OVER the years, carnival clubs have come and gone as the fortunes of those involved changed.

If a club was centred on a pub that closed down then often the club folded. And if it was focused on a workplace then the club was subject to the fortunes of the economy.

However there’s one defunct club that is linked to a business that’s in the news nearly every week.

Hinkley Point Carnival Club began life in 1967 when the workers who mainly lived in the Cannington area got together to build a cart to bring eastern glamour to the event.

Cleopatra, Queen of Egypt came out on top in the Open Tableaux class and was the first of ten top prizes to be won by the club.

Cleopatra was the first of 27 years of glory for the club before it eventually collapsed due to a lack of facilities such as a shed to build the cart. Ironic, when Hinkley C is about to be built at the cost of £24bn, and with EDF having strong links with Normandy, where carnival is popular.

The club was highly successful.with a number of successes. However they were conscious of their name and the common joke that they didn’t need a generator to power the cart – it lit up on its own.

In 1980 they changed their name to Bohemians and continued for a nother few years before finally ending in 1994 when they presented Aladdin.

Roger Brown, the author of Remember, Remember, the story of Bridgwater Carnival, said: “There was a lot of controversy as people thought that that they were funded by Hinkley but they weren’t. That’s one reason why they changed their name to Bohemians. A lot of clubs start in factories.”

Carnival President Rita Jones said: “When they disbanded because they didn’t have a place to build the cart most of them joined other clubs so they stayed in carnival.”

Her husband Alan said they were a very creative club coming up with some wonderful ideas.

Were you in the Bohemians or a member of the Hinkley Carnival Club? Do you think Hinkley CC should be restarted? now the work on the reactor is about to start? If you’ve got stories and photographs of your club in the last few years, email harry.mottram@nqsw.co.uk.