THE Weston & Somerset Mercury had a special guest this week when the Bishop of Bath and Wells dropped in for tea

THE Weston & Somerset Mercury had a special guest this week when the Bishop of Bath and Wells dropped in for tea.The Right Reverend Peter Price met the newspaper staff as part of a visit to the Locking Deanery, which covers Weston.Accompanied by rural dean Reverend Mike Slade, the bishop started the day at the Broadway Lodge drug and alcohol rehabilitation centre in Bleadon, before enjoying a tour of Weston College. He then spent the afternoon at the Mercury and the Alvis Brothers farm in Redhill.Rt Rev Price said: "I have been so impressed with the quality and caring nature of the staff everywhere I have visited. At the college there was a clear focus on improving courses and facilities for the disabled and a strong community commitment. "As a former teacher the personal discipline of the students particularly shone out."The church activity in the area made a real impression on the bishop, who described it as 'humbling yet ground-breaking'.He said: "Mine is the most privileged job in the world because I get to meet the most wonderful people. In Weston, there is some superb work going on in churches encouraging fresh diversity, which is exactly what they should be doing."Places like the For All Healthy Living Centre on the Bournville and projects organised by churches like Holy Trinity and Mead Vale are exactly the sort of creative, forward-thinking work that can improve entire communities, change lives for the better and give hope to those that need it whether they are religious or not."However, one of the bishop's fondest memories of Weston was from his teaching days when he did a work placement at Uphill Secondary School (now broadoak Community School) in 1963. He said: "I used the phone box by the Grand Pier to call my now wife of 39 years for the first time. Every time I visit Weston I think of it and smile and I'm glad to see on this visit the phone box was still standing.