THERE are several clichés associated with Somerset, some truer than others. As a relatively recent addition to this part of the country, I feel I can offer an outsider’s perspective on what really sets the county apart.
So here is my list of the five things which really stand out to me as being very, very Somerset.
Tractors
If you are on the road for more than five or ten minutes, you are guaranteed to come across a tractor either as it passes you on a narrow road or slowing you down up ahead.
Now, there was a time I would have been angry about getting held up in this way every single day, but here, I like to think these tractors are one of the ways this county forces you to slow down for a bit and just take a breather.
Most people could benefit from a less frantic pace of life and that is one of the many wonderful things Somerset has to offer. The city folk don’t know what they are missing.
And honestly, what’s the point of living surrounded by all this beautiful countryside if we’re speeding through it so quickly, we don’t have time to really appreciate it?
The landscape
Talking of beautiful countryside, the next item on my list is the jaw dropping landscape largely taken for granted.
Offering variety as well as beauty, one minute you might be nipping through the rolling hills of the Quantocks, a place many people visit as a holiday destination, when a few miles down the road you are surrounded by one of the flattest and most breathtaking areas in the country, the Somerset Levels.
As well as the natural landscape, there are innumerable pretty towns and villages which are a pleasure to behold, such as Porlock, Somerton, Selworthy and Castle Cary to name just a few.
Honesty boxes
This is something I’m not sure I ever saw until I came this far south-west – people offering their wares outside their homes with an honesty box placed beside for payment.
Popular front garden offerings include eggs, fruit and veg, and plants.
To see this kind of local trade still going strong in the area is one of the most heart-warming sights and tells you much about the people of Somerset.
Cider farms
Carrying on in a similar vein, we come to cider farms. I’m not talking about the big professional set ups, I mean the smaller operations happening in people’s back gardens. They are absolutely everywhere.
If you’re looking for a rustic rendering of one of Somerset’s most famous exports, you won’t have to travel far before you stumble upon a handwritten sign on a piece of cardboard declaring CIDER accompanied by an arrow pointing you in the right direction.
The roads
Finally I come to the roads.
I confess when I first moved here, I couldn’t understand why Google Maps kept sending me the back way to everywhere. Through country lanes and, at times, up and down what were little more than dirt tracks. I honestly thought the sat nav had a glitch which meant it was avoiding main roads.
Having spent several years here I have come to realise, dual carriageways are few and far between and if a road can comfortably fit a passing lorry and tractor, and has a white line painted down the centre, then that almost certainly is the “main road”.
It took some getting used to but as the years have passed, it no longer seems strange to be turning up roads which look like a scene from Postman Pat. In fact, I love those roads just as I love the views surrounding them, along with the slower pace life of life, and the array of goods I can purchase from picturesque doorsteps along the way.
I’d love to find out what you find very, very Somerset so let me know in the comments below.
Also, as an adopted resident, share with me your favourite picturesque towns and villages to visit so I can make sure I’m not missing out.
A heroic lorry driver helped save the life of a young man sitting over the M62 in Warrington.
The incident took place on Tuesday (June 8) when a man climbed over the railing of the M62 bridge[1] and sat at the edge.
When the lorry driver spotted the man, near Junction 9 at Winwick[2], he positioned his truck directly underneath him.
A distressing picture has now emerged of the man sitting on the edge on the edge, looking down, with the lorry below him.
The image, first reported by LeedsLive[3], has been shared by dozens, praise being posted for the driver of the heavy goods vehicle.
One individual said: “Well done to that lorry driver. Hope the person on the bridge gets the help they need.”
While another added: “Trucker is a good human and deserves the utmost respect.”
Vulnerable Citizen Support Leeds posted: “IT’S OKAY – NOT TO BE OKAY.
“This is a picture from the M62 Motorway Bridge – a passerby has posted it to raise awareness of the situation at hand.
“What people don’t understand is that to jump on the other side of any bridge – indicates something drastically wrong with their mental health. But what’s next……..?
“I have family who have been at this point before and still had to wait a week for an appointment when she found herself on top of a bridge – this post is to raise that awareness that – IT’S OKAY – NOT TO BE OKAY – and you can or should speak out.
“What a trucker – stopping on the hard shoulder and leaving his truck there – to ensure when he did jump – it wasn’t a longer distance to the floor.”
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If you’re looking for a town to enjoy a splendid walk and a locally-sourced latte then you’ll struggle to find a better spot than Usk.
In fact if you go by the Sunday Times’ Best Place to Live[1] guide you won’t find a better spot in the whole of Wales than the quaint Monmouthshire town.
There is a farmers’ market and plenty of independent shops and galleries as well as cafes vying to produce the best fare using local produce. And there’s nothing like enjoying all that goodness in the glorious afternoon sunshine while a 34-tonne articulated lorry chugs down the pavement towards you. Right?
Sometimes you might even get a clout around the ear while you’re walking down the town’s Bridge Street or while taking in the view from the bridge over the river.
“I have been hit multiple times,” said Kathryn Challenger, who has lived in the area all her life – moving from house to house in the same street. “But it gets worse – they come straight over the bridge here and crash into the walls,” she explains from her home directly opposite the bridge. “It’s dangerous and can be quite scary.”
Kathryn Challenger, who has lived in Usk all her life, said she has often been hit by lorries while walking over the bridge(Image: WalesOnline/Rob Browne)
Bridge Street in Usk, where lorries are cramming through the town again as pandemic restrictions have eased(Image: WalesOnline/Rob Browne)
We wait for what feels like five minutes to cross the road at the end of the bridge while two 30-tonne lorries carrying chickens pass by as well as three other equally large vehicles. As they pass the traffic comes to a standstill while the lorries try not to hit each other, the sides of the bridge, and even people’s homes.
Kathryn points: “Look at this one. There are chickens in there. Just a couple of weeks ago one like that went straight into the wall. Sometimes they don’t even realise they’ve done it. But imagine if someone had been walking there.”
The town actually has a ban on lorries coming through that weigh more than 7.5 tonnes – brought in more than 40 years ago after protests over environmental concerns, but issues remain – and residents believe it is due to poor enforcement. Difficulties pinpointing banned vehicles arise because some lorries that are over the weight limit are allowed through Usk to deliver goods.
“Some of them that do come over are ridiculous,” Kathryn added. “I think half of them aren’t allowed to be here – but what can we do?”
There are alternative routes. Lorry drivers could get off at the A449 at Raglan and travel via the A40 or head to the Coldra roundabout.
Residents pointed out that earlier in the pandemic when temporary traffic lights were used at the town’s main Bridge Street road to help social distancing on the narrow pavements – causing traffic pile-ups – considerably fewer lorries used the town as a “rat run”.
The bridge over the Usk in the town centre(Image: WalesOnline/Rob Browne)
Liam Ellis, who drives a 34-tonne truck from Raglan transporting straw to farmers, said he is allowed to travel through Usk, but regularly receives abuse when he reaches Bridge Street – with some motorists refusing to move out of his way in protest.
“It’s not pleasant at all,” he said. “Sometimes I find myself waiting to be shouted at. There is clearly a problem because we’re allowed to drive through there but Usk is an absolute nightmare to drive through. But for me it’s the only logical route to get to my customers.
“A solution could be a separate foot bridge adjacent to the existing bridge so the road at the bridge can be widened for vehicles and people aren’t walking across there. I know it can’t carry on like this. Something needs to be done but I don’t know what the best solution is.”
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There are regular instances of lorries meeting at particularly narrow points in the road before incidents of road rage inevitably ensue. Lorries have also been entangled in scaffolding while resident Angela Colclough said she has seen vehicles “destroy hanging baskets” from the front of people’s homes.
“It’s ridiculous really and it can get you down at times,” she said. “Slowing the vehicles down might discourage them. Perhaps we could do with some speed bumps. The clear answer is another road around the town but I don’t think that will happen now. Why don’t they fine them heavily? If there is no punishment for banned lorries it’ll keep happening.”
Angela Colclough(Image: WalesOnline/Rob Browne)
Lorries meeting at Bridge Street, which residents and traders say is very common and is dangerous(Image: WalesOnline/Rob Browne)
Bridge Street in Usk, where lorries above the 7.5-tonne weight limit are actually banned unless they’re delivering to businesses(Image: WalesOnline/Rob Browne)
Gwent Police said they would only be able to issue fines if they caught a vehicle going across a limit-restricted bridge and then took the vehicle to a weighbridge to find out how much it was over the restriction.
A group of residents and councillors set up a ‘lorry watch’ scheme intended to report banned vehicles to Monmouthshire County Council’s trading standards team but they said they’ve had minimal success in getting banned vehicles punished and have turned attention to “discouraging rather than preventing”.
Councillor Alec Leathwood, who helps run the scheme and was one of the first to get the weight limit introduced in the town more than 40 years ago, said: “I remember lying in the road in protest all those years ago. We’ve been battling for a long time but we’re still stuck with it.
“We had quite a few volunteers but people got fed up because vehicles were being reported and then not much was getting done. We’ve now accepted that there seems to be no way to keep heavy-goods vehicles out but we can discourage them.
“We try to do that by being visible while identifying vehicles that have no right to be here and by campaigning for changes to the road to make drivers aware they’re coming into a very different area. We could also do with better signage so lorry drivers know what the restrictions are well before they get to Usk – not when it’s too late.
“We just hope there isn’t a major incident. Fortunately, so far, we’ve got away with it.”
There is signage around the town warning lorry drivers about the weight limit but councillor Alec Leathwood said there needs to be better signage on the way into Usk(Image: WalesOnline/Rob Browne)
It’s a common sight in Usk(Image: WalesOnline/Rob Browne)
There are also weight limit signs at the car parks in the town(Image: WalesOnline/Rob Browne)
A spokesman for Monmouthshire council said: “There is advanced warning of the weight restriction on the A466 and A4042 so we would anticipate the majority of HGVs travelling through the town would have a requirement to do so – or are contravening the restriction in the full knowledge of their actions.”
Martin Sholl, the joint owner of Number 49 tea room in Bridge Street, said he’s noticed HGV traffic increasing significantly in recent weeks as lockdown restrictions eased. Authorised lorries that are above the weight limit deliver to the business but he said a balance needs to be struck.
“[Bridge Street] is back to being full again and the challenge we have is when two meet and the wing mirrors are well over the pavement either side,” he said. “It doesn’t just cause traffic issues – we’ve had people hit by them. The issue is this road is used as a thoroughfare and that is unlikely to change until there is better enforcement.”
Martin Sholl(Image: WalesOnline/Rob Browne)
Lorry drivers have called for the bridge to be widened by removing the pavement and having a separate foot bridge(Image: WalesOnline/Rob Browne)
He said he “isn’t convinced” the majority of lorries that pass through are authorised. “Many vehicles that come through from Blackwood don’t stop in Usk – they use it as a shortcut to the M50,” he added. “I’ve taken photos of some lorries and you just think to yourself: ‘My goodness, you should not be here’.”
Lynne Morgan at Bunnings of Usk builders’ merchants said: “I don’t think there was any point in the [weight limit] ban in the first place. We need the deliveries and I can’t see a solution that pleases everyone.”
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Police Scotland is investigating the high-value theft of e-scooters from a business premises in Loanhead.
Between 7.15pm on Thursday, 10 June, 2021 and 6am on Friday, 11 June 2021, the building on Dryden Road[1] was broken into and between 100-150 boxed e-scooters[2] stolen.
It is believed the theft specifically happened between midnight and around 2am.
The approximate value of the stolen goods[3] is £100,000. At least three different models were stolen, they are:
• Xiaomi pro 2, which are mainly black in colour with a red rim around the front wheel
• SAB tech 9 pro, which are black in colour
• MS65 replicas, some of which are black and some white in colour.
Due to the volume of stolen items detectives believe those involved in the theft arrived in a vehicle and most likely were using a van or lorry to carry out the theft.
Detective Constable John Lumsden from Dalkeith Police Station[4], said: “Initial enquiries have been carried out into this theft and we continue to review CCTV from the premises and those nearby. I’d ask anyone with private or business CCTV covering the area to check their footage and provide any to us as soon as possible.
“Despite this happening overnight, I’d ask anyone who may have seen any suspicious vehicles in our around the premises in the early hours of Friday morning to report any sightings to officers. Due to the number of stolen goods it is likely that the suspects had to load these into a van or lorry over a period of time.
“I’d ask anyone who has recently been offered an e-scooter, or seen new advertisements online for selling sites matching the above description, to report this to officers so that we can investigate.”
Those with information should report this to Police Scotland on 101 and quote incident number 0616 of 11 June. An anonymous report can be given to Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.
BRAZEN thieves made off with around 150 e-scooters worth £100,000 from a shop in an overnight raid – after cutting through a unit wall.
Stunned staff at Scoot-A-Boot in Loanhead, Midlothian, discovered the huge heist when they turned up for work yesterday morning.
3
E-scooters worth around £100k were nicked from the Midlothian storeCredit: The Sun
3
Owner Rory has been left devastatedCredit: The Sun
It is believed the theft specifically happened between midnight and around 2am.
The approximate value of the stolen goods is £100,000 – with up to 150 e-scooters feared to have been nabbed from the upstairs storage room.
At least three different models were stolen, including the Xiaomi pro 2, black with red rim, black SAB tech 9 pro, and the MS65 replicas, in both black and white.
Due to the volume of stolen items detectives believe those involved used a van or lorry to carry out the theft.
The crooks cut through the side of Scoot-A-Boot’s unit in the town near Edinburgh late last night, before making off with the adult scooters.
They managed to avoid the CCTV within the store, but staff are hoping footage from the street could help nail them.
Owner Rory Boyd said: “They’ve cut through the side of the unit.
“We’re tying to check CCTV. They’ve managed to avoid ours because the scooters were taken from another level.
3
Cops were called out to Scoot-A-Boot this morningCredit: The Sun
“They were in storage up on the top level and they’ve managed to get up without actually setting foot on the ground floor of the store.
“So we’re trying to check the CCTV from out on the street.
“Someone came in between 6am and 7am this morning and thought there had just been an attempted break-in, but we later realised the scooters were gone.”
The raid was reported to cops yesterday morning after staff made the discovery, and officers have launched a probe
Detective Constable John Lumsden from Dalkeith Police Station, said: “Initial enquiries have been carried out into this theft and we continue to review CCTV from the premises and those nearby.
“I’d ask anyone with private or business CCTV covering the area to check their footage and provide any to us as soon as possible.
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“Despite this happening overnight, I’d ask anyone who may have seen any suspicious vehicles in our around the premises in the early hours of Friday morning to report any sightings to officers.
“Due to the number of stolen goods it is likely that the suspects had to load these into a van or lorry over a period of time.
“I’d ask anyone who has recently been offered an e-scooter, or seen new advertisements online for selling sites matching the above description, to report this to officers so that we can investigate.”
Kerry Katona splashes £20k on a protection dog for her family after pal Katie Price was targeted by thieves
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A police investigation is underway in connection with the high-value theft of e-scooters from a business premises in Loanhead.
Between 7.15pm on Thursday, 10 June, 2021 and 6am on Friday, 11 June 2021, the building on Dryden Road was broken into and between 100-150 boxed e-scooters stolen. It is believed the theft specifically happened between midnight and around 2am.
The approximate value of the stolen goods is £100,000. At least three different models were stolen, they are:
• Xiaomi pro 2, which are mainly black in colour with a red rim around the front wheel
• SAB tech 9 pro, which are black in colour
• MS65 replicas, some of which are black and some white in colour.
Due to the volume of stolen items detectives believe those involved in the theft arrived in a vehicle and most likely were using a van or lorry to carry out the theft.
Detective Constable John Lumsden from Dalkeith Police Station, said: “Initial enquiries have been carried out into this theft and we continue to review CCTV from the premises and those nearby. I’d ask anyone with private or business CCTV covering the area to check their footage and provide any to us as soon as possible.
“Despite this happening overnight, I’d ask anyone who may have seen any suspicious vehicles in our around the premises in the early hours of Friday morning to report any sightings to officers. Due to the number of stolen goods it is likely that the suspects had to load these into a van or lorry over a period of time.
“I’d ask anyone who has recently been offered an e-scooter, or seen new advertisements online for selling sites matching the above description, to report this to officers so that we can investigate.”
Those with information should report this to Police Scotland on 101 and quote incident number 0616 of 11 June. An anonymous report can be given to Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.
