Did you know that the clay pip making industry was once huge in and around Frome - but there was also a tragic end to the story of one young apprentice who took up the craft.

Now you can find out more, and get any bits of clay pipe you may have found identified during a special talk by a local historian. He himself is a descendant of one of the famed pipe makers.

The Clay Pipe Making Industry of Somerset and the Notorious Oakhill Pirate. An illustrated talk by Marek Lewcun is at the Somer Centre on October 3 at 7.30pm

The questions he will address :

How did a clay pipe maker from Oakhill become a notorious pirate? Born in Shepton Mallet, at just age nine years, William Watts became an apprentice to a pipe maker in Ashwick, (Oakhill) but his life quickly descended into a life of crime. His trial was an international sensation, and he was the last pirate to be hanged at Execution Dock in London in 1830. You can find out the whole sorry story at the talk at the Somer Centre in Midsomer Norton on Tuesday 4th October, 7:30pm Ticket £4.

The talk supports the latest exhibition at Radstock Museum which shows a display of pipes made in the area, with information panels with copies of old documents to accompany them.

Clay pipes were first smoked in England after the introduction of tobacco from Virginia in the late 16th Century. The hobby was promoted by Sir Walter Raleigh, although religious leaders did not approve and persecuted people for it.

Clay tobacco pipes were made in Chilcompton, Oakhill, Stratton-on-the-Fosse and Leigh-on-Mendip while the local industry started in Norton St Philip in around 1620.

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Early apprentices subsequently started their own workshops in any Mendip parishes where they had grown up. The talk has been put together by Marek Lewcun, whose mother Daphne was descended from the pipe maker Thomas Whittock.

You are invited to bring to the talk details HERE any pieces of pipe that you have and Marek will identify them for you.