Nature Calling: Taking Up Space on the Mendip Hills
4 November 2025
In the past two months, with the aim of helping to connect our local communities with the beauty of the natural world surrounding Weston, Super Culture has organised a number of trips that have taken over 120 local people to enjoy the outdoors, through View Out augmented reality trail.
Groups benefitting from these outings include South Weston Activities network (families from South Ward), people who access the services of Refugees Welcome North Somerset in Winford and in Weston, Open Door adult drama group, members of the Redeemed Christian Church of God Overcomers House, artists from Weston Artspace, volunteers from Growing at Grove Park and young people with special education needs.
Louise Hill-Davies organised and facilitated one such group on a sunny day half term day, which she encapsulates beautifully in the piece below:
As part of the Nature Calling project with Mendip Hills National Landscape and Super Culture, members of the Redeemed Christian Church of God Overcomers House in Weston-super-Mare came together for a community trip to Wavering Down on the Mendip Hills. Those as young as four joined adults and families for a day of walking, writing and sharing food in nature.
Our journey began with a steady climb towards Crook Peak. Although we didn’t reach the top this time, we climbed high enough to take in the view across Axbridge Lake and the Somerset countryside. Along the way, we talked, laughed and learned from one another. A sign warning of snakes sparked different reactions. Fear, excitement and curiosity.
Along the way, we met local walkers with their dogs who greeted us with warmth and smiles. Their kindness and openness made us feel welcome, reminding us that the Mendips truly belong to everyone who walks them.
At the top, coolers of home-cooked food were unpacked. The warm aroma of Jollof rice met the cool Mendip breeze — a meeting of cultures, histories and landscapes. Eating traditional West African food surrounded by the greens and greys of the Mendips felt like a quiet act of belonging, a way of saying we all have a place here.
Poet Jaidah led a creative workshop that encouraged everyone to notice what they could see, hear, touch and smell. Young people wandered, notebooks in hand, capturing the feeling of the landscape. Later, they shared their words. Some shyly, some proudly, and the writing was thoughtful and moving.
One 16-year-old reflected afterwards, “This was so amazing. I never get to go out much. I would like to do something like this again. Who would’ve thought that we could have Jollof rice in the Mendips!”
Patricia, a Sunday School teacher from the Redeemed Christian Church of God Overcomers House, shared, “It’s important for our young people to have opportunities to explore the countryside and to get out and walk. It’s good for their mental health. We need to engage young people in more opportunities like this.”
For many, it was their first time exploring nature like this. By the end of the day, every one of them wanted to do more.
Days like this remind us that belonging can be found anywhere. Sometimes even halfway up a hill with a spoonful of Jollof rice.
Thank you to everyone who made this possible: Mendip Hills National Landscape; Super Culture; Jaidah,;Patricia and the parents and the young people of Overcomers House.