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

Famed for its cheddar and cider, this foodies’ paradise has a lot more to showcase on a new gastro tour launching this summer. Natalie Paris goes armed with an empty stomach

Fresh sips at Burrow Hill Cider Farm (Natalie Paris)

“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.

The county is known for its cider and cheese – the limestone cliffs of Cheddar Gorge conceal ancient caves where Cheddar Man, a Mesolithic hunter-gatherer, once lived and where modern humans still store the famed cheese of the same name to this day. But the trail also incorporates everything from sausage-making to chocolate, along with tractor rides and organic farm tours from locals like Tia.