A talk on the vanished pubs, ale and cider houses of Somerset has proved so popular with visitors to Radstock Museum that it is to be repeated on Tuesday, 5th March.

Local historian, Martin Horler, first gave the talk last Tuesday, 5th February and the museum was so crowded that many listeners had to stand and several had to be turned away.

"We want to apologise to people who had to miss the talk, but Martin will give it again and it could be even better on March 5th, thanks to all the great feedback we had from the audience," said Curator/ Manager, Nick Turner.

The audience on Tuesday was captivated by Martin Horler's description of all the pubs, ale and cider houses which have disappeared from the local scene in recent decades, leaving towns and villages without great places for socialising, gossip and pub sports.

The repeated talk, part of the museum's popular 'Bygone Days' series on local history, will be given at 7.30 p.m. on March 5th.*

The talk on village shops, which was scheduled for that night, will now be given in the autumn.

The museum, dedicated to the social and industrial history of NE Somerset, is currently hosting another event on the bygone village scene about the histories of Paulton, Camerton, Clutton and Shoscombe.

In the summer, there will be an exhibition about the experiences and family life entitled the 'Children of the Pits', youngsters who worked in local mines in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

For more information about Radstock Museum events, see the website: http://www.radstockmuseum.co.uk">www.radstockmuseum.co.uk, or phone: 01761 437722.

*ED: The continuing decline in pubs and cider houses is a sad affair. There are many, many reasons. It was, in the 50s and 60s, a near-obligatory right of passage for young men in particular, to join the grown-ups in the pub. Now, sadly, there are other ways the passage into adulthood is marked in our increasingly fragmented society.