Guinness World Records is celebrating its 70th birthday – and Somerset is home to some of the most bizarre titles that nobody has ever managed to break.

The first edition of the book was published on 27 August 1955 after Guinness brewery boss Sir Hugh Beaver lost a pub argument about the fastest game bird in Europe. Realising there was no single reference point for settling such rows, he commissioned journalists in Fleet Street to pull one together – and Guinness World Records was born.

Seventy years and more than 155 million copies later, it's still going strong – and Somerset has written its name into the record books in some pretty extraordinary ways.

In Pilton, James Rawlings became king of balance last summer at Glastonbury Festival, by stacking 152 toilet rolls on his head – a record that remains unbeaten. In Glastonbury back in 2002, Sarah Chapman stunned onlookers by walking 5,000 metres on her hands in just eight hours – still the furthest anyone has ever managed.

Westland Lynx AH.1 G-LYNX (Vertipedia)

The skies above the town also played host to history in 1986, when John Trevor Egginton and co-pilot Derek Clews set the official helicopter speed record of 249mph. That mark has never been bettered. And in 1995, Mike Howard went even higher, performing the world's highest trapeze act at over 20,000ft while swinging from a hot-air balloon between Glastonbury and Street.

Mike Howard (UK) walked on a beam between two balloons at an altitude of 6,522 m (21,400 ft) (Guiness World Records)

Wells got its claim to fame in 2018 when Joanna Webster and Katie Venner created the largest serving of sauerkraut ever seen – almost 360kg of the stuff – and the record still stands today.

And Shepton Mallet holds onto its own quirky crown after Peter Glazebrook grew the heaviest potato on record, weighing nearly 5kg at the Royal Bath & West Showground in 2011.

Guinness World Records editor-in-chief Craig Glenday said: "The records are there for the taking – and we look forward to celebrating the next generation of record-breakers."

But for now, Somerset can proudly say its spuds, sauerkraut, and sky-high stunts remain unbeaten in the most famous record book of them all.