Rotor into the Club

Yeovil is possibly best known for its football team, known as ‘The Glovers’ reflecting the town’s main industry for throughout the 19th and mid 20th centuries.

Next on the list would probably be helicopters and in the current form of AgustaWestland.

Westland celebrate 100 years in 2015 spanning the early Short seaplanes made under agreement to the latest Lynx ‘Hellcat’ Variant.

Another side to Westland employment are the many social clubs organised by the Company and by fellow employees. One of our volunteers is currently documenting a number of Yeovil badges and plaques, one of which is a Westland Motor Club. This serves as an intriguing contrast to the ‘high flying’ well-known side of the business and offers an insight into the continuing principles laid down by the founders of Westland, Ernest and Percival Petter; remembered in “Petter’s Way” just off South Street, Yeovil.

An example of a Westland Motor Club metal plaque

Fun with Food

The Heritage Team were invited to a Local Food Producers Event at the newly refurbished Haynes International Motor Museum at Sparkford, Somerset on Wednesday 17th September. One member of staff and a volunteer went along with a display reflecting historical food producers from Yeovil and linked to the First World War. Two workers from Aplin and Barrett from Newton Road and Major R.H. Brutton from Brutton Breweries all died in the First World War and their obituaries were published in the Western Gazette newspaper. These were printed and placed alongside images of Aplin and Barrett cheese making facilities, St. Ivel Advertisements and Brutton Breweries in Princes and Clarence Street, Yeovil. We also took along bottles and flagons from our handling collection to further illustrate these companies, including Trasks of Vicarage Street, Yeovil together with a copy of a photograph of Vicarage Street from 1939, before the Quedam Shopping Centre was built.

The Food Producers Event was also an opportunity to highlight the Heritage Team’s 2015 Yeovil in Living Memory Calendar, which people found an interesting contrast to today. 44 people visited our display between 10.30am and 1.30pm.

There was also an opportunity to peruse the locally produced food, which included bread, cheese, ale and beers; plus a filling flapjack from Bruton Bakery!

On the way back through – there may have been time for the AC Cobra; Ford Mustang and the dainty emerald green Austin Seven.