| Sunday October 31st Rural West Somerset | ||
| The 18 members who gathered at
Handy Cross on a misty Sunday started by heading west
towards Gaulden Manor, passing the road to the house
which is closed for the winter, and proceeded by a track
to Watersmeet Farm and then by road to Okehampton Farm.
After a tricky but incident free descent into Okehampton
quarry the path led north beside a river along the |
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| Sunday October 31st A taste of the Exe Valley Way | ||
| Bampton
(after the Fair) was the start for the afternoon walk.
The initial route led through the quiet country town with
its small shops and sparkling gutter stream, and then
over the River Bathern, full of noisy ducks. A steady
climb followed, first through a new estate and then
alongside a tumbling stream, swollen from the previous
week of rain. Mist hung in the valley obscuring the
panorama of green hillsides and bright autumn colours,
but the 19 ramblers soon had other distractions. Deer
tracks crossed the path in many places and cream and
brown fungi grew prolifically. A group of friendly
foxhounds greeted walkers and their dogs at an upland
farm, and they would have attached themselves to the
party were it not for the stern commands of their owner.
The route passed an a field of sturdy Red Devon bullocks
and two friendly mares, and then descended through hazel
and conifer woodland to the River Exe at Cove. Here an
overgrown platform and converted signal box reminded
older ramblers of pre-Beeching days. Joining the
signposted |
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| Sunday
October 24th Around Staple Cross (photos Roger Conway) |
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| Walk Stats:- 4.0 miles, climbs 461ft | Sign commemorating the 3,000 year old Yew Tree at Ashbrittle Church |
A local landowner's answer to Network Rail |
| The Bright sunny morning had given way to wind, showers, some of which were sharp and prolonged, by the time the 9 members set off from the Staple Cross Inn (I suspect that there were some more potential walkers still inside!). After a spell of roadwork and then an ancient droving track we arrived at Ashbrittle Church shortly after a christening service and the vicar invited us to take shelter in the porch. Unfortunately he is a misguided person who seemed to think that watching Man. Utd. on TV was better than walking, now if it were Exeter City I could understand it. Our return route involved more tracks and roads and a lush meadow, where the landowner's enthusiasm for railways was clearly evident. It was noted that the party in the pub was still in full swing when got back to the cars and suddenly our leader disappeared, I wonder where she went? | ||
| Sunday October 24th Exmoor: The Chains | ||
| Deer were sighted on the far hill when 15
ramblers set off on a perfect sunny autumnal morning to
walk The Chains on |
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| Wednesday
October 20th Kilve Pill, Broom Ball & Pardlestone (photos Roger Conway) |
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| Walk Stats:- 4.8 miles, climbs 642ft | Holly in berry is a forecast of a cold winter to come |
Recovering the casualty (click on picture for a larger copy) |
| The weather was cloudy and overcast with
no wind and a white mist was clinging to the hills and
sea giving minimal long-range visibility. Nineteen
ramblers and two dogs gathered in Kilve Beach car park
and at the request of the walk leader assembled so that
he could disseminate on the walk route for that afternoon. He stated that the walk would leave Kilve Pill and go on to East Quantoxhead village passing the oil retort where oil was extracted from beach shale in 1920 and a limekiln along the cliff path used to produce lime for agriculture burning culm (inferior coal) that was imported at Kilve Pill in 1770. The route would then take the walkers through East Quantoxhead past Court House the 17th century mansion of the Luttrel family and the 14th century church of St Mary The Virgin. He indicated that the walk would turn through Broom Ball to Pardlestone Hill; then it would go down the hill on to Kilve Church and back to the Beach car park passing the nearby Chantry that was built in 1329 to say mass for the founder Simon De Furneax employing five monks for this purpose. In the 19th century it was used by smugglers to hide contraband (brandy) but was burnt down in 1850 (legend says to get rid of the evidence so avoiding arrest by the Excise men). The group left Kilve Beach car park and walked along the cliff path until Quantock's Head was reached. Here they examined the lime kiln and discussed how the kiln was loaded with alternate charges of coal and limestone and where the coal boats from Wales were beached at Kilve Pill for discharging their cargo and taking on lime and timber for export. The ramblers continued to East Quantoxhead past the village duck pond with its inhabitants looking expectantly for a free lunch, admiring the picturesque thatched cottages overlooking it. They progressed upwards to the entrance of Smith's Combe and turned east attacking a steep climb to the top of the rise called Higher Ground and then went on to Broom Ball. Here in a small mountain glade to the south the group spied a large doe deer that stood still watching the interlopers to her private territory. The walkers pushed on past Dens Combe on to Pardlestone Hill, descending the hill to Kilve Church. On the way the group were inspected with interest by a flock of cockatoos perched in the comparative warmth of their enclosure. When they reached the Chantry by Kilve Church the ramblers noticed the dovecot with white doves perched just inside its various entrances; obviously it was not a day to go too far. Our merry band then adjourned to the Chantry Tea Room to drink copious amounts of tea and eat mountains of hot scones layered with strawberry jam and cream. |
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| Sunday
October 17th Holford to Stringston (photos Roger Conway) Walk Stats:- 5.1 miles, climbs 404ft |
Stringston Church |
East window (click on picture for a larger copy) |
| The walk, starting from Holford Bowling Green, went through woods and farmland with a couple of road sections and a little bit of uphill, mainly a gentle rise to get wonderful views across the Bristol Channel and towards the Quantocks. A short break was taken at Stringston Church before continuing on the return leg that crossed some of the rich pasture land of the coastal plain and through the churchyard of Holford Church. 16 walked and 12 stayed for lunch is at Stella's. | ||
| Sunday October 17th. In Deepest Dorset: Melburys Osmond & Bubb, Batcombe Hill and Chantmarle | ||
| As a change from Exmoor, the Quantocks
and Blackdowns on Sunday 16 walkers set off for Evershot
in Dorset, a pretty village whose old houses and cottages
are somewhat dominated by the large estate of Melbury
Park In the past, houses tenanted from the estate had to
be painted blue and there is still some evidence of this
though many are now privately owned. The first two miles
of the walk were on a private drive, which is also a
footpath through the estate, and the beautiful parkland
had trees that were beginning to turn into their lovely
autumn colours. Several stags and deer were seen –
some quite close and tamer than the wild ones on the
moors. Passing the imposing Melbury House the walk then
went through another pretty village, Melbury Osmond.
Leaving the tarmac the group crossed fields and stopped
for elevenses at Stockwood next to a chapel dedicated to
St Edwold, younger brother of St Edmund, a Saxon king
murdered by the Danes. Edwold was a hermit and the church
is believed to on the site of his cell. A climb up a
steep hill followed with views opening up to north and
east with optimistic walkers sure they could sight
Alfred’s Tower at Stourhead. Dropping down to the
small hamlet of Melbury Bubb, whose church is lit with
oil lamps, the group crossed the railway and continued to
Batcombe Hill and the lunch picnic spot. The climb opened
up more views before passing a go-kart stadium which was
well patronised. It was felt that walking was by far the
preferred option for a Sunday and the feared noise was
much less than expected. Crossing the A37 and walking
downhill to the small |
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| Wednesday October 13th Lydeard Hill, Will's Neck & Aisholt | ||
| The 25 Ramblers who gathered for a Quantocks walk last Wednesday were optimists as the morning had been very wet and unpromising. However the skies cleared as they set off from Lydeard Hill to Wills Neck and then down a steep narrow track via Aisholt Common to Aisholt. The return, by gradual stages past Luxborough Farm, was rewarded by the sighting of two deer crossing the path and then a fox. A muddy and overgrown section of path added a little excitement and proved that the walk leader’s secateurs, which were put to good use, had not been carried in vain | ||
| Sunday
October 10th South Somerset Delights (photo Dave Patten) |
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| A select group of just six (+ Miss Moppet) ambled gently from South Cadbury Camp over to Charlton Horethorne where good ale was quaffed at the Kings Arms. While there we were vigorously dragged into a local dispute with recent incomers who now own Compton Castle ("Londoners"): "For 100 years there's been a bridleway down to the castle, now the new owners have put a wicket gate to stop our horses going through. You're ramblers, please help us out. The council say it's up to us." Pausing only to help John O pick sloes for his next alcoholic stupor ("I may give you a sample") and learning from June to make chocolate from the gin-soaked sloes that are left, we admired the view above Corton Denham before returning via the Macmillan Way. | ||
