The Somerset village of Dinder and its Church of St. Michael.

The sleepy Somerset village of Dinder lies tucked away in the southern foothills of the Mendips.  It is but a short drive off the road between Wells and Shepton Mallet, and this summer I took the opportunity to explore it.  Dinder does not appear to have changed much since members of The Women’s Institute described it 35 years ago.

The Somerset Village Book (Countryside Books, 1988) compiled by The Somerset Federation of Women’s Institutes provides this charming chronicle of the village.

“The little village of Dinder, with its 150 inhabitants, lies in the valley between Wells and Shepton Mallet.  It is mentioned in the Domesday Book as Denrenn, meaning ‘in a valley deep between high hills’ – an apt description because Doulting Water, or River Sheppey, rushes along one boundary, and the Mendip Hills rise steeply on either side.

It has been an agricultural village, and it is known that clothing was made here in the 18^th century when there was a leather mill.  An old forge provided services in the main street, in a house still bearing that name.  Along this street the river has been partially diverted to form a wide leat of running water in which the village people could dip their buckets, and this makes a picturesque foreground for a row of 16^th century gabled cottages and a former public house which still displays the sign of ‘The Dragon on the Wheel’, being the crest of the local squire.  Two farmhouses and the Victorian school building also overlook the water.”

I parked by the village hall at the western end of the village, and walked down to the Church of St. Michael.  The impressive lych-gate is dedicated to Ellen Somerville while inside the lych-gate is a commemorative plaque dedicated to Arthur Fownes Somerville who died on the 21^st November 1942 at the impressive age of 92.  I would find more memorials to members of the Somerville family both in the churchyard and inside the church.

The lych-gate at St. Michaels Church in the Somerset village of Dinder.

The commemorative plaque to Arthur Fownes Somerville.  Note the family crest of 'The Dragon on the Wheel'.

The approach to Dinder’s Church of St. Michael is beautifully described by Arthur Mee in his The King’s England – Somerset (Hodder and Stoughton Ltd., 1968).  He writes:

“We walk up the path to the church with its fine north wall across our view, crowned with a parapet from which friendly gargoyles look down at the top of slender buttresses.  Very dainty is the arcading in the battlements, and charming is the tower with its stair turret to the bells”.

The north wall of the Church of St. Michael in the Somerset village of Dinder.

To the left of the path is the family plot of the Somerville family which includes the grave of James Fownes Somerville, Admiral of the Fleet and Squire of Dinder, of whom I have written previously:

Views from Somerset: Admiral Sir James Somerville, commander of Force H, the squadron which crippled the Bismarck, at rest in a Somerset churchyard in the village of Dinder. (viewfromsomerset.blogspot.com)

 

On the north wall of the nave is a brass plaque commemorating William Charles Croom a 2^nd Lieutenant in the 6^th London Regiment who was killed in action at Messines Ridge on 17th June 1917 when aged 20.  He is also remembered on the Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial in Belgium.

Another plaque on the north wall is “in ever grateful memory of the brave men of Dinder who fell in The Great War”.  It lists 6 names.  As well as Lt. William Croom it commemorates the following men:

Private Uriah James Clarke of the Queens Own Oxfordshire Hussars died on 23^rd March 1918.  He is also remembered on the Poziers Memorial north east of Albert.

Private Gilbert Drew of the 1^st Battalion, Somerset Light Infantry who died on the 1^st July 1917 aged 19.  He is at rest in a Commonwealth War Grave in the churchyard.

Private Francis Allen Keevil of “C” Company, 7^th Battalion, Somerset Light Infantry died on the 7^th August 1917.  He is remembered on the Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial.  Aged 38, he was the son of Jabez Allen Keevil and Francis Augusta Keevil of Rose Cottage, Dinder.

Private William Robert McCullagh of the 1^st Battalion, Somerset Light Infantry died on 29^th March 1918.  He is remembered on the Arras Memorial.

The last name listed on the plaque is that of George Palmer.  There are 24 “George Palmers” recorded on the Commonwealth War Graves Commission website as having died in World War One.  Sadly, I cannot find among them anyone connected to Dinder or the County of Somerset.

Another brass plaque on the north wall of the nave is in memory of Lieutenant Colonel Harold Fownes Somerville DSO who served with The Rifle Brigade during the First World War and died aged 65 on the 19^th March 1946, and his son Lieutenant Mark Fownes Somerville DSC who was killed in action on 8^th May 1941 while serving aboard HMS ARK ROYAL.

Mark Somerville was a Fleet Air Arm observer in the Fulmar-equipped 808 Squadron flying from the aircraft carrier HMS ARK ROYAL.  He flew with the squadron’s commanding officer Lieutenant Commander Rupert Claude Tillard DSC.

The Fairey Fulmar was a two-seat fighter and reconnaissance aircraft powered by a single Rolls-Royce Merlin engine and armed with eight .303 machine guns mounted in the wings.  It was widely used by the Fleet Air Arm in the Mediterranean during the early years of World War Two.  The Fulmar was more than a match for any German and Italian bombers or reconnaissance aircraft it might encounter.  However, it struggled to cope with the enemy single seat fighters it came up against.  Tillard and Somerville destroyed six Italian aircraft while flying the Fulmar, a feat for which they were both awarded the Distinguished Service Cross.

On 6^th May 1941 ARK ROYAL left Gibraltar together with the battlecruiser HMS RENOWN, the light cruiser HMS SHEFFIELD and nine destroyers – the famous Force H – to escort a convoy of five ships with vital reinforcements for British forces in Egypt.  Force H’s mission was to take the convoy as far as Malta where ships of Admiral Cunningham’s Mediterranean Fleet would escort it eastward to the port of Alexandria.

The convoy was first attacked by Italian aircraft on the 8^th May.  808 Squadron attempted to intercept a number of torpedo-bombers, but the Fulmars were themselves attacked by Italian fighters.  One Fulmar was shot down, that of Lieutenant Commander Tillard and Lieutenant Somerville. Rupert Tillard’s body came ashore on the Tunisian Coast, and he was subsequently buried in the Commonwealth War Grave cemetery at Enfidaville.  Mark Somerville’s body was never found and he is remembered on the Fleet Air Arm Memorial at Lee-on-Solent as well as in St. Michael’s Church.

The deaths of the two airmen were not in vain as Force H delivered the convoy, without loss, into the protection of the Mediterranean Fleet.  One merchant ship was later sunk by a mine, but 238 tanks and 40 Hurricane fighters arrived safely in Alexandria on 12^th May.  Interestingly, Force H was commanded by Lt. Somerville’s uncle, Admiral Sir James Somerville.

By a remarkable twist of fate another Lieutenant Mark Somerville was killed while serving in the Royal Navy 183 years earlier. A plaque on the north wall of the tower of St. Michael’s begins:

“Sacred to the Memory of Mark Somerville Esq Lieutenant of His Majesty’s Ship The Rochester who unfortunately lost his Life in doing his Duty and exerting himself to save the Lives of his Gallant Countrymen when attacked by the Enemy in St. Cas Bay.  September 11^th 1758 in the 23 Year of his Age”

The plaque must refer to The Battle of St. Cast Bay which took place during The Seven Years War with France.  The war saw Britain launch a series of amphibious assaults against French ports and possessions around the world.  In 1758 a number of these assaults took place on the northern coast of France in order to destroy ports, divert French troops from Germany and stop the activities of French privateers.  The last of these attacks was against Cherbourg when the Royal Navy landed a force of around 10,000 troops and supporting arms.  The attack was initially a great success as the Port of Cherbourg, its docks and ships therein were destroyed and a large amount of war material also destroyed or seized. 

The British force moved on to attack Saint Malo, but found it too well defended and so moved west to St. Cast Bay where it would be embarked from the beaches.

Meanwhile, the French had gathered 9,000 soldiers and militiamen and marched in pursuit.  The bulk of the British force had been taken off the beaches when the French arrived.  Despite covering fire from the British ships in the bay the French overwhelmed the British rear-guard of 1,500 men.

HMS ROCHESTER was a 4^th rate ship of just over 1,000 tons and armed with 50 guns.  Reading between the lines of the plaque it could be assumed that Lieutenant Somerville was killed while attempting to embark men from the beach using ROCHESTER’S ship’s boats.

On the south wall of the nave is a plaque commemorating Pilot Officer Thomas Middlebrook Horsefall, RAFVR, whose aircraft crashed in the village on July 3^rd 1942.   Thomas Horsefall was flying an American Curtiss P40 Tomahawk single engine fighter from No. 41 Operational Training Unit, part of the School of Army Cooperation, based at Oatlands Hill, a satellite station of RAF Old Sarum in Wiltshire.  The P40 was not used by RAF Fighter Command or the USAAF in Northern Europe as its performance did not match that of the latest German fighters, but it was used extensively by British and American front-line squadrons in other theatres of war.

St. Michaels Church also contains some fine stained glass windows, and a highly and beautifully decorated stone pulpit dated 1621. 

Stained glass window in St. Michael's Church, Dinder, Somerset in memory of Emily Somerville "who entered into rest on New Year's Day 1900 aged 81.

The pulpit in the Church of St. Michael, Dinder, Somerset.

I walked back to the main street and took some more photos of this picturesque and peaceful Mendip village – so peaceful, in fact, that I never saw or met a soul during my visit!

The main street in the Somerset village of Dinder.

 

Epitaphs of interest. James Fownes Somerville.

Admiral Sir James Fownes Somerville lies at rest, with his wife, at the Church of St. Michael in the village of Dinder which lies in the shadow of the southern foothills of the Mendips.

His modest epitaph reads "Admiral of the Fleet and Squire of Dinder".

The headstone of James Fownes Somerville and his wife in the Somerset village of Dinder.

The commemoration to James Fownes Somerville "Admiral of The Fleet and Squire of Dinder" in the churchyard of St. Michael's in the village of Dinder, Somerset. 

I wrote of Sir James' highly distinguished career in a previous post. Below is a link.

Views from Somerset: Admiral Sir James Somerville, commander of Force H, the squadron which crippled the Bismarck, at rest in a Somerset churchyard in the village of Dinder. (viewfromsomerset.blogspot.com)

A stroll to the Beacon on Beacon Hill near Ilminster, South Somerset.

On July 9 the weather was quite calm, not too hot, a bit cloudy, but with plenty of blue sky, so I decided on a walk with my camera up to the top of  the 332 feet high Beacon Hill to the Beacon.  I strolled up Dillington Park Drive on the eastern fringe of the ancient market town of Ilminster to the gate overlooking Dillington House.  The house dates from the sixteenth century and was the home of Lord North, the Prime Minister who was in office when Britain “lost” America.

Turning left from the gate onto Beacon Hill, I followed the hedgerow north, west and then south until I came upon the Beacon at the junction of Old Road and the footpath which takes you west to New Road, the B3168, the road from Ilminster to Curry Rivel.  Old Road is now just a track, very narrow and rutted in places on the southern side of the hill, but was once the route north from Ilminster.

The fields immediately around the Beacon are all planted with maize this year – at the moment the crop is about thigh high.

Maize growing on Beacon Hill near Ilminster, South Somerset.

The Beacon on Beacon Hill near Ilminster, South Somerset.

Overgrown Old Road leading south from the Beacon into Ilminster. 

Old Road leading north at the Beacon on Beacon Hill near Ilminster in South Somerset

 

The footpath leading west from the Beacon to New Road/B3168 in Ilminster. South Somerset.

I continued along the footpath toward New Road until I came to a bench which has fine views looking down on Ilminster and its Church of St. Mary.  Gazing over the town to the south one can see Herne Hill and Pretwood Hill, while Windwhistle Ridge is on the skyline to the south east.

Looking down on Ilminster in South Somerset from Beacon Hill.

The view south east from Beacon Hill above Ilminster in South Somerset looking across the Shudrick Valley toward Windwhistle Ridge on the skyline.

After taking a rest and enjoying the view I retraced my steps.  Just north of the Beacon I could see all the way to the Mendips and the transmitter on Pen Hill.  I could also easily see the tower of St. Andrew’s Church at Curry Rivel.

The view toward The Mendips from Beacon Hill near Ilminster in South Somerset. The transmitter on Pen Hill is visible on the skyline to the right.

"Best Foot Forward" by Somerset born Colin Hodgkinson. The autobiography of the RAF's other legless fighter pilot of World War Two.

I recently read Colin Hodgkinson’s autobiography Best Foot Forward (Odhams Press Limited, London. 1957).  The story of the RAF’s other legless fighter pilot of World War Two.

Hodgkinson was born in Somerset in 1920 and grew up on the Mendip Hills.  He lost both legs after a flying accident in early 1939 while training to be a naval pilot. 

Inspired partly by Douglas Bader, the RAF’s legendary legless fighter pilot, Hodgkinson transferred to the RAF early in the war with the aim of fulfilling his ambition to fly in combat.

He eventually flew Spitfires under the command of some of the RAF’s most successful leaders, including the renowned “Johnnie” Johnson.

By November 1943 he was a flight commander in 501 Squadron when the oxygen supply failed in his Spitfire during a high altitude weather reconnaissance mission over France.  His aircraft crashed and he was so badly injured that he was repatriated to Britain.

As he was being transported on a stretcher across Germany on route to Sweden, he witnessed the lynching of four US airmen by a crowd in a railway station.  He feared he would be next if the vengeful mob saw his uniform.  Luckily for him his uniform and stretcher was covered by a blanket.

After the war Hodgkinson flew jets with 501 and 604 Squadrons of the Royal Auxiliary Air Force.

In 1957 he appeared on the BBC’s This is Your Life - before the famed Douglas Bader.

The book is a remarkable story of courage and determination. It also includes his account of an eventful family life on and around the Mendip Hills between the two world wars.

It is well worth reading.

Drystone walls near Deer Leap on the Mendip Hills in Somerset.

Driving or walking across the Mendip Hills in Somerset you cannot fail to notice mile upon mile of drystone walls.  The sight of them always makes me wonder when they were built, how long it took to build them, who built them, and who paid for their construction.

Apparently there are around 250 miles of such walls in the Mendip Hills AONB with 60 per cent of them in an advanced state of decay or derelict.  However, all is not lost as it seems dedicated teams of volunteers are undertaking the task of repair and reconstruction - after suitable instruction.*

I took these photos at Deer Leap on a lovely day in May back in 2011.

Looking west from near Deer Leap on the Mendip Hills in Somerset. Photo taken in May 2011.

A stretch of drystone wall near Deer Leap on the Mendip Hills in Somerset.

The view south from Deer Leap on the Mendip Hills in Somerset photographed on a May day in 2011. 

*
https://www.mendiphillsaonb.org.uk/2019/06/12/the-walls-of-mendip-look-set-for-a-brighter-future-thanks-to-volunteer-training/

Lt.Col. J.C.Meiklejohn who won a DSO at the Second Battle of El Alamein is remembered in the churchyard at the village of Rowberrow, North Somerset.

Last year, while exploring the churchyard of St. Michael and All Angels in the village of Rowberrow in North Somerset, I came across a headstone commemorating Max John Christian Meiklejohn and his wife and their three children.  I was intrigued by the inscription for the only son which read: “Lt. Col. John Cusance Meiklejohn D.S.O., T.D.  Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders.  1904-1988.”

The village church of St. Michael and All Angels at Rowberrow on the Mendip Hills in Somerset.

I know T.D. stands for Territorial Decoration which was awarded to those who gave long service to the Territorial Army and its predecessor The Territorial Force, but I wondered how Lt. Col. Meiklejohn came to be awarded the D.S.O.  A little research brought forth the answer.

At the time of the Second Battle of El Alamein Meiklejon, then a Captain, was serving with the 7th Battalion, Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders: part of 154 Brigade in the 51st Highland Division.  He led his Company into action on 26 October 1942 when the battle was only days old.  I found the following citation for the Distinguished Service Order in the National Archives.

“On 26 October 1942, a night attack by three companies on a strongly held enemy position made under heavy machine gun and mortar fire and all officers except Capt. Meiklejohn, commanding “B” Company, and one other were wounded.  Capt. Meiklejohn led his company successfully onto his objective, but then found that the enemy had closed in again behind him and that he was surrounded.  He succeeded however in collecting the remnants of the other two companies and with them and his own men, a force of about two hundred strong, organised a position to hold the ground won.  This position he held until relief reached him nearly forty-eight hours later.  Shortly after the position was occupied the only other remaining officer became a casualty.  Capt. Meiklejohn was short of ammunition and had very little food and water, and all attempts to get supplies through to him failed.  During the remaining six hours of darkness on the first night after the attack he was constantly threatened by enemy counter-attacks, but he successfully held them off by intensive artillery fire which he himself directed round his position by wireless.  Throughout a very trying time he not only held tenaciously to an important objective but by his own unaided effort and example maintained the morale of his men, and gave an outstanding display of courage, leadership and ability”. 

I post this today on the anniversary of Lt. Col. Meiklejohn’s noteworthy participation in one of the key battles of the Second World War.

For a more detailed report on the role of 7th Battalion, Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders at The Second Battle of El Alamein here is a link:
https://51hd.co.uk/accounts/el_alamein_battle

Admiral Sir James Somerville, commander of Force H, the squadron which crippled the Bismarck, at rest in a Somerset churchyard in the village of Dinder.

In the shadow of Somerset’s Mendip Hills, just north of the A371 between Wells and Shepton Mallet, is the little village of Dinder.  Within the village is Dinder House, formerly a manor house dating from the twelfth century, rebuilt by the Somervilles in 1801.  It remained their family home up until the death of Admiral of the Fleet Sir James Somerville on this day in 1949.   

Sir James Fownes Somerville was born in Weybridge, Surrey, on 17 July 1882, the second son of Arthur Fownes Somerville of Dinder and his wife Ellen, daughter of William Stanley Sharland, of North Norfolk, Tasmania.  The Somervilles were related to that great naval family, the Hoods.

Somerville joined the RN in 1897 and became a lieutenant in 1904. He qualified in the vital new field of wireless telegraphy in 1907.

He was fleet wireless officer during the Gallipoli campaign where his outstanding work in ship to shore communications brought him the award of the DSO.

In 1921 Somerville was promoted to captain and commanded the battleships HMS BENBOW, HMS BARHAM and HMS WARSPITE.  Following the mutiny by seamen in ships of the Atlantic Fleet at Invergordon on 15 and 16 September 1931, Somerville and Captain James Tovey, another future admiral, undertook an enquiry to establish its causes.   

During the Spanish Civil War Somerville spent two years as senior British naval officer off the Spanish Mediterranean Coast.  In 1937 he was promoted to vice-admiral and subsequently became Commander-in-Chief East Indies in October 1938.  However, in July 1939 he was forced to retire with suspected pulmonary tuberculosis, a diagnosis he contested.

The outbreak of World War Two soon saw Somerville back in the service of his country.  After overseeing the development of naval radar and its rapid installation aboard ships he gave valuable assistance to Admiral Ramsay who oversaw the Dunkirk Evacuation.

After the defeat of France Somerville took command of Force H, a squadron based at Gibraltar to act as gatekeeper to the Mediterranean and operate in the Central Atlantic as necessary.  He then commanded what was, in my opinion, one of the most inglorious and mistaken actions ever undertaken by the Royal Navy.   Somerville was tasked with arranging, either by negotiation or force, the demobilisation of major units of the French Fleet at Mers-el-Kebir near Oran in French Algeria.  When talks failed Somerville, with the insistence of Churchill, ordered his ships to open fire on the anchored French warships.  The bombardment resulted in the deaths of 1,297 French servicemen, the sinking of one capital ship and heavy damage to another.  Somerville himself described it as a “filthy job”.

Many senior officers in the Royal Navy thought at the time, and after the war, that the order from Churchill and the War Cabinet to open fire on erstwhile allies was wrong.  Stephen Roskill in his Churchill and the Admirals (Pen & Sword Books Ltd. 2013) writes:  

“While working on my war history I had many interviews and much correspondence with Cunningham, Somerville and North, the three admirals concerned in the attack on Oran and related plans.  None of them ever budged from the view that, given more time for negotiation, the tragedy could have been averted.  On 9 January 1950 Cunningham wrote to Admiral Lord Fraser, then First Sea Lord, that 90 per cent of senior naval officers, including myself, thought Oran a ghastly error and still do.”

In May 1941 Force H was called on to help the Home Fleet in the hunt for the BISMARCK.  Somerville’s masterly handling of his squadron led to HMS ARK ROYAL’s Swordfish aircraft crippling the BISMARCK with torpedoes thus allowing Admiral Sir John Tovey’s battleships to catch and sink her.

In 1940 and 1941 Somerville’s ships regularly and successfully supported vital convoys to Malta, but after flying off reinforcements of aircraft to that besieged island HMS ARK ROYAL was torpedoed and sunk by the German submarine  U81 on 13 November 1941.

Following Japan’s entry into the war Somerville was sent to the Far East in February 1942 to command a reformed Eastern Fleet.  Many of his ships were obsolete and his fleet was in no condition to confront the powerful Japanese carrier group which forayed into the Indian Ocean in the spring of 1942.  All Somerville could do was to retreat out of range of the Japanese until they withdrew to the Pacific for their next confrontation with the American Navy.

It was not until the spring of 1944 that Somerville was able to undertake offensive operations.  By this time his fleet had been reinforced by more modern units including the aircraft carrier HMS ILLUSTRIOUS and, operating alongside the American carrier USS SARATOGA, air strikes were launched against Japanese oil installations on Sumatra and Java.

In August 1944 Somerville left the Eastern Fleet to take up the post of Head of the British Admiralty delegation in Washington, a position he held from October 1944 to December 1945.  He made a great success of this mission and even became friends with the blunt and short-tempered Admiral Ernest J. King, the anglophobic American chief of naval operations.

On leaving the Royal Navy in 1946 he retired to Dinder House becoming Lord Lieutenant of Somerset.  He died in Dinder on 19 March 1949 of a coronary thrombosis and is buried there in the village churchyard of St. Michael and All Angels.   His wife Mary, whom he married in January 1913, predeceased him in August 1945.

Sources.

Churchill and the Admirals, Stephen Roskill (Pen & Sword Books Ltd. 2013)

Oxford Dictionary of National Biographies.

https://doi.org/10.1093/ref:odnb/36191

The loss of the minelayer HMS ABDIEL at Taranto. One of her officers is remembered at the Church of St.Michael and All Angels in the village of Rowberrow, Somerset.

South of Churchill on the A38 in Somerset is a narrow lane leading to Rowberrow, one of those Mendip villages once involved in the mining of calamite.  I first explored the lane around ten years ago; this month I decided to have another look.   Just a few hundred yards from the A38, holding fast to the top of a precipitous hill, is the parish church and manor house.  In the churchyard of the Church of St. Michael and All Angels there is a war memorial in the form of a cross with a bronze long sword attached to its west face.  It commemorates the men of the Somerset Light Infantry who died in the First World War and names Captain R.J.R. Leacroft, of Rowberrow Manor, who was killed serving with the regiment on the first day of the Battle of The Somme.

The war memorial in the churchyard at the Church of St. Michael and All Angels, Rowberrow in Somerset.

Another name was added to the memorial after the Second World War, that of Lieutenant Commander (E) Anthony Holland Brown who was killed on the 10 September 1943 while aboard the minelayer HMS ABDIEL.  This year saw the 75th anniversary of that warship’s loss in Taranto Harbour.

ABDIEL, completed in April 1941, was the first of a class of 6 minelayers.  They were of 2,650 tons displacement with a speed of almost 40 knots, a crew of 242, carried 156 mines and an armament of 4inch AA guns in 3 twin mountings.  Due to their very high speed the ships of the class were often used to run supplies to the besieged island of Malta.     

On September 10 1943 ABDIEL was sunk by mines in Taranto Harbour while taking part in Operation Slapstick.  Because of a shortage of aircraft the plan involved Royal Navy ships landing British troops of the First Airborne Division to capture the Italian ports of Taranto and Brindisi.  Only hours after berthing in Taranto ABDIEL detonated two mines laid previously by German torpedo boats as they evacuated the harbour.  The ship, which sank in 3 minutes, was carrying men from the 6th (Royal Welch) Parachute Battalion.   The Battalion suffered 58 men killed and 150 wounded while Lt. Cdr. Brown was among the 48 of ABDIEL’S crew who were lost.    

Operation Slapstick was ultimately successful as the First Airborne Division captured the ports of Taranto and Brindisi in working order.

Lt. Cdr. (E) Anthony Holland Brown was 40 years old and the husband of Jessie Elizabeth Brown B.A. (Cantab.) of Rowberrow, Somerset.  He is remembered on the Plymouth Naval Memorial as well as at the Church of St. Michael and All Angels.

The Church of St. Michael and All Angels, Rowberrow in Somerset.

Crook Peak and Wavering Down on the Mendip Hills in Somerset.

Crook Peak stands at the western end of the Mendip Hills in Somerset.  At 627 ft. in height it is a prominent rocky feature overlooking the M5 and A38 with tremendous far reaching views to all points of the compass.  In 2011 I made several trips to Crook Peak by approaching it across Wavering Down.  I found the National Trust car park at Kings Wood, just a few yards west of the A38 at Winscombe Hill, the most convenient starting point.

It is best to allow an entire afternoon for the walk as at any spot on the entire route one is tempted to just sit down and enjoy a view of England’s green and pleasant land unfolding before you. 

From the car park walk up the steadily rising ground through the wood and you will emerge onto Cross Plain.  Carry on past Hill Farm – its residents must have one of the finest outlooks in Somerset - and follow the track up the hill to the trig point on Wavering Down.  I found this section of the walk the most difficult: although dry the track was rutted and pitted presumably as a result of past heavy rain and frequent use.  On reaching the trig point, at a height of 692 ft., I usually stopped for a much needed breather, but there are views to enjoy while doing so.

Crook Peak on the Mendip Hills in Somerset, viewed from Wavering Down.

The view toward Glastonbury Tor from Wavering Down on the Mendip Hills in Somerset.

Keeping the drystone wall to your right head on across Wavering Down toward Crook Peak, but don’t forget to look down  on the picturesque village of Compton Bishop and its church of St. Andrew.

On reaching Crook Peak - it is almost like standing on the prow of a ship - you will see not only the hills and fields of Somerset stretching away in all directions, but also the Bristol Channel, Severn Estuary and the coast of Wales.  

A view of the M5 from Crook Peak on the Mendip Hills in Somerset.

The view to the south-west from Crook Peak on the Mendip Hills in Somerset.

I always came across cattle, sheep and ponies on my walks so be aware if taking your dog with you!

Cattle graze on Wavering Down on the Mendip Hills in Somerset.

"The Remains of the Day" film locations on the Mendip Hills in Somerset.

One of my favourite films is “The Remains of the Day” released in 1993 starring Emma Thompson as Miss Kenton, the housekeeper, and Anthony Hopkins as Mr Stevens, the butler.  The story is set in the stately home of an aristocrat during the 1930s when a significant group within the British political and aristocratic establishment thought it desirable to come to an “arrangement” with Hitler’s Germany. 

Many of the film’s locations are in Somerset. Two of them, Deer Leap near Priddy and The Old Bristol Road at Stockhill Wood, are on the Mendip Hills where I spent many a visit enjoying the views and walking my much missed dog, Rosie.

There are several other Somerset locations used in the film.  The characterful George Inn at Norton St. Phillip is where Mr Benn courts Miss Kenton.  Stevens drives along Kewstoke Road past Birnbeck Island into Weston-super-Mare, which plays the part of Clevedon.  The old Grand Pier, since destroyed by fire and rebuilt, is where Miss Kenton and Mr Stevens spend time before their tearful final farewell. 

A view from Deer Leap on the Mendip Hills in Somerset.  The location of a scene in the film "The Remains of the Day".

On his way to visit Miss Kenton in Clevedon Mr Stevens’ car runs out of petrol at Deer Leap as the sun is about to set.  Stevens finds his way to a pub for the night, the actual location being the Hop Pole Inn, Woods Hill, Lower Limpley Stoke.  The next morning Dr Carlisle, who met Stevens in the pub the previous night, gives Stevens a lift back to his car.  They travel north along the Old Bristol Road past the Forestry Commission’s Stockhill Wood and Waldegrave Pool, although in reality they are heading in the opposite direction to Deer Leap! 

The Old Bristol Road at Stockhill Wood on the Mendip Hills in Somerset.  The location for a scene in the film "The Remains of the Day".

A view near Waldegrave Pool from the Old Bristol Road on the Mendip Hills in Somerset.  It appears in the film "The Remains of the Day" as Dr. Carlisle drives Stevens back to his car.

  

Staple Hill, the highest point on the Blackdown Hills in Somerset.

Staple Hill in Somerset is, at 1,033 feet, the highest point on the Blackdown Hills.  It is also the site of a Forestry Commission Plantation through which passes the Staple Fitzpaine herepath, a part of the Anglo-Saxon military road network initiated in the ninth century.

The Forestry Commission has provided a spacious car park, footpaths and seating which allows visitors to enjoy some impressive views across Somerset.

There are fine views over the Vale of Taunton Deane to the Quantock Hills and, on a clear day, one can see north over Bridgwater Bay to Brean Down, Weston-super-Mare and Kewstoke with the Welsh coast and mountains visible on the far side of the Bristol Channel.

The view north from Staple Hill on the Blackdown Hills in Somerset.  At the top of the picture the Welsh coast, 45 miles distant, can be seen through the gap between Brean Down and Kewstoke.

The views to the north-east, along the foothills of the Blackdowns, encompass the Somerset Levels with Glastonbury Tor, Burrow Mump and the Burton Pynsent Monument clearly visible.  The low ridge of the Polden Hills can be seen and the Mendip Hills are on the horizon.  A pair of binoculars and a good map add to the pleasure of spotting these and other landmarks. 

Looking north-east from Staple Hill on the Blackdown Hills.  Spot the Burton Pynsent Monument near Curry Rivel. 

The view to the north-east from Staple Hill on the Blackdown Hills across the Somerset Levels to the Mendips. 

Autumn colours at Burrington Combe on the Mendip Hills in Somerset.

Autumn colours at Burrington Combe on the Mendip Hills in Somerset.

The RSPB's nature reserve at Swell Wood near Curry Rivel in South Somerset. A fine view over West Sedgemoor.

The RSPB’s Swell Wood nature reserve is a short drive west of Curry Rivel on the A378 in Somerset.  It is well signposted and its car park is amongst the trees only a few yards off the main road.  It is said by the RSPB to be Southwest England’s largest heronry, but although I have visited Swell Wood on several occasions I have yet to see a heron: I must be going there at the wrong time of year.

I have tried the reserve’s two trails and found the woodland walk the easiest with a fine view over West Sedgemoor to Burrow Mump with Brent Knoll, Crook Peak and The Mendips on the horizon.  The scarp trail, across the lane east of the car park, has some steep sections which are a very tricky and after wet weather they are even more demanding.  I found the views a bit restricted: you can’t see them for the trees!

The view from Swell Wood over West Sedgemoor towards Burrow Mump on 1st Feb. 2013. The floods would be worse in 2014.

The view from Swell Wood over West Sedgemoor towards Burrow Mump on 12th September 2017.

St.Mary's Church in the Somerset village of West Harptree and its memorial to two RAF servicemen.

I recently had cause to travel along the A368, cutting across the Chew Valley from the A37 at Chelwood Bridge, to the A38 at Churchill.  It’s a very pleasant undulating drive through the picturesque villages of Compton Martin, West Harptree, Blagdon and Rickford with the Mendip Hills to the south and Chew Valley Lake and its smaller neighbour Blagdon Lake to the north.

At West Harptree I decided to stop and have a stroll around with my camera.  Situated in the centre of the village and flanked by yew trees, St. Mary’s Church is very photogenic; it is one of the minority of Somerset churches which have a spire.  Pevsner describes the church as standing: “. . . at a corner full of interest in all directions.”  Just west from St. Mary’s is a charming Jacobean manor house while across the road is Gournay Court, a large early seventeenth century house built of red sandstone.  The mid seventeenth century Tilly Manor Farm sits adjacent to Gournay Court.  To the north-east of the church is the Vicarage with a  façade dating from around 1700.  The village pub, The Crown, sits opposite the church to the east.

A view of West Harptree in Somerset looking east from St. Mary's Church. 

Looking inside the south porch of St. Mary’s I came upon a memorial plaque to two RAF men killed in the Second World War.  One of them, Sgt H.D. King is lying at rest in a Commonwealth War Grave near the western wall of the churchyard.  I took some photos and decided to do some research when back at home.

St. Mary's Church, with its memorial clock, in the village of West Harptree, Somerset.

I discovered that both these young RAF men were members of specialist units.  Sgt Herbert Donald King was an Air Bomber (Bomb Aimer) serving with 138 Special Duties Squadron equipped with the Halifax flying from RAF Tempsford, Bedfordshire, and was one of two Special Duties Squadrons.  The other was 161 Squadron.   The two squadrons flew in support of the Special Operations Executive (SOE) whose job it was to promote sabotage and subversive activities against the Germans.  Both squadrons flew all over Europe, from Norway in the north to Yugoslavia in the south and as far east as Poland.  Their missions were to parachute agents, arms and equipment into enemy occupied territory. 

On the night of 16/17 December 1943 Sgt King and seven others flew a mission to Carcassonne in the South of France to drop 12 containers and 5 packages to the resistance.  After a twelve hour flight they encountered severe weather conditions on their return to England and decided to land at Woodbridge in Suffolk.  Sadly their aircraft, Halifax Mk.5, LL115 NF-A, crashed into trees at Capel Green; three men survived, but Sgt King and four others of the crew were killed.  Aged 26 he was the son of Herbert Tyler King and Hilda Annie King of East Harptree.

LAC Alfred George Salvidge was serving with the RAF’s 5 Beach Unit in Italy.  Unfortunately he was killed in a road accident near Naples on 17 March 1944 and is buried in Naples War Cemetery.  Aged 24, he was the son of Alfred and Edith Salvidge of West Harptree.

I had never heard of RAF Beach Units but to quote Mike Fenton’s very informative website RAF Beach Units of the Second World War their role was: “To assist with the landing, assembly and onward despatch of RAF personnel, stores and equipment across the invasion beaches.” 

Both men are remembered.  The memorial plaque in St. Mary’s porch states:
“This memorial clock was erected in the tower of West Harptree Church by the parishioners to the glory of god and in perpetual memory of

Flt Sgt H.D. King RAFVR

LAC G.A. Salvidge RAF

who gave their lives for us in the cause of freedom during the Second World War 1939-1945 also in grateful recognition of those men and women who served from this parish in the armed and auxiliary services of the Crown.

Friend behold me here I stand, to tell the time at thy command, friend be wise and learn from me, to serve thy god as I serve thee.”*

*The CWG headstone in the churchyard is engraved with the rank of Sergeant.  In RAF records and on the CWG headstone in Naples LAC Salvidge’s initials are A.G. 

Cadbury Castle, near Sparkford, in South Somerset. A tremendous Iron Age hill fort.

Cadbury Castle, one of the most impressive hill forts in Britain, is just south of the A303 only a couple of miles from Sparkford.  I followed the signs from Sparkford to South Cadbury where the Castle looms above the village from which it takes its name.  A short distance past the church is a small car park for the use of those visiting the Castle; it is only a few yards from the steep and stony, tree lined lane up to the fortress.

Cadbury Castle an Iron Age hill fort, near Sparkford, in South Somerset.  This view was taken from the north.

Climbing the steep track through the defences of this impressive Iron Age hill fort is well worth the effort as the views are magnificent.  At the 502ft high summit is a monumental stone pointing out geographical features and the distances to them. 

To the north-west is Glastonbury Tor with the Mendip Hills and Brent Knoll beyond while to the south-west is Ham Hill and its war memorial.  Alfred’s Tower is 10 miles to the north-east on the Somerset side of the border with Wiltshire.

The view to the south west from the summit of Cadbury Castle.

Pevsner describes Cadbury Castle as: “A tremendous Iron Age Camp covering 18 acres.  It is the mightiest prehistoric camp in Somerset, and one of the mightiest in Britain.  The fortress is three-sided, guarded by no less than four huge banks and ditches.  In places the height of the bank is over 40ft above the bottom of the ditch.” 

Arthur Mee in his The King’s England, Somerset (Hodder and Stoughton Ltd., 1927) writes: “To the south its grassy slope is gentle, but to the north are ditches and ramparts strengthened with stone walls, now half-buried and overgrown with trees and bushes.”

A section of Cadbury Castle's defensive banks and ditches.

Cadbury Castle is also a candidate, among many, to be King Arthur’s fabled Camelot. Amongst the evidence is Arthur’s Well on the eastern side of the fortress.  King Arthur’s Hunting Causeway, still in use as a bridle path in the early twentieth century, links the Castle to Glastonbury Tor which many believe to be the Isle of Avalon.  The significantly named River Cam, a tributary of the Yeo, flows nearby.  Sally Jones in her Legends of Somerset, (Bossiney Books, 1984) states: “In one legend Cadbury is hollow and King Arthur and his Knights sleep in the great cavern, waiting for the day when they will awake and save England.”  With conflict spreading around the world that day might not be far off!