January - Back to the West Country

As well as being very much a farming community, the region has also become a magnet for artists and writers, including the poet and broadcaster James Crowden.

After living in such places as Nepal and the Outer Hebrides, James returned to his West Country roots to record life in Somerset, and, with three of his pieces, he now sums up for us the essence of life on the county’s Levels and Moors . . .
                                                                                                                                     

February - Wish You Were Here!

                               
Somerset’s low-lying wetlands remain some of the most sensitive and at-risk landscapes in the British Isles.  8000 years ago, Neolithic man crossed these marshy pastures using narrow wooden causeways; today, the wetlands have been drained and modern roads traverse the district.  To get a sense of how this rural area is changing, two people concerned with the history, and the future of the Levels and Moors, have been taking a look around – quite literally – to see what kind of shape the landscape is in and how it’s developed over the centuries…
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From his old motorbike and sidecar, James Lynch started his career in the mid-70s as an artist by knocking on doors and offering commissions to anyone happy to hand over some money for a painting of their house.  Since then, James has gone onto become one of the UK’s leading landscape artists, and the countryside around his Somerset home has become a constant source of inspiration.  From his studio he enjoys views across the Somerset levels, the Polden Hills and on towards Glastonbury – an unchanged landscape and one worthy of egg tempera, a centuries-old painting technique that makes good use of one of nature’s little miracles…
 


 

Despite the onslaught of the modern world, the countryside around the Levels and Moors area of Somerset continues to provide a refuge for some of the UK’s more traditional industries.  Alongside willow cutting, cheese making and cider production, numerous craftspeople can be found hard at work painting, sculpting, wood working and potting.  One such person has worked his wood-fired pottery kilns for more than forty years and at a recent open day appeared to show little sign of giving up – despite his other main love, a 9 acre haven of peace and quiet away from the pounding demands of running a modern day pottery…
 

May - Welcome in the Spring!

As winter gives way to spring communities in and around Somerset mark the occasion in their own particular way.  Kingsbury Episcopi is one such village that’s restored its May Day Festival by combining the old with the new.  Stalls, field sports and entertainment rub shoulders with the community’s traditional spring celebrations, which include the ringing of church bells, maypole dancing and a procession through the streets.  Our visit to Kingsbury Episcopi captures the atmosphere of an English village celebrating the arrival of the new season, and with it their hopes for a prosperous year ahead…

June - Food, Glorious Food!

With people’s growing demand for more unusual foods, some producers have turned to continental Europe for inspiration.  In Somerset, Michael Brown runs a successful eel smokery, which from its humble beginnings has gone on to become a popular restaurant, shop and mail order business.  Taking advantage of the farmer’s need to diversify, the smokery, at Highbridge near Langport, occupies redundant farm buildings that today form part of a successful retail outlet and business park.  The smokery is a far cry from its early beginnings but the techniques used by Michael and his team remain much as they have been for hundreds of years…
 

July - Best Feet Forward

The UK’s Blue Badge Scheme has been providing qualified tourist guides since the 1950s and remains a reliable source of experts covering all manner of attractions.  For a county like Somerset, you get a different perspective on the flat landscape that forms the Somerset Levels when accompanied by an expert guide.  Dot Walford is a Blue badge guide who relishes the chance to take groups out into the local area and sharing with them her expert knowledge of the region – although for Dot, the chance of learning from the visitor makes her job even more fascinating!

August - Take a Break

As people’s ability to travel increases, those managing popular tourist sites are becoming worried about the damage being caused by the rising tide of visitors.  One such area is the UK’s Somerset Levels, where after centuries of peat working, intensive agriculture and drainage, the natural landscape finds itself under threat from tourism.  To counter this several groups, ranging from the local council to conservation bodies, are collaborating to turn the Levels into a shining example of green tourism at its best, from cycling around sampling local produce, to leaving the car behind and making better use of public transport…

 

September -  Village Ventures

Rural life is forever changing and we’ve all heard of villages that have suffered badly from the effects of social upheaval.  In many communities, the church remains the constant element and, even for those who are not regular members of the congregation, the church continues to be an important focus for village life.  In the Somerset village of Cannington, Father Peter Martin spends much of his time attending to what he calls the ‘social gospel’, working hard to maintain the community’s spirit through his work with village organisations, including two of Cannington’s schools…
 

 

October - Village Histories

Take a physicist, a schoolteacher, a nurse and a detective inspector, a village full of history and some new technology, and you end up with quite a force to be reckoned with!

The Tintinhull Village History Group, set up three years ago to study the village’s myriad of old documents and records, has started piecing together the definitive history of this Somerset community.

There are nearly 50 members helping with the research, and for this month’s "Postcard from Somerset", we’ve been finding out about some of their discoveries and why recording the community’s history matters to them…