“COMING back to where you started is not the same as never leaving.”

So wrote Sir Terry Pratchett in A Hat Full of Sky.

The quote, of course, has nothing to do with Wincanton, but we think that’s how Sir Terry would have liked it.

But the Somerset town does have an unusual and perhaps unexpected link with the author and all things Discworld – the flat fantasy planet Sir Terry created across dozens of novels.

Wincanton is even twinned with Ankh-Morpork, the largest city on Discworld – which itself is carried around the Discworld universe by four elephants (Berilia, Tubul, Great T’Phon, and Jerakeen) who, in turn, are carried on the back of a giant turtle (Great A’Tuin). Of course.

So for the uninitiated, things are somewhat strange from the start.

But back to South Somerset and Wincanton…

The link really started in 2000, when Sir Terry endorsed a project, by Bernard and Isobel Pearson, to open the Discworld Emporium in the town.

The emporium stocked all things Pratchett and Discworld; from books to brasses, figurines to furniture.

Fans from around the world began making a pilgrimage to the town to see it for themselves and so, in its own way, Wincanton became a real-world extension of Discworld.

Sir Terry himself was heavily involved with activities at the emporium, suggesting merchandise to be created by the Bernard and Isobel.

He was a regular visitor to the venue, often being found sitting in a corner, chatting to fans and visitors.

The Discworld Emporium, dedicated to all things Terry Pratchett, was in Wincanton High Street

The emporium brought ‘hordes of witches, wizards and various other denizens on Discworld to the streets and taverns of Wincanton’, according to the venue.

“Terry maintained an active role in overseeing the production of his merchandise,” it continued.

“If he wanted something made, or had an idea for a product or publication, then we would create it to his exacting standards.

“Every item received his personal approval, and many of the items we have created were designed or commissioned by the author himself.”

The shop has since closed to visitors, with the landmark building put up for sale.

In 2002, as the profile of Wincanton continued to rise among Discworld devotees, things went a step further.

Wincanton became the first UK town to be twinned with a fictional place when it linked with Ankh-Morpork.

A sign at the entrance to the town, often photographed by visiting fans and tourists, proudly shows the Discworld capital as a twin town.

The sign showing Wincanton is twinned with Ankh Morpork, Discworld

Then, in 2009, housing developer George Wimpey asked the author to suggest some street names for the Kingwell Rise development in Wincanton. And suggest them he did.

So it is, if you ever consider living in the town, you may end up changing your address to Peach Pie Street, Morpork Street, or Treacle Mine Road.

Unveiling road signs bearing his suggested names, Sir Terry was greeted by hundreds of fans and made headlines around the world.

However, while the link with Wincanton may seem random, a look back at Sir Terry’s life brings it a little more into focus.

READ MORE: Wincanton’s Discworld Emporium building put up for sale

Though born in Buckinghamshire in 1948, he spent some time in Bridgwater around 1957 – his first glimpse of Somerset.

Later, in 1980, he became a press officer for the Central Electricity Generating Board (CEGB) – including for the Hinkley power stations, bringing him back to the Bridgwater patch.

In 1987, after finishing his fourth Discworld novel, Mort, Sir Terry gave up his job at the CEGB.

He lived in the Mendips for many years, at Rowberrow, before moving to Broad Chalke, near Salisbury.

Sir Terry Pratchett. Picture: Luigi Novi

In 2007, the author revealed he had been diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer’s. And in March 2015, the ’embuggerance’ as he called it, saw Sir Terry take a walk with Death, one of his most enduring Discworld characters.

He died at home in Wiltshire.

Rob Wilkins, his assistant, announced his passing on Twitter by saying – and using the capital letters favoured by Death in the Discworld novels:

“AT LAST, SIR TERRY, WE MUST WALK TOGETHER.

“Terry took Death’s arm and followed him through the doors and on to the black desert under the endless night.

“The End.”

But what will never end is the link between one of the most successful authors of all time, who sold more than 85 million books around the world, and Wincanton, the South Somerset town twinned with Discworld’s biggest city.

“Coming back to where you started is not the same as never leaving.”