England Guide
Bristol, Bath and Somerset
Nether Stowey
On the edge of the Quantock Hills, the pretty village of NETHER STOWEY is best known for its association with Samuel Taylor Coleridge, who in 1796 walked here from Bristol to join his wife and child at their new home. This "miserable cottage", as Sara Coleridge called it, was visited six months later by William Wordsworth and his sister Dorothy, who soon afterwards moved into the grander Alfoxden House, a couple of miles down the road near Holford. The year that Coleridge and Wordsworth spent as neighbours was extraordinarily productive – Coleridge composed some of his best poetry at this time, including The Rime of the Ancient Mariner and Kubla Khan, and the two poets collaborated on the Lyrical Ballads, the poetic manifesto of early English Romanticism. Coleridge Cottage (April– Sept Thurs– Sun 2–5pm; £3.90) reveals the poet's parlour and reading room, and, upstairs, his bedroom and an exhibition room containing various letters and first editions. A walking trail, the Coleridge Way ( 
www.coleridgeway.co.uk ), follows the poet's supposed route between Nether Stowey and Porlock on the Exmoor coast; waymarked with quill signs, the 36-mile hike passes through some of the most scenic parts of the Quantocks and Exmoor.
Nether Stowey's accommodation choices are both on Castle Street: the handsomely furnished Stowey Brooke House, at no. 18 ( 
01278/733356, www.stoweybrookehouse.co.uk ; no credit cards; Price: ₤51-60), and the Old Cider House at no. 25 ( 01278/732228, www.theoldciderhouse.co.uk ; Price: ₤51-60), which also serves quality evening meals. The Rose & Crown on St Mary Street provides ales and bar meals, as does the George next door. A couple of miles east of Nether Stowey, outside the village of Fiddington, Mill Farm offers camping ( 01278/732286, www.millfarm.biz ), horse riding, indoor and outdoor pools, and bike hire.