The Quantock Hills are probably one of England’s best kept secrets, nestling in against their larger cousin Exmoor. But the Quantocks are so much more than a ‘little Exmoor’. This gentle ridge of uplands rises from just a few feet above sea-level at Taunton and climbs to 1260 ft at Wills Neck, before dipping its shoulders in to the Bristol Channel, a mere 12 miles later. Size for size, in these few miles that make up the Quantocks, there can surely be no more beautiful a place in Britain. Indeed Coleridge and Wordsworth captured their simple beauty in verse and in doing so wrote some of this country’s most celebrated literature while staying in the hills in the 1790s.

Indeed, little has changed since those heady days of the romantic poets. So little wonder, with all the wonderful facets the hills have to offer, the open moorland, Jurassic coastline, charismatic farmland and magnificent woodland, that the Quantocks were awarded in 1956 the distinction of being England’s first Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB).

This collection of over 140 superbly composed photographs depicts one of England’s little gems. Although recognized nationally for its natural beauty, never before has such a varied and intimate portrait of the hills been assembled. Shot from dusk till dawn, subjects from moor, to coast, farmland, woodland and wildlife, have been brought to life by photographer Craig Hutchings who demonstrates his love of this wonderful landscape, not only through the well known vistas but those secret places only a local would know.

Born in the county town of Taunton, Craig can be described as an Englishman by birth and a son of Somerset by the grace of God, such is his love for his native county. He was introduced to photography by his father Ron in the 1970s, while still at school. From this early introduction, a great passion for photography grew, with Craig photographing just about everything and anything over the next 30 years. So, being brought up in the shadow of the Quantocks and now a resident of the hills along with his wife Bev and two daughters Amberley and Emily, little wonder that Craig knows just about every combe, cairn and tuft of heather on them. To capture the ever-changing light which dances across the combes and moors, has become a burden of delight. Forever drawn to early mornings, late nights and endless hours of waiting for the perfect shot, Craig has devoted much of his recent life to building up this superb collection of images.

Imprint: Halsgrove. ISBN 978 1 84114 933 2, hardback, 214×230mm, 144 pages. Published March 2009.

Craig Hutchings has most generously donated the royalties from the initial print run to Friends of Quantock - so get your copy today!

This is a fascinating book for anyone and especially for those who know and love the Quantocks. It examines the changing face of the Quantock landscape from earliest times to the 20th century but particularly explores the impact that man and his activities have had on the hills. Hazel is well versed in the archaeology of the area and takes us through the evidence of early hunter-gatherers from before the last ice-age, through the Neolithic and Bronze Age settlements and standing stones, and the barrows and earthworks that litter the hilltops, to historic times. The Middle Ages were a period of deer parks and the origins of most of the settlements that we know today with the ancient track-ways and early buildings. In more recent times she writes of the enclosure movement, industrial archaeology and big estates of the last two hundred years.

It is a fascinating read and a mine of information. If you have been intrigued by the Trendle Ring or Dowsborough Camp, by the barrows on Wills Neck or the statue of Jupiter at Terhill, you can learn all about them in this book, although I am sorry that Hazel does not explain the derivation of Wills Neck.

However well you think you know the Quantocks you will still find new information about features that you may often have passed but not recognised for what they are. The illustrations are superb with many aerial views that show the hills in a new light, maps, old photographs and drawings.

The Quantock Deer Management and Conservation Group have called for more female deer to be culled in and around the Quantock Hills. I would like to explain the reasons that have led the very broad array of individuals and conservation organisations, which make up the QDM&CG, to ask local landowners to move towards culling in a more collaborative, selective and sustainable manner.

A visual spring (pre-calving) count of red deer on the Quantocks has been organised annually with the help of 50 volunteers for the past 17 years. Deer are difficult to count accurately, but this standardised count enables at least minimum numbers to be confirmed and trends to be monitored. The average of counts obtained during the five years from 1993-1997 was 555, rose to 745 from 1998-2002 and has averaged 830. The count records merely the annual minima before at least 350 calves are born during the summer, taking the total to somewhere near 1100.

Culling of deer on the Quantocks is nothing new, 200 to 250 deer will have been culled in most recent years but this has clearly not prevented the increase in deer numbers and the proportion of adult females culled needs to be greater.

For appropriately qualified and experienced stalkers, red deer are not an especially difficult species to cull. The more complicated task lies in getting the many individual landowners to work towards maintaining a healthy and sustainable herd as a valued part of our wildlife and asset to local tourism, but without unacceptable levels of damage to farm and timber crops or detrimental impact on semi-natural habitats.

The QDM&CG is fully committed to the long-term conservation of a substantial population of red deer on the Quantocks. However, its members (which include Quantock landholders, as well as other interested bodies) have jointly reached the conclusion that concerns about damage to farmland, forestry, and woodland biodiversity make the current size of deer populations unsustainable in the longer term particularly relative to the conservation of the ancient semi-natural oak woods on the Quantock, which are a Special Area of Conservation of international importance. The group has therefore asked local landholders to liaise in a gradual reduction of the population over the coming five years, and then retain a population nearer 500 head. To accomplish this, an extra 50 to 100 mature females will need to be culled annually to initiate a more significant reduction in the breeding herd.

Whilst the optimum deer population level for the Quantocks remains debatable and will always require compromises between landholders and other interest groups, in the absence of any natural predators, direct management intervention does become inevitable at some point.

Therefore as a biologist and wildlife enthusiast I have no problem in accepting the need for culling as part of deer management. The more important issue is that deer culls should be undertaken in a humane, professional and highly selective manner and that a significant and healthy population is retained which remains valued as an asset rather than perceived as a pest by landholders.