Rough Guides - Rough Guide to Bath, Brostol & Somerset (Travel Guide eBook)

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Gavin Hellier

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Contents

Lydia Evans/Rough Guides

Introduction to

Bath, Bristol and Somerset

Somerset: the very name seemingly derived from the Anglo-Saxon for people dwelling in a summer pasture evokes a picture of bucolic bliss, a soft undulating landscape grazed by sheep and populated by straw-chewing yokels speaking in a quaint zummerzet drawl. Early railway posters traded on the clich, portraying thatched cottages, tottering hayricks and castellated church towers. And while the modern reality is much more complex and nuanced, parts of the caricature are still identifiable today, where rounding a bend will bring you face to face with a heart-stoppingly lovely picture of quiet lanes meandering through hushed valleys, landscapes essentially unchanged for centuries, and yes, even a castellated church tower or two in the distance.

Somerset stands out among English counties for its breadth and diversity. The distance from the Wiltshire border in the east to the Devon border in the west stretches some seventy miles, within which every kind of landscape features, from limestone gorges to marshy flatlands, and from lush meadows to windswept moorland. There are forty miles of coastline, ranging from busy and brash holiday resorts to bleakly beautiful wetland reserves. Populous towns and cities give way to one-horse villages, and the historical traces take in stone circles, ruined castles and Renaissance palaces.

Where to go

The Romans knew a good thing when they saw it, and in Bath , in the northeast corner of the county, they hit gold. Possessing Britains only natural hot springs, the town quickly developed as a home from home for the baths-loving Romans, and it was the presence of these thermal waters that came to define Bath throughout its subsequent history. Visitors from far and wide came to wallow in the healing waters, with the town reaching its greatest glory in the eighteenth century, when fashion and great architecture came together to create the apotheosis of the Georgian urban centre. Today, Bath has plenty to offer: some of the finest museums outside London, inviting shops and a vibrant cultural life that belies its size all contained within a compact area that makes for easy strolling, often through traffic-free lanes.

Within easy distance of Bath is a cluster of towns and villages on the Somerset-Wiltshire border that make alluring day-trips: Bradford-on-Avon , with its medieval bridge and terraces of ex-weavers cottages; Lacock , whose abbey-turned-stately home incorporates a museum of photography; and Corsham , with its prized collection of Old Masters at Corsham Court.

West of Bath, Bristol , while not technically part of Somerset, is the dominant urban centre in the region. The city shares some of Baths most characteristic features, such as an impressive array of Georgian architecture and the River Avon winding through. Here, though, the tidal Avon was harnessed, and the citys skyline owes much to the riches that were funnelled through its harbour, fuelled by the transatlantic trade of tobacco, sugar and slaves. With its fierce creative energy and urban bustle, Bristol takes in more extremes, and has more of a contemporary, cosmopolitan view of life than Bath. Its verve and panache are expressed in everything from genre-defying music and eye-catching street art to cutting-edge design and technology, as well as a dynamic range of bars, restaurants and clubs. The M Shed museum celebrates Bristols rich history and cultural diversity, which you can explore further in the citys galleries and collections, its venerable churches and miscellaneous markets.

Lydia Evans/Rough Guides

WILLOW MAN SCULPTURE, NEAR BRIDGWATER

South of the Bath-Bristol axis, the countryside soon takes over, and some of Somersets most appealing small towns are nestled among its rolling hills and sweeping marshland. Wells has one of the earliest and finest English Gothic cathedrals, and lies within easy reach of the Mendip Hills . Cutting through the county, theyre not particularly high, but they are quite a bit wilder than youd expect, and surprisingly dramatic in parts, most jaw-droppingly so at Cheddar Gorge .

WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE

Somerset isnt all rolling green fields and rich fertile pasture. From gorse-covered moors to towering sea cliffs, dry valleys to reed-swathed marshland, its varied landscapes cover a wide spectrum of habitats that are home to all creatures great and small. In the Quantock Hills , Somerset has the countrys first Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB), a compact outcrop of upland heath and wooded combes harbouring nightjars and red deer. The Quantocks share similar flora and fauna with nearby Exmoor , the regions only national park and the other destination for deer spotters. The more pronounced hills of the Mendips , another AONB to the northeast, are riddled with caves and cut through by two dramatic gorges, most famously at Cheddar, and are a great place to see badgers, bats and peregrine falcons. Lying between the two ranges, the mesmerizing wetlands of the Somerset Levels provide hands-down the best birdwatching in the South West, particularly among the reedbeds and former peat bogs of the Avalon Marshes; a number of the waders and migrants that call in here can also be seen in the estuaries, sand dunes and cliffs that make up Somersets coast .

TOP 5 NATURE RESERVES

Strikingly scenic national park abutting the Bristol Channel, blanketed in heather and gorse and home to herds of majestic red deer.

This vast reserve the largest in the Somerset Levels is rich in birdlife and makes a great place to watch otters swimming among the reeds.

Former mining landscape, now buzzing with a variety of butterflies and birds.

Migrant waders out on the wet meadows and a huge heronry in the Swell Wood section.

Brilliant birdwatching, and a reliable spot to catch the winter starling migration.

Alamy

WHATS IN A NAME?

Perhaps more than any other county in England, Somerset is blessed with some truly spectacular place names . Where else would you find such intriguing-sounding villages as Nempnett Thrubwell, Furzy Knaps, Charlton Mackrell and Haselbury Plucknett? Many of these can be traced back to their Celtic origins crug , the old Celtic word for hill, for example, is buried away in names like Crewkerne and Cricket St Thomas. Others are derived from Anglo-Saxon words , such as Huish Episcopi, the prefix of which stems from hus , or house, the suffix recalling the time when the Bishop of Bath and Wells played landlord to much of the county.

Youll see Currys (from cwr , meaning border or edge), Camels (a combination of cant and mel , which literally translates as bare district) and Chews (a stream or river), but nothing crops up quite as much as Combe. From Monkton Combe to the extravagantly named Nyland cum Batcombe, it indicates a hollow or valley and is most often linked to the Celtic word cwm , though it also appears in Saxon, Norse and Irish languages.