ANOTHER year is drawing to a close – so we're taking a look back at some of 2023's biggest headlines and stories.
Our second instalment covers July to December 2023, following our part one which covered the first six months of the year.
Part two covers Bridgwater's first ever pride festival, Ramblers CC being named back-to-back champions of the magnificent carnival, and plans to rebuild Haygrove School after a disastrous year which saw the closure of the school's main building due to the presence of RAAC in its structure.
July
The Bunch of Grapes pub on St John Street was named as Bridgwater Mercury Pub of the Year after a public vote.
Tracey Cavanagh, one of the owners of The Bunch Of Grapes, said: "We took over The Bunch Of Grapes five years ago - it was hard at first, but we put all our love into it and now we are doing our best and better.
"My husband and myself are over the moon - I for one am absolutely lost for words."
Just days later, uproar was caused by the eviction of a Somerset bus driver from her canal boat on the Bridgwater and Taunton Canal.
Maggie Hopcroft had lived on the canal for 30 years before her Maggie May was lifted from the canal in Taunton.
“I’m being victimised – I’m the only one being lifted because I haven’t got a home mooring," she said.
“I don’t know what I’m going to do for work. I’m currently on long-term sick – I can’t drive at the moment because I hurt my leg.”
Later on in the month, Bridgwater and West Somerset MP Ian Liddell-Grainger made headlines after announcing Jaguar Land Rover would build a giga-factory on the Huntspill Energy Park site, now known as Gravity.
The Gravity site used to house the old Ordnance factory where the wartime bouncing bomb was loaded with high explosives.
“Why Bridgwater?” said Mr Liddell-Grainger.
“Its simple. Because we do it best, we have a huge ready-made site with amazing transport links and the finest workforce in Britain."
Read more: Year in review: the Bridgwater Mercury's biggest stories of 2023 (part one)
August
It was a sad time for Bridgwater as a local family were hit by an oil tanker whilst driving on a dual carriageway in Portugal on August 8, causing serious injuries and leaving 23-year-old Finlay in a coma with no way back home.
The spirit of Bridgwater was well and truly on display however as locals rallied together to raise funds to help the Webber family and bring Finlay back home.
By August 21, almost £50,000 had been raised by the public, preceding a fundraiser event at the Enmore Inn which saw several local businesses and volunteers come together to put on an exceptional day of fun to raise a further £1,000.
Finlay was successfully reunited with his family soon after, and the remainder of the money was used to help install an accessible wet-room in the Webbers' family home.
August marked the start of a disastrous period for Bridgwater's Haygrove School, as the government ruled the main building must be closed until further notice.
Parents fumed as they struggled to find childcare for their kids who were due to be back in school after the autumn half-term.
The building was deemed to be structurally unsafe due to a now defunct contractor responsible for the building's construction.
September
Mark Thomas, head of Brymore Academy, a state boarding and day school in Cannington, announced he will retire from his role after over 14 years at the helm, by the end of July 2024.
During his time at the school he helped it to improve from the bottom 10 per cent of schools nationally to progress to being in the top 10 per cent.
Mr Thomas said: "It has been an honour and a privilege to lead this special school and, whilst it was a very hard decision to make, I know it is time to pass the baton on to someone else to lead it for another decade or so."
A public vote saw Bridgwater's Bus Station Café named the Bridgwater Mercury Café of the Year, just two years after it was taken over by new staff who were determined to improve the facilities.
Laura Burt, who now runs the Bus Station Café, was "shocked" upon finding out her café had been voted the best in Bridgwater.
"We couldn’t thank them (the public) enough, we love them all to bits, they keep supporting us, we support them," she said.
Bridgwater also hosted its first ever pride celebrations, which drew thousands of people from across Somerset to the town centre.
Michelle, founder of Bridgwater Independent Market and the brains behind Bridgwater's first pride celebration, said some young people at the event even shed tears of joy.
"It went a long way to highlighting the difficulties that the [LGBTQIA+] community has had in Bridgwater," she said.
October
A farmer's son who abandoned dreams of a career in the Royal Marines to grow strawberries won a legal battle with his brother over the £10million family fruit empire.
A court battle saw Richard and Adrian attempt to overturn their dad's will which had only Philip lined up to receive the fortune.
High Court judge Mr Justice Zacaroli ruled that dad Albert was compelled to leave his £1.5million share of the business to the three brothers equally.
Carnivalites began shifting into top gear as the Carnival Concerts got underway just weeks before the Bridgwater Guy Fawkes Carnival in early November.
Ramblers CC's reign of victory continued as they were crowned concert winners, taking home the White Hart Cup.
Gremlins CC were overall runners up with Wonderland (Le Travelling Show), and joint third were British Flag CC with Grimm Ever After, and Renegades CC with their show Carnaval Del Barrio.
Topping October's headlines was the news of the Mercure Hotel in the town centre being given permission to expand.
It was revealed that the planned extension will be built along Eastover, with the existing access to the former Aldi supermarket being stopped up (though the undercroft access will be retained).
The new rooms will be arranged over five floors, with a communal area being created on the ground floor.
November
Bridgwater Guy Fawkes Carnival returned for what many described as the best edition in recent memory.
Thousands tuned in to our live blog showcasing the daytime entertainment and atmosphere, as well as exclusive interviews with the Carnival Committee leading up to the long-awaited procession at 6pm.
Ramblers CC stunned crowds and were crowned overall winners for the second year running with their incredible 'Trawlermen' entry, inspired by a club fishing trip to Lyme Regis.
Hillview Juvenile CC topped the Juvenile Cart class with their awe-inspiring 'Sweet Dreams' cart.
North Petherton Carnival went ahead the following weekend, but the thousands in attendance were left waiting 90 minutes for the procession to start.
The fire and rescue service dealt with an incident which was later revealed to be a reported gas leak on the procession route.
Smiles were soon returned to the attendants' faces when the procession kicked off at 8:30pm.
Bridgwater United dominated the headlines towards the end of the month, as club owner and chairman Ian Davis shocked supporters by sacking veteran manager Dave Pearse.
They sat second in the table at the time of the decision, and Davis has since appointed former Bristol City boss Andy Llewellyn to take the helm.
Speaking on BBC Somerset, Davis said that sometimes the fans think they know best, but 'that isn't always the case'.
December
The month kicked off with huge news for Haygrove as it was revealed the school would be rebuilt on a new site on December 1.
The current school buildings in Durleigh will be demolished once new premises have been constructed in Queenswood.
Following the announcement of plans for a new school, Bridgwater MP Ian Liddell-Grainger told The Mercury: "It's been an incredible team effort by the school, the Government and the local community.
"But I'm still extremely cross about the building being sub-standard in the first place."
Later on in the month, some of the most shocking news of the year broke, as it was revealed a farmer near Bridgwater discovered £15 million of cocaine in his regular animal feed shipment.
The vast quantity of Class A drugs was found to be part of a wider operation by two men who smuggled a total of £28.9million worth of drugs into the country in recent years.
Following a 71-day trial at Isleworth Crown Court, Varun Bhardwaj, 39 from Hounslow and Anand Tripathi, 61 from Middlesex were both sentenced to 19 years and 15 years respectively.
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