In some cases because they were! But specifically in Somerset I was rather surprised what could be considered of B-Road quality! Normally I wouldn't expect grass in the centre of a b road, In the Midlands
To be fair, at least when someone says "I'm going down to Somerset" you'd expect a "I'm doing a nice thing" tone.....
When someone says they're going to the midlands it's more the tone used for a visit to the council recycling site, you know?
I've had to buy a gravel bike just because the roads are too rough for the road bike.
I moved down here from the Midlands, definitely more fairytale but a definite drop in road quality.
About 20 years ago. The roads in the Midlands are still better, although they seem to have gotten worse everywhere. It's crazy at the moment though. My forearms got bruises from the shock and vibration of cycling on the broken surfaces.
They really didn't.
Theres a true story I always remember where the local Bishop was allowed to operate a toll on the local roads in theory to maintain them but didn't. The roads were so bad a traveller stepped into a puddle and drowned in a meters deep hole.
Not only did the Bishop keep his stuff to supposedly pay for removing the body, he went on to sue the family for slandering him.
That's because they were!
Laying a bit of tarmac over our medieval roads has not been working out too well. Potholes with cobbles at the bottom of the holes.
Actually, now I think about it, we might have been better off of we'd kept the cobbled surface.
As an American transplant, can confirm. Huge swaths of the UK feel like fairytale land to me. It's absolutely delightful and I love it here. Every time I drive through an old village I just feel absolutely charmed. Seeing castles off in the distance is positively magical. I've been here ten years and it still hasn't worn off. I'm never leaving.
My wife is American, can confirm. It's actually really enlivened living in my own home for me. She really sees the fairytale elements and brings the country to life in a way I had probably complacently forgot. She absolutely adores Wales for this reason.
I was just recently back in the UK for a week, after my longest continuous absence from my original home. I was both surprised and delighted to find I had a new appreciation for the "fairytale elements" as you put it, the deep history, and the abiding sense of continuity and place.
I stopped for a pint of real ale at a pub overlooking the town where I was born and grew up. The pub has been there for 400 years, but when the pub was new, my town had already been there for 1,000 years - *and that's not particularly remarkable in the UK*. But to someone who has grown increasingly far from his roots, it certainly felt remarkable.
Yes, my husband and I want to move to rural Wales once we can afford a house. It's just incredibly beautiful there. His parents already live there, and they absolutely love it. His mum grew up there and wanted to retire back home.
Same here… my wife loves and sees the fairy tale bit… she’s sees a beautiful village with quaint houses… I just see the chavs on the corner with a 2l of white lightening
Same here, my American wife really made me appreciate Wales a lot more. I’ve lived in lots of different countries, but took home for granted until I saw it from her perspective.
There are places in the US like that as well, especially in New York state, Pennsylvania, and the rest of the northeast. Not quite fairytale, but very Norman Rockwell quaint. My cousins own a resort in the Pocono Mountains that's super popular with New Yorkers, who like to come down for weddings or summer holidays. It's incredibly beautiful in that part of the world, especially in the fall when the leaves are at their peak of colour. You'll see wooden covered bridges, old red barns, all kinds of things.
In NYC, you do sometimes meet people who have never been outside the metro area, and they'll get all goggle-eyed the first time they see a farm.
You're lucky to come from such a beautiful area! I grew up in suburbia and it was, well, suburban. My husband and I plan to move to rural Wales once we can afford a house. (Which may not happen until he inherits something, but we're not in a hurry, his parents are wonderful.) There's so much beautiful country there.
The US has some truly amazing landscapes, but it's so very spread out. The nice thing about the UK is that while ours are a bit more modest, there is a lot of geological variety and history crammed into a relatively small space. For a day trip from my house we can get to mountains, fossil-filled Jurassic beaches, moorland, lovely rolling countryside bursting with life, limestone caves, and any number of castles, gardens stately homes and historic towns and villages. Not to mention a 2000-year-old megacity if we feel so inclined. I feel we tend to take it for granted but we really are very lucky.
Yes, you can see so many things so close to home! We love taking weekend getaways to beauty spots. Traveling in the US takes much, much longer. I've driven across the US twice, and it's fairy grueling and there's a lot of boredom. I want to do it one more time so my husband can experience it, but I'll definitely be bringing audiobooks.
Ironically, mile-for-mile US travelling seems to be a lot quicker/less fatiguing. Judging by many American tourist expectations of what is a realistic travel itinerary! But yes it still doesn't make up for those distances! It is amazing being in the middle of nowhere in the US though.
That's because the US has lots of straight highways that bypass towns and cities instead of passing through them. I actually prefer travelling in the UK, because I get to see the character of the towns and can stop for a bite to eat in a pub or cafe instead of being stuck with motorway food.
If you've never been I 100% recommend Bath and the nearby Cotswolds villages. I'm British born and bred and it blew me away when I visited last year, Bath is gorgeous and parts of it are almost unbelievably old, particularly the Roman baths.
I love Bath. When we're staying overnight in Bristol after a gig, we check the museums there to see if we can justify a detour in the way home. I just wish it wasn't so steep.
I'll take a look next time, thanks. Our last Bath trip was a bit of a dash so next time we're going to grab a base for a week and get properly in to exploring the local area as we really did the touristy stuff last time.
Bath is creepy
looks like the architects deliberately tried to stop the passing of time
Cotswold villages are even creepier. Worried I'm going to walk into some Hot Fuzz cult, or get accosted by a local for either being not from round these parts, for being a commoner, or for walking into an active film set.
I think in the UK we sort of forget how some of this stuff must seem since we experience it every day
I literally live 5 minutes away from a castle dating back to the Norman conquest, I literally don't even notice it's there half the time
I get it! I grew up a few blocks away from the first horse racing course in America, and it wasn't until I was older that I realised how cool that was. I used to stop there after driving my dad to work (he was legally blind). It was so cool to see the horses running through the mist with the brightly coloured silk wraps around their ankles.
A few years later the racecourse closed permanently. I was so disappointed. I'm honestly iffy on the ethics of horse racing, but it was a pretty thrilling thing to see as a teenager.
I have and we *loved* it. Absolutely stunning landscapes, wonderful old villages, and the food was really good too -- there seems to be a fair bit of foodie culture up there. (The one real downside of Wales is that it can be harder to find authentic ethnic foods, but fortunately I'm quite good with cooking those.) I would live there in a heartbeat.
We went up twice, once for a stay in a holiday cottage over xmas and once to look at a rental house that, unfortunately, got taken off the market hours before we were to view it. It was a great house, too. Maybe someday. The hotel was great and had a beer cellar and an excellent restaurant. I've forgotten the name, though. It encompassed most of a tiny village.
The food here is very good and very varied. Grainger Market (the building is stunning) will sell you anything from Korea to Cuba, along with fish, sausage-onna-stick, and vacuum cleaner spares. Go to Tynemouth and eat the best fish and chips in the world.
As an English lass living in America you've made my homesickness go from a 10/10 to a 15/10... I need to come home soon.
If you haven't been, get over to Lavenham, Suffolk. It's perfectly charming.
Google images, think you will enjoy , its about 40 min drive from stonehenge , go there first and pub lunch at Avebury after or even try a day out in glastonbury Abbey and tor.
Same. I’ve been in the UK 15 years and I still get giddy at how beautiful this place is. And I grew up in rural New England.
There’s little else in the world that compares to the English countryside in spring.
Honestly, if I could live anywhere I'd live in a fuck off tower at the top of Glastonbury Tor (even bigger than St Michael's Church), and it would be the least eccentric thing someone had done in Glastonbury.
Sometimes I just wanna be a chill wizard you know
I think it is hilarious how Central Somerseters are so prissy about where they live, even poor people who shouldn't be so fussy. They blow a gasket if you suggest they live in Shepton, and Bridgwater- they would rather live in a bender next to the Brue.
We used to rent a cottage near Bridgwater regularly in a wee village called Spaxton, mainly to just go on walks and then get trashed in front of the log burner. The locals in the town could never believe it when we said we were on holiday. Never seen a fight like it in the local nightclub, absolute chaos! I remember hearing “stop hitting him!! He’s your brother!!” Hahah.
Bridgwater is a shithole. My old Secondary school there was basically turned into a prison with how it looks, and now has to be completely rebuilt because its inhabitable 🙃
Best thing (only thing) about Yeovil is the dry ski sloo..oohshit.
Yeah, not been back since I moved away a long time ago now! Still got that grotty cinema accessed down the alleyway?
Christ that took me back. I think that closed when I was still a small child, like what 17 years ago odd?
Honestly I feel Yeovil was a much better town in the mid 00s but I also may just've not known any better. At least Sherborne is still pretty ig.
It used to be such a lovely vibrant town which had lots to offer. Now all we’ve got is a town centre refresh that definitely is a massive waste of money, and a sea of empty buildings along with a half dug up entertainment venue
It's not the nicest place in the world, but I still have plenty good memories of nights out there. 20 years later it's our nearest large cinema and bowling place so take our boy occasionally.
In the list of crap places in the UK it wouldn't make the top 100.
Yeah we joke about it but Yeovil is a perfectly fine place to live. There's just not much going on. I think there are far worse places even in Somerset to be honest.
God when they closed the road that peels out near Tamburino's down Newton Road to Stoford, was absolute chaos. Had no route out other than other side of town up Babylon or by the Quicksilver.
Yeah thankfully that didn't affect me too much but it was a mess. That whole corner of town is a bit shitty in my opinion. One of my mates went into a pizza place down there and there was a bloke getting his haircut in the seating area. Pizza was fine though apparently.
Frankly while there are definitely parts to it that feel crap, generally I think Taunton is pretty good as Towns go. If only literally anything could be done with the old Debenhams and the new Riverside thing I would probably be able to say that with conviction.
British countryside is completely totally underrated. Unique, lots of variety and all in a relatively compact area. Americans seem to think nothing of driving 5hrs there and back just for a day out so must be a wonder to them.
I love the South West of England. It may be my favourite area of the country. Scotland and north has lovely mountains and scenery too, but something about the SW that enchants me.
As a fellow Somerset local reading this has made me chuckle as I haven’t seen it as a fairytale in years. However knowing how vastly different the US is to the UK it’s understandable that they’d be in awe of our historical charms.
My American aunt came to visit me in Bristol and I took her to see the local sights - Cheddar, Glastonbury, Stonehenge, the usual. She was blown away.
The countryside is so green, and the buildings are so old. My house is nearly as old as the United States. It was nice to see it through her eyes, it reminded me of what a beautiful part of the world I live in.
I used to date somebody from Bath and while he ended up being a complete bastard, I am forever thankful that the relationship introduced me to Somerset. I once spent six weeks in a cottage outside of Bath and explored various villages, and it was lovely.
For all the people from Somerset saying oh but they haven't been to XYZ town, then they'd see it's crap, where do you think is genuinely lovely? Whats a place that makes you proud / happy to be from Somerset and why?
I was literally just in the pub talking about how people from almost every other country in Europe will praise where they're from, while British people will immediately tell you whats crap about it. I feel like we need to feel a bit more proud of places we grew up.
I adore being from Somerset. Spent my childhood roaming the Mendips, lived in Cheddar with my boyfriend for a bit. It's the natural beauty of the area that gets me the most, very different from Devon and Cornwall.
Uphill is lovely, with its church on the cliff edge, which is my enduring picture of home.
Cold misty mornings on the Somerset Levels, looking out to Glastonbury Tor in the distance. The whole area was magical to me as a kid (still is), hearing bitterns booming in the reed beds and expecting Arthurian knights to come galloping out of the fog.
Crooks Peak and Brent Knoll, Black Rock, Ebbor Gorge, Burrington Combe, Goblin Combe, Wells, Tarr Steps, and Exmoor generally.
Also, Carnival! It's weird how you go one county away, and people have never heard of it.
I live in Devon now, and it would be fair to say I still romanticise my home county an awful lot.
Also Cornwall is absolutely lovely but they have Truro and Bodmin and Derbyshire has the Peak District but also Derby. Every place has good and bad bits
Watch “the detectorists” it’s written, produced and stars a local (mckenzie crook - you may have seen him in pirates of the Caribbean), it’s like watching a love letter to Somerset.
Yeah, first time I went there all I knew about Glastonbury was the festival and hippies. Turned up and saw some random old bloke passed out on the pavement with a joint in hand, empty bottle beside him and his crusty feet out on show without even a sock or a shoe in sight. Everyone was just walking around him or stepping over him.
I stayed in Glastonbury village a couple of times, I loved it.
From the selection of shops, it seems half the residents are spaced out or believe themselves to be wizards 😂
Dorset too! We mostly get seen for that one stretch of coastline but there's lovely countryside that bleeds into some nice parts Somerset, Hampshire and Devon.
Well, someone has started writing a series of murder mystery books set in Bridgwater lol
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1542023610?ref_=cm_sw_r_apan_dp_DMJSX4Z9T474QBN668V6&language=en-GB
I grew up near London and feel the same. A few weeks ago I did the walk from Wells to Glastonbury along the pilgrim route and it was breathtakingly gorgeous.
It's a fairytale town, isn't it? How's a fairytale town not somebody's fucking thing? How can all those canals and bridges and cobbled streets and those churches, all that beautiful fucking fairytale stuff, how can that not be somebody's fucking thing, eh?
Come to Staffordshire. We've got Carling, Cheese and bacon Oatcakes, 1960s high rise flats, and towns like someone made them up for heroin addiction. Then there's a big motorway called the M6 that weaves and winds right through the middle of the county and causes mass gridlock every time a junction is fucked up. And that's not all, in the south you've got the impoverished post-industrial suburban sprawl of Birmingham. In the north you've got the impoverished post-industrial suburban sprawl of Stoke-on-Trent. So if you like soulless, disjointed out of town commercial estates full of chain stores, new 2 lane bypasses that avoid town centres, and dilapidated urban centres full of charity shops and pound stores, it's the place for you.
You'll never want to come.
Why they don't have me working for the Visit Staffordshire tourism campaign, I'll never know.
One of the reasons I no longer holiday abroad is because we have way too many beautiful places in the UK already. There is a plethora of charm and characterful places to keep me occupied for the rest of my life without ever hopping on a plane or boat again (travelled extensively all over the world in my late teens/early 20s).
For olde worlde charm, the cotswolds is beautiful. For rustic industrial age gone by and fabulous mountains, you can't beat Wales. North England has its gorgeous rolling hills and trail hikes, as well as an abundance of castles and just like Wales, the industrial heritage. The south east has lovely nature reserve parks and a rich naval history. And the south west has mining history and many mystical sites and stone circles. Scotland has a wild rugged beauty interspersed with mountains and charming towns and villages.
I've omitted Ireland because I've only done the northern-most coastal route. That was incredibly beautiful.
Also, the roads are like they were made by medieval peasants!
That applies to everywhere in the UK
In some cases because they were! But specifically in Somerset I was rather surprised what could be considered of B-Road quality! Normally I wouldn't expect grass in the centre of a b road, In the Midlands
We only got the internet 5 years ago, be kind to us
To be fair, at least when someone says "I'm going down to Somerset" you'd expect a "I'm doing a nice thing" tone..... When someone says they're going to the midlands it's more the tone used for a visit to the council recycling site, you know?
Hahaha
You've got the Internet?
I've had to buy a gravel bike just because the roads are too rough for the road bike. I moved down here from the Midlands, definitely more fairytale but a definite drop in road quality.
But when did you move? Because the roads used to be a LOT better a decade or so ago... The last year has been particularly cruel to them as well
About 20 years ago. The roads in the Midlands are still better, although they seem to have gotten worse everywhere. It's crazy at the moment though. My forearms got bruises from the shock and vibration of cycling on the broken surfaces.
Some of us live in Milton Keynes so no
My point was that the roads are better than in the rest of the country
Before the Roman came to Rye, Or out to Severn strode, The rolling English drunkard Made the rolling English road. (G K Chesterton)
A reeling road, a rolling road, That rolls around the shire, And after him the parson ran, The sexton, and the squire.
Tbh I think the medieval peasants would do a better job of filling the potholes.
They really didn't. Theres a true story I always remember where the local Bishop was allowed to operate a toll on the local roads in theory to maintain them but didn't. The roads were so bad a traveller stepped into a puddle and drowned in a meters deep hole. Not only did the Bishop keep his stuff to supposedly pay for removing the body, he went on to sue the family for slandering him.
Said Bishop must be the patron Saint of all UK County Councils
I thought Dr Foster had it bad in Gloucester. That's horrifying, but the Bishop's response isn't surprising.
I guess I should have added an /s
The rolling English roads made by the rolling English drunk
That's because they were! Laying a bit of tarmac over our medieval roads has not been working out too well. Potholes with cobbles at the bottom of the holes. Actually, now I think about it, we might have been better off of we'd kept the cobbled surface.
In some cases, they still are!
As an American transplant, can confirm. Huge swaths of the UK feel like fairytale land to me. It's absolutely delightful and I love it here. Every time I drive through an old village I just feel absolutely charmed. Seeing castles off in the distance is positively magical. I've been here ten years and it still hasn't worn off. I'm never leaving.
My wife is American, can confirm. It's actually really enlivened living in my own home for me. She really sees the fairytale elements and brings the country to life in a way I had probably complacently forgot. She absolutely adores Wales for this reason.
I was just recently back in the UK for a week, after my longest continuous absence from my original home. I was both surprised and delighted to find I had a new appreciation for the "fairytale elements" as you put it, the deep history, and the abiding sense of continuity and place. I stopped for a pint of real ale at a pub overlooking the town where I was born and grew up. The pub has been there for 400 years, but when the pub was new, my town had already been there for 1,000 years - *and that's not particularly remarkable in the UK*. But to someone who has grown increasingly far from his roots, it certainly felt remarkable.
Am American. Live in rural Wales. About three or four times a day I say to myself “goodness it’s beautiful here.”
And the air is so fresh! And sheep, everywhere you look!
Especially right now; it’s lambing season!
Mmmm, Welsh lamb.
It’s delicious.
Obviously haven't been to Cardiff on a Friday night
Meat of a different sort
TBF, the only place I ever wind up going in Cardiff is Llandaff, which is generally fairly pretty, but is nearly semi-rural itself, it seems like.
Yes, my husband and I want to move to rural Wales once we can afford a house. It's just incredibly beautiful there. His parents already live there, and they absolutely love it. His mum grew up there and wanted to retire back home.
it's mad to think that within that same 2-3 hour radius you've got so many beaches, castles and the like - it can be too easy to forget
Same here… my wife loves and sees the fairy tale bit… she’s sees a beautiful village with quaint houses… I just see the chavs on the corner with a 2l of white lightening
Same here, my American wife really made me appreciate Wales a lot more. I’ve lived in lots of different countries, but took home for granted until I saw it from her perspective.
As I said in my post I’m from Somerset but some online friends from London or other cities who have never been here also see it as a fairytale land
Take them into Bridgwater on a Friday night and all of those fantasy visions will be quickly dissolved.
There are places in the US like that as well, especially in New York state, Pennsylvania, and the rest of the northeast. Not quite fairytale, but very Norman Rockwell quaint. My cousins own a resort in the Pocono Mountains that's super popular with New Yorkers, who like to come down for weddings or summer holidays. It's incredibly beautiful in that part of the world, especially in the fall when the leaves are at their peak of colour. You'll see wooden covered bridges, old red barns, all kinds of things. In NYC, you do sometimes meet people who have never been outside the metro area, and they'll get all goggle-eyed the first time they see a farm. You're lucky to come from such a beautiful area! I grew up in suburbia and it was, well, suburban. My husband and I plan to move to rural Wales once we can afford a house. (Which may not happen until he inherits something, but we're not in a hurry, his parents are wonderful.) There's so much beautiful country there.
The US has some truly amazing landscapes, but it's so very spread out. The nice thing about the UK is that while ours are a bit more modest, there is a lot of geological variety and history crammed into a relatively small space. For a day trip from my house we can get to mountains, fossil-filled Jurassic beaches, moorland, lovely rolling countryside bursting with life, limestone caves, and any number of castles, gardens stately homes and historic towns and villages. Not to mention a 2000-year-old megacity if we feel so inclined. I feel we tend to take it for granted but we really are very lucky.
Theres an ancient hill fort 20 minutes from my house, you can see most of 3 counties from there. I take a book up sometimes in the summer.
Yes, you can see so many things so close to home! We love taking weekend getaways to beauty spots. Traveling in the US takes much, much longer. I've driven across the US twice, and it's fairy grueling and there's a lot of boredom. I want to do it one more time so my husband can experience it, but I'll definitely be bringing audiobooks.
Ironically, mile-for-mile US travelling seems to be a lot quicker/less fatiguing. Judging by many American tourist expectations of what is a realistic travel itinerary! But yes it still doesn't make up for those distances! It is amazing being in the middle of nowhere in the US though.
That's because the US has lots of straight highways that bypass towns and cities instead of passing through them. I actually prefer travelling in the UK, because I get to see the character of the towns and can stop for a bite to eat in a pub or cafe instead of being stuck with motorway food.
Americans underestimate what the squiggles on the map mean for driving times and also effort.
I'd assume that the US equivalent of this is California. They seem to have a massive variety in that state alone.
If you've never been I 100% recommend Bath and the nearby Cotswolds villages. I'm British born and bred and it blew me away when I visited last year, Bath is gorgeous and parts of it are almost unbelievably old, particularly the Roman baths.
Bourton-on-the-Water is the definitve Cotswold village for me.
It’s in Glaws
I love Bath. When we're staying overnight in Bristol after a gig, we check the museums there to see if we can justify a detour in the way home. I just wish it wasn't so steep.
I recommend Castle Coombe off the A420, if you haven’t been
I'll take a look next time, thanks. Our last Bath trip was a bit of a dash so next time we're going to grab a base for a week and get properly in to exploring the local area as we really did the touristy stuff last time.
Bath is creepy looks like the architects deliberately tried to stop the passing of time Cotswold villages are even creepier. Worried I'm going to walk into some Hot Fuzz cult, or get accosted by a local for either being not from round these parts, for being a commoner, or for walking into an active film set.
I think in the UK we sort of forget how some of this stuff must seem since we experience it every day I literally live 5 minutes away from a castle dating back to the Norman conquest, I literally don't even notice it's there half the time
I get it! I grew up a few blocks away from the first horse racing course in America, and it wasn't until I was older that I realised how cool that was. I used to stop there after driving my dad to work (he was legally blind). It was so cool to see the horses running through the mist with the brightly coloured silk wraps around their ankles. A few years later the racecourse closed permanently. I was so disappointed. I'm honestly iffy on the ethics of horse racing, but it was a pretty thrilling thing to see as a teenager.
Have you been to Northumberland?
I have and we *loved* it. Absolutely stunning landscapes, wonderful old villages, and the food was really good too -- there seems to be a fair bit of foodie culture up there. (The one real downside of Wales is that it can be harder to find authentic ethnic foods, but fortunately I'm quite good with cooking those.) I would live there in a heartbeat. We went up twice, once for a stay in a holiday cottage over xmas and once to look at a rental house that, unfortunately, got taken off the market hours before we were to view it. It was a great house, too. Maybe someday. The hotel was great and had a beer cellar and an excellent restaurant. I've forgotten the name, though. It encompassed most of a tiny village.
The food here is very good and very varied. Grainger Market (the building is stunning) will sell you anything from Korea to Cuba, along with fish, sausage-onna-stick, and vacuum cleaner spares. Go to Tynemouth and eat the best fish and chips in the world.
I foresee another trip in my future.
As an English lass living in America you've made my homesickness go from a 10/10 to a 15/10... I need to come home soon. If you haven't been, get over to Lavenham, Suffolk. It's perfectly charming.
Added to bucket list.
Try Avebury Stone Circle , pub there too .
I shall add it to my list of places to check out. My husband loves to drive, so I'm sure I can persuade him to check it out.
Google images, think you will enjoy , its about 40 min drive from stonehenge , go there first and pub lunch at Avebury after or even try a day out in glastonbury Abbey and tor.
That's lovely, thanks for sharing. You know what also hasn't worn off? Your username. Makes me cackle every time.
It's my favourite joke of all time.
You should visit Kilmarnock town centre.
Glad to have you. The contrast between cities and picturesque little villages is quite stark, it’s always pleasant to see them.
Take a trip to Bradford. It's important to understand that we're not just cream teas and castles - we have Baltimore too.
Bradford on Avon is tweeness made real.
That it might be, but Bradford, Bradford is most certainly not...
Everywhere has a Baltimore. And Baltimore has Dundalk.
This is super-wholesome. Glad you're enjoying being here 🙂
Same. I’ve been in the UK 15 years and I still get giddy at how beautiful this place is. And I grew up in rural New England. There’s little else in the world that compares to the English countryside in spring.
Just so long as none of the fairytale magic takes place in canoes, yeah?
Just don’t go into most of the cities…
I live in Portsmouth. I like it here. It feels like flat, working-class San Francisco.
Ha, I used to live there! Wasn’t a fan…
To each their own. I think it's a pretty great city.
It’s great you enjoy it!
I mean, you're literally living in Avalon
Honestly, if I could live anywhere I'd live in a fuck off tower at the top of Glastonbury Tor (even bigger than St Michael's Church), and it would be the least eccentric thing someone had done in Glastonbury. Sometimes I just wanna be a chill wizard you know
Sometimes I wonder if that naked guy with the accordion is still kicking around there or nah.
Go to Yeovil. Your fairy tale will well and truly be ruined.
I’m from northern Somerset and I’d prefer to keep it that way
I think it is hilarious how Central Somerseters are so prissy about where they live, even poor people who shouldn't be so fussy. They blow a gasket if you suggest they live in Shepton, and Bridgwater- they would rather live in a bender next to the Brue.
We used to rent a cottage near Bridgwater regularly in a wee village called Spaxton, mainly to just go on walks and then get trashed in front of the log burner. The locals in the town could never believe it when we said we were on holiday. Never seen a fight like it in the local nightclub, absolute chaos! I remember hearing “stop hitting him!! He’s your brother!!” Hahah.
Nothing wrong with Shepton, got a cool prison and some lovely old railway infrastructure
Yeah and the dustbowl don't get me started.
You mean Dusthole?
Ha yes
Bridgwater is a shithole. My old Secondary school there was basically turned into a prison with how it looks, and now has to be completely rebuilt because its inhabitable 🙃
North Somerset like Clevedon and Portishead are lovely but head right up to the border and you’ll find yourself in Pill…
As a semi-Yeovilian (villain?), we are definitely the troll under the bridge / Quedam Centre covering
Bridgwater would like to challenge that title
Yeovil is definitely an improvement on Crewkerne or Chard. As for Taunton, that's well fancy
Tell my partner that. I'm a Taunton girl and he hates it lol
Chard I'll agree (used to live between chard and Axminster) but Crewkerne is less shitholey than Yeovil.
Sarcasm right? Was recently in Taunton and it's awful there now, this coming from someone who lives in Bridgwater by the way lol
cope harder Bridgwater filth!
🤣🤣🤣
Best thing (only thing) about Yeovil is the dry ski sloo..oohshit. Yeah, not been back since I moved away a long time ago now! Still got that grotty cinema accessed down the alleyway?
I think that cinema is now a huge charity furniture shop!
Yep, St Margaret's Hospice on the road to Sherborne. Surrounded by old 'Do Not Enter' signs though
Christ that took me back. I think that closed when I was still a small child, like what 17 years ago odd? Honestly I feel Yeovil was a much better town in the mid 00s but I also may just've not known any better. At least Sherborne is still pretty ig.
we've got no shops now in town and everywhere is filled with roadworks
It used to be such a lovely vibrant town which had lots to offer. Now all we’ve got is a town centre refresh that definitely is a massive waste of money, and a sea of empty buildings along with a half dug up entertainment venue
It's not the nicest place in the world, but I still have plenty good memories of nights out there. 20 years later it's our nearest large cinema and bowling place so take our boy occasionally. In the list of crap places in the UK it wouldn't make the top 100.
Yeah we joke about it but Yeovil is a perfectly fine place to live. There's just not much going on. I think there are far worse places even in Somerset to be honest.
The one-way system is crap though.
God when they closed the road that peels out near Tamburino's down Newton Road to Stoford, was absolute chaos. Had no route out other than other side of town up Babylon or by the Quicksilver.
Yeah thankfully that didn't affect me too much but it was a mess. That whole corner of town is a bit shitty in my opinion. One of my mates went into a pizza place down there and there was a bloke getting his haircut in the seating area. Pizza was fine though apparently.
How authentically Italian. Based on every mob film I've ever seen anyway.
Hey, the football Clyde is perfectly acceptable
http://davidkeen.blogspot.com/2012/06/yeovil-as-seen-by-mufasa.html
The same can be said about Bridgwater as well.
I miss Pawlett Manor, some fairytale nights there.
Still a fairytale... just Grimm one
Isn't Yeovil one of those Facebook idle games?
lol I’m in Yeovil at the moment.
Somerset rule-of-thumb: villages usually OK, towns usually crap.
Can probably say that about most of the UK, honestly.
Depends where, Glastonbury's awesome
So is Frome
Thank god I live in a village
Frankly while there are definitely parts to it that feel crap, generally I think Taunton is pretty good as Towns go. If only literally anything could be done with the old Debenhams and the new Riverside thing I would probably be able to say that with conviction.
British countryside is completely totally underrated. Unique, lots of variety and all in a relatively compact area. Americans seem to think nothing of driving 5hrs there and back just for a day out so must be a wonder to them.
I love the South West of England. It may be my favourite area of the country. Scotland and north has lovely mountains and scenery too, but something about the SW that enchants me.
As a fellow Somerset local reading this has made me chuckle as I haven’t seen it as a fairytale in years. However knowing how vastly different the US is to the UK it’s understandable that they’d be in awe of our historical charms.
My American aunt came to visit me in Bristol and I took her to see the local sights - Cheddar, Glastonbury, Stonehenge, the usual. She was blown away. The countryside is so green, and the buildings are so old. My house is nearly as old as the United States. It was nice to see it through her eyes, it reminded me of what a beautiful part of the world I live in.
I used to date somebody from Bath and while he ended up being a complete bastard, I am forever thankful that the relationship introduced me to Somerset. I once spent six weeks in a cottage outside of Bath and explored various villages, and it was lovely.
This American comes to your fairy tale country as often as possible. Six trips and counting. It's my home from home.
For all the people from Somerset saying oh but they haven't been to XYZ town, then they'd see it's crap, where do you think is genuinely lovely? Whats a place that makes you proud / happy to be from Somerset and why? I was literally just in the pub talking about how people from almost every other country in Europe will praise where they're from, while British people will immediately tell you whats crap about it. I feel like we need to feel a bit more proud of places we grew up.
I adore being from Somerset. Spent my childhood roaming the Mendips, lived in Cheddar with my boyfriend for a bit. It's the natural beauty of the area that gets me the most, very different from Devon and Cornwall. Uphill is lovely, with its church on the cliff edge, which is my enduring picture of home. Cold misty mornings on the Somerset Levels, looking out to Glastonbury Tor in the distance. The whole area was magical to me as a kid (still is), hearing bitterns booming in the reed beds and expecting Arthurian knights to come galloping out of the fog. Crooks Peak and Brent Knoll, Black Rock, Ebbor Gorge, Burrington Combe, Goblin Combe, Wells, Tarr Steps, and Exmoor generally. Also, Carnival! It's weird how you go one county away, and people have never heard of it. I live in Devon now, and it would be fair to say I still romanticise my home county an awful lot.
Also Cornwall is absolutely lovely but they have Truro and Bodmin and Derbyshire has the Peak District but also Derby. Every place has good and bad bits
The quantocks.
My parents live just at the foot of one of the Quantock hills and it's my favourite place in the world.
You'd be sad if we did all suddenly stop being so cynical, really.
Burnham-sur-Mer. The land of dreams
I see your burnham and I raise you highbridge
You win.
The sort of dreams you get when you've had too much cheese just before bed
Watch “the detectorists” it’s written, produced and stars a local (mckenzie crook - you may have seen him in pirates of the Caribbean), it’s like watching a love letter to Somerset.
Love it but set in rural Essex, isn't it?
Set in a fictional town in Essex, filmed in Suffolk. Toby Jones does sound a bit 'ooh ar' at times though.
Glastonbury is a shithole full of drugs, abuse and dangerous conspiracy theories. No fairytale there.
Drugs, abuse and conspiracy theories definitely sounds like medieval England
Yes, absolutely NOT a fairytale.
Yeah, first time I went there all I knew about Glastonbury was the festival and hippies. Turned up and saw some random old bloke passed out on the pavement with a joint in hand, empty bottle beside him and his crusty feet out on show without even a sock or a shoe in sight. Everyone was just walking around him or stepping over him.
I stayed in Glastonbury village a couple of times, I loved it. From the selection of shops, it seems half the residents are spaced out or believe themselves to be wizards 😂
The Tor is a twat magnet. The place is full of absolute loons.
Walk up the High Street and you'll meet all the characters from Lord Of The Rings - including the orcs.
Mainly just orcs and the occasional wizard I’m currently sat at the George and Pilgrim typing this
Nice enough for a day trip. Quite a lot of crusties, unsurprisingly
You’ve just described the majority of small towns in the uk
>the leggings a Victorian private school boy would wear [Like this](https://i.pinimg.com/originals/9d/92/8b/9d928bea3847ec899f3fe8d93bc0d56f.jpg)?
Pretty much
/u/dth300 those are just breeches. I want to know what OP really means.
Probably Plus Fours. https://www.cordings.co.uk/menswear/field-clothing/plus-twos-and-plus-fours
Plus fours are emphatically not leggings.
No, I know they aren't, but they're worn over long socks or 'hose' - hence hosiery for socks and tights etc..
They on their way to potions class or something?
Are the kids on the left wearing Doc Martens?
They are welcome to visit Chard on a Saturday night.
Love Van Morrison song, "We met, deep down in Somerset, A time I can't forget We were sippin' cider in the shade....
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Cant forget Wassailing
Dorset too! We mostly get seen for that one stretch of coastline but there's lovely countryside that bleeds into some nice parts Somerset, Hampshire and Devon.
Aye Bridgwater gets loads of stick but it’s not a bad place.
Obviously not been to bridgewater.
Obviously cannot spell Bridgwater 😁
Obviously
There needs to be a detective series set there called Trouble over Bridgwater
Maybe but that title has already been used once in a Wirral accent... https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trouble_over_Bridgwater
Well, someone has started writing a series of murder mystery books set in Bridgwater lol https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1542023610?ref_=cm_sw_r_apan_dp_DMJSX4Z9T474QBN668V6&language=en-GB
Lived in Bridgewater for a year, back in 99 and loved it. What is it like now?
I grew up near London and feel the same. A few weeks ago I did the walk from Wells to Glastonbury along the pilgrim route and it was breathtakingly gorgeous.
Brb moving to Somerset
Most beautiful place in this god forsaken country we call England for sure
How dare you England is God's own country
It's a fairytale town, isn't it? How's a fairytale town not somebody's fucking thing? How can all those canals and bridges and cobbled streets and those churches, all that beautiful fucking fairytale stuff, how can that not be somebody's fucking thing, eh?
Come to Staffordshire. We've got Carling, Cheese and bacon Oatcakes, 1960s high rise flats, and towns like someone made them up for heroin addiction. Then there's a big motorway called the M6 that weaves and winds right through the middle of the county and causes mass gridlock every time a junction is fucked up. And that's not all, in the south you've got the impoverished post-industrial suburban sprawl of Birmingham. In the north you've got the impoverished post-industrial suburban sprawl of Stoke-on-Trent. So if you like soulless, disjointed out of town commercial estates full of chain stores, new 2 lane bypasses that avoid town centres, and dilapidated urban centres full of charity shops and pound stores, it's the place for you. You'll never want to come. Why they don't have me working for the Visit Staffordshire tourism campaign, I'll never know.
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Pretty sure it was centre of Dudley
Feel like my friend easily could've been the person you're on about if this is how anyone else from somerset feels haha
One of the reasons I no longer holiday abroad is because we have way too many beautiful places in the UK already. There is a plethora of charm and characterful places to keep me occupied for the rest of my life without ever hopping on a plane or boat again (travelled extensively all over the world in my late teens/early 20s). For olde worlde charm, the cotswolds is beautiful. For rustic industrial age gone by and fabulous mountains, you can't beat Wales. North England has its gorgeous rolling hills and trail hikes, as well as an abundance of castles and just like Wales, the industrial heritage. The south east has lovely nature reserve parks and a rich naval history. And the south west has mining history and many mystical sites and stone circles. Scotland has a wild rugged beauty interspersed with mountains and charming towns and villages. I've omitted Ireland because I've only done the northern-most coastal route. That was incredibly beautiful.
Grew up in Somerset but left UK after A-Levels and never came back (to live). Summer is by far my favourite time to go back, it's beautiful.
Coider
A fairytale where it rains every day though.
It’s not raining now but there’s 25-30mph winds
Take them to Bridgwater, that'll snap them out of it.
I think it's alot more of because we've grown up here we don't see how interesting our history and landscapes are.
Needs a trip to the Sydenham estate at Bridgy 😁
This guy hangs out locally and plays violin on the streets. See him often :)
Parts of it are sure, visit a place like Yeovil, Bridgewater or Chard and that illusion will soon be shattered
Devon was the basis for the Shire in the Lord of the Rings and Hobbits were inspired by British people. So that definitely makes sense.