On the Levels: visiting Somerset’s lowlands

Dunkery Hill, near Exmoor House Wheddon Cross

Somerset is – to use a very hackneyed phrase – a county of contrasts. Our guest house on Exmoor is more or less in the middle of the National Park and surrounded by rolling hills and moorland. Dunkery Beacon, Exmoor’s highest point, makes a great walk from here. The coast is less than ten miles away; to get there you go through farmland, ancient woods and very pretty country villages (more contrasts). Wheddon Cross, our village, is Exmoor’s highest – so we’re definitely in the highlands of Somerset.

If Wheddon Cross is part of the highlands then the Somerset Levels, about an hour’s drive from Exmoor House, are the lowlands. They have been in the news lately, although (sadly) for all the wrong reasons.

We decided it was about time we paid another visit, heading first to Martock. This small town is full of honey-coloured hamstone houses and is home to Yandles, an excellent place to buy wood and woodworking supplies. At Yandles you will also find a huge range of crafting books and materials, a very good craft centre and a nice coffee shop / tea room.

Muchelney Abbey on the Somerset Levels

Then on to Muchelney to visit the Abbey (a very atmospheric English Heritage property).  The nearby Priest’s House, owned by the National Trust, is also well worth a look but opening days are limited so do check before you go.

Muchelney means ‘great island'; it unfortunately became an island again for a while earlier this year. In the church we found a truly heartwarming display of cards and letters from people and organisations all over the country, offering practical and moral support to all the people who were affected by the floods.

On the village outskirts is John Leach’s Muchelney Pottery, with a showroom full of John’s unique pottery in lovely earthy colours (some of his work is on display at the Abbey too). The adjoining gallery features exhibitions by local and international artists and craftspeople.

That was just a taste of part of this very interesting area in Somerset, which is well and truly open for business again. You could easily explore the Levels during your stay at Exmoor House, or maybe visit on the way here or on the way home.

Exmoor and Somerset are always open for business

There has been much media coverage of the very unfortunate flooding on the Somerset Levels, and you might be forgiven for thinking that the whole county was under water. This, of course, is not the case.

 Without wishing to make light of the very real problems and hardships faced by people who did get flooded out, the Levels form a small proportion of the county of Somerset, and only part of the Levels has suffered from floods (which is something to be thankful for). It has been heartwarming to see how local communities, and the farming community nationwide, pulled together to help.

The latest initiative is headed up by the Porlock Visitor Centre and FLAG (Flooding on the

At Porlock Visitor Centre. Photo by Maureen Harvey

Levels Action Group). Fifty or so tourism businesses on Exmoor – including us at Exmoor House - have got together to offer free two-night breaks (and other goodies such as visits to attractions) to some of the people directly affected by the floods. You can hear more on
Emma Britton’s BBC Somerset show of 26^th March (5 more days from today to listen to it) and watch out for other media reports.

Meanwhile, the other 97% of Somerset remained open for business throughout all the extreme weather. With motorways and other main road networks unaffected, visitors have been able to travel to and around the area as normal. 

But where were the visitors? Normally, Snowdrop Valley, here at Wheddon Cross, is buzzing in February. This year, only a fraction of the people we might expect came to see the snowdrops – which were looking wonderful - very disheartening for the many people in the village who work hard to make the event a success.  

Businesses throughout Somerset and the South West have been spreading the word via social media that it’s business as usuaI. If you take a look at the @SouthWestUK twitter stream or search for the hashtag #openforbusiness then you’ll see what I mean.  

On the plus side, from a tourism point of view, the whole sad affair has at least let people know that Somerset exists – too often the county is unjustly ignored in favour of Devon and Cornwall. Believe me when I say that Somerset has an incredible amount to offer, and that Exmoor is always a wonderful place to visit – come and see for yourself!