Sunday 13 May – Bath!

Many of you will have been to Bath, England’s historic spa city. If you have, you’ll know its beauty. If you haven’t let’s just say: you really need to!

Virtually all of the centre is constructed from the same Cotswold limestone, lending it a consistency unmatched in any place either of us has ever been to. Peter and Mary have been here before but not Val. She was keen to do the free city guided walking tour, so the three of us duly took part. This proved to be an inspired choice, especially as our guide was not only knowledgeable but passionate about Bath and its history and also extremely entertaining.

For the Kiwis reading this, it’s probably hard to imagine that the settlement goes back over two millennia, and people were already living here before the Romans took over. We could go on and on about so much – the Roman history including the baths, the medieval, religious and political history, and the stunning town planning and Georgian architecture of the 18^th century, but we couldn’t do it justice. It really has to be seen and walked around to be experienced.

One of the highlights was our visit afterwards to the Roman Baths, an absolutely fascinating insight into the original Roman development and lifestyle and subsequent changes in the eighteenth century. Amazingly a lot has been preserved intact from Roman time, and at times it was so real it was spine-tingling to know we were walking on the same stones that the Romans would have two thousand years ago.

The Abbey was also an incredible place, and the Pulteney bridge is one of only five in the world which have shops lining the bridge itself, a very European feel.

A huge amount is packed into a small space, giving Bath (which is in reality a small city) a really solid feel about it. We just wish we had more time.

Dinner tonight was at a gorgeous Italian restaurant. One thing the city is not short of is a range of cuisines and a great choice of eateries – which made a nice change from our more usual fare on our route!

Tomorrow – back on the trail….

Saturday 12 May – Gurney Slade to Bath – day 18

Well today we woke up, showered, had our continental breakfast, walked out the door of the B&B, turned right, walked for 100 metres, turned left, turned left again……zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.. oh here we are in Bath!

Actually it was a bit more interesting than that. While we went through Midsomer Norton (sounds exotic; most assuredly isn’t) and while today wasn’t quite up there with previous days, it was another 26km, the countryside was pleasant, and we went through some interesting villages. One such village was Dunkerton, complete with another book-swap phone box and a cricket match in progress. It would be nice to say “on a village green” but it was actually more of a manicured piece of field with a glorified shed for the clubhouse! Interestingly, it was a mixed team game and, while we were watching, the left-arm female bowler clean-bowled one of the batsmen.

Then it was a slog up a long hill, rewarded with a glorious view of the city of Bath, nestled in the valley below. It surely has to be one of the most beautiful ways to see a city for the first time, as Bath is largely built from a pale Cotswold limestone, giving it a real consistency of appearance as you approach it. The stone has been described as “fossilised sunshine” and in the late afternoon light you could see why.

That completes Stage 2 of our Grand Adventure. It certainly was a long stage – 9 days and 248km and we’ve now completed 429km, some 23% of the walk. That’s nearly a quarter – yay!

We are here for two nights and a wonderful rest day! We’ve met up with Val’s sister Mary, who will be walking with us for the next three days.

Distance: 24km

Friday 11 May –  Street to A Certain Village

Today’s route from Street saw us leave the Somerset Levels and enter more undulating countryside, following quiet country lanes and the occasional busy road. We seemed to chew up the miles quickly and the day passed uneventfully, arriving at today’s destination in time to treat ourselves to mid-afternoon ice-creams.

So, what did we see and learn?

In keeping with the games theme, over the past week we have been ‘treated’ to Jeremy Clarkson hosting the 20^th anniversary reboot of Who wants To be A Millionaire. So here goes: your chance to win £1 million! You know the rules, now play…

Q1 for £1000: When walking past Glastonbury, you realise it’s famous for:
A. The Tor                                                 B.  the Glastonbury Festival
C. Middle-aged hippies                          D. A mile of ugly run-down factories

Answer: A, B and D, and probably C too for all we know…

Q2 for £2000: Glastonbury Tor can be seen from:
A. 1 mile                                                    B. 5 miles
C. 10 miles                                                D. half of Britain

Answer: C but we suspect D may also be correct!

Q3 for £5000: The roads across the Somerset Levels are:
A. Flat                                                        B. Boring
C. Endless                                                 D. All of the above

Answer: Most definitely D

Q4 for £10,000: Passing through the pretty village of Croscombe at lunchtime, and spotting an open pub, the George Inn, Peter and Val popped in. Peter had a half of beer. In terms of beers at lunchtime on this walk, was this the:
A. First time                                             B. Second time
C. Fifth time                                             D. Thirtieth time

Answer: A (surprisingly!) And not only is it a free house, it brews its own beer and it wasn’t a bad drop, especially with a couple of packets of crisps.

Q5 for £20,000:  Phone boxes are frequently marked on the Ordnance Survey maps. When you get to one, it may actually now be:
A. A working phone box                       B. Housing the local defibrillator
C. A book swap/local noticeboard      D. Derelict.

Answer: all of the above, but in our experience, most commonly B.!

Q6 for £100,000: Binegar Bottom is:
A. What you get when you accidentally sit in stinging nettles.  B. Salad dressing
C. A nasty disease you should get treatment for           D. A lane near the village of Binegar

Answer: D (but who knows about the others, they may well be true too…)

Q7 for £250,000: What are the chances of finding a Royal Mail post collection box in even the smallest hamlet in Britain? (Hamlet = more than one house)
A. 100%                                                     B. 100%
C. 100%                                                     D. 100%

Answer: guess what!

Q8 for £500,000:  Gurney Slade is:
A. A gastric condition                                  B.  A village in Somerset, our destination today
C. A character in Game of Thrones          D. A 70s glam rock tribute band

Answer: Surprisingly, B – we’re staying here tonight!

Drum roll… the £1,000,000 question:

Q9: How many fields with cows did Val and Peter walk through today?
A. 0                B. 1                       C. 5                       D. 50

Answer: are you joking? After yesterday’s experience, we made sure it was a resounding zero!

PS No actual prizemoney is available for answering this quiz
PPS No cows’ feelings were hurt in its making.

Distance today: 23km

 

Bathpool to Street – Thursday 10 May

Today’s walk was a long one, but just about all level. Along the way we got to experience a variety of paths. And we also discovered an interesting game, which we’ll call Cows & Stiles.

After a sound sleep and great breakfast at our B&B, Aginhills Farmhouse, we set off in a cool but fine morning. The promised overnight rain hadn’t amounted to anything, so we looked forward to ideal walking conditions – sun and 14 degrees. Best of all, we’d arranged again to have our packs transported to tonight’s accommodation. It’s not something we’ll do often (and in fact won’t be available much) but with another very long day of 34km in front of us, we needed to ‘lighten the load’.

We resumed walking along the path alongside the Taunton& Bridgewater Canal, feeling remarkably good and with a spring in our step. A lovely morning, deliciously cool air, sunshine, swans and moorhens in the river, dragonflies zooming around… a great way to start.

All too soon we had to leave the canal path at Charlton and follow the embankment along the River Tone. Now we were into the plains of the Somerset Levels, notorious for regular floods. The embankments/levees along both sides may have been built as part of the flood defence system, but they provided superb walking: slightly elevated and with great views out across the countryside, flat as a pancake under vast blue skies.

We left the river and followed a quiet road through the villages of Curload and Athelney, stretched out along the River Tone, just one house wide but two kilometres long. After a refreshing coffee (for Peter) at Burrowbridge we had a choice of routes to the next village of Othery: the direct route along the A361, a moderately busy road, or a longer, more circuitous but much quieter route along an embankment and farmland footpaths.

Time to introduce you to our new game, Cows & Stiles. Think of it as a bit like Snakes & Ladders. The following is based on the next part of today but has other elements, all of which have happened along the way:

You have two kilometres of country footpaths to traverse. It may or may not be marked well. You have no idea how many stiles there may be. There may be mud. There may be cowpats. There may be cows, or maybe not. There may be sheep. There may even be bulls. Let’s roll those dice!

1. Yes! No cows in this field. Advance 10 spaces to the next stile.
2. No! There are cows. Hmmm.. but these ones look friendly, and they’re off to one side. There’s a bull! Wait.. he’s eating grass. Watch cautiously for five minutes. Cross the field carefully. Advance 3 places to the next gate.
3. Oh no! More cows, right by the path. Will they move? We get closer. Yes they turn away – then turn back and start to follow us. We walk briskly (relative term here!) to the next gate. The cows are behind us, getting closer. We’re sure we can feel their hot, steamy breaths on the backs of our necks. “Don’t open the gate” exclaims Val in a strangled voice. We scale the gate like escapees from Colditz.
4. But at the end of the field you step into a big gloopy fresh cow pat. Go back two places.
5. Next stile and over. Yes – empty field! Stride out confidentially. Go forward five spaces.
6. Approach the next gate. But what’s in the next field? Cows. Hmmm again – cautiously open the gate and walk forward. Only this time the cows don’t scatter, the herd of twenty or so young and frisky cows moves towards us, eyeing us with interest like a dog would eye an interesting new toy. We scuttle past them and scurry to the next gate, about three years older… Go back 6 spaces.
7. Ah, a field of sheep. Yay! At last something that’s shorter than us. Go forward 8 spaces.
8. Is this the last field? Is that a road we can see at the end? Ah, it’s an A road, complete with speeding cars and trucks. Oh bliss, oh joy!

Now, many of you will scoff at all this. Cows are friendly, you say. Perhaps… but we are humble city folk, and when a herd of lumbering beasts, each of which weighs a good couple of hundred kilos, comes to investigate, it is a wee bit offputting.

The rest of our day was uneventful, walking arrow-straight country lanes across the Levels, then up and over some low hills to our destination today of Street. We arrive, feeling in remarkably good form despite the distance, get reunited with our packs, settle in and enjoy a great meal where we’re staying.

Distance today: 34km

Wednesday 9 May – Sampford Peverell to Bathpool, Taunton

Oh bliss! Oh Joy! No packs today!

After our marathon effort yesterday we decided to see if there was a way to have our packs ferried through to Bathpool. We’d experienced the pleasure of walking without packs at the end of the previous stage, going up to Boscastle, and wanted to treat ourselves. So we asked the landlord at the Globe Inn, where we were staying,  if he knew anyone, and much to our amazement and gratitude, he said he would be driving today past Taunton and would be happy to drop off our packs. (Alex, you’re a legend!)

We set off feeling surprisingly sprightly and continued along the Grand Western Canal.

The canal system is one of Britain’s great achievements of the industrial revolution. While it no longer carries freight, it is incredibly popular for recreation, including canal boating and of course walkers and cyclists using the towpaths. Large stretches are managed by conservation groups or environmentally-minded councils, who not only maintain the network but have created some significant areas for wildlife.

Today we found many interpretative signs about not only the locks and lifts that would have been in place 150 years ago, but also about the wildlife that you can now see. One board was entirely devoted to dragonflies and their relatives!

At one point the canal was paralleled by a railway and the M5 motorway – in succession, the successive dominant transport network of Britain over the past two hundred years..

Canal walking has to be just about the most perfect form of walking – level, peaceful, no vehicles, always interesting. So we very much enjoyed  the fact that the first part of today, and the last, were along canals.

When it fell into disuse some parts were left but others were filled in or drained. Today the Tiverton section is isolated from the Taunton section but there were connecting walks and minor roads, so it was easy to traverse the whole day. We caught a brief glimpse of an A road and were astounded by the traffic and noise – must be getting used to the rural peace and quiet!

Another long day but an enjoyable and satisfying one.

We have now covered 348km, some 19% of the total journey.

Distance today: 30km

 

 

Tuesday 8 May: Sandford to Sampford Peverell

Planning a walk is a wonderful thing. If you do it right, you know where you’ll wind up, where you’ll be staying, and low long it will take. Of course, as you go along the planning, you make changes. The trick, of course, is to remember to update your plan with these changes. If you don’t….

Today we awoke refreshed and invigorated, having had  the half-day of rest, a hearty meal and a great night’s sleep. We were ready for our 29km day and set off at a good speed, chewing up the first few kilometres with ease. It was pleasantly cool and ideal walking conditions and we were still very much enjoying the countryside. Even the ensuing couple of hills that we had dreaded proved to be nowhere as challenging as they looked on the map. We walked east to Thorverton, had a brief rest, then over the hills to the north and down into the Exe valley to walk north to Tiverton. That was really lovely with some gorgeous bluebell woods and the lovely River Exe to our left. We got to the market town of Tiverton around 4.30 and stocked up on a few essentials. We set off again, picking up the beginning of the Grand Western canal for what would be a short  but lovely canalside walk to Sampford Peverell.

Or so we thought.

We walked. And we walked. And we walked. As we left the canalside to our accommodation we saw a sign telling us that our  ‘brief’ canalside walk had in fact been 8 miles (13km). We got there at 7pm, absolutely shattered. Thank goodness we were staying at a pub as we only had to stagger downstairs to get dinner.

After, we did a recalculation of the distance for the day. The result? 36km (or 22 miles)! No wonder we were so tired.  That is six-sevenths of a full marathon – with a pack. As to why it was so much longer, we can only think it was one of those occasions where we had to change our endpoint but hadn’t gone back to recalculate the mileage.  We were pleased we hadn’t known that when we started the day. On the plus side, it was still a beautiful dry spring day for walking, with many points of interest.

If you wondered why we posted no blog on the day, now you know!

Total distance: 36km.

Sunday 6 May & Monday 7 May

Some days are full of exciting things to report on, and deserve their own blog. Other days are, well, just days, just us walking through countryside. Yesterday and today fell into that camp, so we have done just the one blog.

The last two days have been great weather-wise, the best weather this time of year England has seen in many years. Today the temperature was expected to get up to 23 degrees in our part of England! Actually, in the absence of any wind, that was too warm for comfortable walking. Ironic, given just last week we were seeking out any sun possible and complaining about the wind!

The first part of yesterday’s walk was beautiful, an easy cruise along a rail trail between Bridestowe and Okehampton, complete with viaducts, bridges and expansive views over the countryside. The less said about the second part of the day the better – once again our attempts at following public footpaths were thwarted by firstly backtracking to regain the road, and then finding an alternative exit from a field with a bull  and cows protecting calves, right next to the stile. We also had the ‘pleasure’ at one point of walking along a busy road, jumping into the surrounding foliage whenever a vehicle came by. We were mightily relieved to get to last night’s accommodation, tired, footsore and weary, and couldn’t even be bothered going down the road to the nearest pub. Shock, horror!

But we are getting good at finding quiet country lanes, and today was spent entirely on them as we walked from Whiddon Downs to the gorgeous little village of Sandford and tonight’s accommodation, the Lamb Inn, a 16^th century posting inn. We got here early afternoon after a relatively short (for us) 20km. It has been lovely to have the time to relax, have a cold drink in the garden, and visit the 11^th century church.

We realised that many of the days would be long but expected to get to our destinations more quickly and have more rest time than we have so far. Today was a bonus in that respect. Also, while the road walking is a lot more straightforward, it is also tougher on our feet. The combination is that we are finding the walk to be physically challenging, particularly in the last three days. Our hope is that we will become more accustomed to it. Much of the total walk is off-road, and we will get back to that once we start the Cotswolds way, but we do have some long days and road walking between now and then.

Val says that at least the hedgerows along the country lanes are still full of spring flowers, birds, butterflies and even today a squirrel. We have also been amazed at finding post boxes in even the quietest little hamlet, and were amused to see that the old red telephone boxes have been repurposed in a couple of places to house the local defibrillator!.

Distances: Sunday 23km, today 20km.

Saturday 5 May – Launceston to Bridestowe

Britain is a maze of paths and ways. Some – like the South West Coast path – are well-formed, well-signed and take the obvious route. They are a pleasure to follow.

But then there was today’s route, the Two Castles Trail.

If you deliberately set out to plan a route that took you through poorly marked fields, up the steepest hill available, and through fields of bulls, you couldn’t have done a better job than the creator of the Two Castles Trail. We soon learned that the extremely quiet country lanes were preferable to the frustration of being lost in yet another field, generally the muddiest and boggiest one available, wondering where the next stile was. If there was a competition for Britain’s Most Pointless Path, the Two Castles Trail would be a top contender.

Once on the country lanes, though, we made good progress, and could enjoy the day.

It was a stunning day, too – sunny and warm and the English countryside was at its absolutely magnificent, glorious best, rolling hills, green hedgerows, leafy trees, bluebells and all sorts of other flowers along the lanes in the shade. And we needed the shade by early afternoon: in the still air it actually got quite warm.

We were starting to flag a bit when we spotted those magical words: “ afternoon teas”. So we stopped at Lewtrenchard Manor for a scrumptious cream tea – Devonshire, of course, because by now we had crossed into Devon, our second county on the route. Suitably refreshed and reinvigorated, we completed the rest of this long day to our night’s accommodation, the Fox & Hounds pub near Bridestowe, on the edge of Dartmoor.

Distance today – 29km

Friday 4 May – Boscastle to Launceston

Farewell, coastal path! Farewell, Cornish Wind! After eight days on the South West Coast Path, it was time to head inland.

Our rest day in Bude was well-timed and we appreciated the hospitality of Dave and Jane – thanks guys! We had done 10% of our entire journey – 180km out of 1800km. We felt surprisingly fit and well – feet, and legs all in fine working order, and packs now a bit lighter having shed various unneeded items. So it was off on Stage 2.

Jane kindly dropped us back at Boscastle on a grey but still morning. The first part of the walk was along a gorgeous woodland path alongside a stream. It was just such a sharp contrast to the windswept coastline where trees just didn’t feature in the landscape (anything over two foot high was bent sharply in the direction of the prevailing wind!). To our side we passed occasional glades of bluebells. Near the top of the path we visited St Juliot, an ancient rural church, which now has a parish congregation of just four.

From then on we were walking along peaceful country lanes for the rest of the day. Many of them were almost closed in by an arch of trees with their new green leaves, and lined with typical Cornish stone walls, almost creating a tunnel effect at times. There was virtually no traffic and at times it felt like we were walking along our own wide private footpath, rather than a road.

And the Tre’s? It seemed as though every tiny village started with Tre  – not surprising since Tre is the Cornish for settlement. There was Treglash, Tremeer, Trenegloss, Tregeare, Tregadillet….to name but a few, and all too small to warrant any shops or pubs. Having thought we would find somewhere to get a bite to eat, something that was relatively simple on the coast, but not inland, we were glad we had some biscuits!

The hard road surface was certainly a fair bit quicker to walk on, but harder on our feet and legs. We were mightily relieved to arrive at Launceston after seven hours of solid walking– and thrilled when our host supplied us with hot drinks and cake on arrival. Just the ticket! After welcome showers, it was down to the pub for a scrumptious meal of bangers and mash (with home-made  lamb and mint sausage). Oh, and a pint of Tribute ale and a cider!

Distance: 28km

Wednesday 2 May: Port Isaac to Boscastle

After a night of heavy rain, the skies cleared early morning to a fine day – a good omen for what was going to be a very long day. Even better, our wonderful hosts at Port Isaac offered the chance for us to leave our packs with them for the day, and pick them up at the end of the day after Val’s brother Dave picked us up from Boscastle. It took us about a microsecond to accept this offer as we knew the day would be challenging. We didn’t realise how advantageous this would be until we got to the first steep valley descent and ascent on a loose gravelly surface. Oh; the relief!

The more observant of you may have picked up that our original end point for the day was going to be Crackington Haven, some 7km up the coast. Having experienced the Coast Path, and looked more carefully at the contour lines on our route for the day, we made a ‘mid course correction’, and sensibly chose to finish a little earlier. We knew we could make adjustments for Friday’s leg to Launceston without that day being too long. The combination of the rigours of today plus the incessant presence of our friend the Cornish Wind made this a wise choice.

The first half of the day, to Trebarwith Strand, was a series of steep ups and downs, so we were very happy to stop for a hot drink and a slice at the pub in Trebarwith Strand – perhaps the only time in history that Peter has been in an English pub and not had a beer!

The second half was more enjoyable and less of a slog. The highlight was stopping in Tintagel, not to see the castle but to visit the old post office, its core dating back to 1350. Its great age was reflected in its sagging roof, ancient hearth, small bedrooms and a collection of samplers, some over 200 years old.

It was with relief that we descended into Boscastle and awaited Dave’s arrival, to collect our packs and go to Bude, for a rest day and a time to catch up with family.

PS there’s a cabbage tree in Dave’s garden….

Distance: 26km