By Harry Mottram: The last farmer’s market of the year was held in the town on Sunday 21st December, 2025, with the event blessed by dry weather and a large turnout of shoppers. From a Fair Trade stall to a stall stocked with venison and from one with fish and another with cakes, there was plenty on offer for last minute purchases.
Santa in The Square
It was one of the most popular ever Santa in the square events organised by the Sports and Social who ensure Axbridge is ready for Christmas with the Square packed with hundreds of families. For the uninitiated the evening begins at 4pm as the sun light fades and braziers are lit to warm the hands of onlookers on the Saturday before Christmas. Small scale fairground stands are set up, a stall selling burgers and mulled wine and other drinks take centre stage opposite Ripley’s Antiques and the Square is closed to traffic. On the Church Steps the Axbridge Singers kept up a choral concert of carols from 5pm which was relayed over the tannoid system. On queue Father Christmas arrived and from his grotto outside the Oakhouse Hotel gave out presents to children – whose parents had waited in line for a long time in a line stretching back to the Lamb Inn. And with King John’s Hunting Lodge open there was a steady footfall in the town’s most famous timber framed building. The overall feel was that of a warm community atmosphere with many people chatting to friends and relatives and even those who are new to the town may have felt they had made the right decision to live here.
Barriers at Lidl
Much has been written about Lidl’s plans for a supermarket on Upper New Road – now in the planning application stage. The main concerns for many are congestion as the road between the ‘magic roundabout’ and Oak House Road is often grid-locked – especially at the school run or rush hour. With plans for a new roundabout for Bristol Water’s link road to the current reservoir off the A371 nearby, the former Yeo Valley development nearer to Axbridge and the Oak Park development opposite from Taylor Wimpey the plan for a grocery store is only going to increase traffic. In 2026 the plans will be decided on by planners – possibly changes will be requested – but few believe the supermarket plans will be rejected. It suggests Lidl feel they will get a green light as workers have been preparing the site ahead of construction work. Large boards have been put up and a gate installed on the site – once used as a small holding and place to sell Christmas trees.
Cheddar Reservoir
No news to report other than the current reservoir is now full after its low water levels in the summer caused many to wonder what was happening since there were periods of rain. Over at Blagdon Lake there’s been a problem with an invasive weed which are treated with steam. Bristol Water said: “We’re tackling Crassula helmsii (aka swamp stonecrop/New Zealand pigmyweed) – a highly invasive plant that’s rapidly spreading at Blagdon lake. This year’s dry weather gave it the perfect chance to take hold. Crassula helmsii is incredibly tough to control; even the smallest fragment can regrow. Please help us protect our lakes: Clean, Check, Dry your kit to stop invasive species spreading.”
So far, the weed hasn’t affected Cheddar Reservoir although contractors have been hard at work destroying ant hills on the slopes of the reservoir with rotavators. The idea is to make grass cutting easier as the ant hills prevent the mowers from making a clean sweep of the grass. On a birdwatching note, I noticed a goosander for the first time on the waters.
Boxing Day Hunt
Technically it is not a hunt meeting in Axbridge Square on Boxing Day as it is a trail hunt – with the hounds following a trail laid out for them to follow. The main issue nationally has been the widespread abuse of the rules of the 2004 Hunting Act which replaced fox hunts with trail hunts. It has been widely reported that the Government are to seek to end the practice with consultations in 2026 and a ban to follow. Animal Welfare Minister Baroness Hayman said: “In our manifesto we said we would ban trail hunting, and that’s exactly what we’ll do. There is evidence that trail hunting is being used as a smokescreen for the hunting of wild animals, and that’s not acceptable.”
Tim Bonner, chief executive of the Countryside Alliance, said: “Animal rights activists have spent 20 years making increasingly spurious claims about the legal activity of hunts without any evidential basis. Trail hunting is a legal activity which supports hundreds of jobs and is central to many rural communities. “Especially after its attack on family farms, the government should be focusing on addressing issues that actually help rural communities thrive, rather than pursuing divisive policies that hinder them”.
However, in Axbridge there is strong support for a ban – based on the amount of opinions sent to Axbridge News and comments on the town’s social media accounts – something reflected in nationwide opinion polls.
Recycling and bins
There are no garden waste collections from Thursday 25 December to Wednesday 7 January. Garden Waste collections re-start on Thursday 8 January 2026.
All Somerset Council recycling sites will be closed on Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year’s Day. Sites will be open as usual on other days, a list of Recycling site locations can be found on the Council’s website.
Rural Crime
Axbridge is a town in the Somerset countryside with farms located on points of the compass from its boundaries – and being close to Bristol and other large cities and towns there is a regular issue of rural crime. Farms often have some hi-tech kit on their premises and thieves see them as easy pickings – so it was good to see some arrests by the police this week of a gang operation in the county and further afield. Somerset Neighbourhood Policing Inspector Rose Green said: “We have seen hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of plant, vehicle and machinery equipment being stolen across our force areas, which has devastated our rural communities. These arrests are a significant step in the right direction following months of sorrow for our communities, especially farmers whose day-to-day lives are significantly impacted by thefts of this nature, both emotionally and financially.
“We have been proactive in attending meetings with the rural community and will continue these efforts, but I hope these recent arrests act as reassurance to those residents that we do take rural crime seriously and we will proactively target suspected organised crime groups who seek to benefit from other’s misfortune.”
Senior Investigating Officer, DI Richard Grierson, said:“This has been a long-running investigation where we have worked collaboratively with a number of different police forces and organisations. In excess of 50 officers from across Avon and Somerset, Dorset, South West Regional Organised Crime Unit (SWROCU) and Gwent were involved in the action carried out today. Enquiries are ongoing.”
As always, a reminder that these reports and information are in the public domain – I just put them together so as to make sense to me. Merry Christmas – this cartoon refers to an incident when I lost my top hat in the woods near Shipham Hill in the dark – but I found it the next day – when the effects of the gin had worn off.
For events in the town see: https://www.harrymottram.co.uk/diary/
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