Geographical Magazine Discovering Britain: Walking the Quantocks with Wordsworth and Coleridge Written by Rory Walsh The view from Quantock Hills Somerset England UK towards Hinkley Point Nuclear Power Station and the Bristol Channel on a summer evening 17 Feb For Discovering Britain this month, Rory Walsh takes a Romantic stroll in the Quantocks
I wondered, lonely as a cloud that floats up high above hills and dales, when will I next join a crowd, see my gran, or visit Wales? Apologies to William Wordsworth. While I’ve spent most of the past year indoors ‘in pensive mood’, Wordsworth’s original lines were written during a different ‘bliss of solitude’. From 1797, Wordsworth, his sister Dorothy, and fellow poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge enjoyed a year living and walking in the Quantock Hills. Wordsworth recalled, ‘upon smooth Quantock’s airy ridge we roved, unchecked, or loitered ’mid her sylvan combes’
Following the success of its autumn virtual meetings, one group is set to host three more in the upcoming months. Cockermouth and District Civic Trust is inviting all those interested to its additional Zoom meetings, with one taking place in February, March and April. Next month s Zoom meeting will take place on February 3, at 7.30pm, and will see Phil Campbell give a 25-minute talk on the life and work of John Dalton, famous son of Eaglesfield and Cockermouth. On March 3 at the same time, Zoe Gilbert will talk about the plans for the Wordsworth House in 2021, followed by a talk on Dorothy Wordsworth by Gwen Irving, as we enter the 250th year since Dorothy s birth.
The Christmas period is often a time of excess. And when you’ve eaten (or drunk) a little too much, it can be tempting to just vegetate on the couch for days on end while flicking channels and reaching for the biscuit tin. But getting fresh air is important, even in winter, with time outside proving a great way to boost your mood. If you don’t fancy a mammoth hike, but more of a short walk, then here are some of the best across Scotland.
Dean Village and the Water of Leith, Edinburgh Most of us will have walked up Arthur’s Seat or Calton Hill while in Edinburgh. But what about taking a stroll around the lesser-visited Dean Village? This curious, charming “village”, which looks straight out of a postcard, is in fact located in the heart of Scotland’s capital city. Starting in the centre of Edinburgh, it doesn’t take long to reach Dean Village, with its collection of 19th-century cottages and brightly painted houses.
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The Romantic poets were hiking bores. But I didn t realise the full extent of this until reading Adam Nicolson s book, The Making Of Poetry, which focuses on the period Coleridge, the Wordsworths and their groupies spent galumphing around the Quantock Hills in Somerset in the 18th century.
These people were avid walkers.
Coleridge, in particular, would think nothing of schlepping 40 miles in a day, fuelled by bread, cheese and brandy.
Vivid flowers scatter a hillside in the Quantocks, a magnificent area in rural Somerset
The view from the Quantock Hills looking towards the Bristol Channel on a beautiful sunny day