WITH Watchet going through a turbulent time with many changes in recent years, one man has taken upon himself to update the town's most popular history book.

Peter Upton, a member of the Watchet Conservation Society, launched a new edition of A.L Wedlake's A History of Watchet, which was originally written in 1955.

It was last updated in 1973, but Mr Upton has added a new chapter documenting changes from 1973 to 2017, including the closure of the town's largest employer for over a century, Watchet Paper Mill.

"The last edition was updated in 1973, has gone out of print and is difficult to get hold of, so it seemed fitting, particularly with the major changes that have happened in recent years, to document them and update A.L Wedlake's wonderful work," Mr Upton said, after launching the book at The Sanctuary in Watchet on Saturday.

The Market House Museum helped fund the book which has been published by Holsgrove.

"I wrote this updated edition with two audiences in mind; first those who will buy the book now, either those who live in the town or have moved away but still keep a keen interest in what happens here. The second audience I had in mind was those 50 to 100 years down the line, who will look back and want to know what the town was like," Mr Upton said.

Mr Upton said he gathered the majority of information through talking to residents and people from local organisations, as well gathering statistics from various reference books.

Peter has also managed to update some of A.L Wedlake's passages with new information that has come to light since the book was first published.

The book is available from local book stores, various shops in Watchet and will be available on Amazon.