Time to savour: A taste of slow travel on Somerset’s new food trail

“This is the Isle of Avalon; it’s fertile,” said Tia Cusden of Wild Garden, who runs market gardening workshops. “People love growing food.” She was telling me about Somerset and its thriving gastro-scene – the essence of which has now been captured in a new Somerset Food Trail, launching in July, which will showcase some of the southwest’s best artisanal food and drink producers. Forget cheddar: the award-winning, modern soft cheeses here look to Europe for their inspiration As it was Saturday, the farm’s double-decker bus – a Glastonbury Festival regular – was selling cider to the sound of a honky-tonk piano, while the Temperley family, who also make Somerset Cider Brandy, offered tours of their copper distillery. To appreciate the variety of producers thriving in Somerset, compare a visit to Wilkins, a traditional cider farm near Wedmore, with the cyder bar at The Newt hotel, near Bruton. But the trail’s true appeal is that it makes it easy to sample a whole range of flavours, from Somerset ricotta to Dowdings’ intriguing new discovery, “Breakfast Cider”.