From the Royal Diary   more »

Alan has been involved in education, and it showed. First, he was an excellent communicator and kept our attention throughout,   more »

Much to my surprise I found myself yesterday evening not only attending Ashcott's 8th Beer Fest but also among the judges selecting the best beers.   more »

The Gazette reports the trial of Daniel Rogers this week:   more »

I was told by a friend that a young woman from Street was killed in a car accident near Taunton, and this item from the BBC may refer to her:   more »

A man has been arrested on suspicion of murder following the discovery of a woman's body in Street, Somerset, on Saturday night.   more »

Clarks had their moment on BBC1 Watchdog this evening, among the dodgy tradesmen and crap telephone service suppliers. So what was their sordid secret?   more »

I had to negotiate the hair-raising turn out of the road from Kingweston into the main Somerton road every school day for 19 years. Over time I learned what to do.   more »

I remember doing a car maintenance course in Street, years ago, where another course member was on call 24 hours a day. He was a volunteer fireman.   more »

Having received emails almost daily from Arabella Churchill during her time in Sri Lanka and Thailand with Children's World International, there has been silence for the past week.   more »

Quite a crop of Street stories in the on-line version of the Central Somerset Gazette this week.   more »

Six Street items in this week's Central Somerset Gazette.   more »

Several news items in the Gazette come from Street this week:   more »

Last Thursday's Gazette has news of the Strode swimming pool reopening. It also   more »

A lively little free magazine came through my letterbox a couple of days ago, the front cover decorated with an attractive swirling bit of abstract art.   more »

This week's Central Somerset Gazette on-line version has one item about Street.   more »

I regret to say that I had never heard of Street's Fun Day until this year. Nina Fry, who is now Chairman of the Parish Council, had what I still consider the excellent idea of designating a whole month as a Street Festival Month.   more »

See the Editorial in the Central Somerset Gazette.

A very small picture of the front page is here.

The main news item is here.

The print edition contains a lot more.

The new walls being built in Clarks Village are using local lias. 

updateUpdate - Tuesday, 31 May 2005 13:50

A 20-year-old man from Coxley near Wells was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder but has now been released on police bail pending further enquiries.

Enquiries into the incident are now ongoing.

Police would like to thank the local community for their co-operation throughout the early stages of this incident.

A 20-year-old man from the Street area has now been released from hospital while another man, also believed to be aged 20 from the Street area, remains at the Bristol Royal Infirmary recovering from his injuries.

Today's Western Daily Press has a rather different slant on the dead man, Gary Stone. As opposed to The Sun, the WDP says that he was "a previously hard-working, well-behaved young man who was consumed and altered by a passion for alcohol and violence."

The fullest account, including a statement from the Stone family, is here.

The BBC TV local news says that Daniel Barker has now been allowed home from hospital.

This account inspires more confidence than The Sun's. It also gives reactions of eyewitnesses.

3:51pm (UK)
Gunman Named by Villagers

By David Hughes, PA

A gunman who shot two people before turning the gun on himself was today named by residents of the village where he carried out the attack.

The man, named locally as 20-year-old Gary Stone, brought terror to Street, Somerset, with the shotgun attack.

His victims, Luke Simmonds, 21 and builder Daniel Barker, 20, were shot on the village High Street at 10.30pm on Friday night.

Mr Barker staggered into the nearby Street Inn pub, where drinkers gave him first aid.

Mr Simmonds, who was hit in the chest, collapsed in the street outside.

An hour later Stone's body was found several miles away at Croscombe together with a shotgun. Police said they were not looking for anyone else in connection with his death.

Nobody would talk about the shootings at Stone's family home in Launcherley, near Wells.

A woman who answered the door said: "The family has got no comment to make."

A 20-year-old man arrested in connection with the shootings in Street has been released on police bail pending further inquiries.

The two injured men are being treated for gunshot wounds at Yeovil District Hospital.

Mr Barker's father Kevin said: "He is in a lot of pain but he was a bit fortunate because he was turning away and the shotgun blast hit him in the side. He is now in a stable condition.

"He works as a builder and is a fit young lad. A lot of his friends have been to the hospital to see him."

He said both his son and Mr Simmonds were over the worst of their injuries.

Eye-witness Luke Peters, 20, said he believed the shootings on Street High Street were a "random attack".

He said he recognised Stone as the man with the shotgun.

Mr Peters was walking down the High Street and saw Mr Barker talking to a friend and Mr Simmonds talking to a man in a car.

Landscape gardener Mr Peters said: "I think we were just in the wrong place at the wrong time.

"I was in a daze, I was thinking he was firing blanks. You don�t expect someone to have a gun in Street."

When the shooting started, Mr Peters said he hid in a hedge until he heard a car wheel-spin away from the scene.

Superintendent Peter Kelk from Avon and Somerset Police said officers were trying to establish the relationship between the injured men, the dead man and the man they had arrested, who are all local.

He said police believed this was an isolated incident and they were examining a "complex series of events" that led up to the shootings.

He said: "We would like to reassure residents and emphasise how peaceful an area this is. This is very unusual for rural Somerset."

The double shooting happened at about the time pubs were beginning to shut.

Mr Kelk said: "It was quite busy that time of night on the High Street, it was potentially a very dangerous situation."

Kevin Strange, 54, whose son runs the Street Inn, said: "It was all a bit of a shock. One man who was shot in the shoulder came into the pub and was helped by an off-duty nurse. We locked all the doors to keep the gunman out.

"It�s such a quiet little village you don't expect anything like this to happen at all. It was very lucky the nurse was in the pub."

Contrasting with the police site's restraint, The Sun has all the details of Friday night's shootings, with photos of the dead man and one of the wounded.

By JOHN COLES

MANIAC Gary Stone, who shot two men in a quiet village, walked down the street bare-chested brandishing his double-barrelled shotgun and screaming: "Who wants to be f***ing next?"

Farm hand Stone, 20, opened fire at Daniel Barker and Luke Simmonds in front of scores of stunned drinkers outside a busy pub.

He was found dead a few miles away after turning his weapon on himself.

Stone, described as a "troublemaker who loved his gun," was drinking heavily before his Friday night rampage.

It is believed he had appeared in court on an assault charge earlier in the day and was looking for the men he was accused of attacking.

Stone confronted Luke, 21, and Daniel, 20, in the village of Street, Somerset.

He blasted removals man Luke in the chest before shooting builder Daniel in the shoulder.

Daniel staggered into the pub where drinkers gave him first aid.

Chip shop owner Mary Ryan, said: "I saw a young, bare-chested lad walking down the road swinging a 12-bore shotgun around and shouting, 'who wants to be f***ing next?'"

Luke was last night in a serious but stable condition in Yeovil District Hospital where Daniel was said to be stable.

Luke's mum Susan last night said her son was "in the wrong place at the wrong time".

She said: "All he can remember is looking round and seeing the gunman point a gun. It all seemed random.

"He didn't know him and he doesn't know why he was shot."

Daniel's dad Kevin said: "He was a bit fortunate because he was turning away and the shotgun blast hit him in the side."

Stone's body was found an hour after the shootings on the A371 at Croscombe. His shotgun was by his side.

A woman who yesterday answered the door at his family home in Launcherley, near Wells, said she had no comment.

This is from the police web site:

Update - Sunday, 29 May 2005 8:36

The man arrested during the firearms incident in Street, on the 27th May was released on Police bail, late last night, pending further enquiries.

Gossip and speculation add the suggestion that the wounded men had given evidence against the person who shot them and then, allegedly, killed himself. We really shall have to await a fuller report in local and regional papers.

Newspapers as far away as Australia have been reporting the shootings in our village. It is numbing news. I choose to reproduce the official police announcements.

Firearms incident (Street)

Update to incident

updateUpdate - Saturday, 28 May 2005 11:41
We can confirm a 20-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder and is currently being questioned at Yeovil Police Station. This is in connection with the incident in Street in which two men were shot.

One of the men is currently in a serious but stable condition, the other is in a stable condition at Yeovil District Hospital.

In connection with the death on the A371, a firearm was recovered at the scene and police are not looking for anyone else in connection with this incident.

Police would like to reassure the public that this is believed to be an isolated incident and they are not looking for anyone else with this enquiry.

Anyone who has any information is asked to contact the incident room on 0845 4567000.

Man arrested

updateUpdate - Saturday, 28 May 2005 2:23
Officers have arrested a man in connection with this incident he is currently at Yeovil Police Station.

Two men are currently at Yeovil District Hospital with serious injuries.

Police are not currently looking for anyone else in connection with this incident.

Firearms incident (Street)

addedAdded - Saturday, 28 May 2005 1:31
Police were called to reports of a number of shots being fired in Street High Street at about 10.40pm on May 27.

Officers attended and found two people injured, these people have been taken to Yeovil District Hospital but details of their injuries is not yet known.

A number of roads in Street have been closed off while enquiries continue.

At 11.45pm police were notified by the ambulance service that there was a deceased male on the A371 with gun shot wounds. This is currently being linked to the incident in Street and this area is also closed off.

This is very early stages of this enquiry and it may take some time to establish exactly what has happened.

Police are appealing for anyone with information to contact Yeovil CID on 0845 4567000.

Anyone who can help should contact us through our secure Crimestoppers contact form >

Alternatively you can call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.
You do not have to give your name and you could receive a reward.

Arabella Churchill of Children's World is at present in Sri Lanka preparing the way for a tour by Children's World International in the autumn. She is sending back pictures and her journal whenever she can get internet access, and the results may be seen and read here.

After she gave a talk to the Street Society I was moved to offer help with the charity's web site, so I am busy updating it whenever a new picture or bit of news comes in. Do have a look.

The gas pipeline continues on its way, down Vestry Road. The evening sunlight and the dark sky together bring out the friendly colours of the houses. And this on a day when it snowed twice, morning and evening. Nothing serious, only a few flakes.

As a footnote to all the posts about 'Bethlehem', here is a scan of the Gazette picture of Rutland Boughton's plaque on the Assembly Rooms. It had just been unveiled by Rutland Boughton's grandson Ian, and the Mayor of Glastonbury Nick Cottle is in the picture too.

And what, you may ask, has this ceremony across the Brue got to do with Street? Rutland Boughton himself did not recognise the Great Divide, and the first performance of Bethlehem took place in Street, in the Crispin Hall, with singers about equally from Street and Glastonbury.