Great Wood — Attraction in Over Stowey

Ranger Owen is our hero. We started out on the wrong path 🙄 and what I thought was a round route turned out to be somewhat different, two and a half miles up a hill. In the depths of this dark and mysterious wood imagine my surprise when a bin lorry went past! Hey Ho I thought. How delighted I was to meet them again on their return as I checked with them that I was on the way back to the car park. Not so. A dead end. It was getting dark. So we turned round and started the long walk home. Eventually we heard an engine, coming our way. Hooray I thought. I flagged it down and out stepped a giant of a man in Forestry Commission uniform. Well, he must know where we were? He actually did better than that and gave us a lift down the last mile of track. It was quite dark by then. Apparently the dear Bin Men had sought out Owen as they were concerned that two old dears might have to stay the night under a tree. So a BIG THANKS to these Bin Men for speaking up 🤩🤩. I dont know their names so I shall defend all Somerset’s bin men from now on. Hooray for Bin Men and for wonderful Owen. Medals...

Great Wood is arguably one of the most beautiful places in the country. Every time I go there I am blown away by the beauty of nature. It is a great day out for nature lovers, dog walkers, hikers and families alike. There are several different walks of differing inclines and difficulty levels suitable for different abilities. For more the adventurous you can leave the signed paths, but if you do remember the woods are massive and there is little phone reception there so plan accordingly. There is also a nice campground in an opening. It has picnic tables and fire pits (check if fires are allowed at that point in the year) where families spend a nice day out. The only downside is that to get to the car parks, you have to go down a lane that is a little bumpy (you have to avoid the potholes) and your car is guaranteed to get covered in the red clay dust (washes off very...

We were very disappointed with our visit to the Quantock Hills yesterday. My partner and I had come with our dog hoping for a nice walk. However, upon arriving at the car park at the top, we were frustrated to find that parking now requires payment — £2 — which felt unreasonable. We then drove down to the lower car park, only to discover that both pay-and-display machines were out of order.

I also used the public toilets and was appalled by their condition: they smelled terrible, there was no toilet paper, the floor was sticky and wet as if something had leaked, and rubbish was scattered everywhere.

To make matters worse, in Great Wood, we saw multiple people setting up fires directly on the ground — an obvious fire hazard and completely irresponsible in a forested area.

Sadly, this experience has put us off...