I started reporting for Somerset in March. Since then, I’ve seen some amazing things as part of this job. I’ve watched Coldplay perform to legions of fans at Glasto. I’ve observed politicians waiting anxiously for votes to be counted and fates to be decided in a little sports hall in Weston-Super-Mare.
I’ve witnessed joy on the faces of families at Bridgwater Carnival and stress from people struggling with Bath’s housing sector. I’ve visited places that have been declared among the best to live in the country and places that have been perhaps unfairly vilified.
Before moving to Somerset, I spent three happy years with my partner in York. For the unacquainted, it’s basically the Bath of the North: a small cultural city geared towards tourists that sells itself on its rich history and heritage.
Like Bath, it has two universities. The cities also share a popular – if divisive – annual Christmas Market. Both have a hulking big city neighbour that many residents commute to for work (Bristol and Leeds, respectively).
York is on a ‘tentative list’ of nominees to become a UNESCO World Heritage Site: Bath already is one. I’ve even read that there’s a Topping bookshop coming to York which I expect to be as grand as the one here.
York was heavenly. I was so content there I’d sometimes find myself doing a bad impression of Frank Sinatra: “I want to be a part of it, Old York, Old York!”. It would seem that place could give me everything…Except a career in journalism. That was, as the great philosopher Alanis Morrissette would put it, the black fly in my chardonnay.
So, this year I moved to Somerset to pursue the world of news. Given all its similarities with my hometown, Bath seemed like a natural choice. And what a year it’s been! Here’s three things I learnt.
Bath has a housing crisis
Moving here turned out to be complicated. It shouldn’t have surprised me that there is way more demand for housing than there is supply: who wouldn’t want to live in beautiful Bath?
That said, the rental market was so competitive I was starting to wonder if prospective tenants would start duelling at dawn for the chance to inhabit a one-bedroom in Snow Hill (bills not included).
Beyond my own housing woes (which I’ve discussed at length in previous articles), I was saddened by how often I would hear from someone who was unhappy with their living situation. As a journalist, people often come to you for help if they feel like an issue hasn’t been resolved through the traditional channels.
I started following the housing market in Bath with interest (and mild horror). We discovered that Bath rentals get an average of 45 enquiries per property. Housing has also been a contentious issue within BANES council: last month a motion from the Green Group to introduce rent controls was rejected.
We’ll continue to cover housing in 2025.
Glasto fans are more fascinating than the performers
(Image: Joe Maher / Getty Images)
My first big reporting gig for this job was covering Glastonbury. The first thing I’d like to point out was how lovely almost everyone was: from the moment I arrived, my neighbour offered to help me pitch up my tent. When I offhandedly mentioned to a porridge seller that I had gotten shivery the night before, she lent me her fuzzy lilac blanket for the rest of the week.
I also think someone might have snuck into my tent and stole my sunhat (as well as a colleague’s expensive torch) while I was off reporting, but oh well. Swings and roundabouts.
The second thing I’d like to point out is people willrisk life and limb to see 00s pop-punk sensation Avril Lavigne. I wanted to see her too, but when I started making my way to the Other Stage where she was playing it became clear that the rush to see her was getting hairy.
I remember thinking “What if I get trampled to death by Avril Lavigne fans and the last thing I hear before I depart this earth is Sk8er Boi?”. What an embarrassing way to go!
I instead went to see Janelle Monáe who was performing to a comparatively modest audience at the Pyramid Stage. On another day, I attempted to see The Sugababes only to find that their stage had been closed off, with an impenetrable crowd of fans desperate to hear them.
Unable to get in, I instead interviewed the overspill of Glastonians who couldn’t get in but were still straining their ears to hear their favourite songs. In a lot of ways the fans are more interesting than the performers: this was a pilgrimage to them, a spiritual journey that couldn’t be thwarted by the crowds or the heat or their aching legs.
Labour achieved historic victories in Somerset
Labour MP Sadik Al-Hassan won the North Somerset seat from veteran Liam Fox.
This year, I covered the General Election counts for Weston-Super-Mare and North Somerset. I had interviewed four candidates for Weston-Super-Mare in the run up to the election and found them all to be thoughtful and sincere people.
I wasn’t sure who would win: Conservative John Penrose had held the seat for almost twenty years, but the Liberal Democrats are popular in Somerset and Labour was predicted to sweep on a national level.
Incredibly, both Weston-Super-Mare and North Somerset elected a Labour MP for the first time. If I hadn’t just pulled my first all-nighter since University covering the count, I may have been more reflective as the sun rose and I made my way back to my hotel.
Did this historic turnaround signal approval of Labour or just a strong rejection of the Conservatives? Or, was apathy the real winner with a turnout of just 59.57% in Weston-Super-Mare? Who stayed home and why?
But as I made my way back to the Premier Inn, I mostly remember thinking “Wow, I could do with a coffee right now”.
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