our summer double issue (July and August) brings you a very full diary, with plenty of attractions for everyone, whether fêtes, concerts or sporting events. Bruton’s Church Fête is on Saturday 12 July (1–4pm), with the usual mix of stalls and entertainments enlivened with one or two extras, such as a children’s zoo. See the advertisement on page 39.
Lisa Pickering reports on the Packhorse Fair (page 23), the highlight of the late May Bank Holiday, which was busier and better than ever.

At the other end of the summer there is the Shepton Montague Fête, on Saturday 30 August (not the Bank Holiday Saturday, this time), and before that the Batcombe Fête on Bank Holiday Monday 25 August. All these occasions give immense pleasure to everyone who attends, and reinforce the feeling that we are lucky to live in this beautiful rural area with its delightful traditions (even if they’re not that old!).
The biggest event of the season is the opening of the new Hauser & Wirth gallery at Durslade on 15 July. Its director, Alice Workman, outlines on page 21 what the gallery is doing, with exhibitions, an exciting educational programme encompassing Family Saturdays, adult craft workshops, a theatre summer school and, later on, the opening of the gardens, which promise to be spectacular. Everyone in Bruton and the surrounding area is cordially invited to visit and see what is on offer.
Matt Bowman, son of Margaret and Mike of Shepton Montague, tells the inspiring story (page 25) 
of how he set up an internet connection in a remote region of Nepal, thereby enabling positive benefits for the rural population such as Telemedicine, in which diagnoses can be made without a physical examination. Food for thought.
Elisabeth Balfour