Exhibition by Leanne Ta'iki Anawa (closing day) — 11am–5pm, Glastonbury Galleries, 10A High St, Glastonbury. Free. Glastonbury Galleries
Family Activity: CD Wind Spinners — 11am–1pm, Abbey Museum, Glastonbury Abbey. Glastonbury Abbey
Mythical Creatures Trail: Make A Dragon Puppet — 9.30am, Wells Cathedral. Wells Cathedral
Wednesday, 19 August
Magique — Magic and Illusions Show — 5.30–7pm, The Mill, High St, Wells. Family magic show. The Mill, Wells
Wild Wednesdays — 10am–3pm, Somerset Earth Science Centre, Stoke St Michael. £25 full day / £16 short session. Earth Science Centre
Mini Beast Hunts — 2–4pm, Main Abbey, Glastonbury Abbey. Glastonbury Abbey
Mythical Creatures Trail: Be A Bookmaker — 9.30am, Wells Cathedral. Wells Cathedral
Thursday, 20 August
Family Activity: Puppet Theatre — 11am–1pm, Abbey Museum, Glastonbury Abbey. Glastonbury Abbey
St John's Church Lunchtime Concert — 1pm, free acoustic concert with Sarah Curtis Music, St John's Church, Glastonbury. St John's Church
Mythical Creatures Trail: Singing Serpents Workshop — 10.30am, Wells Cathedral. Wells Cathedral
Walk & Wine Thursday — 6–7pm, Wells Market Place. Free. Visit Wells
Stories, Myths & Magic! — 11am, Yeast Scrapstore, Glastonbury. £10/child. Glastonbury What's On
Badger Walks at Glastonbury Abbey — 7–9pm, Abbey House, Glastonbury Abbey. Glastonbury Abbey
Tri.art Dance and Performing Arts Academy: West Side Story — 7–9pm, Merlin Theatre, Frome. Local youth dance and performing arts academy stages its own production — a three-night run, with performances Thursday and Friday evening plus a Saturday matinee. Merlin Theatre
Nature Ninjas in the Community Garden: Potato Printing — The Bishop's Palace, Wells. Drop-in family craft session, included with Palace admission. Bishop's Palace
Cars at Jadlam — 6–8pm, Jadlam Toys & Models, Glastonbury. Free classic and modified car meet-up. Glastonbury What's On
Friday, 21 August
3 Wishes Fairy Festival — 20th Anniversary begins today — Garslade Farm, Godney nr Glastonbury. Three days of music, magic and make-believe mark two decades of the festival, with multiple stages, magical workshops and fully plant-based food — camping and glamping bookable separately. Fairy Festival
Open Mic Night — 6.30pm, Cheese & Grain, Frome. Cheese & Grain
80's Night (All Over 80s Live) — 8pm, The King Arthur, Glastonbury. Glastonbury What's On
Day Trip to Slimbridge — coach trip departing Shepton Mallet. Shepton Mallet Nub News
Beats 'n' Bites — 5.30–10pm, The Island, Midsomer Norton. Free entry, bring your own food and drink. Mendip Hills
Bishop's Palace Summer Late Opening — 6–8pm, Wells. Bishop's Palace
Mini Beast Hunts — 2–4pm, Main Abbey, Glastonbury Abbey. Glastonbury Abbey
Mendip Mini Fests — Mendip Basecamp, Churchill. Three-day mini festival with live music and camping, running Friday through Sunday. Visit Somerset
Tri.art Dance and Performing Arts Academy: West Side Story — 7–9pm, Merlin Theatre, Frome. Second night of the run — see Thursday for the full write-up. Merlin Theatre
Meare Weekender — Meare Recreation Field, near Glastonbury. Community weekender running Friday through Sunday; programme details are thin — check nearer the time. Glastonbury What's On
Saturday, 22 August
3 Wishes Fairy Festival — day two of three — Garslade Farm, Godney nr Glastonbury. Multiple music stages and magical workshops for all ages; children under 16 go free with a paying adult. Fairy Festival
Tupenny Opera — The Assembly Rooms, Glastonbury. Psychedelic/prog-tinged original band. Glastonbury What's On
No More All Male Lineups: Take Glastonbury — 7pm–midnight, The King Arthur, Glastonbury. Female/non-binary DJ line-up night. Glastonbury What's On
Street Repair Café — 10am–12noon, Quaker Meeting House, Street. Free. Street Parish Council
Street & Walton Men's Shed: Bird Box & Bat Box Workshop — 10am–12noon, Quaker Meeting House, Street. £5 donation, ages 8+. Street Parish Council
History Adventures: Medieval Life Experience — 10am–5pm, Main Abbey, Glastonbury Abbey. See Featured Event above for the full write-up. Glastonbury Abbey
Community Farmer Day — 10am–3pm, The Community Farm, Chew Valley. Meet the animals and tour the fields at this family-friendly open farm day. The Community Farm
Tri.art Dance and Performing Arts Academy: West Side Story — 2–4pm matinee, Merlin Theatre, Frome. Final performance of the run — see Thursday for the full write-up. Merlin Theatre
Guided Glastonbury Abbey Tree Walk with Matt Witt — 11am–12.30pm, Main Abbey, Glastonbury Abbey. Glastonbury Abbey
Psychic Fair Glastonbury — Glastonbury Town Hall. Glastonbury What's On
🗓️ Coming Up
Summer Family Fun Day and Dog Show — Tor Rugby Club, Glastonbury. Saturday 29 August.
Night at the Abbey 2026 — Glastonbury Abbey. Saturday 12 September, headlined by Sophie Ellis-Bextor with The Blow Monkeys, Alexis Taylor (Hot Chip) and Phil Hartnoll (Orbital).
Wells Festival of Literature — various venues, Wells. 1–11 October, closing with Sky at Night's Maggie Aderin.
Giant Flea Market — Bath & West Showground, Shepton Mallet. Sunday 23 August. Visit Somerset
Dread Convention — Glastonbury Town Hall. Sunday 23 August. Glastonbury What's On
🎬 This Week at Wells Film Centre
Moana (Live Action) [PG]
PAW Patrol: The Dino Movie [U]
The End Of Oak Street [12A]
Toy Story 5 [U]
Sunny Dancer [15]
Minions & Monsters [U]
Spider-Man: Brand New Day [12A]
Showtimes vary by day — check the booking link below for the exact daily schedule.
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🌡️ Wells BA5 Weather — Week of 18 August
A breezy, changeable week lies ahead after weeks of drought. Tuesday starts cloudy with a top of 22°C before turning drier, then showers move in from Wednesday through Friday, some heavy with a chance of thunder. Saturday brings the best of the week — sunny intervals, a gentle breeze and a cooler, drier 20°C.
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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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