Historic Buildings of Mendip

Homes have fascinating histories, whether they are the stately one or the two up and two down of terraced house in mean streets. The simple annals of the poor are not without interest. The study of buildings of a particul... » MORE

Sir Walter Raleigh and a bishop's young bride

Banwell retains its beautiful setting, and it is not difficult to accept the fact the fields and woods which form its hillside background were once a great park where deer roamed... » MORE

When entertainment was run by the TAA

During the halcyon years of Weston entertainments there was an extraordinary range. In addition to the attractions at Knightstone Theatre and the Grand Pier and H C Burgess... » MORE

Golden summers of concert party years

Were the Weston summers of one's childhood really so golden as one pictures them? Looking back, one feels again the glow of summers that were long and dry, when the sun... » MORE

The glory of Banwell Church

Although a great many years ago the water from the Banwell spring had a reputation for healing powers, there is no record that it was ever regarded as a holy well. A former... » MORE

If it days - if it comes in you get it, if it doesn't you go without

In his early struggles as a professional entertainer, Carlton Fredricks, whose name is so memorably linked with Weston's former Palace Theatre, was obliged to work... » MORE

'I'm going a milking, sir' she said

Milk churns, standing on wooden or stone loading platforms beside roads at approaches to farms have long been a delightful, familiar feature of the English countryside. Now in dairy... » MORE

Peddling the voice of Gladstone at penny a listen

One of the most interesting interludes in the life of Carlton Fredricks, a well-known figure associated with Weston's old Palace Theatre in the Boulevard, was when he toured... » MORE

Banwell's once famous bone caves

For a long time before the first man drank at the Banwell River thousands of animals must have refreshed themselves there unmolested except by one another. Wagon-loads of their... » MORE

With Carlton Fredricks at the old Palace Theatre

Carlton Fredricks was once a familiar name to many Westonians, and at the mention of it their thoughts would go browsing back through the years to happy memories of the old... » MORE