Where is west country

Bournemouth , Exeter and Newquay all have airports with services from elsewhere in the UK and abroad. Southampton Airport , in the neighbouring South East region, is very well placed for Dorset and Wiltshire. Otherwise, the greatest number of international and particularly long-haul flights will be found at the various London airports , which are all within a day's drive of practically anywhere in the West Country.

Heathrow Airport is about 2 hours' drive from Bristol. The West Country has many different bus companies operating on a variety of routes. These companies include:.

First Kernow much of Cornwall ,. Transport for Cornwall much of Cornwall. Plymouth Citybus Plymouth and surroundings. Stagecoach much of Devon. Tally Ho South Hams, Kingsbridge. First Wessex much of South and West Dorset.

Yellow buses Bournemouth and surroundings. Buses of Somerset Much of Somerset. South West Coaches South Somerset. Salisbury Reds Salisbury and surroundings. Stagecoach North Whiltshire. First West of England South Glos. Pullhams North East Glos. Stagecoach much of Glos. The South West with its long coastline is a haven for tourists and so many tourist attractions can be found here. Eastern Dorset has a number of popular seaside resorts, the biggest of which is Bournemouth.

The 'Jurassic Coast' so named for the abundant dinosaur and prehistoric fossils found along the beaches runs through western Dorset and eastern Devon. The Cornish coast is famous for its mining heritage, fishing villages and surfing beaches. Travel Guides. Videos Beyond Hollywood Hungerlust Pioneers of love. Matthew Keyte. Milton Abbas. Cadbury Castle. Gold Hill, Shaftesbury.

Wells Cathedral. Lost Gardens of Heligan. Torridge Valley. Give us feedback. Read Next View. Hampton by Hilton London Park Royal. Eccleston Square Hotel. Georgian Guest House. Lansbury Heritage Hotel. The Congresbury Arms.

Luxury Historic House. A Room With A View. Hampton by Hilton Manchester Northern Quarter. High Hedges Guest House. Show More. This paved the way for how fiercely independent Cornwall still is to this day. Cornwall is an entity of its own within the West Country!

Cornwall has a solid argument for not being England. Its geographical position it only has a 7 mile border with Devon, and the rest of the county is surrounded by the sea and the River Tamar and its natural geology lots of rocky cliffs and the impassable Bodmin Moor at its centre meant that Romans and Anglo Saxons never populated it as they did the rest of the country. The Anglo-Saxons left it well alone. This meant that the Brythonic people remained there, speaking their own language and having their own customs.

How did the Cornish react to this? There were three Cornish rebellions, two in and one in — the last one was focused on the English reformation. The rebellions were sadly squashed by the much bigger Tudor army.

The Cornish language gradually died out as the area became more and more anglicised, the last native speaker dying in , and the last person who had some awareness of the language died in However, this is not where the story of the Cornish language ends. Cornish culture and its independent spirit has never died, and the language was revived in the latter part of the 20th century.

In , Cornish people were granted minority status. Therefore, the culture obviously varies hugely! Bristol has an arty culture; some of its most popular attractions are its street art!

Throughout the years, it has always had a strong reliance on the water and has a lot of ship-making history. Plymouth has the biggest navy base in the country, and there are lots of fishing villages all over Devon and Cornwall. There is also a big farming culture in parts of South West England. There are many legends in South West England, from Arthurian stories to Dartmoor ghost stories to a range of Cornish saints. If you want to learn a little more about the myths and legends, visit Glastonbury Tor, Tintagel Castle , or Clovelly.

For Druid history, visit Stonehenge which was believed to be built by the Druids until fairly recently but still has strong Druid connections. There are also some lovely Sea Shanty bands in the South West, with intriguing songs harking back from days long gone.

South West England has a few very well-defined accents; also due to the fact that this area of the country has been invaded less over time. The A sound is also elongated. There are a few differences amongst accents throughout the region, but they have many similarities. Once again, Cornwall stands apart — it actually has its own language. Rather than adopt the Germanic languages spoken in the rest of the country, Cornwall spoke its own Celtic tongue for centuries.

Unfortunatley, this was squashed over the years and eventually died out in the 18th century. However, since the 20th century, there has been a revival of the Cornish language.

Nowadays, there is much more of this Celtic language influence around Cornwall, and most Cornish people can speak a few words of their local tongue.

There are around 30, fluent speakers, and some families are even growing up speaking Cornish, so there are once again native speakers. The consumption of cider is widespread throughout the entire region, and most locals have a religious obsession with the drink. The tourist industry is big in South West England, and for a good reason.

These are just some of the amazing tourist attractions in the West Country. The West Country is a fantastic destination for hiking.