"The Oldest Village in England?" Axbridge by JJBlondie

Thursday morning found Gillie and I packing our bags and heading to Paddington Train Station for our first class ride to Bristol Parkway, 150 miles West of London and England’s 7th largest city. There we sat for a few hours waiting for my friend Ann to pick us up and take us to her house in a tiny village 30 minutes outside Bristol. Axbridge is a small picturesque village of about 2,000 people in Somerset on the River Axe. It is at the southern portion of the Mendip Hills, a range of limestone hills, between Bristol and Bath (http://www.axbridge-tc.gov.uk/index.html).

My friend's backyard

After a light lunch of white wine, mixed green salad, and cheese and bread on Ann’s patio in her beautiful garden we wandered through the medieval town of Abridge. In the town square we found a 15th century church and the King John’s Hunting Lodge, as well as a hotel and inn, pub, post office, and other local shops. Axbridge’s history dates back to King Alfred (8th Century) and was known in the 10th century to defend Cheddar Manor in nearby Cheddar Village. The Saint John the Baptist’s Church was a beautiful old building surrounded by the town cemetery and we wandered around freely with no competing tourists nearby to ruin photos or get in our space.

Ann's Front Door

After cider at one of the two pubs in town we returned to Ann’s for a wonderful patio dinner of grilled scallops and shrimp, bacon wrapped lamb, asparagus, and sun dried tomatoes. We consumed many bottles of good French wine from Ann’s collection and Gillie even received some painting instructions from Ann, whose watercolor postcards from her travels around Europe adorn the walls of my home.

• Pros:quaint, small, quiet
• Cons:3 [ubs, 1 hotel, small grocery store
• In a nutshell:A surprisingly pleasant village