The First Quantock Food Festival
Friday 6th – Sunday 8th May 2005
Over this spring weekend there are going all kinds of interesting and
delicious events happening all over the Quantock Hills. There will be
farm walks and Quantock dinners, salsa dancing and tapas, cream teas,
horse-rides, guided walks, Quantock breakfasts and cheese tastings and
much much more!
All
the events celebrate the landscape of the Quantock Hills and give you
a chance to taste the wonderful food and drink produced in the area. You
can meet the producers who are really passionate about making excellent
food and drink. You can enjoy a dinner, lunch or afternoon tea in one
of our top restaurants, pubs and cafes that are part of the festival and
are making the most of local produce in their menus at this time and throughout
the year.
Events are happening throughout the area from Kilve to North Petherton and from Cotford-St-Luke to Watchet and there is something for everyone, every age, interest and budget.
One of the main funder of the festival is the Quantock Hills AONB Service, their Projects Officer Iain Porter said “ We are very proud to be supporting this festival as we believe it will be of real benefit to the local businesses. We are running two of the events ourselves, a walk at Triscombe with a cream tea and a Dawn Chorus walk with Quantock Breakfast. We hope to see lots of people out enjoying the delights of the hills and the local produce.”
It
is a wonderful time to be in the Quantocks anyway, the bluebells are coming
out, the leaves are bright green and the lambs are in the field. So come
out and enjoy everything the area has to offer and make the most of this
new festival.
For more information and details of individual events please call 01458 259485 for a leaflet, visit www.foodlinks.org.uk or pop into your local Tourist Information Centre to pick up a leaflet.
The Festival has been organised by Somerset Food Links, a not-for-profit organisation working to developing the local food sector in Somerset
Supported
by The Quantock Hills AONB Service, Exmoor National Park Authority’s Sustainable
Development Fund, West Somerset District Council and the European Regional
Development Programme
Contact the Exmoor and Quantock Officer for Somerset Food Links on 01984 635347 or 01458 259485.
List of Events
Friday 6 May 2005
Event Title: Quantock Horse
Ride and Farmhouse Cream Tea
When: 2pm (allow 2 ½ hours)
Where: Manor Farm, Broomfield, Bridgwater, Somerset, TA5
Price: £30
Contact Name: Sue Honey Ball
Tel: 01823 451266
Web: www.manorfm.demon.co.uk
Description
Take a ride around the Quantock Hills through the heather moorland and
the deciduous woodland to a farmhouse near Aisholt for a real farmhouse
cream tea. The ride is suitable for all abilities. Limited places so please
ring to book early.
Event Title: Triscombe and
Tea!
When: 2pm
Where: Meet at Stable Cottage Tearoom, Triscombe
Price: FREE (not including afternoon tea)
Contact Name: Iain Porter
Tel: 01278 733642
Email: quantockhills@somerset.gov.uk
Description
Join Iain Porter and Andrew Davis (Quantock Hills AONB Service) for a
challenging walk at Triscombe up to the highest point on the Quantocks
and enjoy the woods, the hilltop and the breathtaking views of the Taunton
Vale before returning for a well-deserved local cream tea or piece of
home-made cake at Stable Cottage Tearooms. Please ring to book your place
as places are limited
Event Title: Spring Produce
Tasting Morning
When: 10 -11.00am
Where: Red Cross Centre, Killick Way, Williton
Price: FREE
Contact Name: Caroline Hall
Tel: 01823 462878
Web: www.country-markets.co.uk
Email: caroline1hall@hotmail.com
Description
Join the Williton Country Market on Friday 6th May for a Spring Produce
Tasting Morning. The Williton Country Market is held each Friday morning
at the Red Cross Centre, Killick Way, Williton at 10 am. The Market offers
a truly local shopping experience selling cakes & biscuits, jams &
preserves, fresh fruit & vegetables and eggs as well as award winning
beef, pork & lamb. Everything that we sell is produced by our own
market members which ensures our customers a delicious, freshly picked
and straight from the oven taste.
Saturday 7 May 2005
Event Title: Tasty tapas
& sizzling salsa - A Spanish & Latin night to remember
When: 7.30pm
Where: Cotford St Luke Village Hall
Price: Adult £17.50 (includes free welcome drink); Children (under
16s) £8.75
Contact Name: Jamie Robertson
Tel: 01984 656727
Web: www.underonesun.org.uk
Email: info@underonesun.org.uk
Description:
Tasty food + tasty music. Sabroso!. Plenty of fresh seasonal local food
home cooked and served tapas-style - 6 or 7 dishes including vegetarian
choices, followed by delicious deserts.
Menu on www.underonesun.org.uk
Entrance ticket includes free welcome drink.
Live music follows with top Honduran singer Ramon Vallejo and Salsa specialists Duende. You can 'do your own thing' to joyous Latin rhythms but an optional beginners dance class is also included. After that, whether you've one, two or three left feet we defy you to remain seated once Duende get into gear!
This is an Under One Sun event and tickets (book/collect by 30 April please) are available from www.underonesun.org.uk or by collection from Taunton Tourist Office Paul Street Taunton (01823 336344 incl. by credit/debit card) or from Toucan Wholefoods, The Avenue Minehead (01643 706101); or by post from Under One Sun, 12 Hill Street, Stogumber, Taunton TA4 3TD.
Event Title: Home Farm Open Day
When: 10am-4pm
Where: Home Farm, Blue Anchor seafront
Price: FREE
Contact Name: Alison Hart
Tel: 01984 640817
Web: www.homefarmblueanchor.co.uk
Email: Alison@homefarmblueanchor.co.uk
Description
Let Alison introduce you to this award-winning farm and its special Oxford
Sandy and Black pigs. Take a walk around the farm trail, visit the Taste
of the West 2004 award-winning tearoom for an Exmoor Cream Tea or the
farm shop to take some prize winning sausages home, or maybe one of Alison's
delicious home made cakes. Home Farm is at Blue Anchor seafront near the
West Somerset Railway station.
Event Title: Watchet Food
and Craft Fair
When: 11am-3pm
Where: The Esplanade, Watchet
Price: FREE
Contact Name: Jane Gilbert
Tel: 01458 259485
Web: www.foodlinks.org.uk
Email: janeg@foodlinks.org.uk
Description:
Come along to try, buy and taste the delicious produce from the Quantocks
and Exmoor area such as local cheeses, meats, sausages, fish, apple juice,
cakes , jams and hand-made chocolates. There will also be opportunities
to buy local crafts and meet the people who made them. This is part of
the Watchet Sea Fair and so there will be lots of other things going on
as well. There will be art displays, drop net fishing, boat trips; best
dressed boat competition, coracle building, geological walks and the museums
will be open. So altogether it is an ideal time to visit Watchet!
Event Title: Chives Deli
and Café – Tastings and Teas
When: Throughout the Festival
Where: Swain Street, Watchet
Price: FREE
Contact Name: Anne Whiley
Tel: 01984 632038
Email: whileyfamily@aol.com
Description
Chives Deli is a new delicatessen where you can taste and try the best
of local produce and buy some to take home. Chives cafe provides a large
variety of local Somerset produce together with high quality continental
foods. Our freshly brewed coffee is complimented by homemade cakes. All
local cheeses, chutneys and preserves served in the café can be
bought in the Deli. Altogether a real “foodie” experience.
Event: Stilegate Bed and
Breakfast and Guided Walk
When: All weekend
Where: Staple Close, West Quantoxhead,
Price: 1 night £65 (B&B for 2), 2-3 nights £55 per night
(B&B for 2)
Tel: 01984 639119
Contact: Heidi Morse
Email: Stilegate@aol.com
Description:
Make the most of the food festival by staying at this lovely B&B where
you will experience a freshly cooked breakfast made from local ingredients.
Enjoy a complimentary one hour guided walk on Beacon Hill (please request
in advance) – suitable footwear and clothing required.
Event Title: Hestercombe
Gardens Tour and Cream Tea
When: 2pm (allow two hours for the tour)
Where: Cheddon Fitzpaine (follow the brown tourist signs with a flower)
Price: £12
Tel: 01823 413923
Web: www.hestercombegardens.com
Description.
Enjoy a guided tour of this lost secret landscape garden and then relax
with a delicious local cream tea in the tearoom. The tour will be led
by senior garden staff and lasting approximately 2 hours, the tour takes
in all three areas of the gardens, offering historical information and
anecdotes along the way. The gardens were built in the 18th century and
recently restored to their former glory. Hestercombe is unique in having
three complete period gardens: The Georgian landscape, Victorian terrace
and the formal Edwardian gardens combine to create one of Britain's premier
garden sites widely recognised as being of international importance. The
formal gardens were designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens and Gertrude Jekyll.
There are 20 places available for the tour which includes your entrance ticket, the tour and the cream tea.
Sunday 8 May 2005
Event Title: Paws and Boots
– A Walk at Kilve
When: 2pm
Where: Meet at Kilve Beach car park.
Price: FREE WALK Price of Teas: Various
Contact Name: Greg Kelloway
Tel: 01278 685887
Description:
Come along with (or without!) your doggies for a special walk to celebrate
the food festival. A pleasant 2 hour walk (an amble not a ramble) from
Kilve, along the cliff tops to East Quantoxhead and back. At the end of
the walk you could treat yourself to a delicious cream tea at the Chantry
Tea Garden!
Event Title: Cothelstone
Estate Farm Walk
When: 2.30pm
Where: Meet at Cothelstone Manor, Cothelstone, near Bishops Lydeard
Price: Donations towards upkeep of local church welcome
Contact Name: Hugh Warmington
Tel: 01823 432200
Email: hwarmington@callnetuk.com
Description:
Join Hugh for an afternoon walk around the Cothelstone Estate’s historic
landscape. You will start from the Manor House and the church before walking
through the 19th Century parkland and farmland. It is a good time to visit
as there will be lambs and ewes in the fields. Hugh will be able to tell
you about the history of the estate and about how they are managing it
for conservation whilst still farming commercially and show you how they
have been planting new hedges, creating beetle banks and creating wild
bird cover to increase the biodiversity. The walk will take around 1 ½
hours and is on fairly level ground.
Event: Dawn Chorus Walk and
Quantock Breakfast at the Rising Sun
When: 5am
Where: Cothelstone Hill Car park
Price: The Walk is free, breakfast is £7.95
Contact Name: Andy Harris
Tel: 01278 435765
Email: quantockhills@somerset.gov.uk
Description
Join local bird expert Brian Gibbs on an early morning walk through deciduous
woodland carpeted with native Bluebells whilst listening to the dawn chorus.
Then retire to the Rising Sun at West Bagborough for a full Quantock breakfast.
If you want to have breakfast you need to book your place by Friday 6th
May.
Event Title: Farm Walk at Plowright Organic Produce, Huntstile
Farm
When: 2pm
Where: Goathurst (near North Petherton)
Price: FREE
Contact Name: Richard Plowright
Tel: 01278 662008
Email: rplowright@tinyonline.co.uk
Description:
Take a walk around this small vegetable holding. Richard and Remke grow
a huge range of organic vegetables for their box scheme and food co-ops
in Bridgwater. Learn more about how they grow their veg, and how the business
is growing and developing.
Throughout the Festival
Event Title: Tower Farm Tastings
When: Friday 9 am – 4 pm; Saturday 9 am – 1 pm
Where: Tower Farm, Lydeard St Lawrence
Price: FREE
Contact Name: Kay Rees
Tel: 01984 667683
Web: www.towerfarms.com
Email: general@towerfarms.fsnet.co.uk
Description
Come and visit Tower Farms Shop who will be offering tastings of their
range of traditional hand made farmhouse cheddary cheeses. These are all
made on the farm with milk from local farms. Follow the signs from the
A358 and B3224
Restaurants, Cafes and Pubs making the most of Quantock Food and Drink
Event Title: Clavelshay Barn
Restaurant
When: lunchtimes 12-2 Evenings: 7pm-9.30pm
Where: North Petherton, Bridgwater, TA6 6PJ
Price: Various
Contact Name: Sue Milverton
Tel: 01278 662629
Web: www.clavelshaybarn.co.uk
Email: sue.milverton@btinternet.com
Description:
Special menus celebrating the best of local and seasonal food. New restaurant
based in converted 17thC stone barn on working dairy farm on edge of the
Quantock Hills. Enjoy a real taste of the countryside.
Event Title: The Te House
Bistro
When: Throughout the Festival
Where: St Mary’s Street, Nether Stowey
Price: Various (festival lunchtime specials £4.95-£7.50)
Contact Name: Sasha Lithgow
Tel: 01278 732424
Description:
Contemporary English and Mediterranean food, made with lots of local produce.
Come to the Te House Bistro for breakfast, brunch, lunch, afternoon tea
or dinner. For brunch you could enjoy locally produced sausages, locally
cured bacon and free range eggs. For lunch you could have local fillet
of pork cooked in Somerset cider with creamed potatoes, Ploughman’s lunch
of Somerset cheeses, homemade chutneys and locally produced hams. And
if you come for dinner you could eat dishes such as Delicious rich queen
scallops, served with a pesto and coconut cream dressing to start with
followed by succulent lamb and sweet cherry tomatoes with a red wine and
rosemary gravy.
Event Title: The Rising Sun
Inn
Where: West Bagborough
Price: Various
Contact Name: Rob Rainey
Tel: 01823 432575
Description:
The Rising Sun is a 16th Century thatched pu situated on the edge of the
Quantock Hills in the village of West Bagborough. The Inn has a reputation
for great pub and restaurant food served in stylish surroundings. Typical
pub grub is served at lunchtimes between 12-2pm and the evenings we have
an à-la-carte menu served between 7.00pm and 9.00pm. In the bar
there is a selection of 5 real ales to try and an extensive list of wines
from around the world. The opening times are 12.00pm to 3.00pm and 6.00pm
to 11.00pm Tuesday to Friday.and at the weekends we are open all day.
Event Title: The Bell Inn
Where: 3, Market Street, Watchet
Price: Various (from £3.50)
Contact Name: Gillian and Paul
Tel: 01984 631279
Web:
Email: paul.taplin@btconnect.com
Description
We offer fresh local produce with a selection of wines and real ales.
Families are welcome and we have a courtyard where you can sit and enjoy
the sea air.
During the Sea Fayre we will be offering freshly battered Cod, and wholetail Scampi, but why not eat as the Vikings did and try our herrings served with freshly baked bread and fresh vegetables washed down with our finest mead. We also offer a range of bar snacks.
Event Title: Esplanade Tea
Garden.
When: 2pm onwards (weather permitting) over the weekend
Where: Esplanade, Watchet
Price: Various
Contact Name: Rachel and Derek Fawcus
Tel: 01984 633444
Description
The weekends of the Festival we will be offering prawn sandwiches, crab
and salad rolls, bagels filled with smoked salmon and cream cheese as
well as our tasty selection of homemade cakes and Somerset cream teas.
Often described by customers as the ‘secret garden’. We are beside the
Harbour and Marina. Our sheltered garden provides a kaleidoscope of colour
in a peaceful setting.
Easy access for disabled. Dogs welcome.
Event Title: West Somerset
Hotel
When: 1st May – 8th May
Where: 17, Swain Street, Watchet
Price: Various
Contact Name: Ross, Ken, Janet and Christine.
Tel: 01984 634434
Description
Ross, Ken, Janet and Christine extend a warm welcome. The hotel offers
good food, including a traditional Sunday carvery, a well stocked bar
and enclosed sun garden as well as two skittle alleys, pool and darts.
Our Sea Fayre menu includes Pint of Prawns, Golden breaded whitebait or King Prawns pan fried in garlic and black pepper to start, followed by a choice of freshly cooked battered Cod, oven roasted stuffed Sea Bass served in its own unique foil parcel or Crab meat on a bed of fresh salad.
Catch & Cook – bring in any fish caught locally and we will cook it for you and serve it with a selection of fresh vegetables at a small extra charge.