I revisited this quaint market town after nearly eight years, it’s a haven for the artisan lovers (Image: Ellen Jenne)
I recently found myself back in Somerset for the first time in a few years, taking a trip down memory lane with my friend who flew across the world to celebrate their mum’s 60th birthday. A road trip from the big smoke to rolling fields of greenery feels like the best way to spend a chilly autumn weekend.
My friend originally hails from Frome, Somerset, but now calls the shores of New South Wales his home. I hadn’t been back in this quaint West Country town for nearly eight years, but have seen its name make headlines as one of the UK’s best places to live. In fact, it seemed so often that I’ve lost count. It made an appearance again on Muddy Stiletto’s Top 260 Best Places to Live in 2025, again.
The likes of Cheap Street and Catherine Hill (above) are teeming with independent shops and cafes (Image: Ellen Jenne)
I’d never really thought too much about it, as Frome has always been my friend’s home town, but if it’s receiving accolades time and time again, there must be something I’ve missed over the past decade.
Not only that, Frome’s Rye Bakery also made an appearance in Britain’s Best Bakeries by Milly Kenny Ryder. The Times even dubbed the town “Wokeville”, home of the “conscious hipster”. But to me, it’s been a hub of a close community that’s cricket-mad, where everyone knows each other, and where the pints are eye-wateringly cheap in comparison to London.
Situated on the outskirts of the Mendip Hills, Muddy Stilettos described Frome as a “community-minded town packed with arty, artisan shops, eateries and other businesses, with an indie cinema and a music venue where the likes of Paul McCartney ‘just pop in’. And it hosts the best designer-maker-producer street market in the West.”
I’d either not registered it before or the town has undergone a serious glow up in my eight-year hiatus. The town centre, brimming with cobblestone side streets that wind uphill are decked out with tiny boutiques and quirky little shops, selling everything from vintage clothes, antiques, and even its own apothecary emporium.
Ensure our latest travel stories always appear at the top of your Google Search by making us a Preferred Source. Click here to activate or add us as a Preferred Source in your Google search settings
You’ll find everything from vintage clothes, antiques, and even an apothecary (Image: Ellen Jenne)
The likes of Cheap Street and Catherine Hill are decked out with independent shops, boujee coffee shops, and enough micropubs and wine bars to last a lifetime. What Muddy Stilettos praised as “interesting indies”, my mate’s mum dubbed “artisinal… and we aren’t the artisanal type”.
Another magnet for local and further afield visitors is Frome’s plethora of markets, which just happened to be running the weekend I wasn’t visiting. You’ll find the likes of designer makers, and artisan food and drink producers at the Frome Independent Market.
You’ll be hard pressed to find a lot of chain shops or restaurants here, which is great if you want to escape the immense overwhelm of typical highstreets chains. I counted one Costa Coffee, and that’s it.
My first proper pitstop was Rye Bakery at its Station Approach location. The other you’ll find housed in a church on Whittox Lane.
Frome’s former railway house is now home to some independent artisanal producers (Image: Ellen Jenne)
Who wouldn’t want freshly baked pastries first thing in the morning? (Image: Ellen Jenne)
Even the former railway house at the station has been renovated into a small independent food market and event space. Alongside Rye Bakery, you’ll find its sister wine bar, cheesemonger The Cheese Lord, Indian and Trinidadian street food, a charcutier, another wine bar, and a community sauna and cold plunge.
Oh, and a milk vending machine for good measure. You wouldn’t even need to leave the station.
Of course it would be rude not to try out Rye’s goods. I tucked into a cinnamon bun along with my iced coffee (on a bitterly cold Sunday morning), and a special sarnie packed to the brim with salami, Glastonbury cheddar, and salsa verde mayo.
It’s exactly the type of thing I want from a bakery, but I can accept that to some it may seem a little… gentrified. The sarnie was full to the brim, with the spice of the salami mellowed by the tangy mayo and sharp cheddar. All of these new bakeries have made the humble sandwich have a moment en vogue.
Rye’s cinnamon was equally as enjoyable as the sandwich, with soft, pillowy dough and gorgeously spiced cinnamon sugar. Not too sickly sweet, but sweet enough to satiate my hunger.
Nothing says hangover cure like a proper coffee and cinnamon bun (Image: Ellen Jenne)
Rye’s sandwiches are too die for, putting local produce at the heart of its products (Image: Ellen Jenne)
We even found an Aussie working behind the counter, and if that’s not a sign of a good coffee, I don’t know what is.
It was also nice to revisit some of the local watering holes. You can find a mish mash of old school country boozers or local craft beer spots. For me, I’d venture just outside of the town for a proper taste of Somerset life.
I nearly cried with I found out a pint of cider for less than £6. It makes me realise just how expensive London has been, and really, that the prices don’t need to be as extortionately high as they are.
Frome has and hasn’t changed. It’s still the same quaint Somerset town where everyone knows everyone; where the quietness of the town centre seems so alien to a London dweller.
The people may not have changed, but it sounds as though the ambience has, bringing a new wave of folk to its cobblestone streets. There’s a sense of community that you only find in small towns like Frome.
It represents a reprieve from busy city life, where you can escape into the countryside within seconds rather than hours. It may not be quite the same Frome I remember, but I’ll always have a fond affinity for the town.
This story originally appeared on Express.co.uk
