Disability group opens party doors to secret Santa

SECRET Santa paid a visit to the Open DAWS Christmas lunch party in Minehead last week.
Members of the activities group for people with disabilities were handed their gifts by volunteers - treasurer Joe Magill and his helper Jess - as part of the annual get-together at the seafront Beach Hotel, and enjoyed a Christmas lunch with all the trimmings.
West Somerset Council community portfolio holder, Councillor Neil Parbrook, said: “Christmas is a time for people to gather together in festive good cheer, and it is heartening when any group is meeting with those aspirations.
“In providing people of all abilities the opportunity to enjoy activities and excursions they might not otherwise do, Open DAWS offers a valuable service to the local West Somerset community.”
Open DAWS, which stands for Disabled Activities in West Somerset, was launched by the district council in 2001 and has grown to a total of 30 members.
Transport for excursions, activities, and outings is provided by community transport group AT West, and events planned for January include swimming, sea fishing, dance aerobics, and a sauna visit.
Anybody interested in joining Open DAWS or who would like to talk about the activities should call Gail Sloman on 01984 635208 or West Somerset Council leisure and community officer Liz Stewart on 01984 635330.

• Our photograph shows Santa with members of Open DAWS at their Christmas party. Photo submitted.

Large crowds turn out for traditional Boxing Day hunt meet

MINEHEAD Harriers traditional Boxing Day was switched for the first time this year to the town’s seafront and took place in the freezing cold yesterday.
Several hundred hunt supporters turned out for the occasion, which was held outside the Beach Hotel.
Despite a hunting ban introduced four years ago, meets by the Harriers and other hunts across West Somerset have continued to prove to be just as popular, if not more so.
Harriers secretary Tim Holt said following the sale by Barry Richards of the town centre Wellington Hotel, where the Boxing Day meet had been held for many years, it was decided to host it instead at the Beach Hotel, which Mr Richards still owned.
Mr Holt said the change was hugely popular with a larger than ever public attendance.
He said: “There must have been one of the biggest crowds I have ever seen at a meet and it was all good-natured.
“None of the ‘antis’ were there to cause any nonsense and we had a great send-off.”
Harriers vice-president Mike Padgett said: “It was tremendous to see the support we get from the ordinary public of West Somerset.
“It just goes to show what an important part the hunt plays in the local community and how valued it is as a part of everybody’s lives.”
The West Somerset Vale hunt met in Nether Stowey and also saw larger than usual crowds gather at The Cross to see them ride out, bringing traffic in the village centre to a halt as they did so.
The Countryside Alliance said Boxing Day meets across the country had generally enjoyed their largest turnouts since the hunting ban was introduced.
Countryside Alliance spokesman Tim Bonner, who leads a campaign to repeal the hunting ban, said: “There seems to be a very large turnout at all the meets.
“There is a feeling that people are coming out just to support their local hunt and the campaign for the repeal of the act. It is a very positive feeling across the country.”

Wetherspoons takes over town centre hotel

ONE of West Somerset’s best-known hotels has been bought by pub chain J D Wetherspoon as part of a £5 million investment by the national group.
The Wellington Hotel (pictured), in Minehead, will now be converted to the Wetherspoons brand and should be reopened in early December, time for the run-up to Christmas.
The hotel freehold, which includes a nightclub, was sold by owner Barry Richards for an undisclosed fee, although the asking price had been in excess of £2 million.
The three-storey building has 25 bedrooms, two public bars, a karaoke bar, and a 100-cover restaurant.
There is also a separate apartment and a manager’s flat which could be converted into further letting bedrooms.
Mr Richards, who also owns the Beach Hotel and the Queen’s Head, in Minehead, and the Masons Arms, in Williton, has run the Wellington Hotel for 23 years but now wants to concentrate on oversees interests.
The sale was handled by Michael Easton, of Christie and Co, Exeter, who said: “The Wellington Hotel is a well-organised and highly profitable business, and is particularly well supported by the local community.
“A Wetherspoons outlet is perfect for the location, and I am sure it will be a benefit to the town.”
Wetherspoons is also opening new premises in Bodmin, Doncaster, Oldham, and Sutton, and creating around 200 news jobs, including those in Minehead.
The chain has more than 700 pubs and 17,000 employees nationwide.
Its founder, Tim Martin, lives near Exeter.