Click the image and it will open up, Click it again and it will embiggen so you can see it even more clearly.
The town of Frome is on the eastern end of the Mendip Hills, in the county of Somerset in the south-west of England. Tamara remembered reading about a place that was ‘alternative’ and she thought we had been there once before en route to somewhere else. Or rather, we had been on the outskirts of the town and missed the centre.
Was Frome the place where we had missed seeing the centre? I thought not and remembered a different name, but couldn’t recall it. Tamara may be right.
Either way, it is easy to fail to find the interesting bit of Frome because unless you follow the roads deep into this part of Frome, you could easily think it did not exist.
It’s a hippy-dippy alternative place. People were friendly, and there is a happy buzz about the place. When we visited another town less than ten miles away, we thought the tone was dour and less welcoming. How much exists in our minds and how much is out there?
It’s an age-old question, but my vote goes for the idea that while people may be the same the world over, the tone varies from place to place. I guess we all know that from countries that are under the heel of tyrrants.
How do you pronounce Frome? It rhymes with broom.
Embiggen Deserves A Heading Of Its Own
Merriam-Webster dictionary added “embiggen” in 1996, from the motto of The Simpsons’ town of Springfield:
“A noble spirit embiggens the smallest man.”
Photograph Works 
Frome sounds like an interesting, fun place. Thanks for the explanation about embiggen! I had not heard of it. I guess I’m not that much of a Simpsons nerd.
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The weird thing is that I knew the word and I had to go check. That’s when I found out its origin.
Yes, Frome is fun. It’s two-and-a-half hours from London by train, and that is a long time in commuting terms in the UK. And being far from London probably helps it to keep its character.
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