Legends of the West

Two historic firsts for us this week. One: we recorded on the road at Ad Astra Cider's wonderful tap room/cider barn in Somerset, chatting with its founder and RAF veteran, Paul Rolfe, about their fascinating story. Two: we recorded in video! Enjoy. x

We're really proud to announce our new partners, Fit as Fork: a West Country, family business creating tasty food for anyone looking to improve their health. Beyond that, as is rather more typical, we explore such weighty subjects as gin and tonic, penny sweets, the link between ice cream and criminality as well as Will's recent Brazilian butt lift. We made up the last bit, obviously. You can find Fit as Fork via these links: https://www.instagram.com/fit.asfork/https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61565293622048Please do have a look, mind :)

This week we meet Adriana, Jon and Jenny from The Reach Centre, an innovative new purpose built day centre for young adults with Learning Disabilities.

This week we speak to Ann Fontaine from Winscombe Hill Toad Patrol to hear what their group and others across the country are doing to save toads from traffic before will ruins it all with his long list of bad toad puns.

Will, Katie and Joe play their own round of Bumpkin or Blowin wearing wellies, putting down roots and the rights and wrongs of roundabout overtaking. We hear about Cheltenham Festival, the origins of various accents and Will's penchant for a symbollic vegetable in text message exchanges.

This week we speak to local songwriter, guitarist and promoter legend Barry Walsh about his lifelong passion for music. We hear stories from Bristol back during the Blitz, his encounters with famous musicians - and we're treated to an exclusive play of his amazing record, Cupcakes. We also review the best news stories from across the region and solve another Wessex Mystery: who was the Tarzan of Coalpit Heath?

In this week's edition we speak to Dennis Barwell: director at Street Threate and legend of local drama. We discuss the big West Country news stories, including Tropicana's new look, folk dancing and a new room for smashing things in Cornwall. We also find out how Somerset got its name.

In our pilot episode, we chat to Emma Thornton-Hick from Friends of Berrow Beach and hear about their work keeping the sands tidy - and the strange things they find. We discuss the region's big new stories - including Baldrick's iminent visit to Bristol. And we find out about the famous Willow Man and its fate.