Where to sleep, eat and drink along the route, by Ben Lerwill
FINDING YOUR WAY
The Coleridge Way is marked by waymarkers with a quill logo, but this signage is occasionally hard to spot, and/or missing at crucial points, so it makes a lot of sense to travel with the relevant OS maps – OS Explorer 140 (Quantocks) and OS Explorer OL9 (Exmoor) – and familiarise yourself with how to read them before your walk. Visit Exmoor’s website also has a full, printable route guide with mapping, and directions for walking the trail eastwards as well as westwards. See visit-exmoor.co.uk.
The Coleridge Way Companion Guide by Ian Pearson, (£10 plus postage) is a trail guidebook of some 155 pages, written by one of the owners of the Old Cider House B&B in Nether Stowey. It includes basic route directions, although the bulk of the book recounts the author’s own travels along the trail. It’s unconventional, but valuable to have, and if you are feeling energetic, it also includes details of a return walking route along the England Coast Path. coleridgewaywalk.co.uk
NOTABLE PUBS ALONG THE ROUTE
The Ancient Mariner, Nether Stowey
This 16th-century pub, named for Coleridge’s famous poem, offers cream teas and local real ales. marinernetherstowey.co.uk
Notley Arms Inn, Monksilver
A stylish, recently refurbished country pub with open fires and a beer garden, around 14 miles along the trail. notleyarmsinn.co.uk
The Rockford Inn, Brendon Valley
A remote riverside pub close to the end of the route serving home-cooked meals using seasonal produce. therockfordinn.co.uk
VISIT
Coleridge Cottage
Home to Coleridge and his family from 1797, the cottage (above) is open between late March and October, Wednesday to Saturday, 11am–5pm. Entry is £6.50 per adult, with free entry for National Trust members. nationaltrust.org.uk/coleridge-cottage
Alfoxton House
The route passes Alfoxton House (inset, right), where William and Dorothy Wordsworth lived for a short while, and where Coleridge reputedly gave his first reading of The Rime of the Ancient Mariner. Today the house is a Buddhist centre, with various courses on offer, from meditation retreats to permaculture courses. alfoxtonpark.org.uk
RECOMMENDED READING
As well as the works of Coleridge himself, there are various biographies of the poet, s
