Motorhomes and repairs take over the Shepton Mallet weekend diary
By Laura Linham 10th Sep 2026
What's On in Shepton Mallet is brought to you by the Bath & West Showground — home to the biggest events in Somerset
Shepton Mallet's weekend includes The Southwest Motorhome Show 2026 at the Bath & West Showground from Friday, while Saturday brings the Repair Café to The Art Bank Café from 11am to 1pm. Whether the weekend requires a new touring vehicle or simply somebody who can persuade a broken appliance back into service, the local diary has covered both ends of the scale.
On Thursday, 10 September, Ladies Mile - The Remarkable and Shocking Story of Twilight Bristol is listed at Glastonbury Town Hall, starting at just after 1pm.
Also on Thursday, Wells has something for anyone who thinks an ordinary dinner reservation could do with considerably more secrecy. Secret Supper Club at The Bishop's Palace returns on 10 September, with three courses costing £40 per person. Guests receive a password before crossing the drawbridge, food is available from 7.30pm and last orders are at 9pm. Booking is essential and a £5 non-refundable deposit per person is required. Apparently simply saying your surname at the door was not mysterious enough.
The Chilcompton Art Club Exhibition is also continuing in the South Cloisters at Wells Cathedral, with its run lasting from 5–16 September. The exhibition is free to view once inside the cathedral and includes a mixture of styles and subjects, with most pictures available to buy. An art exhibition in the cloisters is a fairly respectable excuse for lingering longer than originally planned.
Friday, 11 September brings Veda Coda Community meetup to Somerton and Dundon from 10am until noon. The group meets on the second Friday of the month and is aimed at practitioners looking for conversation, support, collaboration and the chance to meet people away from the usual working-from-home routine. The organisers specifically promise no forced introductions or ceremonial swapping of business cards, which may come as a relief to anyone whose desk drawer already contains seventeen mysterious ones.
Over at the Bath & West Showground, The Southwest Motorhome Show 2026 begins its three-day run on Friday and continues until Sunday, 13 September. The event brings together dealers, exhibitors, motorhomes and campervans, alongside talks, demonstrations and live entertainment. Published opening hours are 9.30am to 5pm on Friday and Saturday and 9.30am to 4pm on Sunday. Day tickets are listed at £10 in advance or £15 without advance booking, with entry free for those aged 17 and under. For anyone who has ever looked at a campervan and immediately started planning a six-month tour despite needing to be at work on Monday, this could be dangerous territory.
Saturday, 12 September gets properly busy in Wells. Autumn Wells Soup takes place at Wells Cathedral from 1pm until 3pm, with doors opening at 12.40pm. A minimum donation of £7 includes soup and bread prepared by Fresh & Good, as well as a vote. Four local groups will explain how they hope to use the money raised before those attending decide which project receives the largest share. Community democracy accompanied by soup is, at the very least, democracy with sensible catering.
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The Bishop's Palace and Gardens is meanwhile hosting History Alive: Viking re-enactment day at The Bishop's Palace. Draca Beordor will bring a Viking encampment to the Palace grounds, with domestic crafts, camp cooking, military drills and skirmishes among the activities described by organisers. The event is included with Bishop's Palace Annual Passes, Day Tickets and Friends membership. Visitors can also access the Palace buildings and gardens as part of their visit. Wells apparently decided a quiet Saturday was unnecessary when Vikings remained an available option.
In Shepton Mallet, the Repair Café runs from 11am until 1pm at The Art Bank Café. Volunteers will look at electrical appliances, mechanical and wooden items, jewellery, bags and clothes, checking whether they can be repaired and, where possible, keeping them out of landfill. A PAT tester is available for electrical appliances. It is essentially an opportunity to discover whether the thing sitting broken in the cupboard for nine months was genuinely beyond repair or merely waiting for somebody more competent.
Street's turn comes with Pawsome Pooch is back at Clarks Village, running from 11am to 4pm on both Saturday and Sunday. Free activities include professional dog photography, grooming, trick and agility sessions, quick-fire pet portraits and a dogwalk, while dogs can also enter the competition to become Clarks Village's next Canine Executive Officer. One winner will receive a prize package worth up to £500. Finally, a senior management recruitment process where enthusiasm for treats may actively improve your prospects.
More local stories
- Wells: Wells Cathedral to host major contemporary art exhibition
- Glastonbury and Street: Street's The Loft unveils packed autumn events line-up
- Shepton Mallet: Whitstone pupils praised as Ofsted notes progress and areas to improve
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 [Mid Somerset Hockey Club opens its doors for Club Day](https://sheptonmallet.nub.news/news/local-news/mid-somerset-hockey-club-opens-its-doors-for-club-day-307585) [Subscribe to the free Shepton Mallet Nub News newsletter](https://sheptonmallet.nub.news/newsletter) Get the biggest Shepton Mallet stories straight to your inbox. Facebook post Whitstone School has been praised by Ofsted for pupils’ behaviour, pastoral care, inclusion and improving attendance. Inspectors also found that teaching, achievement and leadership still need attention.](https://nub.news/api/image/782421/category.jpeg "### Preflight checklist * Shepton Mallet front-loaded in headline: ✓ * Whitstone School correctly identified from the inspection report: ✓ * Inspection date of 6 May 2026 included: ✓ * New Ofsted report-card terminology used rather than an overall grade: ✓ * Safeguarding, attendance, behaviour, inclusion and wellbeing positives included: ✓ * Achievement, teaching and leadership concerns reported clearly: ✓ * Headteacher Matthew Pike named: ✓ * No unsupported school response invented: ✓ * No citations in article body: ✓ * Latest Shepton Mallet Nub News links checked on the live site: ✓ # Shepton Mallet school praised but teaching needs attention **Strapline:** Ofsted praised behaviour, inclusion and pastoral care at Whitstone, but found weaknesses in teaching and achievement. **Standfirst:** Shepton Mallet’s Whitstone School has been praised for pupils’ behaviour and wellbeing in a new Ofsted inspection, while teaching, achievement and leadership were judged to need attention. **SEO title:** Shepton Mallet Whitstone School: latest Ofsted findings **Meta description:** Ofsted has praised behaviour and pastoral care at Whitstone School in Shepton Mallet, while finding teaching and achievement still need attention. Whitstone School in Shepton Mallet has been praised for its pupils’ behaviour, pastoral care and increasingly strong attendance — but inspectors say teaching and achievement still need attention. Ofsted carried out a full inspection of the Charlton Road secondary school on **6 May 2026**, under its new report-card system, which assesses different areas of school life separately rather than giving one overall grade. Safeguarding standards were met, while **attendance and behaviour, inclusion, and personal development and wellbeing** were all judged to meet the expected standard. However, **achievement, curriculum and teaching, and leadership and governance** were rated as needing attention. Inspectors said pupils are generally friendly, respectful and supportive of one another, with most showing positive attitudes towards school. They found that staff build warm relationships with pupils and provide effective pastoral care, while bullying is rare and pupils are confident that staff will deal with concerns quickly. Attendance has also improved, including among disadvantaged pupils and those with special educational needs and disabilities. Ofsted said leaders had taken action to improve both attendance and behaviour, with suspensions falling significantly as a result. The report also highlighted increased support for pupils with wellbeing or additional needs, while inspectors praised the school’s wider personal development programme. Pupils are offered activities including sports clubs, music, the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award, educational trips and international visits, alongside careers events and opportunities to work with employers. Inspectors said barriers to participation are removed for disadvantaged pupils and those with SEND where possible. There were also positive findings around inclusion, with staff said to have a secure understanding of the needs of disadvantaged pupils, pupils with SEND and those known to social care. The school’s **Horizons Plus** programme was singled out as an example of work designed to broaden pupils’ experiences and ambitions through talks, visits and preparation for life beyond school. But inspectors raised concerns about pupils’ academic achievement. The report says attainment is below national averages and that a significant minority of pupils have gaps in their learning, including some with SEND. Some pupils were found to have gaps in basic literacy and numeracy which were not always identified or addressed early or precisely enough. Inspectors said this meant some pupils did not achieve as well as they could and were not always sufficiently prepared for their next steps in education, employment or training. Teaching was also described as inconsistent. While pupils generally follow a broad and ambitious curriculum, inspectors found that some staff did not identify gaps in knowledge or adapt teaching effectively enough to meet pupils’ needs. In some subjects, pupils were also not being given enough opportunity to write in depth, limiting their ability to apply and develop their knowledge. Ofsted said school leaders understand that improvements are needed to teaching and have introduced professional learning for staff, although that work remains at an early stage. Leadership and governance was another area judged to need attention. Inspectors said leaders had a broad understanding of the school’s strengths and weaknesses, but that their assessment of teaching quality and achievement was not always precise enough. That had contributed to some improvements being made too slowly. Trustees were found to understand their statutory responsibilities, but inspectors said their challenge and support of school leaders had not always been robust enough. There were, however, positive findings about staff morale, with employees telling inspectors they felt valued, supported and proud to work at Whitstone. The report also noted that leaders and trustees had begun building stronger relationships with parents and the wider Shepton Mallet community. Whitstone is an academy for pupils aged 11 to 16 and is led by headteacher **Matthew Pike**, who took up the role in September 2025. The inspection was led by His Majesty’s Inspector Sarah Wilson, supported by three other inspectors. The report leaves Whitstone with clear strengths around pupil wellbeing, behaviour and inclusion, while identifying teaching quality, academic achievement and leadership oversight as the main areas requiring further improvement. ### More local stories [Shepton Mallet crime reports rise to 93 in July](https://sheptonmallet.nub.news/news/local-news/shepton-mallet-crime-reports-rise-to-93-in-july-307592) [Mid Somerset Hockey Club opens its doors for Club Day](https://sheptonmallet.nub.news/news/local-news/mid-somerset-hockey-club-opens-its-doors-for-club-day-307585) [Subscribe to the free Shepton Mallet Nub News newsletter](https://sheptonmallet.nub.news/newsletter) Get the biggest Shepton Mallet stories straight to your inbox. Facebook post Whitstone School has been praised by Ofsted for pupils’ behaviour, pastoral care, inclusion and improving attendance. Inspectors also found that teaching, achievement and leadership still need attention.")
