Searching for Babycham in somerset
A few weeks ago, I went on a breathing space retreat glamping getaway in Somerset. My constraints were that I needed somewhere I could get to via public transport from my house, and this place fit the bill. It also had wild swimming, a sauna, and peace and quiet.
By day 2 I felt I'd sufficiently relaxed and explored the charms of the tiny village nearest the campsite. So I got on a bus to Shepton Mallet.
At this point I'd like to introduce my list of Things To See in small English towns and villages. Note this is not necessarily a recommended list, just a factual list of what will be there:
One or more churches. Often a "normal" church of England church and a "non-conformist" or Methodist church (I'm not claiming to be an expert on denominations here sorry! I very much grew up atheist and have only a sort of anthropology style curiosity for religion, and an interest in pretty buildings). Speaking of Methodist churches, I recently went to the Wesleyan museum in Bristol, but that's another post.
War memorials from one/both of WW1 and WW2. Often a cenotaph.
An eccentric local museum or information display. For example, in the small village next to the glampsite there was a display on William Watt, who was born in the village, got sent on a convict ship to Australia and ended up being part of the Cyprus Mutiny.
I did a little research on Shepton mallet before heading there and found out in was home to Babycham. Exciting! I resolved to a) go and see the chamois deer mascot statue and b) try to buy some Babycham. If you're not familiar with BabyCham, it's a sparkling perry drink that was very popular in Britain in the 60s. It has a great mascot that now has a lovely retro charm.
Babycham is a lively, delicious, sparkling drink. Babycham.co.uk
As I walked up to the cider factory, one street I walked down of very old terraced houses had these memorial plaques (see point 2).
Nearing the factory, the road developed an interesting smell of sour apples. I rounded the corner, but no Babycham statue!
How the statue should look, by Wurzeller - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, Link
What I actually saw (from across the road)
(Note: I find it interesting the now inactive wikipedia user who provided this cider-related photo is called Wurzeller. A nod to The Wurzels most definitely).
Instead, there's a posh shopping area nearby where I paid to go into the gardens. The women who sold me the ticket told me the new owners are "restoring" the statue and in her opinion it would be nice to have it out on the road as a landmark to get more people to come to the gardens.
I wandered around the pretty gardens briefly. They are related to Babycham, the owners of the company having paid a garden designer to come to create them during the 60s heyday when I guess they were high on Babycham money.
I felt like I'd spent enough money in the very posh shopping area (they had a TOAST!) - so I resolved to have lunch in a community arts café I'd spotted earlier in the centre.
On the way back I walked past a ex-prison that had been turned into a visitor experience (?) and had a brief, fascinated walk around the visitor centre - so odd and kind of tasteless. This ticks off point number three to look at in small English towns, the a bizarre/eccentric museum experience (see above).
So no Babycham statue - but I did buy some Babycham from a local Tesco. And drank it later in the wood-fired hottub.
I'll leave you with this television advert from the 80s. Did you know that Babycham was the first alcoholic beverage to be advertised on UK tv in 1957?