Kiwi Roaming

Mike, Barbara and their family are having a holiday in the beautiful Somerset village of Bruton, and they kindly invited us to join them for a few nights – it was pretty magical.

At Christmastime we had stayed nearby in Nunney, another gorgeous Somerset village. Bruton is larger and there is a main road that runs through it so the dynamic is different. The house we stayed at is amazing, it was once part of a brewery which has been extensively renovated with a large garden facing kitchen dining room, spilling onto a large patio where we spent our mornings and evenings.

Steve and I hired a car from Milton Keynes for 5 days and drove down via stopping at a fabulous outlet mall for new sandals (my cheap Hannah’s ones had finally broken) and t-shirts for Steve. The house is located on High Street which is now a one way street with houses on each side with a narrow narrow footpath for pedestrians, no room for parking. There is an entrance to one of the upper floors off High Street but the main entrance is down below via Lower Backway, a cute wee laneway which provides drive on access to the High Street homes with a river running along the other side. Photos above and below are our house, plus our wee hire car.

Next door to us is the Hugh Sexey hospital, built in 1630 which seems to be the general age of the whole town. Hugh Sexey was a philanthropist who left his fortune in trust for this hospital (now a convalescence home for poor elderly people) a range of schools and other public service buildings. Great name.

Our main focus for the mini break was dedicated to the vibrant 3 year old chatterbox in our midst. She had me playing endless games of kerplunk & connect 4, reading never ending stories along with sharing my breakfast, water bottle and popcorn. And with energy to burn it was great having a large 4 storied house and big backyard.

We visited the local pub just up the road for a local cider and sat in their lovely upper garden one afternoon after a big walk. So quiet and relaxing, with wood pigeons flying low to check us out, the only downside was the occasional wasp attracted to our ciders. We went out for two amazing long lunches, I will write about these separately. Both set in extensive gardens with sculpture art to explore.

The others had travelled to Bruton from London via train and ordered their groceries for delivery as there is a service station with a Greggs (like Pret but more sausage rolls) and a Spa here but that’s about all. The majority of the village is houses, churches and schools including an exclusive private boarding collage (which started its life as one of Hugh Sexey’s free schools for boys).

I would recommend stepping back in time and visiting Bruton, it is a really special place, so relaxing and steeped in history.