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Somerset Strife



In April 1959, The Times reported on a bit of a hoo-ha at Chedzoy Village Hall, Somerset. Trouble had erupted when the parishioners objected to the local vicar taking his dog to church with him.

Reports on what exactly took place in the meeting that followed are a little patchy, because the vicar had thrown the press out of the village hall. But the sound of raised voices was heard, along with the bandying of remarks such as “dictator”.

Google street view of Chedzoy Village Hall - imagine intrepid reporters crouching under the windows...

 Further into the newspaper report , it emerges that the pious pooch wasn’t the only issue.  Miss Tucker (Organist) and her sister, also Miss Tucker (Assistant Organist), had recently been dismissed due to a lack of co-operation. One wonders how an organist could fail to co-operate with a vicar. Did the Misses Tucker start taking requests from the congregation? Had they played the wedding march too fast, catching him unawares? Had the sisters been using the vestry to dry their stockings? We will never find out. Whatever it was, despite the parishioners’ demands, the vicar refused to bow to requests to reinstate the Misses Tucker, or to leave his dog at the rectory.

The opinion of the dog or either of the Miss Tuckers has not been recorded.

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Click here to see my latest short story collection, based on old newspaper reports

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