Probably no-one knows as much about his native county as Robert Dunning. Here he distils a lifetime of knowledge and research into a fascinating collection of the odd, the bizarre, the stirring and the affecting. He tells, for example, of 'Travelling at Speed', and includes the story of the rise and fall of the Somerset and Dorset Railway, the career of William Vincent who in 1868 rose to be Manager of the Taunton Station bookstall, and how members of the Bath Rugby Club were used as extras in the filming of the Ghost Train at Cameron in 1931. Or, in 'Somerset People at Play' we learn of Somerset's oldest cinemas, numbering thirteen by 1914, of cricket matches in the 1840s, or the hooligans of the 1620s, fined for playing fives against church walls in Durleigh and Fiddington on Sundays. This is a fascinating cornucopia, assembled with Robert Dunning's customary erudition, skill and lightness of touch: lovers of the county will find a feast of delights in A Somerset Miscellany.
