Escape to the Mendip Hills

The story of the Mendips is etched upon the landscape, from the deep gorges to the bare uplands with their spectacular views of Somerset

As you head south from Bristol into the West Country, the long ridge of the Mendip Hills curves east and west, like a giant green and grey arm bent protectively around the northern edge of the Somerset Levels.

The Mendips appear enclosed, all of a piece, hunched against the outside world. But this rather forbidding impression is misleading. The hills are a water-addled stone honeycomb, a huge petrified tissue of limestone eaten by rain into holes, caves and underground rivers. Their flanks are carved into deep combes or wooded valleys, where deer, buzzards and songbirds thrive. The bare uplands are dairying and sheep country, dotted with prehistoric burial mounds and with the old, green heaps of lead mining. A Roman road runs south from Bristol across the central plateau before plunging down the southern face into Wells. The tiny city with its enormous Gothic cathedral lies at the feet of the Mendips, as do its sister towns of Shepton Mallet and Frome.

In winter, and even in early spring, the Mendips is a place to wrap up warm. Get the cheeks tingling with brisk walks along the Mendip Way, a high-level footpath that strides the spine of the hills and provides great views across the moors and the Severn Estuary. Go horse-riding through the combes or rock climbing in the gorges. Take your binoculars to the reservoir lakes of Chew Valley and Blagdon to see the birds that blow into the Mendips for their winter refuge. Duck into the village churches with their beautiful high towers, built by medieval wool wealth. Then descend at dusk to raid the teashops and pubs of the little towns that lie under the skirts of these haunting and magical hills.

Architectural delights
Wells is a gem of an English cathedral city, its main street a Georgian delight that Anthony Trollope would have loved. The 13th-century west front of Wells Cathedral (01749 674483), adorned with 300 statues of monarchs and saints, is considered one of the finest in Europe. The Bishop’s Palace (01749 678691; www.bishopspalacewells.co.uk) next to the cathedral is a superb ensemble of medieval architecture; the gardens are lovely, too, and the swans on the moat continue an age-old tradition by ringing a bell for food.

Frome has dozens of listed buildings in beautiful creamy stone, and narrow, steep old streets, such as the pedestrianised Catherine Hill and Stony Street, Cheap Street and Gentle Street.

Mells, a peaceful Mendip village a couple of miles from Frome, has a glorious church with many monuments to the Horner (as in “Little Jack”) family, while the churchyard holds the graves of poet Siegfried Sassoon, author and politician Lady Violet Bonham Carter, and eminent theologian Monsignor Ronald Knox.

Cheese and cider
When in Somerset, enjoy what the locals do. That’s Cheddar cheese – a generic term, as it doesn’t have to be made in Cheddar. One of the best is produced by Green’s of Glastonbury, West Pennard (01458 834414); buy from the farm, or at Somerleaze Farm shop at Wookey (01749 675089), just outside Wells, which stocks the best of Somerset produce. Order organic meat at Brown Cow Organics of Perridge Farm, Pilton (01749 890298) on Monday or Tuesday for collection on Thursday or Friday. Scrumpy is on tap at Land’s End Farm, Mudgley, near Wedmore (01934 712385), where you can sample and blend until you’re red in the face.

There are farmers’ markets at Wells, Frome, Cheddar and Axbridge (check with the local Tourist Information Centres). And for an unspoiled Mendip pub, head for the Hunters’ Lodge (01749 672275) on the Wells crossroads a couple of miles east of Priddy.

If it’s raining…
Wells & Mendip Museum (01749 673477), Frome Museum (01373 454611) and Radstock Museum (01761 437722; www.radstockmuseum.co.uk) are unstuffy places in which to learn about the area’s mining and cloth-making heritage, the famous limestone caves and local dragons and witches. Watch flour being made at Burcott Mill in Wookey (01749 673118; www.burcottmill.com), a working water mill where you can buy wholemeal stoneground flour.

The child-friendly East Somerset Railway at Cranmore (01749 880417; www.eastsomersetrailway.com) has working steam locomotives and engine sheds open to the public. Or go underground to the spectacular Wookey Hole Caves (01749 672243; www.wookey.co.uk) just west of Wells – there’s also a mill where paper is made by hand and an old-style penny arcade. For crafts, the best place to go is Catherine Hill in Frome (www.catherinehill.info); Fay Goodridge at the Artworks (01373 451801) has details of the Made In Frome craftworkers’ organisation. Watch them in action at Black Swan Arts (01373 473980), next to the Tourist Information Office.

Air and adventure
Try caving, climbing and abseiling (Rock Sport at Cheddar Caves & Gorge, 01934 742343; www.cheddarcaves.co.uk) or dry-slope skiing, orienteering or pony-trekking (High Action in Churchill, 01934 852335; www.highaction.co.uk). For walking and cycling, buy Uphill to Frome and Mendip Cycle Route guidebooks from Wells Tourist Information Centre, and there is fishing at Blagdon Lake and Chew Valley Lake.

Points of view
This is an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB). The Brean Down promontory south of Weston-super-Mare provides wonderful sea and land views where the Mendips slope to the Bristol Channel. In the central Mendips, the south-facing slope between Priddy and Ebbor Gorge provides a huge panorama across the Somerset Levels.

Walks and wildlife
Walk through the Ebbor Gorge National Nature Reserve between Priddy and Wells; bird-watch at Chew Valley Lake; explore fine woodlands at Rodney Stoke Woods National Nature Reserve. Look out for buzzards and ravens overhead and hibernating bats in the caves.

Getting there
Mainline rail services run to Frome, Castle Cary and Weston-super-Mare (08457 484950).
National Express coaches operate services to Frome, Shepton Mallet, Wells
and Weston-super-Mare (08705 808080).
By road: M5 to junction 32 (west); M4 to junction 17 or 18 (north and east); M3/A303 (south).

Places to stay
● Burnt House Farm, Waterlip, near Shepton Mallet, Somerset (01749 880280; www.burnthousefarmbandb.co.uk). An immaculately run B&B on a working organic beef farm. Double rooms from £58.
● Charlton House Hotel, Shepton Mallet, Somerset (01749 342008; www.charlton house.com) is a stylish country house hotel. Double rooms on a B&B basis from £170; offers on midweek breaks start at £260 (includes dinner).
● Hillview Cottage, Paradise Lane, Croscombe, Wells, Somerset (01749 343526). A pet- and human-friendly B&B. Double rooms start at £50.  
Woodspring Priory near Weston-super-Mare: enquiries to The Landmark Trust (01628 825925; www.landmarktrust.org.uk). Sleeps up to eight people, self-catering. From £802 for a 3-night weekend.
Wookey Hole Inn, Wookey Hole, near Wells, Somerset (01749 676677; www.wookeyholeinn.com). Contemporary-style B&B. Doubles from £80.

Places to eat
● The Cloister Restaurant, Wells Cathedral (01749 676543). Coffee, tea, lunches and delicious cakes served in the medieval cloisters.
● The Mulberry Restaurant, Charlton House Hotel, see above. Imaginative cooking, beautifully presented.
● Raso’s, 15-17 Broad Street, Wells (01749 675884). The best fish and chips in the Mendips; good authentic pizza in Da Luciano’s opposite.
Wookey Hole Inn, see above. Great modern food and a beer list to fell a thirsty ox.
● Woolpack Inn, Beckington, near Frome (01373 831244; www.woolpackhotel.com). Serves freshly cooked food.


Escape essentials
● Maps OS Landranger 182 ‘Weston-super-Mare, Bridgwater and Wells’ and 183 ‘Yeovil and Frome’; OS Explorer 141 ‘Cheddar Gorge and Mendip Hills West’ and 142 ‘Shepton Mallet and Mendip Hills East’.
● Walkabout leaflet guides available from tourist information centres: Town Trails include Frome and Shepton Mallet, while Rural Walks cover villages such as Downside, Nettlebridge, Leigh on Mendip, Nether Wood, Baltonsborough and Westbury-sub-Mendip.
● Free magazine Discover Mendip & North East Somerset is widely available.

Tourist information
● Frome Tourist Information Centre, The Round Tower, Justice Lane (01373 467271).
● Wells Tourist Information Centre, Town Hall, Market Place (01749 672552).
● Shepton Mallet Tourist Information Centre, 48 High Street (01749 345258).

Photo: Visit Britain
 

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