Here is a little look back at what was making the headlines in the Gazette on this week over the past 20 years.

ONE YEAR AGO
April 24, 2014: DRAGONS began their invasion as part of the Taunton Deane Dragon Trail. The first two models arrived and artists began the task of decorating them. Somerset College, which sponsored a dragon, took delivery of its dragon on St George’s Day.

TWO little piggies went to market to support a hospital arts project. The two remaining wooden pigs originally used as seating in Taunton’s former Old Market Centre, now renamed the Orchard shopping centre, were being sold off individually.

A MINEHEAD coffee shop suffered damage put at thousands of pounds after seven windows were attacked. Costa Coffee’s branch in Townsend Road only opened in January of 2014. The windows were attacked by a hammer-wielding vandal but did not smash due to the type of glass used.

FIVE YEARS AGO

April 22, 2010: HUNDREDS of people looking forward to live music at a free activity day for Taunton’s youth were left disappointed when the bands were told to pull the plug. Energize, at Vivary Park, promised a day of sports activities, dance and live music but in mid-performance the first band to take to the stage, Stand Down, were told they did not have the right licence to perform.

A SCHOOL trip from Taunton remained stranded in West Africa after the disruption of Iceland’s volcanic eruption caused airlines. Headmaster Chris Alcock, who was with the Queen’s College party, used the group’s dwindling cash supply for antimalaria tablets. Mr Alcock and three staff accompanied 16 pupils on the visit to a sister school in The Gambia.

ARSONISTS wiped out 435 acres of stunning West Somerset countryside after two fires were started within ten minutes of each other. Fire chiefs spoke out following the attacks at Withypool and Holford, and called on people to act more responsibly.

TEN YEARS AGO
April 22, 2005: PARENTS worried about their children’s safety planned to disrupt rush-hour traffic on a busy main road through their village. They planned to hold up vehicles for ten minutes or more to enable youngsters to cross to Heathfield Community and West Monkton primary schools. The protest followed a 12-year campaign for a crossing for residents of Meadway over the A3259 through Monkton Heathfield.

IT was all change on the shopping front in Wellington and traders said things were taking a turn for the better. Wellington Chamber of Commerce was going from strength to strength with new businesses flocking to join the thriving group. Hart and Craft opened at bigger premises in the High Street and Somerfield was keen to invest in building a new supermarket in the town.

FORMER Wellington resident Lucy Hasell was the 16th woman home in the London Marathon. Teacher Lucy, 27, grew up in Wellington and attended Taunton School.

20 YEARS AGO
April 19, 198: A 23-YEAR-OLD mother became a squatter in an empty council house in Wellington. Angela Pollard and her four children moved into the house after her marriage became a ‘nightmare’, she said.

PART of the Old Paper Mill at Creech St Michael near Taunton was to be bought by Taunton Deane Council for small industrial units. The council agreed to pay £85,000 for part of the site as investment.

FOOTBALLING brothers Kelvin and Chris Thorne were the victims of uncanny coincidence. Both men, members of the Western League Soccer Club in Wellington, suffered a broken leg in matches.