Abbeyfield House Manager of Ivy House in Wellington, Alisha Cordy took a few of the residents and family out for lunch at Monkton Elms garden centre on Thursday, June 26.

The residents are all in the celebrating mood as the Abbeyfield Houses in Wellington have both been saved from closing.

The residents thoroughly enjoyed their meal in the new restaurant.

The Friends of The Museum of Somerset (FOTMOS) were very pleased to welcome back John Smith, this time with his very interesting talk about ‘The Battle of Britain over Somerset’. John used models of all the aircraft involved to illustrate his informative talk.

At the beginning of the war, there was no air cover for Somerset as the military did not think that German aircraft had sufficient range to reach here. That all changed after the fall of France! Number 10 group of Fighter Command was tasked with protecting key industrial and port areas in South-West England. The first attacks carried out against the West Country took place on the night of June 19, 1940, when the Bristol Aeroplane Co. at Filton, as well as the docks at Avonmouth and Southampton, were targeted. Portishead was as near as the German bombers came, with a lone Heinkel He 111 dropping the first bombs in the area. The Bristol Channel and Severn Estuary received their first visit on the night of July 17.

The excellent British radar system was able to tell the number and type of German aircraft, and also their height and speed. By August of 1940 the German pilots could be heard as they tested their radios prior to take off, giving early warning of attacks and targets.

It was interesting to learn that the Germans had bought sets of 6” Ordnance Survey maps of the southwest to aid their navigation. This didn’t always help them, for in 1940 the geography and road layouts of Yeovil and Sherborne were very similar. This explains why a raid on the aircraft factory in Yeovil resulted in Sherborne school and playing fields being bombed by mistake!

The next talk will be at 7.30 pm on Tuesday, 15th July, when Richard Kay will speak on “Trick or Treat – Fakes and Forgeries in the Art Market”. Guests are always welcome; for details, please email [email protected].

West Buckland Village enjoyed a very successful Summer Fair on June 28.

Despite the hot weather crowds turned out to support and enjoy the stalls, bouncy castle, home made cakes, model railway, dog show, vintage vehicles and other activities.

West Buckland Primary School added lots of fun with many games, Welly wanging plus a chance to throw wet sponges at the headteacher in the stocks - at least he got to cool off!

During part of the afternoon visitors were entertained with lovely music by children from the Hyde Park Community Music Project of Wiveliscombe.

The day continued into the evening with a bar run by the village hall committee, food by Oggy, Oggy Pasty van and music by the popular Bird Dogs band.

Wellington & District Townswomen’s Guild members gathered for our monthly meeting at Lodge Close Hall on Monday, June 9.

With no guest speaker this month, we dealt with the business side of the meeting first, starting with news of members. The minutes of May’s meeting were then read and approved. A lively discussion followed about various matters which would be discussed at the forthcoming Townswomen’s Guild National AGM being held later that week in Weston-super-Mare.

Next it was time for tea and biscuits, and a few games of “playing-card bingo”, which was new to most of us and very enjoyable, with a sweet treat for the winner of each game. The raffle was drawn, with, as always, a selection of tempting prizes for the lucky winners.

We welcome potential new members, so do feel free to come along to a meeting as a visitor if you are thinking of joining us. Meetings are held on the second Monday of each month, usually at Lodge Close, though we do also have outings, such as for cream teas or Christmas lunch!

Our next meeting will be held at Lodge Close Hall at 2.30 p.m. on Monday, July 14. The speaker will be Mike Crew, a local amateur historian specialising in the Victorian period. Mike will be telling us all about the famous Great Exhibition of 1851 held in Hyde Park, London, which promises to be most interesting.

From July 14 to 19 the Water Guardians (WG) of Transition Town Wellington (TTW), will be celebrating our rivers and streams and promoting ways in which we can all help to care for them. Members of our team will be in the Pop-Up shop showing people how, with a little information and online training from the Westcountry Rivers Trust (WRT), they can become citizen scientists.

Becoming a Citizen Scientist is something almost anyone can do - and it’s really useful and interesting. If you come long to the Pop-Up shop during that week, you can chat to one of our Water Guardians, who can explain what’s involved. Then, on Saturday, July 19, we will move to the Arts Centre for an afternoon of talks, discussions and a film entitled ‘I Am the River, the River is Me’.

The talks will be from 2pm to 5pm with time for questions and answers and with refreshment breaks in between. Our speakers will be:

Gideon Amos MP, who will talk about his campaign to improve the health of the River Tone, and to gain bathing water status in French Weir Park;

Zoe Connelly, Evidence and Engagement Officer for Westcountry Rivers Trust, who will talk on the work of the Water Guardians – citizen scientists, who test for water quality in their local patch;

Vicky Whitworth of Kit Brook Restoration Project and Friends of the River Axe. She will talk about the headwaters of the Axe catchment, including riparian mammal surveys, landowner engagement and the role of riverflies as indicators of healthy river ecologies;

Gill Westcott of Friends of the River Exe. She will talk about their group to protect the Exe, and some of their activities, including the wonderfully named ‘Assembly of River Beings’ – a ‘creative exploration of how we might speak on behalf and give voice to the wider community of beings of the Exe’.

The film will begin at 5pm, and is a documentary film about the Whanganui River, in New Zealand, the first river to be recognised as having ‘legal personhood’. This means it now has similar protections as a human being. This has come after many years of disagreements between the state and the indigenous Maori people, who regard the river as essential to their physical and spiritual livelihood and who feel themselves to be intrinsically connected to the river.

In the west we have used water merely as a resource and used and abused our river systems, but the good news is that environmental personhood is a legal concept which is gaining traction so that since the Whanganui River case there have been several other rivers granted the same rights to protection and there are a number in the UK who may win a similar legal status.

It makes a great deal of sense for we need to recognise that all the planet’s ecosystems – including trees, oceans, animals, and humans – are deeply intertwined and dependant on each other.

St Mary’s Church annual fete at Hemyock will be held in the church and churchyard and will run from 2.30-4.30 on Saturday, July 5 and opened by well known villager Mary Hawkins .

It is a major fundraising event for the church Highlights will include a performance by Hemyock Dancers with music supplied throughout the afternoon by Back at Nicks.

All the usual stalls found at a fete including skittles and delicious refreshments will be on offer. At the Church Room the popular Charity Shop will also be open throughout the afternoon.

Looking at the history of the fete we can see it began in the garden of The Rectory where knobbly knees and dainty ankles competitions caused great hilarity.

Growing in size it was moved to the Recreation Field where it was held for many years where attractions included the Red Devils parachuting into the field and being opened by Devon Radio personalities .

Necessity saw a smaller area was needed and the present venue has proved to be popular attracting locals and holiday makers. The church looks forward to welcoming you.