The Christmas season is upon us, and one of the
most enjoyable events here is the Late Night Christmas
Shopping evening on Wednesday 10 December. Bruton
High Street is closed to traffic from 6 until 9pm, allowing
visitors to wander freely up and down the road and
investigate the shops, restaurants, pubs, the Museum and
Sexey’s Hospital, which are all laying on special treats.
Father Christmas will make his appearance as usual, too.
Traditional Christmas services are listed in the
Church Services, pages 42/44, with several extra carol
services in December. The midnight service at St Mary’s
is always full, and makes you feel that Christmas has
truly arrived.

We have to record the deaths of two very different
but strong local characters: David Hick, killed by a
hit-and-run driver (see page 27), and Hermione Graham
(Hobhouse) (page 31). Both had a wide circle of friends
and acquaintances, and Bruton and Batcombe will be less
colourful without them.
Part of the Pevsner Buildings of England series, the
revised and updated Somerset: South and West has just
been published, with much about Bruton (page 19).
And the latest archaeological dig on the Abbey field has
produced some fascinating results (page 21).
For this double issue of The Dove, it’s always a
challenge to get information about events in January. But
various groups such as the Horticultural Society, Batcombe
Film Society, Camelot U3A and the Mid-Somerset
Decorative and Fine Arts Society all have meetings, and it’s
worth perusing the Diary to see what’s on.
please note: because our advertising space gets
booked up so quickly, it will be ‘first come, first served’
from now on!
A very happy Christmas and a peaceful and
prosperous New Year to all our readers from the eleven
members of the Dove committee. Elisabeth Balfour