RIP Gerry Cottle 7th April 1945 – 13th January 2021
Wookey Hole Residents Forum offers sincere condolences to all Gerry’s family and friends. Our sympathy goes out to you, as it does to all those bereaved loved ones who are suffering loss during these Coronavirus blighted times.
Space for a camper van?
Adam and Louise are considering buying a medium sized camper van, but realise they need a space to store it, in (or close to) Wookey Hole before buying.
If anyone has a space, or a suggestion, it would be most appreciated.
Please call Adam on 07531199542 or email
Jigsaw, book………… exchange
The idea of having a place in the village where jigsaws, books, dvds, seeds (any other ideas) ……could be freely exchanged seems like a good idea. The phone box has been proposed but would need to be fitted out with shelving. Is anyone interested in taking on the project of kitting it out? I believe that phone boxes in Haybridge, Westbury and Coxley have already repurposed their redundant phone boxes so a starting point might be to look and see how they have done theirs. Please get in touch if this might be of interest.
Footpaths
A much used path from Wookey Hole to the top of Mendip has recently had closure notices put on the gate. Paul Cannon, our Parish Councillor who oversees the local footpath network has provided the document and photo below of the gate with the notices.
Anger over lane closure
A Mendip farmer's decision to close a well used local walking trail has been met with complaints and vandalism to his closure signs.
Green Lane, which runs up to the hills from the riding stables at Wookey Hole, is not a public right of way but has been used by walkers for generations.
Martin Edwards, of Higher Pitts Farm, Priddy, said he locked the gate for safety reasons after the wooded lane was blighted by ash dieback.
The first signs he posted to warn of the danger were torn down within two days and the replacements have since been damaged.
His priority in dealing with the tree disease was to make safe thirty other affected ash trees alongside the official rights of way across his land.
He does not propose to reopen Green Lane as he plans to join a new stewardship scheme for nature recovery and protect it as a wildlife haven, two to three acres in area.
Walkers concerned about the closure contacted local parish councillor and volunteer Mendip ranger Paul Cannon. He confirmed the lane wasn't a right of way despite its regular usage over time.
There is a trail leading to the village close by but it's difficult to see from the lane’s upper entrance. Farmer Edwards gratefully accepted an offer from Cllr. Cannon to make and post a sign on the gate to help people find the designated footpath.
Melitta Izzard has kindly offered to collect people’s experience of having used the Trout’s Bend Footpath. Please send the information you have of when you have used this path to
Food Bank
Wells Food Bank are experiencing increasing demand for food and other necessities. They are extremely thankful for all the things that we have been collecting each month. Sandy and David will be taking our next donations a week on Wednesday, 24th February. All donations are welcome but a particular request currently is for large tins of ham.
Lockdown experiences
Thank you to those who have already shared their lockdown stories. Keep them coming, I know there are more in the pipeline, check out wookeyhole.info to see what has been going on from a wildlife point of view and wonderful things that have been grown at the allotments.