Off the Beaten Track in Somerset: June 2018

Saturday 16 June 2018

Oh Deer!

While walking on the Quantock Hills and Exmoor I have seen many live deer over the years. However this blogpost is dedicated to artistic representations. These are the ones I have come across so far:

Fawn by artist Fawn, Weston-Super-Mare

Stag Statue at West Quantoxhead

Willow Stag, Nynehead Court

Stag on bench end in Bishops Lydeard Church

Stag statue next to the "Welcome to Minehead" sign at the Ellicombe Roundabout

This stag lives in the garden of some retirement flats in Dulverton

Horatio

This stag, who is called Horatio, can be found in the grounds of Minehead Middle School in Ponsford Road. He was carved with a chainsaw in the summer of 2016 by Matthew Crabb, who is a former pupil of the school and is now a renowned chainsaw artist. The sculpture is 10 feet tall and was commissioned to celebrate the launch of the West Somerset Academies Trust.

Gate at Dunster Village Gardens

Showering's trademark Babycham statue outside Showerings Cider Mill (now the Brothers Drinks' Factory) in Kilver Street, Shepton Mallet

Babycham is a light sparkling perry launched in the UK by Francis Showering in 1953 and first produced at Showerings Cider Mill in Shepton Mallet. It was a particularly popular drink in the 1960s and 1970s and a chamois goat/antelope logo was used to market it. The Babycham brand is now owned by an Australian company: Accolade Wines.

This stag is part of the Wildwood mural in an alleyway just off Glastonbury High Street

Stag weather vane on the roof of Dulverton Cricket Club

Stag on the back of a seat at Kingston St Mary

Stag on a bench end in Monksilver Church

Red deer on a kneeler in Exford Church

Stag at the Cartgate Picnic Site on the A303

Friday 1 June 2018

Automobile Association Village Signs

From 1906 to 1939, the Automobile Association erected nearly 30,000 signs in towns and villages across Britain. As well as giving the name of the town or village in which they were situated, they also gave the distances to the nearest towns or villages and to London.

The first sign to be erected was on the Great North Road at Hatfield in Hertfordshire. Designs of the signs varied over time but they were always yellow and black in colour and circular.

Most of the AA signs were removed during the Second World War when signposts across Britain were removed to confuse the Germans in the event of an invasion. By 1945 only about 600 were left and today there are only around 65 still in place in England and Wales. Many more have survived in museums and private collections. It is also possible to buy replica signs (if you have £290-£470 to spare) and I think that at least one of the ones I have spotted in Somerset is in fact a replica.

I have spotted original signs in Halse, Pitney, Stawell, Milverton, Lydeard St Lawrence and Clapton and replica signs in Stembridge and Wearne. I have seen photos online of signs in Muchelney and Staple Fitzpaine. However I have not noticed these when I have been in these villages and cannot see them on Google Street View and presume they have been removed in the last few years.

As you drive into Winsham on the B3162 from Chard there is a very rare Somerset Automobile Club sign asking you to "drive slowly". There was an identical sign on the southern outskirts of the village but it wasn't there when I visited in February 2018. I think I could see the post to which it was attached. I don't know if it has been stolen or taken down for repair. 36 of these privately financed signs were apparently accepted by Somerset County Council in 1907 and one was ordered by Chard Rural District Council for Winsham in 1911. They were cast by W. and F. Wills, Engineers of Bridgwater. Apparently the reverse side says "thank you", although you can't see the back of the sign I photographed due to the hedge growing immediately behind it. I have subsequently photographed 3 other Somerset Automobile Club signs in Ashill, Freshford and North Street, Stoke sub Hamdon. Elworthy and Monksilver both have very old Somerset County Council signs, which are similar in design to the Somerset Automobile Club ones.