Bath -End of Stage 1

From Bicknoller a delightful steep climb on a good track led us to Bicknoller Combe and the main north-south ridge of the Quantocks. Spotted a large herd of red deer grazing on the side of the hill on our ascent - well camouflaged by the fairly thick bracken ferns. Closer to the high point on the moorland were forced to retrace steps (David excepted) to avoid herd of wild horses with a particularly frisky stallion. Beautiful beech woodland paths led us down via Lydeard Hill and onto some fairly uninspiring road walking to Goathurst and the Hen House at Sherwood where we stayed overnight. On route to Goathurst we passed the Temple of Harmony an incongruous structure built in 1767 in grounds of Halswell Park based on 1st century temple of Fortuna Villis in Rome. A short visit to Bridgwater that evening for dinner. Bridgwater a shabby little town with evidence of much unemployment on the very slimy Parrett River estuary.

There followed a bit of a scramble the following morning to negotiate field paths back into Bridgwater and an unpleasant crossing of the M5 motorway leading to the start of the Somereset Levels, land that was originally saltmarsh and frequently flooded, The Levels are now a crisscross pattern of straight ditches and wider rivers with pumping stations at intervals.
As a result the field paths were tricky and it was often difficult to locate the footbridges necessary to cross the ditches filled with stagnant water which were the field boundaries.
A footbridge over the King's Sedgmoor Drain led into the village of Bawdrip where we were able to pick up a cycle path through to Cossington a very attractive and affluent village for lunch .
After leaving Cossington it was back on the Levels again, across more fields for another interesting confrontation with a large herd of steers, on to Blackford and a short walk to Poplar Farm at West Stoughton where we stayed overnight.

From Poplar Farm a bridleway and almost invisible footpaths led us through Middle Staughton along the edge of a steep escarpment across to Axbridge where we picked up a footpath to take us through to Sandford. The footpath, known as the Cheddar Valley Railway Walk followed the path of a disused railway line, the Strawberry Line which used to run from Yatton via Cheddar to Wells. We broke our journey to travel to Cheddar for an overnight stay. Caught up with Lesley H and her sister Lynne before a quick visit to the vertical limestone cliffs of Cheddar Gorge which cuts deep into the edge of the Mendips which stretch inland from the Bristol Channel.
Cheddar proved somewhat of a disappointment - too many tourists and over-commercialised but very populat with rock climbers. A very helpful lady from Outdoor Shop , formerly from Perth who was able to help with the selection of new walking boots.

Resuming our journey at Sandford the following day we again picked up the Strawberry Line footpath as far as Yatton before taking to the fields again until we reached the outskirts of Bristol and some pleasant woodland walking. Towards the end of the walk we descended out of the woods to have spectacular views of the Bristol Channel and the outskirts of Bristol. There followed a harrowing crossing of the M5 motorway and our accommodation in the services area of Easton in Gordano.

The following morning a quick visit was made to the Hansel and Gretel cottages of Blaise Hamlet in Bristol. These were designed by John Nash in 1809 and housed pensioners from the Blaise Estate but are now owned by the National Trust. We left the city via the Blaise Castle woodland after a visit to the museum and its fascinating collection of household memorabilia dating back 300 years and made our way out via the Severn Way passing large sewage works and a large industrial estate. The Severn Way path proved to be quite overgrown in places and as it ran alongside the railway line with a newly constructed fence was difficult to find. We were forced to resort to a busy road but eventually were able to resume a path along the Channel edge right through to Severn View Bridge and the M48 Services area where we were collected and taken into Bath for a 3-night stopover.

End of Stage 1