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The finest forests of S-W England that made this personal top are those that offer a chance to hike, bike, recharge, connect with nature and re-learn how to listen to it.
What do you do when you go to a forest?
Do you set your imagination free while doing any of these activities and reflect on other times when our connection with nature was even more potent? Or do you think about the meaning of life; how we live and what remains behind when we move to where we came from?
Do you ask yourself if we had learnt what we were meant to when we arrived here or if we keep repeating the same mistakes from previous existences?
But most of all, do you enjoy being out, forgetting the stresses of day-to-day life, listening to birdsong, seeing and smelling a tree rather than a honking bus?
I aim for all of the above when I go forest hiking for kilometres on end, from spring to late autumn, to breathe fresh air, see nature transform, and forget about the harsh world around us.
I will make the text short on this occasion and let the images speak more about the simple act of forest hiking.
If you live in the region, you probably recognise many of these finest forests of S-W England. If you plan to visit the area, this post will hopefully inspire you to include a forest hike during your stay.
Enjoy reading down, and remember to go out whenever possible! Breathe, reflect, recharge!
Great Wood
Located on Quantock Hills, minutes from Taunton and M5, Great Wood offers endless walking trails for all fitness levels. It is excellent for mountain biking too, with easy access and plenty of parking spaces. Families with children too young to hike can enjoy an outdoor barbeque at a large picnic clearing alongside the stream and the access dirt roads.
Nutcombe Bottom, Tall Trees Trail
Take this easily accessible trail to see the oldest and tallest trees in England, located close to Dunster Castle, out of Minehead. It takes less than an hour to see it and take pictures, but the forest does not end here. You can hike all you want, see Exmoor ponies.
Haddon Hill
Haddon Hill is also part of Exmoor National Park, as the above forests. You have hours of hiking, biking or water sports opportunities around and on Wimbleball Lake (dam and wild ponies photo prospects included).
Stockhill Woods
Part of the Mendip Hills – home of the famous Cheddar Gorge (and cheese!), Wookey Hole Caves and Blagdon Lake – Stockhill Wood is a relatively recent patch of wood.
It is a fragrant pine forest, relatively small – reason enough to leave the beaten path and wander through the thicker vegetation without any fear of getting lost in the big dark wood! Forestry England planted it a few decades ago to decrease the pollution from lead mining activities.
Avalon Marshes
Avalon Marshes is a wetland nature reserve situated alongside the drain that connects Glastonbury to the Bristol Channel. It is one of the best places in Somerset for bird watching; plus, it has a history dating back to the Neolithic.
Westonbirt Arboretum
Paid entry to these woods is required, but it is worth all the money, especially if you visit in autumn, October-November. Westonbirt Arboretum becomes a symphony of colours that will remain with you long after leaving the site.
Forest of Dean
You can cross the bridge to Wales or drive north on the M5 to the Forest of Dean in Gloucestershire. Also home of Puzzlewood, a famous film location for A list movies (Star Wars, Doctor Who, Jack the Giant Slayer to name a few), the Forest of Dean is an absolute must-visit for a variety of forest sculptures, mountain bike trails, endless hiking trails, Go Ape and so much more.
Bonus – Fine Forests of Wales
If you are already planning to visit the finest forests of the S-W of England or are in the region, it is well worth a drive over the Bristol Channel to Wales.
If you head towards Cardiff, perhaps stop at Coch Castle and visit the woods around it called Fforest Fawr – my absolute favourite forest, no matter the season!
Explore Brecon Beacons National Park for a more extended trip, and don’t miss its beautiful waterfalls, such as Henrhyd Falls.
I hope you have a choice of woodland close to you and visit them often if only for clearing your mind and do some exercise. If you plan to visit S-W England, remember to include one of the above in your planning.
Helpful apps to use when roaming forests
Since we are so attached to the technology, you might find these two apps of use when you are in the middle of nowhere (provided there is signal coverage!)
AllTrails: Hike, Bike & Run is practical to find your whereabouts.
PlantNet Plant Identification is efficient for the kids to learn and differentiate between the tree and plant species.
What say you about the finest forests of S-W England?
If you have a preferred woodland that I have not included in this list, please mention it below in the comments. I might know about it or be interested in exploring it!
The Finest Forests of S-W England
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]]>The post Scotland Staycation. How to Make the Best of A Messed Up Year appeared first on The World Is an Oyster.
]]>Vacation Versus Staycation
A Scotland staycation was the easiest choice to make this summer to avoid all the mess that implied airports, location forms, booking and paying for a million tests to prove that one has the freedom to travel? Funny concept, freedom!
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Staycation is a noun that enriched the English dictionary in the first year of the pandemic. Its meaning can be debatable since many insist it implies staying at home and not travelling anywhere.
To me, staycation means not travelling abroad. If I don’t cross an international border and I’m not drinking a cappuccino somewhere in Capri, let’s say, then I am at home, staycationing. There, I made it a verb in its gerund form, too!
It is not something entirely new for me; I had staycationed many years ago in beautiful Pembrokeshire, Wales. Unfortunately, the UK being the UK, the weather was appalling and ruined the entire stay, except for a single day. I swore that was the first and last UK vacation.
Then, the pandemic and all that it brought upon us, plus a greedy government that took one stupid decision after another and ended up imposing tests to travel, deterred me from going to nicer, sunnier places. Not because I cannot afford it, but just because I hate greediness and entitlement. Or the politics. Same rubbish!
I booked Scotland without any expectations. I was not expecting nice weather, nice food, nice people, perhaps just nice places. In all honesty, I picked Peebles because an old friend of my partner owns an inn in the town. I thought if nothing else worked, at least they got to meet after not seeing each other for ages since they worked together in Italy.
Véronique is a lovely Belgian lady who lived over forty years in Italy and ended up in Scotland, of all places. Such is life – she said when I asked her how on earth?
She follows her daughter, who is a bit of a wanderer. From what I gained, the daughter moved to many places, excited by their sound but ended up bored quickly. “Mamma, non mi piace più qui!” So she moves on, expenses mainly supported by mamma.
Her daughter recently moved to Portugal, leaving Véronique in charge of the inn and pub she managed in Peebles. This worked just fine for us; we booked a place where at least one of us knew somebody. If everything else went to bits, at least we had someone to talk to, laugh and drink with.
The Idyllic Scottish Borders
It is a five-and-a-half-hour drive from southwest England to Peebles in The Scottish Borders, mainly on motorways, and it only gets interesting closer to the Lake District exit. But once I got off the boring route, the beauty of the mysterious land (as it says on the plaque at the source of Tweed River) opened up to my tired eyes and swallowed me whole!
After almost two years of motorway driving to and fro work, I was finally on a road that reminded me so much of home, Transylvania. A winding, barely circulated B road on top of a mountain, wild vegetation, and limited wood cover (combated with extensive tree re-planting, as I would gladly notice almost everywhere around the Borders area).
I had to stop and get out of the car, not only for a snack break but to take in the beauty of the place, to breathe the fresh, fragrant air, to forage for wild blueberries right there, in one of the many little parking bays along the road, to hear the cows mooing (not Angus, though, unfortunately) and listen to the shrieks of pray birds.
Suddenly, my expectation level goes from zero to ten. I already liked the places, even if I had not seen much yet and even if this was the only anticipated and expected positive about this trip. Now, I expect a lot more, and boy, do I get so much more than I expected!
After all, John Buchan made this region famous in his brilliant spy mystery and adventure book The Thirty-Nine Steps, which has also seen a few famous ecranisations. I loved the book and highly recommended it. Retracing the main character’s steps feels incredible! It is amazing how our brain stores forgotten information until a place or even brings it back to life, as fresh and clear as it was at the storage moment.
How Peebles and Pizza Tartuffo Truly Made My Scottish Staycation!
Tweed River Valley is incredibly green and fragrant. The lush vegetation essentially hides the road, and I feel like I am in a different country (well, except for a successful independence referendum, I kind of am!)
Peebles is a quaint border town with a beautiful historical heritage (it used to have an essential role in the local woollen industry, for instance) with gorgeous parks, gardens, chic boutiques, home of the famously haunted Neidpath Castle, and so much more.
Every street you walk in the town takes you to a forest before noticing. There is so much greenery here in the summer, and one can actually feel the pure quality of the clean air.
The inn is on the main street, but only a short walk from the riverbank or the many parks offers the opportunity to immerse in nature in minutes and forget about bustling city life. After all, this is what vacation means.
Why Pizza Tartuffo? Because the inn offers food and pizza is on the menu, Tartuffo being one of them. But the best part of it is that Véronique imports all the ingredients from the Emilia Romagna region of north-eastern Italy. Hence, the pizza she makes has the real taste of a real Italian one: divine!
The fact that at the weekend, people would drive an hour and a half from Glasgow only to have pizza in Peebles says it all! I quickly became a fan and had repeat orders any chance I had!
Edinburgh
It takes about forty minutes to drive from Peebles to Edinburgh, and it is the obvious thing to do. Scotland’s capital city for over half a millennium and an excellent university centre, Edinburgh has seen centuries of rich modern history that shows everywhere you turn.
In normal times, tourism is booming, and the city is swarming with visitors. I was there during pandemic restrictions and still heard lots of accents or different languages spoken by enchanted people who had a camera at hand.
It is difficult to capture the importance and the brilliant beauty of such an eclectic, cosmopolitan city in a few lines. It is way better to visit if the opportunity arises.
Of course, the obvious landmarks are a must-see – Edinburgh Castle, the gardens, the National Gallery of Scotland and many other museums or Holyrood Palace just opposite the Scottish Parliament.
To me, it is always more fascinating to wander the cobbled streets in the old town and look for unexpected corners such as the Chocolatarium (how could I ever miss something like this, haha!) or a hidden terrace that makes the best cappuccino you can have outside of Italy. Or take a hike to Arthur’s Seat and contemplate the city from above.
The quaint suburb of Portobello, on the North Sea coast, will make you feel like you’re in Italy! The food, too, if you’re looking for Italian restaurants!
Edinburgh was always on my bucket list, and although I returned a few times during my stay in Peebles, I still feel that I need to return and enjoy more of it, preferably during the Fringe Festival!
Glasgow, Loch Lomond and The Kelpies
Although high on my list to visit, natural forces prevented me from leaving the motorway and heading to the city centre.
On the allocated day to visit Glasgow, it was sunny or partly overcast everywhere in southern Scotland, but dark as dusk and pouring heavily over the city. The only thing left to do was forget about it and continue driving north towards Loch Lomond instead.
I felt annoyed at first, but watching the heavily industrial scenery from the motorway appeased my annoyance. I doubt the city centre is not worth visiting, though, so it remains on the bucket list for the next occasion. I am sure I would find something to please my eye and incite my imagination. A story must be waiting for me in any place that I had not seen yet!
For now, nature and clear skies were more appealing than crossing industrial suburbs through heavy rain.
There were no monsters in the Loch, but I spent an enjoyable day at Lomond that ended with a detour down to River Forth, Stirling Castle and Falkirk, and more importantly, to The Helix: Home of The Kelpies.
In the rich Scottish folklore, kelpies are legendary water spirits that live in the lochs and shift their shape from horses to humans.
Falkirk’s Kelpies are giant metallic horseheads with a certain grace if you manage to see beyond the industrial connection. They must be more spectacular at night with the light spectacle, but to witness it, I need to visit The Helix in a different season, not in August when it is still daylight at 1 AM.
Go Ape at Glentress Forest
With age, I noticed that crazy city life gets me bored easily, and I have a more acute thirst for nature, fresh air, peace and bird song.
Of all the forests around River Tweed Valley and The Borders, Glentress is the best for hiking, mountain biking and the craziest treetop adventure you can wish for. If a 325-metre long zip wire from the top of the highest fir tree over the bike trails and a lake at the bottom of the vale is not enough for your adrenaline levels, I don’t know what else is!
I get dizzy if I have to climb a stepladder, so there is no adrenaline rush for me in Scotland or anywhere else. But it was fun to watch grown-ups hanging some two hundred metres up in the sky and shouting/swearing from the bottom of their lungs while the kids were laughing hysterically!
And it was fun to meet lovely Annie and her brave kids who went all the way to the end of the insane course. Annie, if you ever read this, I’m sending you greetings!
The only thing to keep in mind is that bookings must be made online and in advance, at least for the duration of pandemic restrictions.
While the rest of the tribe went monkeying up the trees and screaming over the valleys, I enjoyed foraging for wild strawberries and blueberries, dodged dozens of bikes on the paths, laughed at the courageous cursing their guts while hanging up in the sky attached with a harness on a thin wire and freaked out when I saw mine doing the same insane thing! But, still, what a great forest and what good it does to humans to spend a few hours surrounded by breathtaking views and nature!
Conclusion
A Scotland staycation makes for some vacation if one has the right state of mind for it! But a holiday abroad is always the better and more fascinating option. I’m looking forward to booking one when these stupid restrictions will cease to exist!
I woke up to the pitter-patter sound of rain on the day of the drive back home. Still, I was not bothered by the otherwise typical music of this entire island. The weather was more than generous for the duration of our stay.
Energised, relaxed and still in holiday mode, it was time to say goodbye to lovely Véronique and the Scottish Borders, head down to York, and eventually return home.
In a way, I felt like I had seen (almost) everything I wanted to see and had done everything I had planned to do, so, to paraphrase others, I could say, enough was enough and non mi piace più qui!
I wonder if Véronique would adopt me. I would love a year somewhere in Tuscany, all expenses paid for by a lovely soul!
Vacation Versus Staycation
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]]>The post The Most Mouthwatering Christmas Treats: British Mince Pies appeared first on The World Is an Oyster.
]]>A Tradition In Name Only
As a migrant who settled in the UK, of course, I got to learn and appreciate local traditions. But I remember staying away from mince pies for several years. The reason? I did not get why a meaty thing would be placed in a pastry sheet and have sugar sprinkled on top! My prejudice wilted when I decided it was time to do some research and get to the bottom of the story!
This post may contain affiliate links, which means I will receive a commission if you purchase through my links at no extra cost to you. Please read the full disclosure for more information. Thank you!
It turned up they were only called mince pies because, historically, they would contain minced meat (mainly mutton). In time, dry fruits would replace the meat, and people would start adding booze to the fruity filling. It would not be the only dessert that uses alcohol, which enhances the taste and preserves the fruits in this case.
Mince pies seem to have made it to Britain in the middle ages, brought by the crusaders from the Middle East. At the time, they were filled with meat, fruits and spices and were not a dessert but the main course. Fibre and protein are not an ideal combination for the human liver, but medieval medicine was not advanced enough to acknowledge this fact.
The most extreme times this traditional pie had seen was the brief kingless period England had known in the seventeenth century. Oliver Cromwell went to the limit, not only banishing pies in an attempt to make the population thrifty but cancelling Christmas altogether.
He was no fun! And he had a warty nose! I saw it in Horrible Histories! (I’m just being a sarcastic bully at the expense of a dead historical character, I know!)
Rightly so, England returned to its monarchic tradition that also meant the reinstatement of Christmas and the continuation of pie baking.
In time, mince pies have seen changes but have never disappeared from the traditional festive table.
Today, the entire English-speaking world would have them at Christmas, filled with a delicious and notably fragrant combination of booze-soaked dried fruits and spices still called mincemeat!
There is even a superstition saying that if you eat one each of the twelve days of Christmas, you’ll be lucky the entire following year! I have to make an effort to get mine to last this long; otherwise, I’m busted!
Given that the past two years were the weirdest in our recent history, I don’t know who would be willing to take a chance!
Merry Christmas!
Mince Pies
Ingredients
For the crust
- 500 g plain flour (4 cups)
- 150 ml melted coconut oil (⅔ cup)
- 150 ml melted unsalted butter (⅔ cup)
- 3 tbsp coconut sugar
- 1 lemon zest
- 1 pinch of salt
For the filling
- 100 g Medjool dates (about ½ cup)
- 100 g dried figs
- 100 g dried blackcurrants
- 100 g raisins
- 100 g dried cranberries
- 100 g dried goji berries (optional; I used them for colour)
- 2 tbsp toasted flaked almonds Skip if you have a nut allergy!
- 2 tbsp cocoa nibs (optional)
- 1 orange (juice+chopped peel)
- 2 orange zest
- 1 tsp nutmeg
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp cloves
- 1 tsp organic dried ginger
- 3 pcs peppercorn
- 4 pcs star anise
- 8 tbsp coconut sugar
- 10 tbsp water
- 2 tbsp Martini (or any liquor)
- 1 vial rum oil essence
Instructions
For the crust
- Sieve the entire quantity of flour in a large bowl, add the sugar, lemon zest, salt and the melted fats. Mix using your hands or a kitchen mixer if you have one.
- The dough will be very crumbly at first, but when you add the eggs, the proteins found in them will help bind it better and work it easier.
- Cover the dough in clingfilm and refrigerate it for at least half an hour (an hour is better). Cooling helps the oily ingredients solidify, and this will make rolling easier. I tried to save time, but working the dough before cooling it was useless; all I got was crumbles spread on the worktop.
For the filling
- Preferably, the mincemeat should be prepared a week before use and kept in the fridge to allow all the savours to mix nicely and create an absolutely intoxicating flavour!
- Grind all spices together.
- Finely chop the large fruits and the orange peel. Mix with the rest of the dried fruits, sugar and orange zest.
- Add the wet ingredients (orange juice, liquor, water). Some recipes recommend lard instead of water, which I find revolting! Besides, it is not healthy to mix pork with fruits!
- Place the mix in a jar, cover with a double clingfilm, then put the lid on and store it in the fridge for about a week.
- If some fancy popstar would “create” a perfume smelling like this insane combination, I would pay money to have it and wear it daily! Thinking of it, if anyone goes ahead and commercializes such a perfume now, I am claiming intellectual property rights!
Make the mince pies
- Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/gas mark 4.
- Remove the pastry dough from the fridge and use a part to roll a 2-3 mm thick sheet.
- With a large glass or a round form, cut the base. Use either a smaller glass or any Christmassy shape to cut the lids/tops. I used a star shape because it covered better than the others.
- Place and adjust the large pieces in the tray, add a spoon of fruit filling, put a pastry lid on and coat with a beaten egg using a brush.
- Repeat until you have used the entire dough.
- Optionally, sprinkle a little bit of coconut sugar, then put the tray on the middle rack in the oven.
- Bake for 15-20 minutes or until the mince pies turn golden brown. Allow cooling when finished and before serving.
Notes
A Tradition In Name Only
The post The Most Mouthwatering Christmas Treats: British Mince Pies appeared first on The World Is an Oyster.
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