150 years ago - July 6 1871

* Bishops Lydeard Cricket Club was being revived after a lapse of five years. Lord Kensington had offered a pitch at Sandhill Park for practice. The club president was the Rev M A Matthew.

* A little girl, aged two, drowned in a well at Barnsclose, Dulverton, while her mother, Mrs Passmore, was doing the washing.

* A parliamentary returned showed the number of pedlars in England was 67,964. Ireland had only one: he took his certificate from County Down.

100 years ago - July 9 1921

* Quite a stir had been caused when ebb tides left 1,000 mackerel in kettle nets set by Mr J Slade. Such a haul had not been known for 16 years. The fish were soon disposed of at 2d each.

* Excavating in the churchyard at Stogumber, Mr James Maddock found a Queen Anne florin of 1709.

* Williton Wesleyan Sunday School made history by travelling in motor coaches for their annual treat instead of in horse-drawn wagons. The children, accompanied by 70 adults, were driven to Dunster where they enjoyed afternoon treat in Mr R K Hine’s field.

* Sunday was the hottest day of the year – a temperature of 91 degrees was recorded by the Meteorological Office, the highest since 1881. The drought was so bad that fresh garden peas had to be soaked in water before they could be cooked.

50 years ago - July 10 1971

* Watchet traders were losing business to Minehead because the town’s name on road signs on the coast road fork at West Quantoxhead had been covered up

* While some other independent girls’ schools were fighting for survival, St Audries had started an ambitious programme to extend its buildings. Headmistress Mrs Madeleine Ayres said in her speech day address: “This is a triumph of faith over doubt – a victory for growth over timidity.”

* The life story of Frances D Francis, author of the children’s book ‘Ann in the Moon’, was to be told in two instalments in Woman’s Own.