Radstock, town in Somerset, England
Radstock is a small town on the northern side of the Mendip Hills in Somerset, where old and new buildings blend along narrow streets and the landscape. The place has a museum, several churches, and green spaces woven throughout the community.
Settlement dates back to the Iron Age, and the Romans built the Fosse Way through the area. Coal discovery in the 18th century sparked rapid growth, with up to 79 mines at their peak in the early 1900s, all closing by the 1970s.
The name Radstock comes from its location near the Roman Fosse Way and the red soil common to the area. The town keeps its connection to this past visible in its buildings and streets, where you can still sense the layers of time as you walk.
The best way to get around Radstock is by car or bike, since the old railway lines no longer operate as transport. The town connects to main roads leading to Bath and other parts of Somerset, and offers many walking and cycling paths through the countryside.
The Writhlington Colliery, a former coal pit, holds fossil remains of insects from the Carboniferous period and is now a protected nature site. This spot shows how nature slowly returns and grows over the industrial past.
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