December and January Issue of LAMP Magazine: literature, art, music and performance

1. DECEMBER/JANUARY 2013 /2014
FREE
Shining a light on literature, art, music and performance in Somerset
INSIDE THIS ISSUE
Hansel & Gretel
Christmas Book Collection
Calendar of Events
Taunton Youth Dance
Phoenix Singers
Christmas Arts & Crafts
A Christmas Carol
Carols & Classics at Merriott Church
Sinead Gillespie
Lost Islands of Somerset
Poetry Corner with Candy Bright
Brunner Prize Results
Short Story
My Favourite with Jeremy Harvey

2. FESTIVE CONCERT
WITH
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Saturday 7 December
8.00pm
Popular ballads, old favourites and Christmas carols. Come along
with friends and family to start your festive celebrations with
stirring music, mince pies and mulled wine.
Tickets £16 (under 18s £8) - includes mulled wine & mince pies
Pre-booked suppers available at £22
Dillington House
ilminster somerset tA19 9Dt
01460 258613
www.Dillington.com

3. Contents
05 Introduction
07 Hansel Gretel
09 Taunton Literary Festival:Ranulph Fiennes
Gervase Phinn rescheduled
11 Christmas Book Collection
20 Calendar of Events
24 Taunton Youth Dance Group
26 Phoenix Singers
28 Christmas Arts Crafts Collection
30 A Christmas Carol
32 Carols Classics at Merriott Church
33 Sinead Gillespie at Bridgwater Arts Centre
34 Lost Islands of Somerset
35 Poetry Corner with Candy Bright
36 Reaching for the Stars... Brunner Prize and the
winning story in full
38 My Favourite with Jeremy Harvey
Editor: Lionel Ward
Copy Editor: Jo Ward
All enquiries:
lampmagazine1@gmail.com
01823 337742
c/o Brendon Books,
Bath Place, Taunton
TA1 4ER
The views expressed in Lamp are
not necessarily those of the editorial
team. Copyright, unless otherwise
stated, is that of the magazine or the
individual authors. We do not accept
liability for the content or accuracy
of the magazine including that of the
advertisers.

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5. A certain crispness to the air and red berries in the trees signal that its time for
winter festivities and festivals. If, like me, you are still making your preparations, there are lots of ideas here – a Christmas book perhaps, one to curl up
with over the holiday or to treasure for years to come, or some of the delightful arts and crafts from Ilminster Arts Centre. Or perhaps you’ll choose tickets
from the vast array on offer: music of all kinds, singing and dance, Christmas
shows and drama. Maybe you’ll be inspired by the story of how Hansel and
Gretel comes to be playing on Castle Green in Taunton or want to support the Variety Gala at
Queens College both put on by Taunton Theatre Association to support the re-opening of The
Brewhouse next year.
Perhaps you are looking further ahead to your plans for 2014 and, inspired by the wonderful
Taunton Literary Festival, find yourself musing about the book you’ve always dreamed of publishing. Rejection seems almost to be a rite of passage for authors so getting a little help is very
welcome. Sinead Gillespie offers her thoughts on her experience of getting published. Maybe
your passion is music or singing and, if so, perhaps this will be the year for taking part yourself
in one of the many opportunities on offer.
One of my inspiring meetings in 2013 was with Diane Burnell. Having retired, she was wistfully wishing she had followed her heart and gone to art school. Challenged by her granddaughter, Diane studied and won a Fine Arts degree. She followed her passion and today is the Chair
of Contemporary Artists Network, supporting others in releasing their own unimagined gifts.
Whatever our dreams, let’s be bold and paint our own canvas in 2014.
Val Hammond
Val Hammond is Chair and a Director of Taunton Theatre Association Ltd, the community
based organisation aiming to re-open the Brewhouse Theatre and Arts Centre. For information: www.tauntontheatre.org.uk.

6. South West Music
School are a music
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7. A Christmas Gift to Taunton
The Taunton Theatre Association, who are hoping to be given the go-ahead to
run the Brewhouse when their case is presented for approval before an executive panel of councillors in December, are putting on a free production of Hansel
Gretel in Castle Green, Taunton.
The classic fairy tale will showcase much of the local
talent and services we have in Taunton. There will be
music from up and coming young star Aisha Bellamy,
Okoko DJ Max Corderoy and The Big Noise, dance from
Nicky Jenks School of Dance, the artistic abilities of Vislab, sound from Liven Up, Lighting provided by Bright,
children’s choir from Stagecoach and Trull C of E VA
primary school and all graphic design has been provided
by ADK Design.
All those involved – performers, production, costumes
and marketing team - have donated their skills and time
at no cost. Cliff from the Knight’s Rest Inn and Chris
Trott, the butcher have even kindly offered to feed the
audience every night with a spit roast.
The intention is to demonstrate that the group is capable
of putting on a professional show with limited resources.
Beccy Armory, Creative Producer; David Duthie, Father;
Beth Court, Gretel
Creative producer, Becky Armoury, comments, ‘It is an
adventurous project that is certainly testing the resolve
of all the businesses involved, the production team and
Taunton Theatre Association - but if proof were needed that we
miss our theatre, this is it! ‘ All free tickets for the production
which takes place on 19th, 20th and 21st September have now been
allocated.
The Background
The Brewhouse went into administration in February of this
year. Tone Theatre submitted a bid to the administrators BDQ
in April. In July Taunton Deane Borough Council (TDBC)
agreed to purchase the lease from the administrators. In
August the Taunton Theatre association, an amalgam of Tone
Theatre and TAPA/Count Me In community interest groups,
became a Company Limited by Guarantee (CLG), a not for
profit company which can apply for charity status and apply for
grants and loans. There are three voluntary directors supported
by a commissioning group. The directors and commission
group are also founder members of the company and stand
as guarantors of the company limited by guarantee (CLG). On
September 23rd they submitted an outline business plan to
TDBC. In October TDBC acquired the lease of the Brewhouse
and decided to work with Taunton Theatre Association as preferred bidders for the operating licence. A fundraising target of
£350,000 was announced by the association to support capital
and start up costs. On November 21st they presented before
TDBC Public Scrutiny Committee.
Illustration by Arthur Rackham, 1909

8. WILLOWS
WETLANDS
VISITOR CENTRE
Gift ideas for Christmas
workshops
courses
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held on a traditional working willow farm
displays, workshops/courses,
talks demonstrations, sculpture trail
for more information call
01278 691105
or visit our website:
www.musgrovewillows.co.uk
Stoke St Gregory, Taunton TA3 6HY
01823 490249 www.englishwillowbaskets.co.uk
musgrovewillows.co.uk
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9. Taunton Literary Festival 2013
The third Taunton Literary Festival proved a great success with good attendance at the
majority of events. More than 50 national and local authors were involved over the 17
days between 2nd November and 19th November. Highlights included Peter Snow,
Douglas Hurd, Victoria Glendinning, Sinclair McKay and Saul David. Several of the
events attracted an audience of more than a hundred and a number were oversubscribed
or near to capacity. Kit Chapman of the Castle Hotel, who were hosts for a number of
the events, commented: Taunton should be hugely thankful for another wonderful Literary Festival featuring, yet again, a galaxy of distinguished authors which adds so much
to the cultural life of this town.
Two of the events, with Ranulph Fiennes and Gervase Phinn had to be rescheduled and
will now take place in January. Tickets from: Brendon Books, Bath Place, Taunton TA1
4ER Tel: 01823 337742 email: brendonbooks@gmail.com If you still hold tickets for the
original dates they may be retained for the new event or the ticket money may be refunded. Details for the events below:
7.30pm Gervase Phinn: Little Village School Series Price: £8.00
Rescheduled Date: Sat 4th Jan 2014. Venue: Museum of Somerset, Castle Greeen, Taunton TA1 4AA
Gervase Phinn is a teacher, freelance lecturer, author, poet, school inspector, educational consultant and visiting professor of education. For fourteen years he taught in a range of schools, then acted as General Adviser
for Language Development in Rotherham before moving on to North Yorkshire, where he spent ten years as
a school inspector. He holds five fellowships, honorary doctorates from Hull, Leicester and Sheffield Hallam
universities, and is a patron of a number of children’s charities and educational organizations.
The third Little Village School novel Summer has arrived in Barton-in-the-Dale and as a new term begins at
the little primary school, it’s not just the warm weather that’s getting people hot under the collar. Meetings
with the teachers from Urebank School to discuss the merger are producing more than a few fireworks, a disruptive new pupil
arrives, set to cause trouble, and a surprising staff love affair is exposed. There’s also a big school production of The Wizard of
Oz to organise as well as an impending visit from the Minister of Education. Headteacher Elisabeth Devine certainly has her
work cut out for her. And that’s just some of the drama set to shake-up the village. Throw in a sprinkling of secrets, shocking
revelations, old flames, new liaisons, psychics, weddings and misfortune ...There’s plenty to gossip about this term.
7.30 pm Sir Ranulph Fiennes: Extreme Adventures at the Lowest Temperatures on Earth
Price: £8.00
Rescheduled Date: Thu 9th Jan 2014. Venue: St James Church, St James St,Taunton TA1 1JS
There are only few human beings who can adapt, survive and thrive in the coldest regions on earth. And below a certain temperature, death is inevitable. Sir Ranulph Fiennes has spent much of his life exploring and
working in conditions of extreme cold. The loss of many of his fingers to frostbite is a testament to the horrors man is exposed to at such perilous temperatures. With the many adventures he has led over the past 40
years, testing his limits of endurance to the maximum, he deservedly holds the title of ‘the world’s greatest
explorer’. Despite our technological advances, the Arctic, the Antarctic and the highest mountains on earth,
remain some of the most dangerous and unexplored areas of the world. This remarkable book reveals the
chequered history of man’s attempts to discover and understand these remote areas of the planet, from the
early voyages of discovery of Cook, Ross, Weddell, Amundsen, Shackleton and Franklin to Sir Ranulph’s
own extraordinary feats; from his adventuring apprenticeship on the Greenland Ice Cap, to masterminding over the past 5 years
the first crossing of the Antarctic during winter, where temperatures regularly plummeted to minus 92 * C. Both historically
questioning and intensely personal, Cold is a celebration of a life dedicated to researching and exploring some of the most
hostile and brutally cold places on earth.

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11. Old Brewery Buildings, Bath Place, Taunton TA1 4ER
01823 337742 brendonbooks@gmail.com www.brendonbooksonline.co.uk
Book Gift Ideas
for Christmas
11

12. Touching Distance
Graham Hurley
RRP £16.99 £13.99
Fiction
Three unrelated, random killings. Or something much, much worse? Graham Hurely’s
new crime thriller unleashes a serial killer;
combining Hurley’s talent for ultra-realistic,
character driven police-procedurals with a
plot powered by an explosive ticking clock
and kicking his books into a new realm of
tension and fear.
SOME SIGNED COPIES WHILE STOCK LAST
9781409131557 hb Orion
The Minor Adjustment Beauty Salon:
No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency
Alexander McCall Smith
RRP £16.99 £13.99
As Botswana awaits the familiar blessing
of the rains and the resumption of the eternal cycle, seismic upheaval is taking place
at the No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency.
9781408704318 hb Little, Brown
Sense Sensibilty
Joanna Trollope
RRP £18.99 £15.99
Joanna Trollope’s much-anticipated
contemporary reworking of Jane Austen’s
Sense and Sensibility launches The Austen
Project and is already one of the most
talked about books of the year. Joanna
Trollope casts Sense Sensibility in a
fresh new light, re-telling a coming-of-age
story about young love and heartbreak
9780007461769 hb Harper Collins
Dear Life
Alice Munro
RRP £8.99 £7.99
This is the winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature. Alice Munro captures the essence of life in
her brilliant new collection of stories. Moments
of change, chance encounters, the twist of fate
that leads a person to a new way of thinking or
being: the stories in Dear Life build to form a
radiant, indelible portrait of just how dangerous
and strange ordinary life can be.
9780099578635 hb Vintage
The Luminaries
Eleanor Catton
RRP £18.99 £15.99
The Luminaries is an extraordinary piece of
fiction. It is full of narrative, linguistic and
psychological pleasures, and has a fiendishly
clever and original structuring device. Written in
pitch-perfect historical register, richly evoking a
mid-19th century world of shipping and banking
and goldrush boom and bust, it is also a ghost
story, and a gripping mystery.
9781847084316 hb Granta Books
The Goldfinch
Donna Tartt
RRP £20.00 £16.00
North West London comes vividly to life in “NW”,
the new novel by the author of the bestselling
“White Teeth” and Man Booker-shortlisted “On
Beauty”. This is the story of a city. The north-west
corner of a city. Here you’ll find guests and hosts,
those with power and those without it, people who
live somewhere special and others who live nowhere at all. And many people in between.
9780241144145 hb Hamish Hamilton
Helen Fielding
Mad About the Boy
RRP £16.99 £13.99
Bridget Jones stumbles through the challenges of single-motherhood, tweeting, texting
and redisovering her sexuality in what some
people rudely and outdatedly call ‘middle
age’. The long-awaited return of a muchloved character, Bridget Jones: Mad About
the Boy is timely, tender, touching, witty,
wise and bloody hilarious...
9780224098090 hb RRP £18.99 £15.99
Postcards from the Past
Marcia Willett
RRP £16.99 £13.99
Siblings Billa and Ed share their beautiful,
grand old childhood home in rural Cornwall.
Their lives are uncomplicated. With family and
friends nearby and their free and easy living
arrangements, life seems as content as can be.
But when postcards start arriving from a sinister
figure they thought belonged well and truly in
their pasts, old memories are stirred.
SOME SIGNED COPIES WHILE STOCK LAST
9780593071519 hb Transworld
The Last Runaway
Tracy Chevalier
RRP £7.99 £6.99
The stunning new novel from the bestselling
author of Girl with a Pearl Earring. Honor Bright
is a sheltered Quaker who has rarely ventured out
of 1850s Dorset when she impulsively emigrates
to America. Opposed to the slavery that defines
and divides the country, she finds her principles
tested to the limit when a runaway slave appears
at the farm of her new family. In
9780007350353 pb HarperCollins
The Hydrogen Sonata
Iain M. Banks
RRP £8.99 £7.99
The Scavenger species are circling. It is, truly,
the End Days for the Gzilt civilisation. An
ancient people, organised on military principles
and yet almost perversely peaceful, the Gzilt
helped set up the Culture ten thousand years
earlier and were very nearly one of its founding
societies, deciding not to join only at the last
moment.
9780356501499 hb Little, Brown
Brendon Books: 01823 337742 email: brendon books@gmail.com
12

13. History/Current Affairs
When Britain Burned the Whitehouse
Peter Snow
RRP £25.00 £20.00
In his compelling narrative style, Peter Snow recounts
the fast-changing fortunes of both sides of this
extraordinary confrontation, the outcome of which
inspired the writing of the ‘Star-Spangled Banner’,
America’s national anthem.Using a wealth of material
including eyewitness accounts, he also describes
the colourful personalities on both sides of these
spectacular events.
SOME SIGNED COPIES WHILE STOCK LAST
9781848546110 hb John M urray
The Fishing Fleet
Anne De Courcy
RRP £7.99 £6.99
From the late 19th century, when the Raj
was at its height, many of Britain’s best and
brightest young men went out to India to
work as administrators, soldiers and businessmen. With the advent of steam travel and the
opening of the Suez Canal, countless young
women, suffering at the lack of eligible men
in Britain, followed in their wake.
9780753828960 pb Orion
Catastrophe
Max Hastings
£30.00 £25.00
From the best-selling author of All Hell Let Loose
comes a magisterial chronicle of the calamity that
befell Europe in 1914 as the continent shifted from
the glamour of the Edwardian era to the tragedy of
total war. In 1914, Europe plunged into the 20th
century’s first terrible act of self-immolation- what
was then called The Great War.
9780007398577 hb HarperCollins
Elizabeth of York
Alison Weir
RRP £20.00 £16.00
Elizabeth of York would have ruled England, but for
the fact that she was a woman. The eldest daughter of Edward IV, at seventeen she was relegated
from pampered princess to bastard fugitive, but the
probable murders of her brothers, the Princes in the
Tower, left Elizabeth heiress to the royal House of
York, and in 1486, Henry VII, first sovereign of the
House of Tudor, married her, thus uniting the red
and white roses of Lancaster and York.
9780224089814 hb Vintage
Dallas 1963
Bill Minutaglio
RRP £20.00 £16.00
In November 1963 President John F. Kennedy was
assassinated in Dallas, Texas. His death remains
a defining moment for millions of people but
few understand the unstoppable forces that were
building in the city long before this dramatic
event played out before the world Dallas 1963 is
a riveting account of the convergence of a group
of unyielding and highly focused protagonists in a
city sometimes seemingly filled with hate for JFK.
9781848547759 hb John Murray
To the Edge of the World
Christian Wolmar
RRP £22.00 £17.60
Christian Wolmar expertly tells the story of
the Trans-Siberian railway from its conception
and construction under Tsar Alexander III, to
the northern extension ordered by Brezhnev
and its current success as a vital artery. He also
explores the crucial role the line played in both
the Russian Civil War and the Second World
War,
SOME SIGNED COPIES WHILE STOCK LAST
9781846140884 hb Penguin
100 Days to Victory
Saul David
RRP £20.00 £16.00
Saul David’s 100 Days to Victory is a totally
original, utterly engaging account of the Great War
- the first book to tell the story of the ‘war to end all
wars’ through the events of one hundred key days
between 1914 and 1918.
SOME SIGNED COPIES WHILE STOCK LAST
9780224095464 hb Square Peg
One Summer 1927
Bill Bryson
RRP £20.00 £16.00
Britain’s favourite writer of narrative non-fiction Bill
Bryson travels back in time to a forgotten summer
when America came of age, took centre stage, and, in
five eventful months, changed the world for ever. In
this hugely entertaining book, Bill Bryson spins a story
of brawling adventure, reckless optimism and delirious
energy, with a cast of unforgettable and eccentric characters, with trademark brio, wit and authority.
9780007309290 hb Harper Press
High Minds
Simone Heffer
£9.99
Britain in the 1840s was a country wracked by poverty,
unrest and uncertainty. By the 1880s it was a confident
nation of progress and prosperity, transformed not just
by industrialisation but by new attitudes to politics,
education, women and the working class. That it
should have changed so radically was very largely the
work of an astonishingly dynamic and high-minded
group of people.
9781847946775 hb Cornerstone
The Lost World of Bletchley Park
Sinclair McKay
RRP £25.00 £20.00
Featuring over 200 photographs, some previously
unseen, and text by Sinclair McKay, this will be an
essential purchase for everyone interested in the place
where codebreaking helped to win the war.
SOME SIGNED COPIES WHILE STOCK LAST
9781846684999 pb Profile
Brendon Books: 01823 337742 email: brendon books@gmail.com
13

14. Biography
Disraeli
Douglas Hurd
RRP £20.00 £16.00
Benjamin Disraeli was the most gifted parliamentarian of the nineteenth century. A superb
orator, writer and wit, he twice rose to become
Prime Minister. But how much do we really know
about the man behind the words? In this engaging
reassessment, Douglas Hurd and Edward Young
explore the paradoxes at the centre of Disraeli’s
‘two lives’:
SOME SIGNED COPIES WHILE STOCK LAST
9780297860976 hb Orion
Ammonites Leaping Fish
Penelope Lively
RRP £14.99 £11.99
A memoir that addresses ageing, memory,
time and a life in the 20th century, by one of
our greatest writers, Penelope Lively. ‘This is
not quite a memoir. Rather, it is the view from
old age. And a view of old age itself, this place
at which we arrive with a certain surprise
- ambushed, or so it can seem.’
9780241146385 hb Fig Tree
C S Lewis: A Life
Alister McGrath
RRP £9.99 £8.99
The recent Narnia films have inspired a resurgence of interest in C. S. Lewis, the Oxford
academic, popular theologian and, most famously,
creator of the magical world of Narnia - and this
authoritative new biography, published to mark
the 50th anniversary of Lewis’s death, sets out to
introduce him to a new generation.
9781444745542 pb Hodder
Mary Berry: Recipe for Life
Mary Berry
RRP £16.00 20.00
From Queen of Tarts to the nation’s heart, Mary
Berry shares her Recipe for Life. ‘In the words
of my father, my birth caused no end of trouble...’ From the moment she came into the world
- two weeks early, throwing her parents’ lives
into disarray - Mary has gracefully but firmly
done things her own way.
9781405912846 hb Penguin
Spike Milligan: Man of Letters
Spike Milligan
RRP £25.00 £20.00
Spike Milligan: Man of Letters presents a rich
selection of the funniest and most revealing of his
missives It includes correspondence with the most
famous politicians, actors, celebrities and rock stars
of his day, and takes the reader behind the scenes in
his wrangles with producers, publishers, editors and
his impervious manager-agent.
9780670923731 hb Viking
I am Malala
Malala Yousafzai
RRP £18.99 £15.19
‘I had spent most of my childhood thinking
I was a dog, and suspect I had aged in dog
years. By the time I was ten I had discovered the pain of unbearable loss. I had felt
joy and jealousy. Most important of all, I
knew how to love and how to let myself
be loved. All these things I learnt through
animals. Horses and dogs were my family
and my friends. This is their story as much
as it is mine’.
9780670921461 hb Penguin
A Blaze of Autumn Sunshine
Tony Benn
RRP £20.00 £16.00
In this final volume of diaries, Tony Benn
reflects on the compensations and the disadvantages of old age. With the support of a
small circle of friends and his extended family,
he continues his activities on behalf of social
justice, peace and accountability in public life,
to a background of political change and the
international economic crisis’.
9780091943875 hb Cornerstone
Darling Monster
Diana Cooper
RRP £25.00 £20.00
In “On Wheels” Michael Holroyd takes on
the humble automobile. Weaving together
memoir and anecdote with historical example he traces his relationship with cars and
driving through a lifetime of biography. Sly
and perceptive to a fault, in these five delightful essays Michael Holroyd finds new
and surprising ways to understand the past
and challenge our view of the future
9780701187439 hb Chatto Windus
Raffles
Victoria Glendinning
RRP £9.99 £8.99
Raffles remains a controversial figure, and in the
first biography for over forty years, Victoria Glendinning charts his prodigious rise within the social
and historical contexts of his world. His domestic
and personal life was vivid and shot through with
tragedy. His own end was sad, but his fame immortal.
SOME SIGNED COPIES WHILE STOCK LAST
9781846686047 pb Profile
Bonkers
Jennifer Saunders
RRP £20.00 £16.00
From Comic Strip to Comic Relief, from
Bolly-swilling Edina in Ab Fab to her takes on
Madonna or Mamma Mia, her characters are
household names. But it’s Jennifer herself who
has a place in all our hearts. This is her funny,
moving and frankly bonkers memoir, filled with
laughter, friends and occasional heartache - but
never misery.
SOME SIGNED COPIES WHILE STOCK LAST
9780241001561 hb Viking
14
Brendon Books: 01823 337742 email: brendon books@gmail.com

15. Cookery/Natural World
Cooking People
Sophia Waugh
RRP £20.00 £16.00
With modern cookery books always at the top of the
bestseller lists, Sophia Waugh looks at the differences
- and the similarities - between cooking then and now.
Cooking People focuses on five female writers who
have revolutionised home cooking. From Hannah Woolley who was, in the seventeenth century, to the muchloved Isabella Beeton and Elizabeth David, Waugh
investigates the what, how and why of English eating.
SOME SIGNED COPIES WHILE STOCK LAST
9780752876474 hb Orion
Little French Kitchen
Rachel Khoo
£20.00 £16.00
Taking her ‘Little Paris Kitchen’ on tour in her
second official book, Rachel is leaving the capital city to travel to the four corners of France in
search of the very best recipes in the country.
Her first book was The Little Paris Kitchen, accompanying her hit BBC2 television series. She
writes a weekly recipe column for the Evening
Standard.
9780718177478 hb Penguin
Hugh Johnson’s Pocket Wine Guide 2014
Hugh Johnson
£11.99 £10.99
Hugh Johnson’s Pocket Wine Book is the ultimate
compact guide. Now in its 37th edition, it is the
UK’s number one wine book for wine-lovers and
professionals. It is the key reference for enthusiasts,
investors and collectors and this year’s edition boasts
up-to-date news on more than 6,000 wines, growers
and regions, plus invaluable vintage information
from experts around the world.
978-1845337445 hb Mitchell Beazley
Badgerlands
Patrick Barkham
£18.99 £15.99
Barkham delves into the fascinating natural and rich
cultural history of the animal - from their prehistoric
arrival in Britain, to their savage persecution over
the centuries, to their change of fortunes in the
20th century.Barkham’s affection for the stubborn,
striped-nose creatures is infectious and Badgerlands
will cement his reputation as one of our most vivid,
witty and curious nature writers.
9781847085047 hb Granta
The Great British Year
Stephen Moss
RRP £25.00 £20.00
Britain is a place of remarkable beauty and
surprising extremes: nowhere else in the
temperate world boasts such extreme variety
in such a small area. Our humble island has
over 10,000 miles of coastline; iconic animals
and birds; and unique spectacles of migration
that see wildlife from all corners of the globe
descend upon our shores.
9781780877105 hb Quercus
15
Eat: The Little Book of Fast food
Nigel Slater
£26.00 £20.80
From the star of BBC One’s ‘Nigel and Adam’s
Farm Kitchen’ this beautiful and easy-to-use
follow-up to ‘The Kitchen Diaries II’ contains
over 600 recipe ideas and is your essential
go-to for what to cook every day. Returning to
the territory of Nigel’s bestselling ‘Real Fast
Food’, ‘Eat’ is bursting with beautifully simple
and quick-to-cook recipes
9780007526154 hb HarperCollins
Leiths How to Cook
Pru Leith
RRP £30.00 £25.00
This comprehensive book takes the reader - subject by subject - through every aspect of food preparation and cooking. Skills are comprehensively
explained and clearly illustrated with step-by-step
photographs throughout. Here you will find the
essentials that most cookbooks leave out:
9781849493192 hb Quadrille
CAMRA Good Beer Guide 2014
Roger Protz
RRP £15.99 £12.99
The Good Beer Guide is fully revised and updated
each year and features pubs across the United Kingdom that serve the best real ale. Now in its 41st edition, this pub guide is completely independent with
listings based entirely on nomination and evaluation
by CAMRA members.
9781852493127 pb Camra
Cat Sense
£20.00 £16.00
From John Bradshaw, one of the world’s leading
experts on animal behaviour, and the author of the
Sunday Times Bestseller, In Defence of Dogs, Cat
Sense is a scientific portrait of the true, surprising
nature of cats. Worshipped as gods, feared as demonic servants, seen as both wild opportunists and
beloved companions, cats often seem as unfathomable, enigmatic and magical to us today as they did
in ancient times.
9781846145940 hb Penguin
Cold
Ranulph Fiennes
£20.00 £16.00
Despite our technological advances, the Arctic,
the Antarctic and the highest mountains on earth,
remain some of the most dangerous and unexplored areas of the world. This remarkable book
reveals the chequered history of man’s attempts
to discover and understand these remote areas of
the planet, from the early voyages of discovery
of Cook, Ross, Weddell, Amundsen, Shackleton
and Franklin to Sir Ranulph’s own extraordinary
feats.
9781471127823 hb Simon Schuster
Brendon Books: 01823 337742 email: brendon books@gmail.com

16. Sport Pastimes/Humour
John Bailey’s
Fishing Bible
RRP £24.99 £19.99
In this comprehensive fishing guide, author and expert
angler John Bailey covers a complete range of fishing
methods and techniques, showing anglers of all levels how
to develop new skills and improve upon existing ones.
From free-lining to carp fishing, and from reading rivers
to understanding fish behaviour, this hugely informative
volume is all the angler needs in order to make the most of
any fishing experience.
978-1780094090 hb New Holland
Two Girls One on Each Knee
Alan Connor
RRP £12.99 £10.99
Two Girls, One on Each Knee: A History of Cryptic
Crosswords is an audaciously constructed book on
the pleasures and puzzles of cryptic crosswords and
their linguistic wordplay, from Alan Connor, the
Guardian’s writer on crosswords.
9781846148415 h Particular Books
Am I Missing Something
Iain Hollingshead
RRP £9.99 £8.99
In this fifth volume of wise, waggish and down-
right outrageous letters for which there wasn’t
enough space - or editorial stomach - in the paper,
we offer another hilariously alternative review of
the year. With an agenda as enticing as ever, ranging from Chris Huhne’s speeding points to a royal
baby, a new Pope to Andy Murray, it will prove,
once again, that the Telegraph’s letters writers
have an astute sense of what really matters.
9781781311615hb Aurum Press
Private Eye: A Cartoon History
Nick Newman
RRP £25.00 £20.00
The Horologicon (or book of hours) gives you
the most extraordinary words in the English
language, arranged according to the hour of the
day when you really need them. Do you wake
up feeling rough? Then you’re philogrobolized.
Pretending to work? That’s fudgelling, which
may lead to rizzling if you feel sleepy after lunch,
though by dinner time you will have become a
sparkling deipnosophist.
9781848314153 hb Icon
Matt: The Best of 2013
Simon Elmes
RRP £18.99 £15.99
No one does it better...From recessions,
referendums and royal babies to press regulations and our love-hate relationship with the
bizarre British weather - not to mention the
horse burger crisis...Matt reviews the last 12
months in his own inimitable style.
9781409121572 pb Orion
Doped
Jamie Reid
£20.00 £16.00
Winner of the William Hil Sports Book of the
Year Award. Doped is the gripping true-story
racing thriller set in Britain in the 1950s and
early 1960s. Combining a potent mix of horse
racing, drugs, sex, class, crime, gambling and
the monarchy, it tells the true story of one of
the biggest doping scandals in British racing
history.
9781909471047 hb Racing Post Books
Beefy’s Cricket Tales
Ian Botham
RRP £18.99 £15.99
Botham has compiled some of his favourite
stories from a life devoted to cricket and brought
them all together in one volume. With the help
of his huge network of friends, colleagues,
team-mates and opponents, he has put together
a collection of the best and the funniest stories
from the cricket world.
9781849838009 hb Simon Schuster
Pick of the Oldie 2014
Richard Ingrams
£9.99 £8.99
Celebrate the centurys’ finest movies in “The
Rough Guide to 21st Century Cinema”, a
lavishly illustrated homage to the world’s best
movies of this new era of cinema. It offers: the
best 101 films: a run down of the finest films of
the millenium from Hollywood blockbusters to
indie gems.
9781901170207 hb Oldie Publications
Peas Queues
Sandi Toksvig
RRP £12.99 £10.99
How do you get rid of unwanted guests? What
do you do if there’s a racket in the quiet carriage?
How should you eat peas, and behave in queues?
How to behave, like how to punctuate, is an
aspect of life that many are no longer taught - and
getting it wrong is the stuff of comedy at best and
humiliation at worst. Thankfully, Sandi Toksvig
has come to the rescue with her entertaining guide
to modern manners
9781781250327 hb Profile
100 Pointless Arguments
Alexander Armstrong Richard
Osman
RRP £14.99 12.99
From the presenters of the hit BBC One television series Pointless and authors of The 100
Most Pointless Things in the World comes a
hilarious collection of answers to some of life’s
biggest questions. Alexander Armstrong and
his pointless friend Richard Osman will put
the world to rights and finally answer the 100
Most Pointless Arguments in the World...Ever.
9781444762075 hb Hodder
Brendon Books: 01823 337742 email: brendon books@gmail.com
16

17. Miscellaneous
The Elements of Eloquence
Mark Forsyth
RRP £12.99 £10.99
In an age unhealthily obsessed with substance, this
is a book on the importance of pure style, from the
bestselling author of The Etymologicon and The
Horologicon. From classic poetry to pop lyrics and
from the King James Bible to advertising slogans,
Mark Forsyth explains the secrets that make a
phrase - such as ‘Tiger, Tiger, burning bright’, or
‘To be or not to be’ - memorable.
SOME SIGNED COPIES WHILE STOCK LAST
9781848316218 hb Icon
Wordsmiths Warriors
David Hilary Crysta’
£20.00 £16.00
Wordsmiths and Warriors explores the heritage of
English through the places in Britain that shaped it.
It unites the warriors, whose invasions transformed
the language, with the poets, scholars, reformers, and
others who helped create its character.
SOME SIGNED COPIES WHILE STOCK LAST
9780199668120 hb Oxford University Press
What a Wonderful World
Marcus Chown
£17.99 £14.99
In “What a Wonderful World”, Marcus Chown,
bestselling author of “Quantum Theory Cannot
Hurt You” and the Solar System app, uses his vast
scientific knowledge and deep understanding of
extremely complex processes to answer simple
questions about the workings of our everyday
lives.
SOME SIGNED COPIES WHILE STOCK LAST
9780571278398 hb Faber
The Archers: Ambridge Chronicles
Joanna Toye
RRP £9.99 £8.99
It has been the soundtrack of our lives for over six
decades, from stooking corn with Dan Archer in
the 1950s to the tragic death of Nigel Pargetter in
2011. We know the characters of Ambridge - from
much-loved Phil and Jill Archer and the irrepressible Grundys to wayward Brian Aldridge - like we
know close friends.
9781849905770 hb Ebury
1001 Movies You Must See Before You
Die
Steven Schneider
RRP £20.00 £16.00
My Old Man
John Major
RRP £9.99 £8.99
Miller’s Antique Marks
Judith Miller
RRP £6.99 £5.99
On The Map
Simon Garfield
RRP £9.99 £8.99
Packed with vital statistics, and a few facts that
might surprise you, this is a collector’s must for
the bookshelf as well as an entertaining read for all
those who love the world of film. Whether your passion lies with The Blue Angel or Blue Velvet, from
the films you shouldn’t have missed the first time
around, to the films you can see again and again,
1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die is the
definitive guide for all movie lovers.
9781844037346 pb Octopus
The Horologicon (or book of hours) gives you
the most extraordinary words in the English
language, arranged according to the hour of the
day when you really need them. Do you wake
up feeling rough? Then you’re philogrobolized.
Pretending to work? That’s fudgelling, which
may lead to rizzling if you feel sleepy after
lunch, though by dinner time you will have
become a sparkling deipnosophist.
9781848314153 hb Icon
Mapping Lost Branch Lines
Paul Atterbury
RRP £25.00 £20.00
Today, branch lines are part of a lost world,
an era when railway maps of Britain showed
lines crisscrossing every county - many of
which had distinctive, but also lost, names.
By bringing together old maps, images of
old branch lines and modern photographs of
relics that can be discovered today, this book
celebrates a Britain of fond memories.
9781446302835 hb David Charles
Shortlisted for the Theatre Book Prize; former
prime minister John Major takes a remarkable
journey into his own unconventional family past to
tell the story of the British music hall. John Major
shares memories of his performer father Tom and
then shines the spotlight on the story of the music
hall itself, from its Victorian heyday to its demise
9780007450145 pb HarperCollins
Maps fascinate us. They chart our understanding
of the world and they log our progress, but above
all they tell our stories. From the early sketches
of philosophers and explorers through to Google
Maps and beyond, Simon Garfield examines how
maps both relate and realign our history.
9781846685101 pb Profile Books
The Broken Road
Patrick Leigh Fermor
RRP £25.00 £20.00
The long-awaited final volume of the trilogy
by Patrick Leigh Fermor - a perfect gift for
Christmas. It remains unfinished but The
Broken Road - edited and introduced by Colin Thubron and Artemis Cooper - completes
an extraordinary journey.
9781848547520 hb John Murray
Brendon Books: 01823 337742 email: brendon books@gmail.com
17

18. Children’s Books
Doctor Who: The Essential Guide
Justin Richards
£12.99 £10.99
The Lost Gods
Francesca Simon
£10.99 £8.99
9781405914000 bb BBC Books
In The Sleeping Army, Freya went to Hel
and back. She fought dragons, fled fire and
outwitted giants - all to restore eternal youth
to the Norse Gods. But now they’re back,
does anyone care? Up in Asgard, it doesn’t
really feel like it. The Gods’ popularity on
earth is waning, and without regular worship, their powers are fading fast.
9781846685651 hb Profile
Atticus Claw Lends a Paw
Jennifer Gray
£5.99 £4.99
Of Lions and Unicorns
Michael Morpurgo
£16.99 £13.99
This essential anniversary guide to fifty years
of Doctor Who includes all eleven incarnations of the Doctor and fascinating facts on
his adventures in space and time, helpful companions and fearsome foes like the Daleks,
Cybermen and Ice Warriors! You can find out
all about the Doctor’s TARDIS, his regenerations and much much more!
Atticus Grammatticus Cattypuss Claw, the
world’s greatest police cat, is back. When the
kittens at the local cats’ home are wrongly
suspected of a knitting crime spree, Inspector
Cheddar is baffled. Atticus must step in to find
the real culprits. In an adventure that takes
him from Littleton-on-Sea to the sands of the
Egyptian desert
9780099439752 pb Red Fox
Jack The Beanstalk: a Book of Nursery Stories
Kathleen Lines
£14.99 £11.99
Jack and the Beanstalk is just one of the ten favourite nursery stories that make up this companion to Harold Jones’s book of nursery rhymes,
Lavender’s Blue. All the best and most-loved
stories, such as The Three Bears, Cinderella,
Puss in Boots, and Tom Thumb, are included in
this collection .
9780192735874 hb Oxford University Press
Heroes of Olympus: The House
of Hades
Rick Riordan
£12.99 £10.99
The House of Hades is the fourth book in
the bestselling Heroes of Olympus series,
set in the action-packed world of Percy
Jackson. The stakes have never been
higher. If Percy Jackson and Annabeth fail
in their quest, there’ll be hell on Earth.
Literally.
9780141339184 hb Penguin
Frost Hollow Hall
Emma Carroll
RRP £12.99 £5.99
In order to discover all she can, Tilly
gets work as a maid at Frost Hollow
Hall. But the place makes her flesh
crawl. It’s all about the dead here,
she’s told, and in the heart of the
house she soon discovers all manner
of dark secrets...Frost Hollow Hall is
a thrilling historical fiction debut.
9780571295449 pb Faber
The most comprehensive and definitive Michael
Morpurgo collection ever, this gorgeous hardback
edition features twenty-five enchanting short
stories by the nation’s favourite storyteller - as
well as extracts from twenty-five of his bestloved novels. Divided into five parts - covering
war, animals, memory, the sea and folk tales - this
timeless treasury spans the whole of Michael
Morpurgo’s glittering literary career.
9780007395354 hb HarperCollins
Gruffalo’s Child Sound Book
Julia Donaldson
£12.99 £10.99
Growl along with the Gruffalo’s Child as
she tip-toes through the snow on a wild,
windy and NOISY night! Press the 10
interactive sound buttons on this amazing
play-along version of the best-selling THE
GRUFFALO’S CHILD and bring the story
vividly to life! The perfect gift for all fans
of THE GRUFFALO.
9780230757455 hb Macmillan
Wibbly Pig Picks a Pet
Mick Inkpen
RRP £1l.99 £8.99
If you could have any pet at all, what would
you choose? Wibbly Pig and Scruffy Pig are
worried that Big Pig’s sister’s friend will
choose a really boring rabbit at the pet shop.
Surely an elephant, a bear or a dinosaur
would be much more exciting? Wibbly is one
of the most popular characters on CBeebies
and his latest picture book adventure is bound
to be a firm favourite with pre-schoolers. ‘An
irresistible character.
9781444908213 pb Hatchette
Stormbringer
Philippa Gregory
£6.99 £5.99
Luca Vero is a member of the secret Order of Darkness, tasked with searching out and reporting signs
of the end of the world. Breaking his journey in Piccolo, he finds a place filled with superstitious fears:
of the unknown, of the forces of the sea and sky, of
strangers. With him are his loyal friend and servant,
Frieze, and his clerk, Brother Peter, as well as the
Lady Isolde and her mysterious servant-companion
Ishraq.
9780857077363 pb Simon Schuster
Brendon Books: 01823 337742 email: brendon books@gmail.com
18

19. COME AND SEE WHY
OUR REPUTATION GOES BEFORE US
HICKIES
the music store
Reading Tiverton Est. 1864
New Pianos Used pianos
Digital Pianos
Concert/Event Hire
Piano Rental from £35.00pm
Piano Removals
On Site Workshop
A fine selection of grand and upright pianos
01884 257211
Tiverton
See our showroom at:
7 Lowman Units Lowman Way Tiverton EX16 6SR
Just 10 minutes off J27 M5
www.hickies.co.uk
Email: pianos@hickies.co.uk
19
FREE taster session of a Fitness League class on
Friday 17th January at 10 am at:
St George’s Church Hall, Wilton, Taunton.
Call Nikki Mumby on 07833 503759 or email:
nikki.mumby@tesco.net
Bring a fitness mat or large towel.

20. December Events
Events in date order. Contact details for most of the venues are given at the end of event listings. Please note, we do not
take any responsibility for errors or omissions. Please confirm with venue timings and programme details.
Date
3-5
Event Details
Venue
Time
Drama
Blood Brother - Heathfield School Year 11
Tachhi Morris, Taunton
7.30
Music
Jyotsna Srikanth - tradional indian/Jazz fusion
Bridgwater Arts Centre
8.00
3-7
Musical
Cats - Taunton School
Brewhouse
Various
7
Music
Joyful Triumphant – A Celebration of Great Composers - West
Somerset Singers
Taunton Baptist Church
7.30
Music
A Christmas Concert - Taunton Choral Society
Music
Advent Service - In Ecclesia
St John’s Church
6.00
Music
In Tune with Heaven: English Church Music of the 19th 20th
Century - Bridgwater Choral Society
St Mary’s Church, Bridgwater
7.30
Comedy
Lucy Porter: Northern Soul
Bridgwater Arts Centre
8.00
Music
Christmas Carols with Wellington School Chapel Choir
Hestercombe Gardens
6.00
Music
Mad About ABBA - Voulez Vous (Tribute)
Tachhi Morris, Taunton
7.30
Music
Cathryn Craig Brian Willoughby
Wellington Arts Centre
7.30
Variety
Billy Fury - The Dansette Days
Blakehay Theatre, WSM
7.30
Variety
Performance Evening
David Hall, S Petherton
7.30
10-12
Drama
Blues Twos - Space Companyy
Tachhi Morris, Taunton
7.30
11
Drama
Treasure Island - Mind the Gap
Tachhi Morris, Taunton
11am
12
Music
Martin Simpson - Folk music
Bridgwater Arts Centre
8.00
8
Comedy
Ist Comedy Quarter Night
CICCIC, Taunton
7.30
12-13
Caberet
Genesis Christmas Wonderland
Wellington Arts Centre
7.30
125jan
Pantomime Jack the Beanstalk
Playhouse, WSM
Various
125jan
Pantomime Snow White the Seven Dwarfs
Ocatgon, Yeovil
Various
13
Music
Mellstock Band – A Tale of Two Christmases
Regal, Minehead
7.30
Music
Carols at Lunchtime - Canticle Choir
St John The Evangelist,
Taunton
12.45
13
Variety
Boing: Pyjama Party - Travelling Light Bristol Old Vic
Tachhi Morris, Taunton
11.15/5.30
14
Music
Fanfare for Christmas - The Phoenix Singers
St James Church, Taunton
7.30
Music
String Chamber Concert - Somerset County Orchestra
Queen’s College, Taunton
7.30
Music
The Dylan Project - songs of Bob Dylan
David Hall, S Petherton
8.00
Drama
Evening of Monologues Festive Tales-Swan Youth Theatre
Swan Theatre, Ilminster
7.45
Music
Southwest Rocks at Christmas - Rock Show Choruses
Tachhi Morris, Taunton
7.30
14-18
Musical
The Gingerbread Man - Play by David Wood (daytime performances)
Blakehay Theatre, WSM
Various
15
Music
Carols at Christmas - Yoevil Temple Salvation Army
Octagon, Yeovil
3/6.30
16
Music
Christmas Concert - Collegium Singers
St John’s Church, Wellington
7.30
Music
Abba Fever Tribute
Taunton RFC Hyde Park
16- 17
Variety
Christmas Community Showcase
Tacchi Morris, Taunton
7.30
19
Music
Heathfield Christmas Concert - Four Choirs
Heathfield Community School
7.00
20

21. December Events (continued)
Events in date order. Contact details for most of the venues are given at the end of event listings. Please note, we do not
take any responsibility for errors or omissions. Please confirm with venue timings and programme details.
Date
19-21
Event Details
Venue
Time
Hansel Gretel - Taunton Theatre Association
Castle Green, Taunton
Ballet
Nutcracker - Ballet Theatre UK
Tachhi Morris, Taunton
7.30
Music
Carols Classics 5 - Bowen Ensemble
All Saints Church, Merriott
7.30
Comedy
Christmas.Time - Near-ta Theatre (Musical Comedy)
Bridgwater Arts Centre
Music
20
Drama
Carrolling Crumpets - John Kirkpatrick
Silver Street Ctre, Wiv.
8.00
Talk
Schooldays in West Wales - John Reeve (SIAS)
Stoke St Mary V Hall
7.30
20-21
Music
Christmas Concert - Taunton Concert Band
Tachhi Morris, Taunton
7.30
21
Music
Christmas Carols with Amici
Hestercombe Gardens
6.00
21-22
Variety
Imagine Christmas WOW Performing Arts Group
Regal, Minehead
Various
22
Music
Kid’s Christmas Carol Concert
Hestercombe Gardens
4.30
23
Music
Nine Lessons Carols - The Phoenix Singers
St John Baptist Ch., Wellington 6.30
294jan
Pantomime
Cinderella - Frome Musical Theatre Company
Frome Memorial Theatre
Various
January Events
4
Talk
4-11
Contact Brendon Books
7.30
Pantomime Mother Goose - Minehead Panto People
Regal, Minehead
Various
5
Music
King’s College Chapel
3.00
5-11
Pantomime Jack and the Beanstall-Wayfarers Pantomime Society
Tachhi Morris, Taunton
Variety
9
Talk
Sir Ranulph Fiennes - Talk followed by book signing (tickets
from Brendon Books: 01823 337742)
St James Church, Taunton
7.30
10
Talk
Puzzles, Posers and Practice - the trials and tribulations of a
working archivist. Talk by Esther Hoyle
Museum of Somerset, Taunton
2.30
11
Variety
Gala Variety Peformance (to support re-opening of Brewhouse)
Queen’s College
7.30
13
Talk
The Rolle Canal, North Devon - Adrian Wills (SIAS)
North Town School, Taunton
7.30
15-16 Dance
Glasto! Space Fest 2014
Tachhi Morris, Taunton
7.30
16
Talk
The Shock of the Nude - Maggie Giraud
Castle Hotel, Taunton
11am
17
Music
The Best in UK Stand-Up - Comedy Box
Blakehay Theatre, WSM
8.30
Music
The Bully Wee Band with Phil Beer
David Hall, S Petherton
8.00
Talk
Steam in the West Country - Terry Nichols
Stoke St Mary V. Hall
7.30
Music
Moonrakers Concert - Living Tradition
Halsway Manor
8.00
Music
UK Pink Floyd Experience (Tribute)
Octagon, Yeovil
7.30
Music
Julian and Jiaxin Lloyd Webber - A Tale Of Two Cellos
Octagon, Yeovil
7.30
A Fine Bright Day by Philip Goulding
Swan Theatre, Ilminster
7.45
22-26 Pantomime Sleeping Beauty-Wellington Pantomime Group
The Wellesley, Wellington
7.30
23
18
20-25 Drama
Gervase Phinn - Talk followed by book signing (tickets from
Brendon Books: 01823 337742)
Light Out of Darkness - A Feast of Music
Brazz Comedy Night
Castle Hotel, Taunton
Music
Paul Jones Dave Kelly Acoustic Duo
David Hall
8.00
Music
21
Comedy
Vienna Mozart Trio
Octagon,Yeovil
7.30

22. January Events (continued)
Events in date order. Contact details for most of the venues are given at the end of event listings. Please note, we do not
take any responsibility for errors or omissions. Please confirm with venue timings and programme details.
Date
24
Event Details
Venue
Time
Music
The Dominant Quartet: Beethoven, Rachmaninov,
Scherzo,Tchaikosvsky
Castle Hotel, Taunton
5.30
Music
Paul Carrack
Octagon,Yeovil
7.30
Music
The Concert Carousel - Music Makers Academy
Blakehay Theatre, WSM
2.30/7.30
Music
Burns Night Barn Dance - Hobsons Choice (Folk Music)
Bridgwater Arts Centre
8.00
Comedy
Lee Hurst - Things That Make You Go Aaarggh!
Octagon,Yeovil
8.00
Music
The Dominant Quartet: Schubert, Borodin/Mozart, Ravel,
Tchaikosvsky
Castle Hotel, Taunton
10.30/5.30
Talk
The Draining of the Somerset Levels - Iain Miles (SIAS)
St George’s Ch. Hall, Tiverton
10.30am
Music
The Dominant Quartet: Haydn, Webern, Langsamer Satz,
Tchaikosvsky
Castle Hotel, Taunton
10.30
Music
The Cosmic Sausages - A ‘Chance to Dance’ Event
David Hall, S Petherton
7.30
27
Talk
Iron Ore Mining in South West England - Mick Atkinson (SIAS)
North Town School, Taunton
7.30
281feb
Pantomime YAPS: Dick Whittington
Octagon,Yeovil
Various
31
Comedy
Russell Kane - Smallness
Frome Memorial Theatre
8.00
Talk
BAC Talk: Getting Published - Sinead Gillespie
Bridgwater Arts Centre
8.00
Talk
BAC TalkGetting Published: Sinead Gillespie
Bridgwater Arts Centre
8.00
25
26
31
Art Exhibitions December/January
Sites of Fact and Fiction by Jenny Graham. Tacchi-Morris Arts Centre. 5th Nov-20th Dec
Art for Giving exhibition: Bridgwater Arts Centre: Wed 13 Nov to Fri 20 Dec. Wed – Fri 10 – 3 and Sat 10 – 1
Drawing Museum Lace - Exhibition: Somerset Rural Life Museum, Glastonbury.
Somerset Revealed: Museum of Somerset. 26 Nov 2013 - 4 Jan 2014
Jack Coulthard at CICCIC, Paul Street Taunton from December 6th – January 2nd 2014. (CICIC closed on December 7th).10
Ishah Rayson - Paintings 10 Dec 2013 - 6 Jan 2014 Hestercombe Gardens 2014
Royal Photographic Society Biennial Exhibition-Taunton Library 9th Dec - 11th January
Ilminster Arts Centre: Annual Open Winners Exhibition (for 2013) Mon 6th January - Sat 25th Jan
Paintings by Jenny Keogh Taunton Library 13th Jan - 25th Jan 2014
Two of a Kind: Brians Cocks and Billie Willcocks. Ilminster Arts Centre Tue 28th Jan-Sat 15th Feb 2014
The Pop Up Gallery-Taunton Library 27th Jan-1Feb 2014
22

23. Contacts List
Barn, Obridge House Priorswood, Taunton. Contact: Jeremy Harvey. 01823 276421
Barrington Court, Barrington, Ilminster, Somerset TA19 0NQ 01460 242614
Bishop’s Palace, Cathedral Green, Wells Somerset BA5 2PD 01749 988111 www.bishopspalace.org.uk
The Blakehay Theatre, Wadham Street, Weston-super-Mare, BS23 1JZ 01934 645493
Brendon Books, Bath Place, Taunton TA1 4ER 01823 337742 brendonbooks@gmail.com
Bridgwater Arts Centre, 11-13 Castle Street, Bridgwater, Somerset TA6 3DD 01278 422 700
The Castle Hotel, Castle Green, Taunton TA1 1NF 01823 272671
St Peter St Paul Church, Moor Lane, North Curry Ta3 6JZ 01823 490255
The David Hall, Roundwell St South Petherton. TA13 5AA 01460 240340 info@thedavidhall.org
Dillington House, Ilminster, Somerset TA19 9DT 01460 258648 dillington@somerset.gov.uk
Dunster Tithe Barn 01643 821658 info@dunstertithebarn.org.uk
Fyne Court, Broomfield, Somerset TA5 2EQ 01823 451587
Gallery4Art. www.gallery4art.co.uk. 01984 623357
Ginger Fig, Bath Place, Taunton TA1 4ER 01823 326798
Halseway Manor, Crowcombe, Taunton, Somerset TA4 4BD 01984 618274
Hestercombe Gardens, Hestercombe, Taunton TA2 8LG 01823 413 923
Hobbyhorse Ballroom, Esplanade, Minehead, Somerset TA24 5QP 01643 702274
Ilminster Arts Centre, East Street, Ilminster TA19 0AN 01460 55783
Imagine Design Create Bath Place, Taunton TA1 4ER 01823 252133 imaginedesigncreate@live.co.uk
Museum of Somerset, Taunton Castle, Castle Green, Taunton Somerset TA1 4AA 01823 255088 www.somerset.gov.uk/museums
Music in the Quantocks 01823 451162
Night of the Prom: 07973 252 346
Oake Manor Golf Club,Oake Taunton TA4 1BA 01823 461992
Octagon Theatre, Hendford, Yeovil BA20 1UX 01935 422884
Parish Church St John, Wellington, 72 High Street Wellington(01823) 662248
The Playhouse Theatre,High Street,Weston super Mare,BS23 1HP 01934 645544
Porlock Village Hall, Toll Road (New Rd), Porlock TA24 8QD 01643 862717
Queen’s Conference Centre, Trull Road, Taunton Ta1 4QS 01823 272559 contact@queenscollege.org.uk
Regal Theatre, 10-16 The Avenue, Minehead TA24 5AY 01643 706430 mail@regaltheatre.co.uk
Richard Huish College, 2 Kings Close, Taunton, Somerset TA1 3XP 01823 320800
Silver Street Centre, Silver Street, Wiveliscombe, Taunton, Somerset TA4 2PA 01984 623107
Somerset Industrial Archaeological Society, Field Officer, Peter Daniel, 29 Barbers Mead, Taunton, TA2 8PY.
Telephone : 01823 339368. E-mail : peter.daniel51@btinternet.com
Somerset Rural Life Museum. Abbey Farm, Chilkwell Street, GlastonburySomerset BA6 8DB 01458 831197
St Mary Magdalene Church, Church Square, Taunton TA1 1SA 01823 272441
St Mary’s Church, St Mary Street, Bridgwater TA6 3EQ 01278 422437 saintmarybridgwater@gmail.com
St Mary’s Church, Stogumber office.qtb@btinternet.com
St John’s Church, Park Street, Taunton TA1 4DG secretary@stjohnstaunton.org.uk
The Swan Theatre, 138 Park Street,Yeovil BA20 1QT swantheatre@gmail.com
Tacchi-Morris Arts Centre, School Road, Taunton TA2 8PD 01823 41 41 41 info@tacchi-morris.com
Taunton Flower Show http://www.tauntonfs.co.uk/
Taunton Library, Paul St, Taunton, Somerset TA1 3XZ 0845 345 9177
Taunton RFC Hyde Park, Hyde Lane, Bathpool, Taunton, Somerset, TA2 8BU 01823 336363
Taunton Racecourse, Orchard Portman, Somerset TA3 7BL 01823 337172
Temple Methodist Church, Upper High Street, Taunton TA1 3PY (01823) 275765
Tyntesfield Wraxall, North Somerset, BS48 1NT
Warehouse Theatre, Brewery Lane, Ilminster, TA19 9AD Tel 01460 57049
Wellesley Theatre, 50-52 Mantle Street, Wellington TA21 8AU 01823 666668
Wellington Arts Centre, Eight Acre Lane, Wellington, TA21 8PS 01458 250655
Wellsprings Leisure Centre, Cheddon Road, Taunton TA2 7QP 01823 271271
Yeovil Library, The Library, King George Street, Yeovil Somerset BA20 1PY Tel 01823 336370
23

24. Taunton Youth Dance Company
2013 marks 10 years of Taunton Youth Dance Company
(TYDC) at Tacchi-Morris Arts Centre. One of TYDC’s
Directors, Jenny Copping offers an insight into the company and their mission to bring young dance professionals
back to Somerset.
Having a dance
company such as
TYDC in Taunton means
young dancers (aged 15-25) at the start of
their careers are able to access some great
opportunities right on their doorstep.
Over the last decade hundreds of
young people from across Somerset have
worked with TYDC, and former company members have gone on to study at
Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music
and Dance, London Contemporary Dance
School, Northern School of Contemporary Dance and many other prestigious
24
fessional dance world of taking class
and developing performance material, and the opportunity to work as
a company with members of various
experiences and ages which enriches
the work we produce.’
Jenny has been Artistic Director of
TYDC for 2 years and worked regularly with the company prior to this.
Her aim is to challenge and develop
company member’s skills in contemporary and creative dance, offering
support, guidance and expertise.
‘We aim to inspire our dancers to
fully engage in high quality dance
opportunities, making them versatile
and adaptable performers.’ says Jenny,
who is also Co-ordinator of Dance at
The SPACE, a post-16 performing arts
college situated next door to TacchiMorris Arts Centre.
TYDC are currently on a mission to
bring young dance professionals back
to Somerset. These young performers
are incredible ambassadors for Somerset and TYDC are keen to harness
dance universities.
their talent to inspire the next generaMany have performed
tion of dancers, as Jenny explains ‘We
within professional dance
are passionate about promoting and
companies around the world including
supporting young dancers in their
BalletBoyz and JV2 (Jasmin Vardimon’s
dance progression. We have invested
Graduate Company) and have even
in our ex-members by supporting
toured with hit musical “We Will Rock
them in developing work locally that
You”.
has then been toured to schools and
‘TYDC provides an important opporcolleges across Somerset. We regutunity for young dancers enabling access
larly have our ex-students work with
to performance and technical training
our current company members to help
in an environment that isn’t based on
them see the potential pathways that a
reaching educational criteria.’ explains
dance career can take.’
Jenny. ‘It allows an insight into the pro-

25. The dance workshops in question
took place in July and September and
were kindly supported by a number of
organisations and local businesses, but
continued financial investment is needed
in order to secure such projects in the
future. Any businesses who would like
to get involved should contact the arts
centre.
Over the years TYDC have worked
with professional dancers such as Ed
Pearce (BalletBoyz), Kay Crook (mapdance), Richard Alston Dance Company, Jasmin Vardimon Company, and
Earthfall and are now at an extremely
exciting point, as Jenny explains, ‘After
a fantastic year involving school tours,
professional workshops and a celebratory performance platform, we are once
again faced with some great opportunities including a project focusing on
WW1 in partnership with Tacchi-Morris Arts Centre and Somerset Heritage
Centre.’ The project (for which Taunton
Youth Dance Company are applying
for Heritage Lottery Funding) will be
unfolding throughout the year and will
include work with professional companies such as Tavaziva.
In May, TYDC dancers will have the
chance to work with young hot-shot choreographer James Wilton, who recently
choreographed a 3,000 strong team of
dancers for the Rugby League World
Cup opening ceremony. This exciting
opportunity for young male dancers will
involve the group creating and rehearsing a piece of work in a day, before
performing a curtain raiser for James’
show that evening. This opportunity
is extended out to young male dancers
across the county. Further information
and an application form can be found on
the Tacchi-Morris Arts Centre website.
‘I love working with TYDC because
it is a really fresh and exciting environment to work in.’ says Jenny.‘The
Company members are creative and
innovative in interpreting ideas and I
greatly enjoy how myself and Clare
[Parker] bounce ideas off one another as
we develop and form the performance
work.’
Clare Parker is one of Tacchi-Morris’
25
new community dance tutors. A former tutor for Richard Alston’s Dance Company,
Clare leads Blitz Youth Dance Company
for ages 8-11 years and Digit Youth Dance
Company for ages 12-14 years. She is an
experienced dance professional who is a
performer, teacher, and choreographer.
In addition to her work with TYDC,
Jenny also runs a class for ages 4-6 years
at Tacchi-Morris Arts Centre called Fun
Feet. ‘Inspiring young children of this
age to express themselves through
movement is wonderful.’ says Jenny.
‘It is also great to see how the Fun
Feet students then feed into the dance
classes as they grow older developing
their skills through Blitz and Digit until they make it back to me in TYDC!’
By Sara Loveridge
See TYDC perform in the Christmas Community Dance Show on
Tuesday 17th December at 7.30pm. Tickets: £7 / £6 / Concessions /
£4.50 Students.
At Tacchi-Morris Arts Centre, School Road, Taunton. TA2 8PD.
Box Office: 01823 414141.
See www.tacchi-morris.com.
Auditions for TYDC take place each September. For more information see:
www.tacchi-morris.com/young-people/tydc or www.tauntonyouthdancecompany.co.uk

26. The Phoenix Singers
Founded in Devon
in 1971 by a small
group of friends, The
Phoenix Singers has
grown to become a
prominent choir in
the Southwest. Now
based in Taunton,
singers come from a
wide regional area.
The choir’s concert
repertoire has expanded enormously
over recent times,
made possible by
the ability and vast
experience of its
members.
With its eclectic approach to styles and
periods of choral music, including contemporary composers and arrangers, The
Phoenix Singers perform programmes
that often have religious themes and
draw heavily on composers of the 16th
and 20th centuries. The summer concert
usually has more of a light-music feel,
featuring jazz standards and folk song.
The choir’s musical director since 1996
has been Andrew Maddocks. Andrew
26
ing arts students based at the Tacchi
Morris Centre. In March the choir were
accompanied by a fine young cellist,
Amy Jolly. Amy played memorably and
with great expression to accompany a
beautiful work entitled Svyati by the
much-loved composer John Tavener
who, sadly, died on 12th November.
trained as a cathedral chorister at
Peterborough and as a music student
at Cambridge. He has spent his working life in music education, founding
The Bridgwater Young People’s Choir
in 1983 and conducting The Taunton
Children’s Choir in the 1990s. He currently works with The Voices Foundation, a London based charity which
promotes singing in schools.
The Phoenix Singers are keen to draw
young singers into the wonderful
tradition of English choral music. To
this end, the choir offers four choral
scholarships each year, where student
singers are supported with a payment
towards the costs of singing tuition.
Younger members also pay a reduced
subscription.
The choir regularly invites young
performers to be part of their concerts
and the Christmas concert on 14th
December will feature choirs from
local schools and colleges (see below
for details). Last summer’s concert
at Dunster featured talented dancers
from The Space – a group of perform-
Concerts often take place in Taunton,
the churches of St Mary Magdalene
and St James being regular venues. The
summer concert has, for the past few
years, been held in The Tithe Barn in
Dunster where, weather permitting, the
audience can also enjoy a picnic with
strawberries and wine in the beautiful
Andrew Maddocks, the choir’s musical
director since 1996
walled garden. The choir sometimes
performs in support of local charities
and causes such the Beacon Centre at
Musgrove Park Hospital. The Phoenix
Singers are available to sing at weddings and functions.

27. Christmas with
the Phoenix Singers
The Phoenix Singers will be singing
in St George’s Church, Dunster as
part of the popular candlelight celebrations on Friday 6th December at
7pm See www.dunsterbycandlelight.
co.uk
On 14th December at 7.30pm,
The Phoenix Singers present a family concert in St James’s Church,
Taunton. The guest singers for this
outreach event will be the choirs of
Trull and Kingston St Mary Primary
Schools, The Castle School, Taunton,
and the chamber choir of Richard
Huish College, Taunton. The programme will feature different combinations of the five choirs and there
will be opportunities for the audience
to be part of the massed choir for
some firm favourites including ‘O
little town of Bethlehem’, ‘God rest
you merry, gentlemen’ and ‘O come
all ye faithful’. In addition to organ
accompaniment by John Young, The
Phoenix Singers are delighted this
year to welcome ‘Academy Brass’,
a young ensemble from the Royal
Academy of Music.
On Monday 23rd December at
6.30pm, The Phoenix Singers present
their annual service of Nine Lessons
and Carols in the candlelit surroundings of St John the Baptist Church,
Wellington. The service will include
pieces by contemporary composers
Paul Mealor and Philip Stopford and
a setting of ‘The Holly and the Ivy’
by organist and choirmaster of Wells
Cathedral, Matthew Owens. There is
no admission charge, but a collection
will be taken.
27
See The
Phoenix Singers
7pm Friday 6 December
Dunster by Candlelight
St George’s Church, Dunster
7.30pm Saturday 14th December
Fanfare for Christmas
at St James’s Church, Taunton
Tickets £12 from TIC 01823 432704
or www.thephoenixsingers.co.uk
6.30pm Monday 23rd December
Festival of Nine Lessons Carols
St John Baptist Church, Wellington
No admission charge but please
apply for tickets on 01823 432704
7.30pm Saturday 15th March 2014
Sounds Spiritual ll
St John Baptist Church, Wellington
Further enquiries: Frances Webb
07970 710056
email: franbb@gmail.com
www.thephoenixsingers.co.uk

28. The Christmas Arts Crafts Collection
at Ilminster Arts Centre
The Christmas Collection
is an annual event that
celebrates the creativity of
local artists and craft makers. Visual Arts Co-ordinator
Sue Bishop offers a flavour
of what visitors can expect
from this festive exhibition.
‘One of the aims of Ilminster Arts Centre
is to support local artists and crafts people through a programme of exhibitions.’
explains Sue. ‘By offering their work
to the public, we hope to open visitor’s
eyes to the richness of art in Somerset,
and the importance of supporting the
regions creative talent.’
The Christmas Collection has become
something of an Ilminster tradition,
with a wide-range of high-quality crafts
and artwork displayed each year. ‘We
[the gallery team] look out for makers
and artists when visiting venues during
Somerset Art Weeks and other events
such as the 10 Parishes Festival.’ says
Sue, herself an artist. ‘We also interview
those who approach us individually and
always welcome more enquiries. The
best way to do this is to leave your contact details at the Arts Centre.’
Those displaying work this year
include Tania Alcock who produces
vibrant textile wall hangings and wearable accessories, plus a range of soaps.
Other artists working with textiles
include Diana Pattinson, whose series of
felt wall hangings take inspiration form
the colours and textures of the natural
world, and Jackie Williams from Dommett Hill Farm who uses pure Shetland
wool to create beautiful scarves.
Alison Tutcher has been making hats
for twenty years and creates headwear
for all seasons and occasions, while
Kathryn Chambers (aka k3n) is displaying a range of quilted textile art. There is
also a selection of original knitwear by
Jane Fenn-Smith and Carole Pragnell.
28
Australian-born ceramicist Drew
Robins works with stoneware clays
which are thrown by hand on a potter’s
wheel and decorated before being fired.
His range of functional pottery and
decorative agateware pieces are designed to be used on an everyday basis,
while June Dobson’s hand built pottery
and thrown bowls are a celebration of
nature with their impressions of flower
and plant forms.
Ross Pike of R and M Designs, who
has recently exhibited his work at
The Somerset Guild of Craftsmen in
Somerton creates bespoke furniture
and wood carvings that are contemporary and stylish, while Jeremy Briggs’
wood-turned vessels make for the
perfect centrepiece in any home.
Glass artists include Lorraine Chalmers from Yeo River Glass who creates
elegant designs in bold, bright colours
using the art of glass fusing, while
stained glass artist Sue Heys produces
attractive pieces inspired by the Art
Nouveau and Art Deco periods. She is
also a member of the Somerset Guild
of Craftsmen.
Emerging artist Janine Starr specialises in making glass beads, bead sets
and sterling silver jewellery, and Josephine Wadman is a lampwork bead and
jewellery maker who uses a variety of
Italian Murano, German and American
glass to great effect, while Norma Dale
creates stunning statement jewellery
using wire and beads.
Well-known for her fantastical and
humorous paintings and etchings, artist
Nancy Farmer has created a collection
of baubles, coasters, and candles that
are certain to create a talking point at
any Christmas party.
Earlier in the year Ilminster Arts
Centre held its first ever Creative
Photography Open, and as part of their
prize, the winners are displaying their
work alongside The Christmas Collection. ‘The winners were offered a
joint exhibition as part of the Arts
Centre’s commitment to encouraging
photographers who see their work as
an art form.’ explains Sue. ‘We will be
having another photographic competition in 2014 and we would encourage
all photographers to have their names
registered with us as soon as possible.’
The Arts Centre proved to be a big
draw for Sue and her husband when
they moved to the South West several
years ago. ‘I had plans for developing my own artwork and having my
own exhibition.’ says Sue, a former
teacher who had worked in education
for thirty two years. ‘Volunteering at
the Arts Centre gave me that opportunity and soon afterwards an exhibition in the Café Gallery, which really
inspired me to go forward.’
Sue initially began volunteering as
a front desk steward before taking
on the role of Visual Arts Co-ordinator three years ago. ‘The opportunity
to take the galleries forward and
discover new artists and groups has
enabled me to develop as an artist
myself, make friends and join them
for exhibitions - and it has been a
wonderful experience.’
By Sara Loveridge
See The Christmas Collection
from Monday 25th November
- Saturday 21st December.
Open Monday-Friday 9.30am4.30pm, Saturday 9.30am2.30pm.
Free entry. At Ilminster Arts
Centre, East Street, Ilminster.
TA19 0AN. Box Office: 01460
54973.
www.themeetinghouse.org.uk.

29. From the left: June Dobson, DVA Images; Jeremy Briggs, Hollow Forms; Sue Heys, Fan Lamp
From the left: Lorraine Chalmers, Yeo River Glass; Baubles, Nancy Farmer; Drew Robbins, Fluted Vase; Red Dot Earrings,
Janine Starr
From the left: Tania Alcock, Textile Hanging; Norma Dale, Kintted Wire/Pearl Cuff; Diana Pattinson, Cockerel Image;
Scarves 005: Jackie Williams
29

30. I
lminster Entertainments Society was formed in 1947 with
its inaugural production of “The Farmer’s Wife”. The society
presents five productions in the theatre every year including
its very popular Christmas show. The production for this year
is A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens.
As Christmas Day approaches, Ebenezer
Scrooge resents the interruption to his
business of money-making. The arrival of the ghost of his dead friend and
business partner, Jacob Marley, and three
Spirits of Christmas make him stop and
rethink his own life and his attitude to
those around him, the world in general
and Christmas in particular.
Charles Dickens published his wellknown tale in December 1843 and this
adaptation was produced quickly for the
stage by CZ Barnett early in 1844. It
brings to life all the favourite characters
from the book and presents Dicken’s
moral tale highlighting the hardships
faced by the poor in a country which acts
hard against those who cannot afford the
cost of living.
Using Barnett’s script and music of the
time, Ilminster Entertainment Society
are looking forward to presenting this
energetic production of a Christmas ghost
story that is funny, sad and ultimately
heart-warming.
The show will run from Wednesday 11th
December to Saturday 14th December at
7.30pm with a matinee on Saturday 14th
December at 2.30pm. Tickets cost £8.50
(adult), £7.50 (concession) and £7.00
(child) and are available from Lanes Garden Shop, 17 Silver Street, Ilminster or by
calling the Box Office on 07943 779880.
30
Some years ago Ilminster Entertainments Society we were lucky enough
to obtain premises at the former fruit
and vegetable warehouse on Brewery
Lane. Through much hard work, grants
and donations, a theatre was formed
which now seats 155 people and represents one of the most well equipped,
professional-standard amateur theatres
in the county. The
theatre now stages IES productions
as well as outside theatre and musical
companies and also plays host to Ilminster Cinema Club, Ile Valley Flower
Club and many other social clubs.
More information about the theatre and
what is going on can be found on the
website:
www.thewarehousetheatre.org.uk

31. Interior of Warehouse Theatre
Cratchits in rehearsal
“... I will honour Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year ...”
The character of Scrooge is thought
to represent the conflicting feelings he had for his own father who
was imprisoned Marshalsea Prison
when he was only 12. He was
forced to leave school, seek lodgings and work in a blacking factory,
a situation that continued after his
father’s release. Originally Dickens
was going to publish a political
pamphlet entitled ‘An Appeal to
31
the People of England on behalf
of the Poor Man’s Child’ following the Second Report of the
Children’s Employment Commission of February 1843.
The idealisaton of Christmas is
foreshadowed in The Pickwick
Papers which he wrote in 1837.
Following a fund raising speech
for the poor at the Manchester
Athaneum, he began A Christmas Carol believing that it would
be a more effective way of communicating his message than a
polemical pamphlet. He completed the majority of the book in
only six weeks.
Disappointed with his earnings
from his previous novel, Martin
Chuzzlwit, he negotiated a percentage of the profits rather than
a lump sum payment with Chapman and Hall. When the book
was published it received, for the
most part, great critical acclaim.
It did not bring him the profits
he had hoped. However, it went
into its seventh edition within 6
months and received widespread
critical acclaim. William Thackeray described it as:
‘a national benefit and to every
man or woman who reads it.’
It is credited with influencing the
way we observe Christmas in this
country today throwing off the
shackles of the sober Puritan observance and introducing the idea
of festive generosity. ‘Scrooge’ and
‘Bah! Humbug!’ have passed into
the English language and it popularised the prase Merry Christmas
Charles Dickens in 1842

32. Carols and Classics
at Merriott
Carols Classics 5. Merriott. Friday 20th
December. In its 5th year, this annual
treat of Carols Classics by the Bowen
Ensemble will again be performed at the
All Saints Church, Merriott TA165PS.
The Bowen Ensemble consisting of
young professional, and post graduates
from London Music Colleges, will again
provide an evening of Carols Classical music with Organ, Piano, and Strings
from composers such as Schuman,
Haydn, Debussy and more. These talented
musicians are at the start of their professional careers, and individually perform
regularly in London at all the major
venues, and across the UK and Europe
with leading orchestras such as the LSO,
Southbank Sinfonia, and the Philharmonia. With Mince pies and Mulled wine
to start the Christmas Festivities this is a
Friday evening not to be missed. This is a
popular event and with over 160 attending last year so be sure to book / reserve
your tickets early. Tickets £7 available
from Osbornes Store, Broadway, Merriott; or the Town Hall, Crewkerne. or Tel.
07870404631 or 0146076360 . 7:00pm
Refreshments for a 7:30pm concert start
Why Not
Advertise in
LAMP?
Make yourself visible while
supporting the promotion of the
artistic community in Somerset
LAMP Magazine
c/o Brendon Books,
Old Brewery Buildings
Bath Place Taunton TA1 4ER
01823 337742
lampmagazine1@gmail.com
32

33. Sinead Gillespie Introduces the first BAC
Talk at Bridgwater Arts Centre in January
Sinéad Gillespie was born in Northern
Ireland, a child of the troubled 60s,
now living and writing in Somerset.
She has been the Writer in Residence
at Bridgwater Arts Centre for the past
four years.
On October 24th Sinéad’s debut novel
…but I love you was launched. On
January 31st she will present the first
in the series of BACTalks at the Arts
Centre about her writing journey
thus far. We invited her to give us a
preview.
“Anyone can tell you how they got
published. And however it comes
about, someone in that audience
will be thinking you just got a lucky
break. It’s what I thought every time I
listened to published authors. In part I
did, but I worked very hard every step
of the way to overcome obstacles and
turn them into opportunities. I’ll save
that part of the story for the talk, but
essentially it’s about creating your own
luck and a tough work ethic which is
something other would-be writers can
do.
I think a more interesting question is
why I do I write? What is this compulsion to put pen to paper and share
stories? Things happen to shut a girl
up: society, religion, attitudes, betrayals. And as the outer voice is silenced,
the inner voice cries. For years mine
found solace in academia as I proved
my worth with a Masters’ Degree and I
rewarded myself with drama school.
What eventually broke the dam was
working with my Asperger’s son, and
supporting parents in the same position.
I learned that we all shared a story, a secret story of pain, guilt, shame and fear
as we faced the world with our special
children. I decided it was time to tell. I
wrote a play called ‘From Within’ about
living with autism, produced with full
Arts Council funding, gaining a place on
the Outstanding Performers List 2006 in
Brighton’s Fringe Festival.
…but I love you burst into my consciousness while living in Brighton
observing reactions to same-sex relationships, leading to observations about
mixed messages and misread signs, and
ultimately, the many different things
meant by that little phrase …but I love
you . The story is about two women
who are going to fall in love and all
the people who help or hinder. It’s an
exploration of sexual identity, prejudice,
and understanding. I like to challenge
the reader to really look at their own
beliefs by identifying with a character then
observing the outcome of the plot.”
www.sineadgillespie.co.uk or follow on
Twitter @SineadGBoys, or Facebook
Sinéad Gillespie Author Page. The BACTalk is a free event on Jan 31st 2014.
But I love You is avaialable from Brendon
Books, Bath lace, Taunton TA1 4ER
01823 337742 email: brendonbooks@gmail.
com www.brendonbooksonline.co.uk
Want to subscribe to LAMP?
Have the next six issues of LAMP sent directly
to you on publication. Cost £10.
LAMP Magazine, c/o Brendon Books, Old Brewery Buildings
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01823 337742 lampmagazine1@gmail.com
33

34. The Lost Islands of Somerset
A new book has just
been published by
Somerset Heritage
Service on ‘The Lost
Islands of Somerset’.
Over 100 islands of hard geology
poke up out of the peat and clay of the
Somerset Levels and Moors floodplain.
They have been the focus for human
activity for the last 10,000 years and
have a unique history that is explored
in a new book ‘The Lost Islands of
Somerset: exploring a unique wetland
heritage’ by Richard Brunning, the
Levels and Moors Archaeologist for
Somerset County Council. The booklet
is the product of a project that has been
investigating the archaeology of some
of the islands with funding from the
Levels and Moors Local Action Group
and the County Council.
Saxon Causeway near Glastonbury
The book briefly describes the islands and their surrounding wetland
landscape, how they were linked by
wooden trackways in the prehistoric
period and how the floodplain was
gradually reclaimed in the RomanoBritish and Medieval periods. A dozen
of the island are then covered in more
detail, with especial focus on islands
such as Muchelney and Aller where
geophysical survey and excavation
took place.
Lost Islands is avaialable from:
Brendon Books, Bath Place, Taunton
TA1 4ER 01823 337742 Price:£5.00
Burow Mump
Skulls uncovered in a Somerset quarry have
revealed the oldest cemetery in the UK.
is part of a raised island of hard rock above the
surrounding Levels and Moors floodplain.
Radiocarbon dating of two skulls found at a sand
quarry in Greylake near Middlezoy has revealed
Somerset to be the home of the earliest known
cemetery in the UK.
Somerset County Councillor Christine Lawrence, Cabinet Member for Community services
said: “Somerset’s wonderfully rich heritage
plays a big part in attracting visitors. I’m delight
that this project has thrown new light on to these
exciting finds.”
Dr Richard Brunning, from Somerset County
Council’s Heritage Service who is leading the
Lost Islands of Somerset Project, said: “This
was amazing news and was just the result we
were hoping for. It shows that a Mesolithic
hunter-gatherer group was operating from the
island and burying its dead there. Such open air
cemeteries are extremely rare in Europe and this
is the only one known from the UK.”
This internationally important discovery shows
that by around 8,300 BC Mesolithic (Middle
Stone Age) hunter-gatherers were burying their
dead on the island. All the other human remains
from this early period in Britain have been found
in caves.
Flint tools were also found in large numbers on
the site in the 1950s suggesting that it was used
as a long-term camp site. More analysis will be
carried out on the skulls and the tools to shed
light on how this ancient community lived and
died.
As part of Somerset County Council’s, ‘Lost Islands of Somerset’ project, a team investigating the
archaeology of the Somerset Levels has revealed
this amazing find. The skulls are held by the Blake
Museum in Bridgwater and have been dated at
10,000 years old.
They came from the remains of five bodies discovered in 1928 at the sand quarry in Greylake, which
34

35. Poetry Corner: Candy Bright
Since moving to Exmoor a few years back I have been able to indulge myself in
a passion that has been burning for decades, that passion is poetry. It has been
more than that, it has been a friend. I have been asked why do I write poetry?
It is for the same reason I read poetry- to find a common space where even if
just for a moment there is a shared understanding. Of course there is the added
bonus when the words work, really work and it is an explosive excitement that
ensues. When reading a poem that hits me straight in the gut, the heart; my head
shouts ‘YES!’ it is a synergy unlike any other. Always a good poem stands out as
one that I wish I had written myself. When I start work on a poem it will not leave
me alone be it day or night, like a needy child; until it is done-as though it has it’s
own entity.
BLANKETS
They are often scratchy,
old and brown
but roll up quite nicely
to fit snuggly under arm.
They know us well.
We may try to leave them
here or there and
be lighter for
five or ten
but just when you think them gone
there they are
back again.
Oh thorns in sides
flies in ointments
and spanners in works
should you not let us be?
There are times when
it looked like sun down early
or the light bulb spent
as darkness descends all aroundbut there
they have unravelled themselves
covered heads
and we are pinned to the groundunable to see beyond the weave
unable to talk to beg our leave
until they are presently done
with we.
.
Ah splinters in eyes
and stones in shoes,
35
Achilles heels
would you not let us be free?
Yet we softly whisper to ourselves
it is we who can’t breathe without you,
we pretend to leave you about the place
and damn the soul but save the faceyet we awake in the night to search for
then find you
and comfort us all in this dread.
Where do we begin and end?
are we cut from the same cloth
and bound by the same thread?
Oh broken wings
that never will fly
lets cover up forever
you and I.
SEARCH
Can seeking and searching ever end
and what the hell is it for
a hunger that’s never satisfied
a cell with forever locked door.
Does everyone have this feeling?
can it be a common theme?
A sense of loss and hope to reclaim
a pain in the soul so hard to sustain,
I have named it as madness
I have blamed it on birth
I have begged for the magic
of past lives to unearthI have raged with the sea
and sat beneath trees
and still it evades me
whatever it be
NEANT
The picture framed
of the space in between
an afterthought of an afterbirth
of what might have been
of a half life in the half light
of the space that’s left in between.
Wedged in Henge like of immovable stone
that no miracle will roll away
to discover an absent saviour
for that brighter day.
The nihilistic force bearing down
into the vacuous void made flesh.
In go folded letters, pills and crumpled thoughts
to the space in between,
the black hole takes them
somewhere we have never been
and back again
to the space that’s left in between.
Candy reads regularly for the Juncture 25
Poetry Group for which she is ‘honoured to
be a member’. An anthology of her poems,
Candy Colours, is available from Brendon
Books. She also appears in two anthologies,
Freeze Frame and Juncture 25, also available
from there.
Brendon Books, Bath Place, Taunton TA1 4ER
01823 337742 email:brendonbooks@gmail.com

36. Reaching for the Stars.....
Huish student Matt
Konig won this year’s
Brunner Creative Writing Competition for
Richard Huish College
and its partner schools.
In all, there were 202 entries.
The titles were prompted by
the short stories and novels
of science fiction writer Arthur
C. Clarke, himself an Old
Boy of what was then Richard Huish Grammar School.
Matt has produced a suitably
dystopian view in his version
of ‘the Awakening, ’ with an
enemy worthy of Dr Who! The
description of the sight that
greets Barker as he emerges
from Exit3 creates a powerful
image.
The full text of the winning
entry follows over the next two
pages.
winners of both competitions
Bottom Ellie Shopland-Botez (Bishop
Fox’s), Mabel Matthews (Haygrove), Lauren Bleasby (Stanchester)
2nd row: Phoebe Tootill, Grace Maddison
(Haygrove), Matt Konig, Helen Gardner
3rd row:Matt Konig, Lucy Thorne,
Melissa Eveleigh
4th row: mary King, Hannah Govan, Sam
Dunnett
5th row:Will Sweet (Heathfield), Samuel
Hunt (Haygrove), Luke Townsend,
Back row: Alex Chadwick, Dan Wright,
Douglas Marshall
Lucy Thorne (Lucas cup Winner) and Matt Konig (Brunner winner)
36
The Awakening
by Matt Konig
Gareth Barker did not know what his
train had just run over.
It was an unexpected interruption on a
previously routine shift. One minute,
he was speeding through the tunnels
underneath London’s north bank,
keeping an eye out for signals on the
tracks ahead. Then, a jolt. His first
thoughts were of the horror stories he
had overheard during staff training at
Ashfield, of drivers hitting concrete
blocks or suicidal humans on the
tracks. But those accidents happened
on the surface lines; the route that Gareth covered on his shift was more or
less completely underground. No, this
was something else entirely.
Gareth’s first instinct was to stop his
train; he pulled down sharp on the
braking lever and brought the train
to a halt. Once it had stopped, he
reached over the train’s control panel
and picked up a phone. He dialled the
number for the Underground control
room 55 Broadway, not far away from
the nearest station, St James’ Park
– and raised the receiver.
“Train 5731, calling to report possible
impact on undercarriage, will try and
investigate, over.”
Nothing.
“Train 5731, is there anyone there,
over?”
Still nothing.
Gareth put the receiver down. Great
- now the phones weren’t working.
Standing up and adjusting his tie, he
then opened the carriage door behind
him and stepped into the passenger
area full of commuters. He moved
swiftly through the carriages; as he
went through each one, he heard brief
snatches of dialogue, of phone calls to
bosses warning them that they would
be late, of anxious parents reassuring
their children that they wouldn’t be
underground forever.
“No, I’m…I’m on the Circle line…just
left St James’ Park… no…no, not by
10…maybe an hour if I’m lucky…
yeah, we just had a huge jolt…”
“Is it OK if we get the later tour now? I
think it’s every half an hour, so as long
as we get there before it closes…”

37. “Hold on, Janine, I’ll ask him…do you
know what that was?”
Gareth realised that the last comment,
from a balding man with a guitar case in
one hand and a mobile phone in the other,
was aimed at him. Most passengers didn’t
choose to speak to staff, and if they did, it
was usually a torrent of abuse; Gareth had
been on the receiving ends of these tirades
more than once
“That’s what I’m going to find out,” he
replied.
Gareth opened the door at the end of the
last carriage and peered out into the dim
tunnel. Even after pulling out a torch from
his fluorescent jacket and shining it on the
tracks, Gar Reaching for the Stars…
Gareth could only see ahead for a few
feet. He closed the train door and hopped
down onto the track, then walked on
ahead, taking care not to step on the electrified rails.
He found nothing. No dead bodies, no
concrete slabs. The beam of his torch
revealed nothing, save for rats scurrying
in the pits beneath the rails, and the odd
piece of litter, perhaps blown in from
one of the neighbouring stations. Perhaps
there had been nothing on the tracks, and
Gareth had imagined it. Perhaps.
The passengers were still waiting when
Gareth re-entered his train; thankfully
there had not been any riots or mutinies
in his absence. Either the commuters this
morning were very good at waiting, or
the stories from staff training hadn’t all
been true. If it was the former, then there
appeared to be one exception; the balding
man from earlier was stood by the door,
fists clenched, with impatient eyes showing no traces of bonhomie.
“What was it?” the balding man asked.
“I haven’t found anything yet,” Gareth
replied, “but-“
“Oh, for God’s sake.”
“Sir-“
“You don’t get it, do you? I’m half an
hour late for my board meeting now - how
am I going to explain myself? My train
crashed into nothing?”
“Sir, I’m only doing my job, we don’t usually have to deal with things like this.”
37
“Things like what? Like what we just ran
over? You don’t know that, do you-“
The lights flickered off.
Slowly, as the passengers around him
turned and looked in confusion, Gareth
became aware of a sound.
tak tak tak tak tak
It was a rhythmic hollow tapping noise,
echoing off the brick walls, coming from
outside the train.
Coming from underneath the train.
taktaktaktaktak
TAKTAKTAKTAKTAK
Gareth had no idea what the thing bursting through the floor was. He didn’t
recognize the single bulbous, bloodshot
eye, darting from passenger to passenger,
blinking rapidly; nor the pale, spindly
limbs, the left one crushing the balding
man’s ribcage, the right one fumbling
around blindly in the darkness; nor its
terrible scream, the cry of a tuneless
violin in the hands of a novice.
He knew what it was saying, though.
Its speech was slow at first. “Who’s…
you got…who’s there…for…my
board…for God’s…” Gradually, its
words came out faster and faster, until
the whole carriage was ringing with its
words. “GET THE LATER…MYSELF
MY TRAIN…LIKE WHAT…LINE
JUST LEFT ST JAMES…WHO’S
THERE…FIND OUT…” This was not
speech. This was a baby mimicking
mummy and daddy, desperately trying to
adapt overheard conversations to its own
mouth.
In that moment, another word surged
through Gareth’s mind. Run.
He ran through the carriages, surprising
those commuters in the back of the train
who were still unaware of the massacre
at the front. He ran out into the tunnel,
almost spraining his ankle on the cab
footplate, and down the tracks. He ran
and ran and ran, away from the train,
away from whatever that thing was.
Whatever it was his train had just run
over.
Gareth only stopped running when he
chanced upon an exit; a solid metal
door set in the tunnel wall, with a green
“WAY OUT” sign beckoning above. He
leant on the door, mopping his brow,
a marathon runner at the finish line.
Confused and muddled thoughts raced
through his head, thoughts of the passengers he had left behind, thoughts
of what might be happening in those
carriages now, thoughts of the garbled
voice of that creature, screaming and
yelling and –
tak tak tak tak tak TAK TAK TAK
Not even daring to look back, Gareth
opened the door, ran through, and
slammed it shut. He could hear heavy,
laboured breaths moving behind the
door, punctuated with the odd half-syllable snatched from the mouth of some
dead commuter. After what seemed like
hours – although Gareth knew it could
only have been a few seconds – the
breathing faded, the footsteps passed,
and he was alone once more.
Gareth cautiously advanced, down the
corridor and through another emergency
door, and behind it, another hallway;
however, this one was adorned with
posters and signs. “Exit 3, for Houses of
Parliament” read one, and at last Gareth
knew where he was.
He broke into a run again, following
the signs that promised an escape from
this place – the place he now knew
as Westminster station. He ran up an
escalator, down another passage, into
the ticket hall (unusually empty for
rush hour), and down one final corridor.
Gareth knew where he was now; he had
followed this route many times before.
At the end of the passage was Exit 3
itself, a short flight of steps that came
out right underneath Big Ben.
And it was on fire.
The clock tower’s masonry was charred
and burnt. The ornate clock face was
shattered. The spire was missing.
Fiery plumes of ash rose from Whitehall. Sirens and screams wailed in the
distance.
Pale spindly shapes, bigger than the
infant Gareth had seen in the tunnel,
climbed the walls of the office buildings, ripping out windows and furniture
and people.
London was bleeding to death.

38. My Favourite...
We asked Jeremy Harvey, Chairman of the Somerset Art Gallery
Trust and former headteacher of Bishop Fox’s School, to tell us
about his favourite books and pieces of art, music and drama.
Choosing one book is not easy because
my favourite book is often the one I’m
reading at the time, and the same applies
to the music I’m hearing and the art I’m
enjoying. So I’m stretching the parameters to include works that I return to
again and again.
The book I’ve read a dozen times is
Mr.Lyward’s Answer by Michael Burn.
It’s about George Lyward’s therapeutic
work with intelligent and emotionally
damaged boys/young men at Finchden
Manor. Reading it tipped me into teaching, and convinced me of the need to
discern a person’s emotional readiness.
Two recent novels which I’ve returned
to with delight are Muriel Barberry’s
A Rembrandt today would long to paint
Judi Dench’s portrait.. We have, however, his self-portraits – I must see the one
in the restored Kenwood House – and
his amazing Return of the Prodigal Son
(Hermitage, St. Petersburg) and his pen
and ink drawings, such as Saskia Sleeping. His sepia ink is my favourite colour
Sir Edward Elgar
camped near Stratford for many Augusts
and enjoyed many plays. Favourites are
A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Hal
Falstaff in Henry 1V Pt 1. The one
production I wish I could see is Peter
Brook’s The Dream, which I’ve only
read about.
Literature and the fine arts, music and
drama are gifts, ‘favourite things’, treasures. English is my main language but
Saskia Sleeping - Rembrandt
for drawing.
Mr Lyward’s Answer Michael Burn
The Elegance of the Hedgehog which
is about a caretaker (the hedgehog) in
a Paris apartment block, and Sebastian
Barry’s The Secret Scripture which is
set in an Irish mental asylum. (I’d like
to recommend the film Philomena, the
harrowing Irish story of a boy taken
from his young unmarried mother (Judi
Dench): close ups of her face fascinated
me.)
38
Music now is more central these days. I
grew up on Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony, Chopin’s piano pieces, and Flanders
and Swan’s songs. Now unaccompanied
Bach cello suites and a Mozart piano
concerto especially thrill. And listening
to R3’s Essential Classics introduces
works by other composers and interviews of interesting people. Best of all I
like to hear live music, such as the Taunton Sinfonietta’s recent concert.
I love reading Under Milk Wood aloud,
preferably with others. Its word play
is so imaginative and enjoyable. For
drama is best experienced live. We’ve
A Midsummer Night’s Dream
luckily I can enjoy imagination, skill and
creativity in all these domains across
other languages and cultures.