Immerse yourself in the serene charm of Aisholt Circular, a 6-mile walk in the Quantock Hills, as you explore a peaceful hamlet nestled deep in the forests and hills, ideal for those seeking to escape the chaos of everyday life.
Deepest, darkest Africa seemed a long way off as I descended into the cool, damp, sylvan hamlet of Aisholt, deep in the Quantock Hills earlier this week.
Aisholt Common
Aisholt Circular: A Quintessential English Countryside Walk
What I promised myself - swooning in the sweltering heat while in the tropics one day - was a fix of cooling, quintessential England as soon as I could get one.
And where better than Aisholt? The place poet Sir Henry Newbolt called "that beloved valley".
"How I hope no one will ever spread the fame of Aisholt," he once wrote, making me feel quite the cad for telling you lot about it. Ah well, if he could write about it why shouldn't I? Moreover, I have the excuse of being in dire need: shaking the dust of Africa from me, Aisholt was the very antidote to sub-tropical trauma. A sort of mental lozenge for the sorely travelled.
Just listen to how Berta Lawrence described the place in her excellent book 'Quantock Country': "Here a limpid stream sings its way through a glen where light and shadows make play among the silver-grey boles and delicate foliage of beeches and where, at a quiet moment, you may see a red deer, his coat sun-dappled, moving between the tree trunks or even crossing the road, so that this spot seems a corner in the Forest of Arden."
Beginning Your Journey at Triscombe Stone
Such images lured me high onto The Quantocks. To find the little car park at Triscombe Stone where this fine circular walk begins. We've been here before in this series of Hikes, on the great ridge ramble which leads from one end of the hills to the other.
Back then I mentioned being able to see the Arden-like Aisholt for below in its sylvan glade. So what could be better than leaving the ridgeway and descending down over the moors to this much heralded hamlet?
It's quite easy to do. Simply follow the main path south-east from the car park for half-a-mile until it divides with one track keeping to the hilltop, while the other follows the edge of a forest to the east.
At this point the walker is presented with an enormous panorama that stretches past Bridgwater across the Somerset Levels towards the distant Mendip Hills. But, just as impressive is the great amphitheatre, consisting of deep-cut combes and bracken covered spurs, which sweeps down towards Aisholt.
Uncovering Hidden Gems Along the Aisholt Circular
You will just be able to make out the church tower some 600 feet below, and towards this you must walk to begin your circumnavigation of this most Quantock corner of The Quantocks.
A lovely old beech hedge keeps you company as you go, bordering a dark, deep, dead industrial forest on your left and the live, dizzying drama of the native heath on your right.
If you wanted you could dive into the forest and find the early hilltop settlement just above Knacker's Hole. It's a Forestry Commission picnic site now with great views of the pine-clad world
