August

The Quiet of Wincanton
It is, of course, a great thing for the World that Co-Vid 19 is no longer keeping us
shut up and indoors. I won’t miss the fear and the worry about venturing out and
I will be so glad to be able to hug my family and lots of other people. But I will
miss the quiet. I remember the warm April days with no traffic and the birds singing
and not having to talk to anyone and the feeling of space, relaxation, peace.
There is a website, https://silentspace.
org.uk that tells the story of a growing
trend. The Silent Spaces that are illustrated
there are beautiful National Trust type
gardens with old brick walls espaliered
with peach trees, marble urns overflowing
with roses and paths gracefully bordered
with lavender. It doesn’t say how much
it costs to access these luxurious havens
of quiet.
But we, residents of Wincanton, can
experience this for nothing. There are
pockets and corners of our town where
we can find such havens and all the better
for being in walking distance.
In summer (between April and September),
if you wander up the High Street
on a Wednesday you can knock on the
door of Clementina’s. The old shop is still
LOCATION
Quaker Garden
30/32 High Street, BA9
9JF
Clementina’s Garden,
7 High Street, BA9 9JN
St Peter’s & St Paul’s
Parish Church
(That big one at the
bottom of town).
Cash’s Park
Wricksons View
Memorial Wildflower
Meadow, Cale Park
OPENING
HOURS/Cov19
restrictions
9.00 am – 6.00
pm Please
observe social
distancing
Not open during
lockdown
During
lockdown,
Sun 9–11am &
Wed 2–4 pm
Please observe
Social Distancing
Please observe
Social Distancing
Closed during
lockdown
there and Zac Greening will be working
in his studio. He will show you through
to a beautiful warm walled garden with
urns and columns and sculptures old and
new. You can stay for as long as you
like between 11.00am and 4pm with no
restrictions except that you are quiet and
your phone is switched off.
A little further up the High Street on the
other side of the road is the Quaker Community
Peace Garden. It is small and
exquisite with lavender bordering the path
and plenty of seating space. It is a place
to meditate or think things through. The
Quakers are generous and broad minded.
There are no noise restrictions for children
who can play there to their hearts’
content. But they would only be there, if
at all, after school or at weekends or holidays
and they, too, might enjoy the quiet,
Normally open for
QUIET TIMES
9.00 pm – 6.00 pm
Wheelchair access
From April to the end
of September on Weds
11am – 4.00 pm
Wheelchair access
9 am – 3.30 am
Wheel chair access
No restrictions
Any timeNot suitable
for wheel chairs
Any time not very
friendly for wheel chairs
possible to sit at the
entrance to the garden
Contacts/Notes
With thanks to:
Ray Leary (Clerk for the Quaker
Hall) Andy Hall Secretary, All
Churches Together
With thanks to:
Nicholas Cave
Zac Greening
With thanks to:
Penny Ashton
Rev. Alison Way
With thanks to: Zac Greening
With thanks to:
Simon Wiltshire
so you can enjoy it with them and explain
why you’re switching off your phone.
We are lucky to have Cale Park and the
river running through it. You can search
for the rainbow trout who live under the
Cemetery Bridge if you want to, but if you
go over the Troll Bridge into the children’s
playground, turn right and walk past the
swings you will find yourself in a wildflower
garden. When I was there last there
were swathes of Knapweed and Lady’s
Bedstraw, Oxeye daisies and Birdsfoot
Trefoil amongst the wild grasses.
You can walk along a path through this
flowering glory and sit on a (very) rustic
bench to be soothed by the humming
of the bees and other pollinators revelling
in this ever changing, ever evolving
wild place. I heard nothing except these
pollinators, but occasionally no doubt the
excited cry of a child on the slide or the
zip wire might come across to emphasise
the silence that otherwise surrounds you.
Or sometimes a dog might bark in the
distance. But otherwise, you can absorb
complete peace. I’ve heard other plans
for wildflowers too.
You can walk down the hill on North
Street and find some rather
imposing gates leading into
Cash’s Park. The imposing
gates are usually locked but
a single gate on their left is
normally open.
It’s a steep climb up but
there are some beautiful
trees and I have it on good
authority that there are
plans to plant wildflowers
at the hedged borders of
the park. There are benches
at intervals and it is quiet,
except sometimes for the
green woodpecker tapping
and a thrush and a
blackbird singing.
If you go on to the
top of the steep path
and turn left to go up
into the field above
One Planet Wincanton
Zero Waste
the park and then turn right, there is a
gate in the right hand wall leading to a
small field called Wrickson’s View and
here again there is silence and, as you sit
on (another) rustic bench, the view gives
this place a wonderful feeling of peace.
But what if it’s cold and raining and you
are desperate for somewhere quiet and
warm? There are always the churches.
Our Parish Church of St Peter and St
Paul (the big one at the bottom of the
town) is open, during lockdown on Sundays
from 9–11 and on Wednesdays from
2–4. In normal times it is always open
from 9–3.00 am. There may be a few
people arranging the flowers or moving
the chairs, but they are very welcoming to
everyone, regardless of faith or the lack of
it, and they understand the need for quiet
contemplation.
Obviously, in all these places it is necessary
to observe the guidelines about social
distancing, masks or whatever. And
it is asked that you switch off phones and
be considerate of other people’s need for
quiet. But even if not entirely silent, these
are all places of peace where we can sit
for a while to regain some equanimity
and re-centre ourselves. I might
well pass you there.