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Secret Somerset Episodes

  1.

    The darker side of the Mendip hills

    A new digital trail tells the dark stories of Cheddar and the Mendips.

  2. The D-Day air support

    Discover the role the South West鈥檚 airfields played in D-Day.

  3. The Cold War secret on the Mendips

    The research centre improved the accuracy of radar systems for ground-to-air missiles.

  4. The coal miner who ended up in a lunatic asylum

    Mark Whitcomb and the Furman sisters are remembered at the Mendip Hospital Cemetery.

  5. The chained library with books older than America

    The Wells Cathedral library securely holds books, published before the 1800s, in chains.

  6. The burning city on the Mendips

    Lights and fires were used to trick German bombers into thinking they鈥檇 reached Bristol.

  7. The bootmaker whose inventions changed lives

    Chard's James Gillingham found his calling after a local man was injured in an accident.

  8. The Bakery that disappeared from the A303

    The Bakery in West Camel no longer sits on the A303 due to the new road layout.

  9. Taunton鈥檚 Tudor Tavern

    The town's oldest listed domestic building is now a caf茅.

  10. St. Agnes & the lovers' well

    A well in Cothelstone is said to grant a wish to those seeking love.

  11. Sparkford's secret supercar garage

    The garage is hidden away behind the Haynes Motor Museum.

  12. Somerset village linked to two American presidents

    John Adams and John Quincy Adams are remembered in Barton St David鈥檚 church.

  13. Somerset is home to the tallest tree in England

    The Douglas Fir tree on Exmoor became the country鈥檚 tallest tree in August 2024.

  14. Saving the staircases at Montacute House

    The 400 year-old staircases are being refurbished after centuries of wear and tear.

  15. Roman villa discovered on the outskirts of Langport

    Archaeologists have uncovered a site which they think could date back to as early as 50AD.

  17. Remembering 'Portishead Radio' in Highbridge

    The station was once the largest maritime communications station in the world.

  18. Reconstructing Somerset鈥檚 Roman Mosaics

    Volunteers have spent five years reproducing Roman designs at Avalon Archaeology.

  19. Oliver Cromwell鈥檚 role in the Battle of Langport

    The Parliamentarians beat the Royalists at the Battle of Langport in 1645.

  20. Old Mother Leakey: the ghost of Minehead

    A ghost, a bishop and mysterious shipwrecks around Minehead harbour.

  21. Inside Wells Cathedral鈥檚 鈥榝inancial centre鈥�

    Guide Clive Edney takes us on a tour of the Treasury Block at the end of Vicars鈥� close.

  22. Inside the forge that repairs Somerset fingerposts

    Somerset Forge near Wells restores weathered fingerposts from across the county.

  23. Inside Hinkley Point B: The Tour

    EDF's Shaheed Mungur takes Charlie Taylor on a tour of the nuclear power station.

  24. Inside Hinkley Point B: The Station Director

    Nicola Fauvel speaks to Charlie Taylor on working in the nuclear power station.

  25. In the cockpit of Concorde

    The story of Yeovilton鈥檚 Concorde at the Fleet Air Arm Museum.

  26. Ilminster鈥檚 Victorian police cells

    The former magistrates鈥� court and police station building now houses the town council.

  27. Ilminster鈥檚 shooting club

    The rifle group is thought to have started in the Victorian times.

  28. How Cheddar inspired Tolkien鈥檚 Lord of the Rings

    The author first visited the picturesque area of Somerset on his honeymoon in 1916.

  29. How a hurricane created a 'precious' saltmarsh

    Porlock Marsh was created following the effects of Hurricane Lili in 1996.

  30. Glastonbury鈥檚 Iron Age lake village

    Remains from a 2000-year-old settlement on the Avalon Marshes are in the town's museum.

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