A PIONEERING film-theatre project that successfully captured the soul of Burnham has been released on DVD.

Minehead-based arts company Theatre Mélange brought its unique, affectionate and colourful portrait of the seaside town to the Princess Theatre and Arts Centre in September.

Led by director Sandy Maberley, in ‘Echo Burnham’, the creative team combined a patchwork of film clips – interviews with residents – set against Burnham imagery, to reveal the town’s past, present and future.

The words of Lewis Charles Coleman, Burnham’s poet laureate, also played a part.

The result proved refreshing, causing audiences to take a renewed look at their town.

Reflecting on the achievement, Sandy said: “It was a mixture of people realising they’d taken things about where they live for granted – we all get used to what’s around us.

“I think the best thing is the feeling we have made a difference, and sending ripples out.”

Echo Burnham was the third in the performers’ Somerset north coast series, following in the footsteps of Minehead and Watchet.

Theatre Mélange now hopes to secure funding for an even more ambitious project.

Collaborating with Somerset County Council, district councils, the Museum of Somerset, Visit Somerset, Visit Exmoor, and National Trust South West, it has put in a bid for the county’s cultural tourism offer.

The idea? “To take a shipping container around the county, on to Bristol, Cardiff, and beyond, carrying the essence of Somerset, to give people a voyage of discovery,” says Sandy.

Echo Burnham is on sale at Burnham Farmers’ Market in the High Street on Friday, and in Burnham’s Information Centre on the Esplanade, at £8.99 a copy.