Nether Stowey

Sam with Sara and baby in tow, he
 moved his young family to Nether Stowey.

Staying a few happy years in Delbards cottage, 
spending mornings toiling  to grow food and forage. 

Then, in afternoons working to earn honest keep, 
writing poems and ballads and literary critiques. 

But his focus soon turned to the land that you see 
where he wandered with Wordsworth and Dorothy. 

His neighbours from Holford just over the hill. 
Together they walked many miles, never still.

Observing and learning from locals at work 
raised suspicions, so spies were summoned to lurk,
and follow in shadows to discover clues
as to why these fine gentlemen might wish to choose
to go wandering instead of taking a carriage.
Why live with your sister and not seek a marriage?

Good friend Thomas Poole had found Sam their home. 
The locals questioned their preference to roam. 
Why must they go and put into print 
tales of this fine village? A real labyrinth 
of houses and yards, Tom Poole’s tannery , 
spewing ammonia stenched waste to the streams daily. 

Sam found sanctuary in the Persian lime tree Bower, 
spending many sedentary creative hours. 
Laudanum and ale- fuelled conversations 
led to all sorts of exotic revelations!
Ghostly ships that sparked the mariner’s tale, 
and stories of prisons and nightingales. 

Up the hill, ancient ruins with fine views out to sea, 
where Sam basked in the moonlight with Dorothy, 
on a soft bed of moss, the stars shining bright. 
only sheep as companions, they talked through the night.
With no care for the gossip their liaisons might raise,
just pure love of the land that the livestock grazed.
This passion was shared with her brother Will. 
They all regularly walked o’er these stunning hills.

So as you stroll along paths trod by these three great minds
Connect with their shared joy at the beauty you’ll find.