Enjoy a fun week of walking and dancing with a new team for 2016.
Country dance workshops will take place each morning with caller Lisa Heywood and musicians Rod and Frances Stradling (Rod will also be your host for the week). You’ll have a chance to brush-up your dancing skills and maybe learn a new dance or two, before heading off into the hills – quite literally – to enjoy the spectacular landscapes of this distinctive and nationally important protected area. Guided walks will be led by volunteer rangers from the Quantock Hills AONB Service, giving you a chance to learn more about the geology, history and wildlife of the hills, or simply to enjoy an amble with in beautiful countryside in amiable company! Then it’s back to the Manor, for dinner, and dances every evening.
“The ambience, company, scenery and walks, natural history… what more can you want?” Participant
Who’s it For?
Our walking holidays are suitable for individuals, couples, groups of friends, or walking clubs. Walks are tailored to meet the requirements and abilities of the group, ranging from shorter walks of three to four miles up to longer walks of eight miles or more. A reasonable fitness level is required – even short walks may include steep climbs – and appropriate clothing and footwear suitable for a variety of weather conditions is essential. Car sharing will be necessary for some of the walks.
“A lovely place to be and a wonderful holiday – thank you.” Participant
The Team
Rod & Frances Stradling (‘Stradivarious’) are experienced in playing for many kinds of traditional dancing, and regular favourites at Halsway Manor!
Walks will be led by Quantock Hills AONB volunteers.
The Quantocks
The Quantock Hills were the UK’s first AONB, receiving its protected status in 1956; its distinctive character, natural beauty and cultural heritage are so outstanding that it is in the nation’s interest to safeguard them. Explore and you will find rocky Jurassic coastline, exposed heathland summits, deep wooded combes, undulating farmland and attractive villages. A haven for wildlife, the Quantocks offer many rare habitats for flora and fauna, and are home to an important population of red deer. Evidence abounds of early settlements; Bronze Age barrows, ancient stones and ridgeways, Iron age hill forts and earthworks. Inspired by this wild hilly ridge, the young rebel poets Samuel Taylor Coleridge and William Wordsworth roamed, writing as they walked, forming the Lyrical Ballads and their notion of English Romanticism.