Group Travel > Suggested Itineraries > Rivers & Rambles
Rivers & Rambles
Hestercombe Gardens & Bridgwater & Taunton Canal
(Total miles:approx 18 Time 3-5 hours)
Leave Taunton via Station Road. Pass the Railway Station on right continue for 100yds and pick up the Daisy signs (Brown and White Tourist signs) for Hestercombe Gardens. Follow the daisy signs through the lanes along the lower slopes of the Quantock Hills for approx 4 miles.
Hestercombe
Free parking. Easy walking around the formal gardens. Ramble through the landscaped gardens. The Formal Gardens were designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens with the informal planting by Gertrude Jekyll. Enjoy the view of the restored Landscape Garden from the Victorian Terrace with its stately fountain. Take a walk through the valley and around the lake in the landscape gardens set in 40 acres of beautiful countryside. See the wonderful views across the Vale of Taunton. Follow the restored Mill Leat to where you can see it tumble down the rocks in a spectacular waterfall. Enjoy a coffee and cake in the Tea Room where a wide range of home cooked food is served. Visit the shop and plant centre for unusual gifts and plants. Open all year. Length of stay from 1 hr to 3 hours depending on walks taken. Leave Hestercombe and head towards Bridgwater and the A38 until you reach North Petherton approx 4 miles. Turn right by the Playing Fields in N Petherton following the brown tourist signs for the Canalside Parking and North Newton. Drive down the quite narrow lanes for approx 3 miles and turn left by the red brick house to the Canalside Parking on left.
Maunsel Canal Centre
See the lock, and stroll along the Canal. Take a Canal Cruise (by appointment only). Walk to the next lock at Higher Maunsel a distance of approx 500 yds and see a model of the sun, part of the 'Somerset Space Walk'. Call in at the Tea Garden for light refreshments and souvenirs. For Canal Cruises contact the following numbers 01278 451523 or 01823 444630. For further information contact the Maunsel Canal centre on 01278 663160. Check opening times before planning your trip. Length of stay can be between a half to two and a half hours (if taking cruise). Head back to North Newton and on to North Petherton then take the A38 back to Taunton.
For opening times and admission prices please see under entry in attraction section.
General Advice & Information: contact the Somerset Visitor Centre Tel: 01934 750833
