Previous Nortonian and local artist, Simon Wellington, has produced a book being sold locally based on his experiences as a boy – with half of the sales going to charity.

He says: “I had a story book published and I wanted to put 50% of the sales to various charities. I started off by sending books out, free of charge, as long as £10 was donated to the recipient’s charity of choice. The demand started to get out of hand, so I switched to taking books to the Dorothy House shop in Midsomer Norton. Most of the sales are from this area, as the stories in the illustrated book are local.

“Just yesterday I took another box of books down to the charity from my (now) home in Devon. They are selling very well from the High Street, so could locals that have requested a copy by post please purchase them from Dorothy House?

“They make an ideal Christmas present, as it is an illustrated story but cuts across all ages. I painted pictures for the book and had to make up quite a lot from memory as many of the buildings and sites are very different now.

“The story is about a little boy called Simon (no coincidence) growing up in Midsomer Norton. This first book is about the infant years, which give a vivid snapshot of a particular time in history. Many of your readers will be able to relate to this.

“One of the chapters from the book was featuring the swimming baths in Welton and as I couldn’t find old photos, I had to recreate the scene from memory. The painting and story was shown online and a number of people said that it was not like the drawing and there were no diving boards there. Fortunately, someone came to my rescue and showed a picture from the 1960s which showed the old diving boards and the pool as depicted!

“Most of my childhood was spent living in the High Street and at Speeds Builders in a lovely old house with servants’ quarters. This was all pulled down in the eighties to build the Lidl supermarket and car park. The book will be full of nostalgia for the older readers and an eye opener to younger locals as to what kids used to get away with!”

Readers can also take a look at Simon’s pictures or stories at: simonwellington

artist.com