A Grim Almanac of Somerset

A Grim Almanac of Somerset is a day-by-day catalogue of 365 ghastly tales from around the county. Full of dreadful deeds, macabre deaths, strange occurrences and heinous homicides, this almanac explores the darker side of Somerset’s past. The wicked, the mad, the violent and the bad are all crammed into this volume. Here are stories of tragedy, torment and the truly unfortunate with such diverse tales as the soldier who stabbed himself with his own bayonet while turning a somersault in 1879, ‘the murder that never happened’ in 1837, the mother who threw her child into a cess pit in 1855, as well as a catalogue of disasters which include mining and railway accidents, explosions, riots, a devastating collapsing footbridge in Bath in 1930 and a circus big top destroyed by fire in Taunton in 1920, with the loss of five lives. Generously illustrated, this chronicle is an entertaining and readable record of Somerset’s grim past. Read on …if you dare!