The sound of luggage wheels rattling down cobbled streets in the darkness, the
first pop of Friday night’s wine in a cheery little eatery, and, later on,
the indeterminate vowels of a local explaining the rules of bar skittles to
you in a low-beamed snug bar – what could be more calming, more convivial
than a weekend break in small-town Britain?
Here, our writers have chosen five lovely, unheralded small-town heroes for
you to disappear to in search of fine food, somewhere special to stay and a
short, reviving slice of the best of country life.
FROME, Somerset
There are some people who spend a fortune seeking peace of mind on a
psychiatrist’s couch, or who follow hairy gurus into the mountains in search
of inner calm.
But some of us know that all you have to do is drive to Somerset and walk into
the nearest greengrocer’s. “Hello, my loveleey! What can I do you for on
this beautiful day?” Now that’s therapeutic.
Frome (it rhymes with broom, my lovely) is situated deep enough into the West
Country to be sedated by the local languor but it’s not so far gone that you
need a magic carpet to get there for the weekend. The town’s special
character is, ironically, the product of what was once a geographical blight
– throughout most of the 20th century, isolation and local industrial
failures put Frome to sleep, but when it awoke, street upon beautiful street
of terraced cottages were still standing, while in the neighbouring boom
towns they’d been flattened.
Frome now has more listed buildings than any comparable town in the region,
and all those lovely cottages have drawn in an army of artsy,
folksy-lifestyle refugees, giving this minute metropolis a cultural life to
rival somewhere thrice the size.
Three art galleries, two theatres, a concert venue, a crafts centre and a
blossoming spiritual-therapy and alternative-health industry – no wonder
some of the town’s more, erm, prosaic inhabitants look a little bemused by
what’s happened here.
For a visitor, the chief pleasures are shop-pottering along Cheap Street and
Catherine Street, visiting the Black Swan Arts centre (blackswan.org.uk;
10am-5pm) and the Saturday farmers’ market – and then heading out into the
Mendip countryside. A spot to consider with kids, Frome is four miles from
Longleat, stately home of lions and tigers, and a polyamorous marquess, (www.longleat.co.uk),
and the nearby caves at Wookey Hole are a child-spooking favourite (www.wookey.co.uk).
If you’d rather just stroll in some of the nicest country in the west, pick
up walking route maps at the town’s tourist centre.
The dinner: the Garden Cafe on Stony Street (01373 454178; mains from
£7.40) is a suitably organic, free-range new eatery, serving delightful,
wholesome grub on a flower-festooned terrace. For a more traditional treat,
local foodies drive over to the fêted Moody Goose at Midsomer Norton (01761
416784, www.moodygoose.co.uk;
mains from £15).
The digs: the Lamb Inn is another welcome invention: a real-ale B&B
(01373 472042, www.thelamb
innfrome.co.uk; doubles from £100). Contemporary country rooms sit above
the airy town-centre pub, where you’ll get a hearty breakfast and, later, an
erudite range of pints. Or, for chic self-catering, Lazy Dog Cottage (01373
855275, www.lazydogcottage.co.uk;
one double bed) is a delight; from £230 for a weekend.
The diary: every second and fourth Saturday of the month, the market
hosts local craft and farmers’ stalls, and the town’s crammed arts festival
starts on Friday and runs until the 13th (www.fromefestival.co.uk).
The tourist centre (in the Black Swan complex) has, they reckon, the best
events-diary website in small-town Britain: www.frometouristinfo.co.uk.
