The Word-July

News from
Wincanton
Town Council
WINCANTON SEED MARKET
AND KNITWITS!
TOWN
COUNCILLOR
QUESTIONS :
How long have you been a Councillor?
I have been a town councillor for about 15
years, in that time I have been a planning
officer and deputy mayor.
What made you decide to join the Council?
I thought I would follow in my Uncle’s footsteps
as he was mayor of Weston Super
Mare. As I have lived in Wincanton for 48
years I thought I could help the town by becoming
a town councillor.
Are you involved with any projects or
organisations in the Town?
I am a member of Wincanton Museum and
History Society, I also call bingo for Common
Road sheltered homes and for other local
bingos in the town.
Sue Hinks
A better bus service for the town and the
local areas.
A lorry park in town so that the truckers don’t
have to park in the lay-bys and it would be
good for the town.
Last but not least, a nice toy shop so that we
can shop locally.
If you have noticed all the colourful, uplifting knitted
flowers and figures all over Wincanton, you might
be curious to know the story of where they came
from.
The summer of 2019 a collaboration of local
friends led by local Wincanton retailers, SEED’s
Lynne Franks, Safia Shah of Bootmakers and
Claudia Cole of Cole’s Yard instigated the Wincanton
SEED Market as a monthly outlet for our
local makers and creators, as well as bringing life
to Market Place on a Saturday which traditionally
closed down at mid-day.
Organised by Lizzy Ralph a newly CO-OPTED
Town Councillor in June and supported by the
Town Council to hold the event on the third Saturday
of every month, which included live music. The
SEED Market brought a lot of new visitors to Wincanton
and was building up to being recognised a
must-visit Wincanton Saturday, especially with the
Teen Food Market in Cole’s Yard.
The current situation put a halt to the Spring launch
and it is very good news that now with the easing
of lock-down regulations, the Market will be reopening
in a smaller format this coming Saturday,
20th June accompanied by uplifting music from our
local duo, Left, Right and Centre.
In the meantime, the team decided at the beginning
of the lock-down, that it would be a good idea
to introduce Knit Wits to Wincanton, where creative
knitters would make uplifting, colourful shapes and
figures to be put around the town to cheer up
the community.
Knitted and crochet flowers and pompoms can now
be seen in Cale Park, on a tree by the care home
behind the Co-op, around the schools and in
individual front gardens but the stars of all are the
Knit Wit characters created and made by Knit Wit
Queen, Councillor Vicky Vagg whose latest purple
witch has joined her other characters on the bollards
in Market Place, alongside the knitted artwork
by textile artist, SEED’s Tamsyn Gregory and the
knitted snake from Bootmakers.
Vicky has now got her sights on the rest of the bollards
on the High Street including introducing some
of her beloved Terry Pratchett characters near to
Disc World.
The Wincanton SEED Market team are also
working closely with the Wincanton Town Council,
South Somerset District Council, One Planet
Wincanton and the Balsam Centre in developing a
number of other sustainable community initiatives
as part of the Wincanton for the Future Programme
including vegetable planting, community fridge,
repair café, share library, skills training for women
business start-ups and healthy cooking.
For further information please contact: Wincantonseedmarket@gmail.com
or visit the Wincanton
SEED Market Facebook page.
My heartfelt thanks to all the members of the community
who have contributed to KnitWits, the support
of the local businesses plus of course Tamsyn
and Councillor Vagg for her creative additions to
our market place which has made people smile!
Looking forward, it will be great to have the SEED
Market and live music in our market place.
What five things would you like to see in
the Town going forward?
I would like to see a café where the teenagers
can hang out in the evenings.
Councillor
Vicky Vagg
with one
of her
creations
Sue
Cllr Shelbourn-Barrow