THE Royal British Legion Wellington Branch has appointed a new chairman to see them into their 105th year. Ian Campbell has stepped forward to fill the role of chairman until the branch's AGM in September.

The Wellington Branch of the Royal British Legion was formed on the August 25, 1921, making it the 14th branch in Somerset to be formed in the RBL's formation year.

Scott Godwin, secretary of the Royal British Legion Wellington Branch, said the branch is still looking to appoint a new Standard Bearer to carry the standard at the town’s remembrance events but are now set to be able to continue operating, and will be at Friends of Wellington Park's Annual Spring Fayre on Sunday May 3.

JOIN the Bible Society Wellington Action Group for a Coffee Evening on Tuesday, April 28, at 7.30 pm as they decide on fundraising project for 2026.

To be held at Millway Evangelical Church, North Street, Wellington with guest speaker Mark Harris.

THE Friends of The Museum of Somerset (FOTMOS) were delighted to have a full attendance in the Great Hall for their annual lecture.

This year the subject was the impact of climate change on wildlife in southwestern Britain over the last 100,000 years and was given by Professor Danielle Shreve, holder of the Heather Corrie Chair in Environmental Change at the University of Bristol.

Ice ages have come and gone over many thousands of years, but abrupt climatic and environmental change over the last 100,000 years has caused some of the most extreme events ever seen in the animals and birds of northern Europe, forcing species to alter their range and ultimately, for some, local or complete extinction.

Ice cores, long, cylindrical tubes of ice from glaciers and ice sheets, act as natural archives of Earth’s climate history. By analysing the layers, bubbles and dust trapped in these cores, researchers can reconstruct temperatures, atmospheric conditions and greenhouse gas levels from hundreds of thousands to over a million years ago.

The limestone caves in the Mendips are a rich source of evidence of animals and birds over the centuries and demonstrate how changes in the climate locally affected them.

During the last ice age, the area was part of a vast mammoth steppe similar to the savannah found in East Africa today. It was maintained by animal grazing and examples of fossilised dung have been found there. About 11,500 years ago, the land began to warm up into what is called the Holocene, the most recent interval of Earth history.

Professor Schreve’s particular interest centres on Gully Cave which is in Ebbor Gorge, near Wookey Hole. She spends two weeks every year there digging entirely by hand, taking lots of sediment samples, using a half-mm sieve.

The original entrance to this cave collapsed hundreds of years ago, uncovering many remains of animals that used to inhabit this area, ranging from bison, reindeer, wolves, bears, rhino and hyenas, similar to those found in the Banwell Bone Caves. But it’s not just the large animals that are of interest, remains of small creatures like the hazel dormouse, which require ground cover, indicates that the area was covered in forest at one time.

Professor Shreve concluded her talk by drawing parallels with today’s climate challenges for both humans and animals - species have to adapt and change according to the climate.

The talk on Tuesday May 19, will be The History of the Somerset Light Industry, at 7.30 pm at the Museum. If you would like to join us, please email [email protected]

THE parish church of St Mary’s, in Hemyock, and Culm Davy Chapel, hold their annual meeting on Sunday, May 10, to which all are invited to attend. It will be held in the Church Room at 10 am and light refreshments will be available.

The meeting will see the election of churchwardens, followed by reports from various groups within the two churches on work carried out during the year. The meeting will be chaired by the Rev Vanessa Cole and followed by an informal café church service.

Rogation Sunday will be celebrated on Sunday, May 17, with a service of morning worship, and the Rev John Stone will conduct the Pentecost service on May 24.

THE AGM for the Wellington branch of u3a took place on April 13 with a very good turnout. We heard from the chairman what a wonderfully successful year it had been for us but now, of course, we required a new committee. We also required an update on our constitution which had outlived its usefulness so, these proposals were put to the floor and voted in with a show of hands. With only minor changes of personnel the majority of the existing members were happy to continue for a further year and were voted in unanimously. Those were A Sparkes, R Simmonds, P Hicks, P Fullager, M Clarke, A Dearness with the addition of four new appointees who were duly proposed/seconded and confirmed by the show of hands.

Following the committee voting process the floor was open to the leaders of various groups to further their causes, an exchange of news, books and a request from Rotary, for anyone interested in that cause for more members. The meeting concluded at 11.45 pm with many congratulations and smiling faces (perhaps from those not going on committee).

April 20 saw our first new committee meeting taking place in the home of a new committee member, Paul, with everyone prepared to take on the various roles for the furtherance of aims we wished to achieve. First order was to allocate the roles with Anne continuing as the Chairman, and Roger, a new man to the group, taking on the Treasurer’s role with last year’s incumbent standing down.

Only two roles from last year remained to carry on into this year, and they were Pam, as coordinator for the group leaders, and Patricia for the speakers leads. Other roles were spread throughout the remaining group.

A sub committee was set up for our upcoming 40th anniversary year with various items being planned and requests to ALL members to put forward ideas of what they would like to, possibly, be included. This meeting was concluded at approximately 3.30 pm to everyone’s satisfaction.

THE April meeting of the Wellington & District Townswomen’s Guild took place at Lodge Close Hall on Monday, April 13.

This should have been the Annual General Meeting, but, unfortunately, neither the secretary nor the treasurer were able to attend, so the AGM has been deferred until next month.

Chairman Joyce Jones opened the meeting by paying tribute to Janet Harvey, who sadly died in February, and whose funeral Joyce attended last month, along with committee member Pat Cosh. A member for many years, Janet will be much missed by her friends at the Guild.

A topic for discussion was a potential name-change for the Guild. Although the Townswomen’s Guild ceased to exist as a national organisation at the end of January, individual Guilds across the UK are continuing as independent entities, and as such have the freedom to change their group’s name if desired. However, Wellington & District Guild has decided to retain the name as, having been established in 1956, it has a long and proud history.

The scheduled guest speaker had to cancel at short notice, so once the official business of the meeting was completed, members enjoyed a few games of ‘playing card bingo’ organised by Pat Cosh, and then the raffle was drawn, accompanied by tea, biscuits and chat.

The next meeting will be held at Lodge Close Hall at 2.30 pm on Monday, May 11. Members are reminded that this will be the rescheduled AGM, and that membership fees will be due, if not already paid.

Potential new members will always receive a friendly welcome if they wish to come along a meeting to get a taste of what the TG offers.

Nynehead Court is delighted to announce the return of its annual May Fayre, taking place on Saturday May 16, from 2.00 pm to 5.00 pm, inviting the local community to enjoy an afternoon of traditional entertainment in the beautiful grounds of the estate.

A well-loved event in the local calendar, the May Fayre offers a relaxed and sociable atmosphere, where visitors can browse stalls, enjoy live entertainment and spend time outdoors with friends and neighbours.

This year’s fayre will feature live music from Rod Thomas, performances by the Wellington Majorettes, a variety of arts and crafts stalls, along with refreshments, a tombola, raffle, ice cream and candy floss. The South West Refuel Car Club will also be in attendance, bringing a mix of classic and modern vehicles for visitors to explore.

For more information visit: www.nyneheadcourt.co.uk/contact-nynehead-court