What makes Wellow wonderful?
Intrigued by the recent national interest in this little village south of Bath, EMMA ELGEE dropped by to ask the people who live there what makes it so special – and is it really that ‘posh’?
For many, Wellow, on the outskirts of Bath, is the dream English countryside village. There is a communityrun shop, a church, one fantastic pub, a primary school, community playground and outdoor tennis court as well as beautiful houses dotted around rolling green countryside. Its beauty has not gone unnoticed, earlier this year it was named one of the “poshest” villages in the Somerset by The Telegraph.
It’s just been given another honour as The Sunday Times has voted it one of the best places to live in the country.
The judges behind the guide assessed a wide range of factors, from schools, transport and broadband to culture, green spaces and the health of the high street. Eventually, nine locations from across the South West were chosen, with the Wellow included.
The awards look to celebrate improving towns, villages or city centres; attractive, well-designed homes and locations bursting with community spirit – which the pandemic has shown to be the most vital quality of all.
Earlier this year, I went along to spend some time exploring Wellow, finding out if it’s really that posh and why it is so loved.
After arriving and parking in the free village car park – an amazing feature for someone very much used to paying – I got out of my car to be hit by a wall of bird song and sunshine, a pretty lovely welcome so far.
I set off in search of the village shop called The Parlour in an old barn on the roadside. It is has a distinctive black and white cow outside – a gift from a customer.
once inside I met Lyn Williams, one of the volunteers who helps run the shop, which has been open for 23 years.
I explained my visit and, glad to see a Bath Chronicle prominently on the shelf behind her, we quickly got chatting.
Ms Williams has lived in the village for 40 years so has seen it all. She said: “It has a wonderful community, that is for sure, which existed pre-covid. It’s now even better.”
The shop is not for profit and during lockdowns went above and beyond as it started doing deliveries for shielding locals. It even holds accounts for locals so they just have to pay one bill at the end of the month.
Ms Williams said in her mind the village isn’t “posh” – a label she said doesn’t do it justice.
“It has certainly got what you might call more upmarket over the last 20 years, but not in a negative way,” she said.
“The new people that have moved here have quickly got really involved in village life, which is hugely valued as a result.”
She suggested that “charming” would be a better word to describe Wellow.
The shop itself certainly is, stocking local produce as much as possible and eco refills for cereals and grains.
The average house price in Wellow is a whopping £954,993 and Ms Williams said that rising prices have been noticed.
She explained: “Wellow is not unique in that house prices have gone up. It is very hard for young people these days, I wouldn’t be able to afford Wellow now.”
She suggested builders should be aiming to achieve homes for young people who want to stay in the area long term.
“Something that could be done is building houses for young couples – we need to protect those kind of houses, there is already some social housing in the village too.”
Next on my walk around I found myself drawn to Henley View down Canteen Lane after seeing lovely vistas of green fields from the road. Here I met 70-year-old Steward Cole, another long-standing local, whose family can trace their roots in the village as far back as 1779.
They planted the old oak tree in the village back in 1911.
Mr Cole worked on local dairy farms and said the village had changed throughout the years but that it definitely isn’t “posh”.
“I’ve worked on the farms since I was 16 right up until 1990,” he said. “Now for the last 32 years I have been the parish sweeper. It’s not posh but it is a nice village. I certainly work to keep it clean and nice – I’ve never had a complaint.”
He recounted the changing landscape – dairy farms have closed in large numbers and where the village used to boast five pubs there is only one now.
Trains used to come to Wellow before they stopped in 1966, and it was very much a farmer’s place, but now rising house prices have changed that.
He said: “The house prices are ridiculous – it’s too expensive for young people now.”
Mr Cole also said the through traffic had increased – partly due to local developments.
Yet he said the fresh air and countryside around him meant Wellow was the place to be.
Lorna Bartlett, 90, also said she didn’t think the word “posh” was right for Wellow.
She has lived in Wellow with her husband since 1984, and said the thing that makes the village special is just how friendly everyone is.
She said: “It is very nice to live here, we moved from Swainswick to here. It’s a very pretty village and fairly quiet – the people are very friendly but I don’t think it is really posh.
“I think the thing is the houses go very well. It seems everyone wants to live in Wellow – for the houses but also the sense of community.”
And I am struck by the community spirit. There is an army of people who help make Wellow what it is.
In recent years they’ve clubbed together to buy oil to heat their homes, secured
six-figure sums to transform a sloping football pitch and launched a community bus to ensure they aren’t cut off.
With resources in short supply, these villages are doing it for themselves. The community bus was set up to ferry people into Bath after the local bus service was withdrawn.
A few years back frustrated residents even clubbed together and raised the funds needed to get BT to install a fibre-enabled cabinet in the village, transforming the lives of everyone.
Not only that but back in August 2008, Richard Holland launched one of the first community oil groups in the country, helping everyone keep costs down. They have also transformed the recreation area, which used to be in a sorry state.
There was an 11-a-side football pitch but the slope meant players were stuck down one wing “worse than Yeovil”.
Now it boasts a seven-aside pitch, cricket nets, an outdoor gym and Lawn Tennis Association-standard tennis courts that people visit from miles around to play on. Not to mention a hub was recently completed, adding cafe facilities.
And then there is, of course, the Fox and Badger, a traditional countryside pub which gets rave reviews.
Run by Charles Parson, 48, and his wife Jo, the pub is the true heart of the village. The pair set it up nine years ago and it seems as if the whole village revolves around it. The duo had already been running The White Hart in Widcombe successfully since 2003 before the opportunity came up to take over what become The Fox and Badger.
Mr Parson said he is highly aware that Wellow and The Fox and Badger are a very special pair.
The pub has provided a much-needed constant in the lives of the villagers throughout lockdowns – doing a weekly
takeaway night on a Friday (with upwards of 150 orders) and reopening to riproaring trade. Mr Parson explained what makes Wellow so special in his eyes.
“I wouldn’t say it’s posh, it’s very middle class – it is an expensive place to live but so are all the villages in Somerset it seems these days.
“We are very fortunate to be the only pub in the village and it has become the centre of the community – it’s used by everyone. There is a wide spectrum of society always in the pub – from people who live in manor houses to those in social housing and that’s the way everyone likes it. Everyone gets on so well, there is no alienation of anyone – everyone is welcome.
“Wellow has a fantastic community spirit and I see the benefit of that every day in how life works around there.”
Mr Parson explained that Wellow has changed throughout the years in a process which is happening everywhere
– big farms are sold off for developments to create more houses and property prices rise as a result.
Wellow’s success can be “bittersweet” to some he says but it’s all part of progress and there are still affordable houses around.
The local community was something he was highly aware of when starting up – they didn’t want him to create a gastro pub, the like of which can be found all over Somerset, they wanted their traditional pub and so did Charles and Jo.
“We wanted to create an atmosphere of a traditional pub with good food and we have done that thanks to our amazing staff. Jason Horne is our chef and he’s been working across both pubs for over a decade. Our staff knew what we wanted to create and it has paid off thanks to them.”
Each month the pub holds a quiz night and getting a team in can be as hard as getting Glastonbury tickets. All proceeds go to a nominated charity and in the past 20 years Mr Parson reckons £50,000 to £60,000 has been raised.
Friday night is known to be the pub night across the village – everyone meets to discuss the week’s events and let loose. In the summer punters spill out of the door.
Mr Parson said: “I’m so aware that Wellow is a special place – we knew it was before we came here as we said to the previous pub runners that we’d love to take it over from them one day. It has always been a hidden gem.
“We didn’t want to change the dynamics of the pub, we just gave it a new lease of life and it appears everyone appreciate that, which means a lot.
“In lockdown some villagers approached me to say if we got into financial difficulty that they’d help us – a staggering offer and one which took a while to sink in.
“Thankfully we have two very stable businesses and didn’t need the help but to have that offer made was incredible. They said they didn’t want the pub to not make it through Covid. It was incredibly generous and was a huge confidence boost – made me feel like, yeah, I can do this for another 10 years.
“A lot of pubs did have difficulty during lockdowns – we did get a grant from B&NES, which was incredible, but our landlord didn’t offer any help.
“I think doing the takeaways helped remind people we’re all still here going through this together.
“Running the pub is incredibly rewarding – you have to love what you do and we do love it. It does feel special and it means a lot to us.
“I like to think we help look after the village but the village looks after us too.”
Perhaps it is just that which makes Wellow such a wonderful place.