Today is Somerset Day. Celebrate and be thankful for all that is great about our wonderful County.

Not only should we celebrate our County on Somerset Day we must also treasure it.  Who could disagree with the sentiments of Bryan Little in the final paragraph of the penultimate chapter of his Portrait of Somerset (Robert Hale,1969):

"What is vital for the character and good standing of Somerset is the continued existence, and enhancement, of such urban beauties as those which can be found in Georgian Bath, in the Barchesterian ambiance of Wells, along the main street of Chard, pre-eminently in Bruton and Dunster, in Frome, Somerton, Crewkerne, and in many other large villages and towns.  Out in the countryside I hope that we shall long see and appreciate the steeps of the Mendips, the Quantock ridge and the combes below it, the whole sweet countryside down by the Dorset border, the varied, unspoiled charms of the Dundon and Somerton hills, Avalon, Brent Knoll and the lesser hills and isles which rise above the central plain.  We must treasure the rhine-crossed flats and the willows of the moors, and above all the manifold, proud pre-Reformation glory of Somerset's noble church towers."

The quote below is taken from the Visit Somerset website.  Here is a link:
http://www.visitsomerset.co.uk/whats-on/somerset-day-p2030723

" . . . celebrate Somerset Day and everything that is great about our wonderful County.

In early 2015, 8,000 people voted in an online poll to choose King Alfred to be the theme for the new 11th May annual Somerset Day celebration.

On 11th May 878, Alfred the Great, King of Wessex, gathered ‘all the people of Somerset’ to march against and defeat the invading Danish army. By the time of his death he had become the dominant ruler in England and is the only English monarch to be accorded the title "the Great".

The Inaugural Somerset Day Celebration was held on Monday 11th May 2015 at the Museum of Somerset in Taunton, attended by His Grace the Duke of Somerset, Patron, and many Mayors and dignitaries from across the historic County of Somerset. Other events were held across the county."