Mendiplodocus Daily — Issue #48 — Wednesday 19 August 2026
Issue #48 | Wednesday 19 August 2026
Good morning, Mendips! We owe an apology. There is currently NO hosepipe ban in Wells, as we implied yesterday. See our explanation below.
Frome's brilliant young dancers open West Side Story tonight, a Wells archer has just been crowned UK champion, and Shepton councillors are weighing up a proposed McDonald's drive-thru.
There's also a free wellbeing programme launching for West Mendip residents, plus a proper mix of markets, medieval mayhem and music across the Mendips through to the weekend.
📅 Featured Event — Tri.art's West Side Story takes the stage in Frome
🔤 Uxbridge English Dictionary — today's entry
📰 Hot News - Mendips Style — Wells archery champion · Shepton McDonald's drive-thru plans · West Mendip wellbeing programme · Fairy Festival turns 20
Was Little Jack Horner a Mendips lad?
📆 What's On This Week — across the Mendips
🌡️ Weather — Wells BA5 forecast
Featured Event
Tri.art's Youth Theatre students in rehearsal for West Side Story (Discover Frome)
This August marks the return of Tri.art Dance and Performing Arts Academy's award-winning Summer School — now in its 12th year — and this time the students are taking on a genuine classic: West Side Story. Three performances run at Frome's Merlin Theatre this week, Thursday and Friday evening (7-9pm) and a Saturday matinee (2-4pm), each one a celebration of the young performers who've spent their summer holidays rehearsing rather than relaxing.
West Side Story is no small undertaking for a youth production — Bernstein's score and Sondheim's lyrics ask a lot of any cast — but Tri.art has built a strong reputation locally for stretching its students rather than playing it safe. Expect big dance numbers, real vocal talent, and the particular energy that only a room full of teenagers giving a show absolutely everything can bring.
Tickets are £16 for adults and £10 concessions, suitable for all ages with a guide of 14+. It's a fitting one to put on the list this week whether you know a member of the cast or simply fancy supporting the next generation of Mendip performers.
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📰 Hot News - Mendips Style
Whoops - an apology: hosepipe ban does not apply to Wells
In yesterday's issue we linked to the BBC's report on Wessex Water's new hosepipe ban, which may have left some Wells readers wondering if it applies to them. It doesn't.
Here's why our confusion happened: Wells actually has two water companies, not one. Bristol Water supplies our drinking water, while Wessex Water only handles sewerage here. The new ban Wessex Water announced this week covers its water supply customers (Bath and other parts of Somerset, Dorset and Wiltshire) — and since it doesn't supply Wells with drinking water, the ban doesn't reach us.
Bristol Water, meanwhile, currently has no hosepipe restrictions in place and says none are planned. So Wells residents remain free to use hosepipes for now, though as ever it's worth using water sensibly during the dry spell.
If you're unsure who supplies your own postcode, you can check for free using the official Water UK "Find Your Supplier" tool.
🏹 UK Champion At Wells City Archers
Wells City Archers is celebrating a UK Champion in its ranks. Richard Gregory took the National 50+ Longbow title at the Archery GB National Championships on 1 August, having joined the club in 2023 and put in roughly 10 hours a week refining his technique. He's now ranked in the UK's top 10 for Longbow.
🧡 West Mendip Residents Invited To Free Wellbeing Programme
People across West Mendip are being invited to join Habits for Health, a free six-week programme designed to help residents make small, lasting changes to everyday wellbeing — covering sleep, movement, emotional wellbeing, healthier eating and connecting with others. It's open to anyone registered with a West Mendip Primary Care Network practice (Glastonbury Health Centre, Glastonbury Surgery, Wells City Practice, Wells Health Centre and Vine Surgery Partnership). The next programme runs Wednesdays, 2nd September to 7th October, at St Dunstan's House in Glastonbury (10-11.30am) and Crispin Community Centre in Street (1-2.30pm), with a Wells programme to follow in November.
🍔 Shepton Councillors To Have Say On McDonald's Drive-Thru Plans
Shepton Mallet town councillors will consider plans for a new McDonald's drive-thru at Haskins Retail Park (Shepton Mallet Nub News)
Plans for a new McDonald's drive-thru at Haskins Retail Park in Townsend go before Shepton Mallet Town Council's Town Development and Planning Committee this week. The application from McDonald's Restaurants Ltd covers a freestanding restaurant and takeaway with drive-thru, parking and landscaping, plus converting the retail park's former car showroom into two retail units. The Town Council can't decide the outcome — Somerset Council is the planning authority — but councillors will submit a formal response weighing up traffic, parking, noise, design and the effect on the area.
English Lessons from the
Uxbridge English Dictionary
F
Fauna
A whirlpool bath for young deer.
Felicity
To level an entire city.
Filibuster
A rodeo rider who only breaks in female horses.
Finally
A narrow but beautiful street.
Finesse
A female Finn.
Finish
A bit like a Finn
Flabbergasted
Appalled at how much weight you have gained.
The Mells Christmas Pie: How a Nursery Rhyme and a Christmas Day Handshake Built Somerset's Iron Empire
The wooded valley south of Mells is quiet now — just ivy, bats and the Mells Stream falling over an old weir. But on Christmas Day 1744, a signature on a piece of parchment turned this corner of the Mendips into one of the largest edge-tool operations in Europe. The man holding the pen was, according to local legend, a direct descendant of Little Jack Horner himself.
Every Christmas, children recite the tale of Little Jack Horner — the boy who sat in a corner, put in his thumb and pulled out a plum. In Mells, they tell a different version. Tradition holds that "Jack" was really Thomas Horner, steward to the last Abbot of Glastonbury, and that the "pie" he opened on the road to London in 1539 was a bundle of deeds meant to sweeten Henry VIII into sparing the Abbey's lands.
The plum he pulled out, it is whispered, was the Manor of Mells — and "plum" may be a wink at the Latin plumbum, lead, for the manor came with rich Mendip lead mines. Horner's descendants have always tutted and denied it. The records simply show that Thomas ended up with the manor.
Fast forward two centuries to Christmas Day 1744. A direct descendant of that same Thomas Horner — John Horner, squire of Mells Manor — signed a 99-year lease with an ironmonger from Stoke Lane called James Fussell III. The plot was in the wooded Wadbury Valley; the purpose, in the lease's own splendid phrase, was "a good, firme and substantiall Mill or Mills for Grinding Edge Tools and forging Iron plates." Iron had been worked around Mells since the 13th century — the village was once nicknamed "Iron Burgh" — but that Christmas Day signature lit a fuse.
Within a generation the Fussells ran six ironworks between Mells, Great Elm, Chantry and Nunney — locals still call it "Fussell Country". At the Lower Works alone, nine water wheels drove hammers and grindstones while 250 men turned out scythes, sickles, spades and reap hooks. An 1804 inventory logs 1,700 dozen scythes in stock.
The Jobbing shop & yard - c. 1880
The end came fast. The 1870s farming collapse and a late move from water to steam did for them; in 1894 the whole lot went to Isaac Nash of Worcestershire. Today the Lower Works are a Scheduled Monument, an SSSI, and — fittingly for a ghost of a factory — the summer roost of Mendip's horseshoe bats. A Christmas Day handshake built it. A century later, the plum was gone.
All week (19–23 August)
School Summer Holidays at The Bishop's Palace — Wells. Trails and family activities included with admission, running right through to 2 September. More info
Mythical Creatures Trail — Wells Cathedral. The free family trail continues daily through the summer holidays, with two ticketed craft workshops this week (see Wednesday and Thursday below). More info
Wednesday, 19 August
Magique - Magic and Illusions Show — 5.30pm, The Mill, High St, Wells. Family magic and illusions show returns for one night only. More info
Mythical Creatures Trail: Be A Bookmaker — 9.30am, Wells Cathedral. Themed craft workshop as part of the summer trail. More info
Wild Wednesdays — 10am-3pm, Somerset Earth Science Centre, Stoke St Michael. Forest-school holiday club with den building and campfire cooking. More info
Mini Beast Hunts — 2-4pm, Glastonbury Abbey. Drop-in nature hunt for families, running Wednesday to Friday this week. More info
Thursday, 20 August
⭐ Tri.art's West Side Story opens tonight at Merlin Theatre, Frome — see our Featured Event above for the full story.
Family Activity: Puppet Theatre — 11am-1pm, Abbey Museum, Glastonbury Abbey. Make a puppet theatre and characters from recycled materials. More info
St John's Church, Glastonbury — Lunchtime Concert — 1pm, St John the Baptist Church. Free acoustic concert with Sarah Curtis Music, donations welcome. More info
Mythical Creatures Trail: Singing Serpents Workshop — 10.30am, Wells Cathedral. More info
Nature Ninjas in the Community Garden: Potato Printing — The Bishop's Palace, Wells. Drop-in family craft session inspired by the garden's produce. More info
Cars at Jadlam — 6-8pm, Jadlam Toys & Models, Glastonbury. Weekly classic and modified car meet-up. More info
Badger Walks at Glastonbury Abbey — 7-9pm, Abbey House. Evening walk through the grounds to learn about the site's wildlife. More info
Stories, Myths & Magic! — 11am, Yeast Scrapstore, Glastonbury. Weekly storytelling and craft session for children, with Rainbow Roots CIC.
Mini Beast Hunts continues — 2-4pm, Glastonbury Abbey.
Friday, 21 August
3 Wishes Fairy Festival begins — Garslade Farm, Godney near Glastonbury. The 20th-anniversary three-day family festival kicks off — see our Hot News story above for the full picture. More info
Mendip Mini Fests begins — Mendip Basecamp, Churchill. Relaxed, camper-only weekend festival launches, with Adam Lipinski playing live from 7pm. More info
Tri.art's West Side Story — second performance tonight at Merlin Theatre, Frome (see Featured Event above).
Bishop's Palace Summer Late Opening — 6-8pm, Wells. Evening opening with picnics welcome in the gardens. More info
Open Mic Night — 6.30pm, Cheese & Grain, Frome. All welcome to get up and play. More info
80's Night (All Over 80s Live) — 8pm, The King Arthur, Glastonbury. Live 80s covers band. More info
Day Trip to SLiMBRIDGE — departing Shepton Mallet. Community coach day trip to the wetland centre. More info
Meare Weekender begins — Meare Recreation Field, Meare. Community weekender kicks off (programme details are thin on the source page — worth a follow-up check nearer the day). More info
Beats 'n' Bites — 5.30-10pm, The Island, Midsomer Norton. Live music and bring-your-own feasting on the high street.
Mini Beast Hunts continues — 2-4pm, Glastonbury Abbey (final day this run).
Saturday, 22 August
History Adventures: Medieval Life Experience — 10am-5pm, Main Abbey, Glastonbury Abbey. Combat displays, crafts and costumed characters bring the abbey's medieval heyday to life, with three shows a day. More info
Community Farmer Day — 10am-3pm, The Community Farm, Chew Valley. Meet the animals and tour the fields at this open farm day. More info
Street & Walton Men's Shed: Bird Box & Bat Box Workshop — 10am-12pm, Quaker Meeting House, Street. Children 8+ (with an adult) can build their own box for a £5 donation, alongside the Repair Cafe. More info
Street Repair Cafe — 10am-12pm, Quaker Meeting House, Street. Free community repair session, held on the fourth Saturday of the month.
Tri.art's West Side Story — Saturday matinee, 2pm, Merlin Theatre, Frome (see Featured Event above).
3 Wishes Fairy Festival continues — Garslade Farm, Godney. Headline band Missing Cat Band play Saturday night.
Mendip Mini Fests continues — Mendip Basecamp, Churchill.
Meare Weekender continues — Meare Recreation Field.
Guided Glastonbury Abbey Tree Walk with Matt Witt — 11am-12.30pm, Main Abbey. Included with admission. More info
Tupenny Opera — The Assembly Rooms, Glastonbury. Live original band. More info
No More All Male Lineups: Take Glastonbury — 7pm-midnight, The King Arthur, Glastonbury. A night of female and non-binary DJ talent. More info
Psychic Fair Glastonbury — Glastonbury Town Hall. More info
Sunday, 23 August
History Adventures: Medieval Life Experience continues — final day, Main Abbey, Glastonbury Abbey.
Giant Flea Market — Bath & West Showground, Shepton Mallet. One of the region's biggest flea markets, with hundreds of stalls of antiques, collectibles and bargains. More info
3 Wishes Fairy Festival — final day, Garslade Farm, with Sunday morning yoga to wind the weekend down gently.
Mendip Mini Fests — final day, Mendip Basecamp, with Sunday morning yoga.
Meare Weekender — final day, Meare Recreation Field.
Summer Sundays at Wells & Mendip Museum — 10am-4pm, 8 Cathedral Green, Wells. Family-friendly Sunday opening during the school holidays. More info
Open Afternoons at St Hugh's Church — 2-5pm, Charterhouse on Mendip. The little white church opens its doors for walkers on the Mendips, with refreshments available.
Dread convention — Glastonbury Town Hall. Gathering celebrating dreadlock culture and community. More info
🗓️ Coming Up
Glastonbury Last Saturday Market — 29 August, Market Place, Glastonbury.
The Light House — 6 September, Croscombe Village Hall. Touring theatre from Take Art, tickets via takeart.org/whats-on.
Night at the Abbey 2026 — 12 September, Glastonbury Abbey. Sophie Ellis-Bextor headlines an outdoor concert in the abbey grounds.
BROCK Live at The Waldegrave — 19 September, East Harptree. Free live blues/Americana/rock gig.
🎬 This Week at Wells Film Centre
Wells Film Centre's website is again returning stale, years-old cached listings for us rather than this week's programme — rather than guess, we'd rather tell you honestly. Please check the latest films and book directly via the link below.
Let us promote your event - FREE
Click Here for details
🌡️ Wells BA5 Weather — Week of 19 August
Wednesday brings the best chance of a thundery downpour, with highs of 21°C, before it turns steadily greyer and cooler through Thursday and Friday with spells of light rain and drizzle. Saturday keeps a few showers around, but Sunday brightens up nicely with sunny intervals and highs of 21°C — a decent end to the week for anyone with weekend plans.
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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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