Nostalgic memories of Meare's local history

Share your own memories of Meare and read what others have said

For many years now, we've been inviting visitors to our web site to add their own memories to share their experiences of life as it was when the photographs in our archive were taken. From brief one-liners explaining a little bit more about the image depicted, to great, in-depth accounts of a childhood when things were rather different than today (and everything inbetween!). We've had many contributors recognising themselves or loved ones in our photographs.

Why not add your memory today and become part of our Memories Community to help others in the future delve back into their past.

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Displaying all 7 Memories

The Ring O'Bells was run by my grandparents, Ernest and Mabel Turner until the middle 1940s. I believe your earlier memory of it being called the Grapevine is wrong. I remember seeing the Grapevine, a much more modern building 500 yards along the Glastonbury road on the right, standing at right angles to the road.
Edna Baker married Carl Dewdney on 24th Dec 1935 at St Mary's church. Edna's father was James Baker who was a local carpenter. I would love to hear from anyone who has any photographs or can remember Edna or Carl.
My uncle, the late William John Wilcox, was the proprietor of the 'Grapevine' from the mid 1930s through to the early 1960s. I remember it as a truly old fashioned 'pub' complete with a 'games room' with darts, shove ha'penny board and bar skittles. A game with the skittles placed on dots on the board, a wooden ball was suspended by a cord on a vertical pole. The player had to swing the ball in an arc to ...see more
Transcribed from the Central Somerset Gazette of 1891: 16 May 1891 - Meare - "The Friendly and Benefit Society established last 9th Sep, held its first general church parade…After the service, the men reformed into procession and headed by the Glastonbury Good Templar Band…marched around the village and visited the farmhouses and the houses of the resident gentry, where they were ...see more
I spent my honeymoon here with my husband, Howard. It was truly idyllic and we were the only guests staying at the time. The stay was a wedding gift from a friend of my husband and his mother, we were on a tight budget at the time and would probably not have gone away at all. It was so peaceful and the history of the building made the whole experience even more special. From the uneven floors, to ...see more
I have a will dated 1865 for Robert Rood "of the Grape Vine Inn known by the ancient name of Brakeland". He bequeathed the property to his wife Mary Rood and it suggests the property was owned and bequeathed to him by his father Thomas Rood. His wife also had a property at Stileway beaqueathed to her.
The building on the extreme right of the photograph used to be the Ring o' Bells Public House, owned by my great grandfather, Jesse Laver Difford. It was initially called The Grapevine Inn, or was called that when my grandmother was born there, in 1880 and its name changed to the Ring o' Bells at some time later.