Brexit came too late for the Cadburys factory at Keynsham in North East Somerset. A letter in the WDP.

A letter in the Western Daily Press on February 6.

Cadbury move too late for SW factory.

It has been reported that Cadburys is bringing Dairy Milk chocolate bar production back from Germany and other sites in Europe to its Bournville site in Birmingham.  Very good news for workers in the Midlands, but we should spare a thought for those who were employed at the Cadburys factory in Keynsham near Bristol who lost their jobs in 2011 when the factory was closed and the machinery shipped to Poland.  Brexit came too late for them.

S.W.

Ilminster, Somerset.

Epitaphs of interest. At rest in the Churchyard of Christ Church, Redhill, North Somerset is C.T.D. "Sox" Hosegood FRAeS.

 The epitaph on his gravestone includes the description “A good egg”.

Charles Thomas Dennehy “Sox” Hosegood FRAeS is best remembered for his career in aviation.  He joined the Royal Navy just after the outbreak of World War Two and gained his Fleet Air Arm wings in July 1940.  Late in the war he was one of the first six Naval Pilots sent to America to convert to helicopters on the Sikorsky R4.  In March 1945 Hosegood became the Navy test pilot at the Joint Service Helicopter Test Unit of the Airborne Forces Experimental Establishment (AFEE) at Beulieu.  He left the Navy in November 1946.

In 1952 Hosegood became Chief Test Pilot of the Bristol Aeroplane Company’s Helicopter Division.  He worked on the Bristol Sycamore, the first British helicopter to gain its Certificate of Airworthiness.  He made the initial flights of the Bristol Belvedere and saw it into service with the RAF.

After Westland took over Bristol’s Helicopter Division in 1963 Hosegood joined the South Western Electricity Board to set up their Helicopter Unit for power line inspection duties.  He managed the Helicopter Unit for 20 years up to his retirement by which time it had expanded to cover power line inspections for 4 neighbouring Boards.

He is buried in the churchyard of Christ Church in the village of Redhill, North Somerset.

Source:

https://www.aerosociety.com/news/obituary-charles-thomas-dennehy-sox-hosegood/

Views from Felton Common near Bristol Airport in North Somerset.

For obvious reasons I cannot get out and about at the moment, so I have delved into my archives and found some photos taken in 2012 on Felton Common, east of Bristol Airport, in North Somerset.  I often drove out from South Bristol to take my dog Rosie for walks on the common, savour the fresh air, enjoy the views of the surrounding countryside, and do a little plane spotting.

Bluebells and hawthorn in flower on Felton Common in North Somerset. Photo taken May 2012.

Looking east from Felton Common in North Somerset.  Dundry Hill is top left.  Photo taken in May 2012.

Ryanair Boeing 737-800 EI-EFZ coming in over Felton Common to land at Bristol Airport in North Somerset on 29 May 2012.  Note the buzzard circling above!

Gilbert and Molly Lovell, victims of a stray Luftwaffe bomb in November 1940, commemorated at St. Katherine's Church, Felton, North Somerset.

Just past the entrance to Bristol Airport on the north-bound carriageway of the A38 is the Airport Tavern.  Take the next right turn and cross the cattle grid then turn right up the lane leading to Felton Common and St. Katherine’s Church.  Explore the churchyard and you will come across the grave and memorial headstone of Henry J. Sainsbury and his wife Laura May, the headstone also commemorates other members of the family.  You will read that  their daughter Molly and her husband Gilbert Lovell were "killed by enemy action" on this day in 1940. 

Note that the Airport Tavern was known as the New Inn until the 1970s and that Bristol Airport was formerly the World War Two RAF airfield of Lulsgate Bottom.  The following extract from Ian James’ The Story of RAF Lulsgate Bottom, (Redcliffe Press, 1989) details the tragic events of that day in 1940.

“The freezing winter of 1940/41 was the winter of the Blitz, and even country areas, especially those near large industrial centres such as Bristol did not escape. At around 0415 in the early hours of November 18, a bomb hit the New Inn at Lulsgate.  Hosts, Harry J. and Laura M. Sainsbury lost one of their two daughters, Molly Ellen (28) and her husband Gilbert Lovell (33).  The Lovell’s year old baby Patricia, and Aunt, Mrs Emma Wilkins, survived.”

RAF Lulsgate Bottom was not even under construction at that time, and there was no Luftwaffe raid on Bristol that night so it seems to have been a matter of sheer bad luck that the New Inn was hit.  A few more bombs were reported landing nearby without causing any other casualties.  Perhaps the ill-fated deaths of Molly and Gilbert Lovell were caused by a lone German bomber jettisoning its bomb-load after becoming lost.

The grave and headstone of Henry J. Sainsbury and his wife Laura May in the graveyard of St. Katherine's Church on Felton Common Hill, North Somerset.

Lt.Col. J.C.Meiklejohn who won a DSO at the Second Battle of El Alamein is remembered in the churchyard at the village of Rowberrow, North Somerset.

Last year, while exploring the churchyard of St. Michael and All Angels in the village of Rowberrow in North Somerset, I came across a headstone commemorating Max John Christian Meiklejohn and his wife and their three children.  I was intrigued by the inscription for the only son which read: “Lt. Col. John Cusance Meiklejohn D.S.O., T.D.  Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders.  1904-1988.”

The village church of St. Michael and All Angels at Rowberrow on the Mendip Hills in Somerset.

I know T.D. stands for Territorial Decoration which was awarded to those who gave long service to the Territorial Army and its predecessor The Territorial Force, but I wondered how Lt. Col. Meiklejohn came to be awarded the D.S.O.  A little research brought forth the answer.

At the time of the Second Battle of El Alamein Meiklejon, then a Captain, was serving with the 7th Battalion, Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders: part of 154 Brigade in the 51st Highland Division.  He led his Company into action on 26 October 1942 when the battle was only days old.  I found the following citation for the Distinguished Service Order in the National Archives.

“On 26 October 1942, a night attack by three companies on a strongly held enemy position made under heavy machine gun and mortar fire and all officers except Capt. Meiklejohn, commanding “B” Company, and one other were wounded.  Capt. Meiklejohn led his company successfully onto his objective, but then found that the enemy had closed in again behind him and that he was surrounded.  He succeeded however in collecting the remnants of the other two companies and with them and his own men, a force of about two hundred strong, organised a position to hold the ground won.  This position he held until relief reached him nearly forty-eight hours later.  Shortly after the position was occupied the only other remaining officer became a casualty.  Capt. Meiklejohn was short of ammunition and had very little food and water, and all attempts to get supplies through to him failed.  During the remaining six hours of darkness on the first night after the attack he was constantly threatened by enemy counter-attacks, but he successfully held them off by intensive artillery fire which he himself directed round his position by wireless.  Throughout a very trying time he not only held tenaciously to an important objective but by his own unaided effort and example maintained the morale of his men, and gave an outstanding display of courage, leadership and ability”. 

I post this today on the anniversary of Lt. Col. Meiklejohn’s noteworthy participation in one of the key battles of the Second World War.

For a more detailed report on the role of 7th Battalion, Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders at The Second Battle of El Alamein here is a link:
https://51hd.co.uk/accounts/el_alamein_battle

Blackberries, or brambles as some call them, the wild fruit of August.

Lia Leendertz in her The Almanac.  A Seasonal Guide to 2018 (Unbound, 2017) chose blackberries, or brambles as she names them, as her kitchen ingredient of the month for August.  She wrote:

“Call them blackberries if you like, but there is something special about the word ‘bramble’, covering the as it does both the fruit itself and the act of gathering them.  To bramble is to ramble and search, to take on the thicket, sleeves resolutely rolled down, and to cover yourself in scratches . . .  You can buy blackberries or grow them in the garden, but it is not only the experience that will be missed: wild blackberries have a complexity of flavour that is completely lacking in the cultivated types, a wild, woodsy, homely taste, nostalgia in berry form.”

As a child I enjoyed picking blackberries from the hedgerows when spending holidays in the countryside with various relatives in the Lulsgate and Redhill areas of North Somerset.   You can also find blackberries in the city, although you have to be careful where you pick them due to possible pollution by exhaust fumes from road traffic.  One year, about twelve years ago when living in Bristol, I picked enough blackberries in the Malago Valley for my wife to make a couple of dozen jars of excellent home-made jam. 

Blackberries are an admirable source of vitamin-C and contain a good amount of minerals such as potassium, manganese, copper and magnesium.  So, when my wife and I enjoy a cup of tea and a jam sandwich it’s not only a tasty treat but a nutritious one as well! 

Blackberries in a South Somerset hedgerow.

A stroll around the village of Pensford in the Chew Valley, North Somerset.

The large village of Pensford straddles the A37 about 4 miles south of Bristol.  I stopped for a short break there recently, with my wife, on the way home from Bristol.  We parked in Pensford’s Memorial Hall car park off Publow Lane and I had a quick stroll around the village.

I made my way back to the High Street where I came upon the village Lock Up.  Made of stone, it is octagonal and has a perfect hemispherical roof.

The Lock Up in the village of Pensford, North Somerset.

Next to the Lock Up is a bench with a plaque commemorating local man Bernard Stanley “Acker” Bilk, an accomplished clarinettist whose Stranger on the Shore became the UK’s biggest selling single of 1962 and was in the charts for 50 weeks, peaking at Number Two.

Opposite High Street on the other side of the A37 is the village war memorial commemorating 7 men lost in the First World War, and 8 men and 1 woman in World War Two.

The war memorial alongside the A37 in the village of Pensford, North Somerset.

I crossed the A37, carefully, and walked along Church Street to the Church of St. Thomas a Becket.  The church dates from the fourteenth century, and is nearly moated by the River Chew.  Be aware that the main interior is now a private home and there is obviously no admittance.  However, the three-stage fourteenth century tower is in the care of the Churches Conservation Trust and can be accessed. 

The Church of St. Thomas a Becket in the village of Pensford, North Somerset.  The Bristol and North Somerset Railway's 16 arch viaduct is in the background.

Very heavy rain on the night of the 16/17 July 1968 caused the River Chew to burst its banks causing the modern road bridge carrying the A37 over the river in the centre of the village to be swept away.  Ironically the village’s medieval bridge survived.

The plaque on the building adjacent to the church gates indicates the height to which the floodwater reached on that night.

The plaque on the wall by the church gates indicates the height of the flood in 1968.

The church, and most of the village, is dominated by the 16 arch viaduct built in 1873 for the Bristol and North Somerset Railway, but not used since it was deemed unsafe after the flood of 1968. 

I retraced my steps back to the car thinking another, more leisurely, visit would be worthwhile.

The Church of All Saints in the village of Wrington, North Somerset. Final resting place of playwright, poet and social reformer Hannah More, and her four sisters.

The village of Wrington and its church of All Saints is hidden away along narrow twisting roads and charming country lanes a few miles west of Redhill on the A38 in North Somerset. 

Arthur Mee beautifully describes Wrington and its church in his The King’s England, Somerset (Hodder and Stoughton Ltd., 1968):

“Nature made it a fair place, in this lovely country of the Yeo, with a river and a vale and two lines of hills; and the fifteenth century left it fairer still, endowing it with a church crowned by one of Somerset’s noblest towers.”

The Church of All Saints in the village of Wrington, North Somerset.

The family grave of Hannah More and her four sisters in the churchyard of All Saints in Wrington, North Somerset.

Born in Fishponds, Bristol, Hannah More (1745-1833), poet, playwright, and advocate of social reform and the abolition of slavery was one of the most significant women of her times. 

She lived a considerable part of her life, with her sisters, in the vicinity of Wrington; firstly at Cowslip Green where she had a cottage built in 1784, and then at Barley Wood where she had a house built in 1801.  She stayed at Barley Wood until 1828 when, having outlived her sisters and in failing health, she was persuaded by friends to move to Clifton in Bristol.  Upon her death she was buried alongside her sisters in the churchyard of All Saints. 

The modern plaque by the family grave of Hannah More and her sisters.  The words on the gravestone have eroded over time and are difficult to distinguish.  

An angel watches over a lane leading to Felton Common in North Somerset.

Just north of Bristol Airport on the A38 at Lulsgate Bottom is the road east to Felton, Winford and Chew Magna.  Take that road and 100 yards past the cattle grid you will see on your right a lane lined by aged beech trees which leads to St. Katharine’s Church and Felton Common.

Standing at the entrance to the lane is a striking statue of an angel looking skywards.  It was carved from a dying beech tree by Gloucestershire artist Ant Beetlestone in 2010.

An angel watches over a lane leading to Felton Common in North Somerset.

The angel carved from a beech tree at Felton Common in North Somerset. 

The pier at Weston-super-Mare on the Somerset Coast.

On yet another wet and miserable January day I spent some time looking through some of my photographs and came across this one of the pier at Weston-super-Mare on the Somerset Coast.  It was taken from Brean Down on a hazy day in the spring of 2015.

The pier at Weston-super-Mare on the Somerset Coast viewed from Brean Down.

 I thought the reflections were quite pleasing.

The Campaign for an English Parliament exposes European Union plot to regionalise England!

Reproduced below is part of an article from The Campaign for an English Parliament. 

“Regionalisation exposed by the CEP as a devious EU tactic to destabilise the UK (& England!)

 
Many initial responses to hearing that there is a Yorkshire independence movement and a Yorkshire Party is to pour scorn on the idea as being fiscally irresponsible or plainly unworkable. This is because it is obvious that without the British government’s subsidies Yorkshire Services wouldn't function properly.

However, to simply dismiss these two organisations that have the same Liberal Democrat leadership is to underestimate the manipulation and the devious actions of the EU in supporting a new sounding name for the old EU Regionalisation project for Britain and for England. http://www.e-f-a.org/about-us/

First it is important for any patriots to realise that the EU is supporting the Yorkshire Party as it belongs to an EU umbrella organisation, called the European Free Alliance (EFA). That EU organisation gathers together 45 “Progressive nationalist, regionalist and autonomist” parties throughout Europe. This grouping can only be conceived as an EU attempt to break-up and digest those nations that the regionalist organisations work within. This is because the EU supports the Regionalisation agenda because it makes resistance to their EU federalism agenda difficult if the nation state is fighting on two fronts. (the EU commission and EU supporting regionalist voices within).

The structure in Catalonia and Spain is a good example showing how devious the EU truly is:- The EU has openly distanced itself from those Catalonian parties that have called for full independence but it fails to mention that some of these parties are also included in their EU, European Free Alliance organisation. In effect, they are funded encouraging Regionalisation behind the scenes but are publicly slapping down independence. That is because the regionalist within the nation state is an EU regionalist patsy!

Once you accept that Regionalisation is all about pushing the EU Federalist agenda then you realise that The Yorkshire Party is not about benefiting the people of Yorkshire but about promoting EU federalism. This makes the Yorkshire party dangerous because it is about creating internal divisions and arguments within England and the UK whilst the British Government are engaged in full Brexit negotiations.”

Here is a link to the whole article:

http://thecep.org.uk/c-e-p-news/regionalisation-exposed-as-a-devious-eu-tactic-to-destabilise-the-uk/

I suspect that the British Political Establishment is just as keen to see England destabilised and regionalised as the European Union.

Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland now have their own devolved governments; any such recognition of English nationhood would be anathema to the Westminster elite who much prefer to vaingloriously cloak themselves in British nationalism while ruling over their last remaining “colony” – England. 

 

Be that as it may, it seems the Yorkshire Party has joined Mebyon Kernow as the two foremost county/regionalist parties in England.  Here in the West of England the Wessex Regionalists still persist, but have fielded only a handful of candidates in elections this century.  In the last General Election Jim Gunter stood as the Wessex Regionalist candidate in the constituency of Devizes, in Wiltshire, receiving 223 votes (0.4 per cent).  Mebyon Kernow, formed as a pressure group in 1951, did not field any candidates in the 2017 General Election saying its timing made it impractical to do so, but the Party does have four local councillors at present.

I imagine it could well be in Yorkshire, due to its size and economic clout, where a regional or county based party has any hope at all of gaining any sort of "regional" electoral success.

In my opinion, if the British Establishment succeeds in breaking England into regions we may as well return to the Anglo-Saxon Heptarchy and rebuild the nation state of England from that starting point, as it was originally.

St. Mary's Church, Yatton, in North Somerset. Known long ago as "The Cathedral of the Moors".

In this Boxing Day blogpost I write of St. Mary’s Church in Yatton which in more ancient times was known as the Cathedral of the Moors, due to its prominent position on the North Somerset Levels.

The village of Yatton is described, rather unkindly, by Simon Jenkins in his England’s Thousand Best Churches (Penguin Books, 1999) as: “dreary”, but of St. Mary’s he writes: “. . . but the Perpendicular church detaches itself and its churchyard from the eastern suburbs and lends majesty to Yatton Moor.”

St. Mary’s lost most of its spire in 1595 leaving it with an odd, truncated appearance, but the south porch and west front have been chronicled in glowing terms by Simon Jenkins, Arthur Mee and Edward Hutton.

Jenkins and Hutton recount the inscription on the grave of gypsy Merily Joules which reads: “Here lies Merily Joules / A beauty bright / Who loved Isaac Joules / Her heart’s delight.”  She died in 1827 and Isaac is said to have been so overcome that he pitched camp by her grave for fourteen years until he joined her in death.

Yatton sprawls alongside the B3133 between Congresbury and Clevedon with St. Mary’s handily situated near a free car park.  I have often used it when paying my respects to a great aunt who died in 1977 and is buried in the extensive churchyard.  In fact so extensive that I have yet to come across the grave of Merily Joules!        

St. Mary's Church in Yatton, North Somerset.  Most of the spire was lost in 1595.

Poet's Walk in Clevedon. A view of the North Somerset Coast and Severn Estuary.

Poet’s Walk in Clevedon takes you up and around Church Hill and Wain’s Hill on the south-west fringes of the town.  The walk gives fine views of the Somerset Coast and Severn Estuary.

Poet’s Walk takes its name from poets such as Samuel Taylor Coleridge and Alfred Lord Tennyson, and other contemporary literary figures, who visited the town and were inspired by its coastal views.  Coleridge stayed in Clevedon for several months in 1795 after his marriage, in Bristol’s St. Mary Redcliffe Church, to Sarah Fricker.

Clevedon is easily reached by road from Junction 20 of the M5 and on arriving at the seafront parking is not too difficult.  One can usually park on the roadside by Salthouse Park but, if needed, there is a spacious pay and display car park at Salthouse Fields near Marine Lake and the starting point for the walk.

Setting off up the hillside path it is not far before “The Lookout” is reached.  The plaque explains all: “Erected circa 1835 by Ferdinand Beeston.  Said to have been used by the Finzel Family sugar importers in the mid nineteenth century to view sugar ships coming from the West Indies.”

From Church Hill one can see the Welsh coast and north east up the Severn Estuary as far as the Second Severn Crossing.

Nestling in a slight hollow between Church Hill and Wain’s Hill is the Church of St. Andrew.  Built on Anglo-Saxon foundations, parts of the 12th century church remain alongside later additions.  Of St. Andrew’s Church, in his Somerset (Great Western Railway Company) 1934, Maxwell Fraser writes: “The grey old church, noble in its rugged simplicity, dominates the whole town from its commanding position on a grassy hilltop, and looks seaward as though brooding over the lines of Tennyson’s “In Memoriam”, which was written in memory of the poet’s friend Arthur Hallam, who is buried in the church with his father, Henry Hallam the historian.” 

In recent times this “brooding” church has featured as a location for the popular TV drama “Broadchurch”.

Clevedon's Church of St. Andrew nestling between Church Hill and Wain's Hill. 

The footpath curves around Wain’s Hill, the site of an Iron Age hillfort and also a little more recent fortification from the Second World War.  Looking beyond Blackstone Rocks and the mudflats, the rolling grasslands of Sand Point and Middle Hope are visible to the south west.  In the far distance the wooded Worlebury Hill can be seen as well as Steep Holm out in the Bristol Channel. 

Poet’s Walk is a little steep in places as it climbs through woodland but there are benches where one can take a breather - there is plenty of fresh air - and linger over the outstanding views of the Severn Estuary and Clevedon’s Victorian seafront and pier.

The Victorian seafront and pier at Clevedon viewed from Poet's Walk.  The Second Severn Crossing can just be seen, in the mist, on the horizon. 

Redhill on the A38 in North Somerset and its village church of Christ Church.

Whenever I have occasion to use the A38 in North Somerset I try and stop by at Christ Church in the village of Redhill.  The reason for this short detour is to pay my respects at the grave of my great-grandparents and also do a little tidying up around their grave.

The village church of Christ Church, Redhill, North Somerset.

My great-grandparents lived and raised 12 children at Hyall House, now named Meadow Cottage, in Lye Hole Lane just on the other side of the A38 from Redhill.  Many of their relations, and several of their children, are also at rest in the graveyard of Christ Church.

I usually leave the A38 at Churchill and head for Lower Langford where I turn north through the country lanes to Wrington and then follow Long Lane to Redhill.  Long Lane might be long but it is very narrow in places.  It also passes through the picturesque Barley Wood Estate which was owned between 1784 and 1828 by the English religious writer and philanthropist Hannah More (1745-1833) for whom Barley Wood House was built in 1801.

In 1897 the Barley Wood Estate came into the ownership of Henry Herbert Wills, a director of the Imperial Tobacco Company, and stayed within the family until the death of Captain Douglas Wills in 1973.

On reaching Redhill,  Christ Church, a grade ll listed building built in 1843, is tucked away behind a line of trees opposite the old School House, now a private residence.  Many of the houses in the village have wonderful views of the Vale of Wrington and the northern slopes of the Mendip Hills.

Having paid my respects I usually park in a peaceful lay-by a few hundred yards west of the village in Long Lane to enjoy the scenery before rejoining the A38.

The view from Long Lane, just west of Redhill, across the A38 towards the northern slopes of the Mendip Hills and the village of Blagdon. 

A poetic tribute. Long life and success to England's farmers.

Friesians at Barrington Court in South Somerset.

Apples in the orchard at Barrington Court in South Somerset.

While looking at some photos taken last autumn at the National Trust's Barrington Court in South Somerset I was reminded of a poetic tribute to England's farmers who, despite the trials and tribulations of climate, economics and politics, put food on my table throughout the year.


The author is unknown, but the words are from a double handed farmhouse mug which belonged to my great-grandfather who farmed at Lye Hole, east of Wrington Vale in North Somerset, in the 1890s.


Let the wealthy and great
Roll in splendour and state
I envy them not I declare it
I eat my own lamb
My own chickens and ham
I shear my own fleece and I wear it
I have lawns I have bowers
I have fruits I have flowers
The lark is my morning alarmer
So jolly boys now
Here's God speed the plough
Long life and success to the Farmer.

Kite-buggies in action at Uphill near Weston-super-Mare.

Kite-buggy racing on the beach at Uphill near Weston-super-Mare on the North Somerset coast.  Brean Down is on the left, Steep Holm in the centre and the Welsh Coast can be seen on the horizon to the right.
 

The village of Uphill is at the mouth of the River Axe and was charmingly described, in 1934, by Maxwell Fraser in his guidebook Somerset (Great Western Railway Company): "Uphill, the last of the true Mendip villages, lies at the foot of the hill beside the seashore, with its old church 100 ft. above.  Originally a Norman building altered in the Perpendicular period, it is now practically disused, but the view from the churchyard is so inspiring it is well worth the trouble of the steep climb.  Immediately below is the tiny harbour which probably marks the site of the Roman harbour of Axium from which the produce of the Roman lead mines was exported.  The old Roman road has been traced from this hill for 55 miles across the Mendips to Old Sarum near Salisbury, and the grass-clad breeze-swept knoll is a remote and lonely little world which pricks the imagination to conjure up visions of the days when the legions swung down from the hills, and the harbour was swarming with men loading the ships under the efficient direction of their overseers."

Tyntesfield House, Wraxall, North Somerset. A magnificent example of Victorian Gothic Revival architecture.

The original Regency building of 1813 was transformed in the 1860s by architect John Norton into a magnificent country house in Victorian Gothic Revival style.

Tyntesfield came into the possession of the Gibbs family in 1843.  It was around this time that the family's business venture in agricultural fertiliser and the shipment of guano from islands off Peru began to produce great wealth. The restructuring of the house started by William Gibbs was completed in 1864. It then remained the family home until the death of George Richard Lawley Gibbs, 2nd Lord Wraxall, in 2001 whereupon it was eventually bought by the National Trust.

The Tyntesfield Estate in Wraxall, North Somerset, only 10 minutes drive from the outskirts of Bristol, is one of the most popular National Trust properties I have visited.  However, there is ample and convenient car parking close to the restaurant and shop area - often a bit crowded.  Nevertheless, the estate is big enough to spend an afternoon wandering around in peace while enjoying the scenery and bucolic atmosphere and, of course, there is always the Victorian Gothic house to admire. 

The turrets, chimney pots and weathercocks of Tyntesfield House. 

Inside the house the Library and Main Hall are particularly impressive.   Several visits are required to appreciate fully all the wonders of the house, garden and park.

Welsh government, empowered by the British government, to give Cardiff Airport unfair financial advantage over its English neighbour.

I read in the Daily Telegraph an article by Liam Fox, Conservative MP for North Somerset, bemoaning the lack of a third runway at Heathrow and the consequent loss of £billions to the British economy. 

It is a pity Mr Fox  does not pay more attention to his own constituency where, according to Bristol Airport bosses, 1500 jobs may be lost together with  £843million annually from the West of England economy as a result of the Conservative policy of appeasing the Welsh and Scottish governments.

The following letter, published in the Bristol Evening Post (14th September 2015), from Clive Lavelle of the English Democrats further explains the issues.

Injustices we've been trying to highlight.

I READ with interest the feature in the Bristol Post about the threat to Bristol Airport’s future from a proposed reduction in Airport Passenger Duty in Wales.

Robert Sinclair ( right), CEO at Bristol Airport was reported as calling for a “level playing field”. His sentiments were echoed in an editorial “We say” comment.

The comment states, “Giving the Welsh government the right to set Air Passenger Duty would see Cardiff Airport gain an unfair advantage over Bristol Airport.”

What Mr Sinclair and the editorial fail to grasp is that the “right” to set Airport Passenger Duty has been granted to the Welsh government by the British government (there is no English government).

Furthermore, the funding that enables the Welsh government to exercise this “right” comes directly from the English taxpayer, through the Barnett Formula; money filched from the English, by the British and handed over to the Scots and Welsh to give them these advantages.

The English Democrats have been trying to highlight these injustices for many years, through your columns and in other ways.

Clive Lavelle

Weston-super-Mare English Democrats

Swans, Black-headed gulls and Cormorants at Chew Valley Lake, North Somerset.

Young Swan just after take-off.

Cormorant lecturing Black-headed gulls on fishing techniques.

The  largest artificial lake in Southwest England, Chew Valley Lake is just north of the Mendip Hills and was created by the Bristol Waterworks Company to supply water for South Bristol.  Planned before the Second World war, construction was authorised in 1949, the lake was inaugurated by Queen Elizabeth ll in 1956.

I can recommend the excellent restaurant, Woodford Lodge, on the western shore of the lake which is accessed from the B3114.  There is also a café and car park on the northern tip of the lake.

If you are just driving by there is a spacious lay-by on the B3114, south of Chew Stoke, from which you can view the scenery and do some bird-watching. This is where the above photos were taken.  There is another lay-by on the A368, north-east of West Harptree, which also overlooks the lake. 

As well as enjoying the wonderful views of the North Somerset countryside and the foothills of the Mendips keep an eye open for some of the 260 species of birds recorded at Chew.

Blagdon Lake in North Somerset.

Blagdon Lake lies in a valley bordering the northern edge of the Mendip Hills.  It was created by the Bristol Waterworks Company between 1898 and 1905 when the River Yeo, which rises in the village of Compton Martin one and a half miles to the southeast, was dammed.  Originally named the Yeo Reservoir, the lake is overlooked by the village of Blagdon from which it now takes its name.

To enjoy a peaceful walk on the public footpath along the lakeshore it is best to park on the road over the dam.  There is a car park near the fire station in the village of Blagdon but, as the village is on foothills of the Mendips, it is a very testing walk back up the steep road from the lake.  The footpath on the lakeshore is level going and there are benches on which to take a rest or just sit and enjoy the view.

Blagdon Lake in the autumn, viewed from the south.

St Andrew's Church overlooks the lake.  The tower is one of the tallest in Somerset and dates from the 15th century.  The remainder of the church was rebuilt between 1907 and 1909 by Lord Winterstoke, of the Wills tobacco family, who lived nearby at Coombe Lodge on the western outskirts of Blagdon.


St. Andrew's Church, Blagdon overlooking the lake.                  
 

For a view which takes in Blagdon Lake, Village and Church turn off the A368 up the hill next to the Seymour Arms.  Proceed up the hill, the road is steep, narrow and twisting so take care, and keep a lookout for the small car park and picnic area on the left.  Once you have spent time enjoying the scenery drive on up the hill and join the B3134 for a spin on the Mendip Hills.