With Paulton Rovers FC very much in the spotlight Gerry Brooke sets out to explore the former Somerset mining village.

The abundance of local coal and the advent of steam driven machinery saw Paulton emerge, in the 1800s, as a major industrial centre.

With a population approaching some 6,000 it was, in fact, the largest village in old Somerset.

The nearby towns of Midsomer Norton and Radstock, at the heart of the Somerset coalfield, also became industrialised.

The Somerset Coal Canal and, later, a network of railways provided the transportation for bringing out the coal which had been mined here, albeit on a small scale, since the early 1700s.

A veritable hive of industry, the Paulton Basin was once served by five tramroads linking at least fifteen collieries to the canal.

Many of these long closed pits - there were once forty or so - were owned by the Mogg family (later the Rees Moggs)

The Paulton Brass and Iron Foundry, later occupied by William Evans, was established in 1810 but moved elsewhere in the 1890s.

An important place, it was the only major foundry in the coalfield making both winding and pumping engines for the numerous pits.

The foundry also made more mundane items such as grates, kitchen ranges and street furniture.

Massive iron gateposts made by the company can still be found in the area.

A winding engine made by Evans in 1861 for the Old Mills Colliery has been preserved and is still held, I think, by Bristol’s Museum.

It’s said that the company perfected a process for making non rusting iron which involved pouring oil into the mould.

Although the pits are long gone Paulton betrays its coal mining heritage with a remaining slag heap known as "The Batch.”

But Paulton also had other industries.

Ashman's shoe factory, which specialised in motorcycle speedway boots, originally grew up, as did Flooks, as a cottage industry to meet the needs of the miners.

The Great Mills DIY store - known as the Old Mills DIY because the business was sited on a former colliery baths site - was first established in Paulton 1972.

The business now belongs to Focus DIY.

Another big employer in the area was Purnell’s, which closed its printing works in 1995 with a loss of 400 jobs.

Founded in 1839 by Charles Dando Purnell as a small family printers the company also had shops in Radstock and Midsomer Norton.

Employing 2,000 people at its peak, in 1964 Purnell’s became part of the British Printing Corporation.

The Radio Times was published there.

The Church of the Trinity, rebuilt in Georgian and Victorian times, is a Grade II listed building.

All that survives of a much earlier building is a 13th century tower.

A war memorial just outside the village commemorates the 23 men who were killed in September, 1944 when their glider crashed on its way to Arnhem - the infamous “Bridge too far.