Milestone for John Leach
As reported in the most recent edition of The Western Gazette, Muchelney potter John Leach has now been growing his beard for fifty years. To mark the achievement, Mr Leach is holding a special exhibition at his pottery near Langport. It includes a life-size model of the combine harvester which seized-up when it hit him chin-on in a corn field near Thorney 20 years ago plus photographs of the many barbers killed while trying to trim it in recent decades. Also a selection of young farmers who've lived in it over the years.
John, whose beard is often mistaken for the centre of Podimore Roundabout, denies allegations in The Daily Mail last week that a family of Pikeys had now moved in under his bottom lip.
"Ridiculous" he said, "I rent that to Julian Temperley."
Anyone wishing to visit the John Leach's Beard 50th Anniversary Exhibition should e-mail: lookatthestateofthat@hotmail.com
Mr Leach - above - was arrested in December last year while studying the design of ceramic chimney pots on houses in Kingsbury Episcopi. He was only caught when burning embers from a fireplace below ignited his beard...causing a 2-mile high flare to be seen from as far away as Yeovil Police Station.
