Midsomer Norton and Radstock Inner Wheel club members enjoyed the best of British contemporary poetry at their November meeting thanks to Paul Evans, who presented his talk to them.

Paul moved to the small Gloucestershire village of Wickwar, with an aim to stay for just five years but he obviously loved it so much that thirty five years later he is still there as a prominent resident and is in great demand for readings and knowledge of poetry.

He sold educational publications to schools all over the West of England, and from handling so many classic books, he developed a love for all kind of poetry.

Paul opened his evening with the poem “Miss Grundy and the Grand Hotel”, as he felt it typified the kind of hotel he regularly used personally with his roaming job. This was followed by “The Bragger”, which illustrated the characters he had encountered during his career, and the “The Drinker” which cheerfully showed the local pub landlord who would pull him a pint before he even got to the bar.

Further poems filled the room with laughter as they described a weatherman worried by his garden drought, and an old man who had been to Bristol twice to have a “chat”.

Readings from Dylan Thomas’ “Under Milkwood” and Stanley Holloway’s “Albert was eaten by a crocodile” were followed by the hilarious Pam Ayres poem “Look after my teeth”.

A wonderful evening full of laughter was had by all.