The Quantock Hills AONB, Somerset
The Quantock Hills in Somerset have been designated an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty for very good reason; the scenery is spectacular, the far reaching views are breath taking. If you happen to be staying nearby on your holiday in the West Country, you should spend a day exploring this unique landscape with its steeply wooded combes, rufty-tufty heaths where wild ponies and red deer graze, and the winding country lanes that take you to timeless villages where the streets are lined with centuries old cottages and usually, you’ll find a welcoming country inn.
The Quantock Hills cover 48 square miles, lying between the county town of Taunton, and Bridgwater, taking in part of the Somerset coastline with windswept bays and bracing cliff tops.Get to know it all a little and you’ll appreciate why the Romantic poets Wordsworth and Coleridge spent so much time here, wandering around the hills musing and finding inspiration for some of their most famous works. Wordsworth lived for a short while at Alfoxden just up above Holford where Virginia and Leonard Woolf spent part of their honeymoon at The Plough Inn – this area is not without it’s literary connections. Coleridge lived at Nether Stowey where you can still visit Coleridge Cottage, now owned by the National Trust, and across the road, the appropriately named Ancient Mariner inn.
These wilds are excellent cycling and walking territory so lace up your boots, pull on your rucksack and perhaps start with a climb to Wills Neck, the highest point in the hills where on a clear day, you can see across the Bristol Channel to Wales. Stroll from West Bagborough to Lydeard Hill, or to the Seven Sisters, a clump of beech trees that stand high on Cothelstone Hill.
While away a few hours at Fyne Court spuddling about the nature reserve where you can go pond dipping, have an orienteering adventure or play giant Jenga. Amble through the woodlands and then treat yourselves to a cream tea in the tea shop. Go and see the lakes and follies at Hestercombe House and Gardens – there are cascading waterfalls, classical temples, a Witch House and a Mausoleum.
The thing to remember is to slow down; the Quantock Hills have a one-of-a-kind wild beauty, take the time to stop and stare, spend unhurried moments in the great outdoors, don’t let any of it pass you by.