LEJOG Day 23: Wedmore to Blagdon

Weather: Sunny with cool Easterly breeze

Distance covered today: 18.8km (11.7mi)

Last night's B&B: Nut Tree Farm (£32)

Cumulative distance: 416.2km (258.6mi)/ % Complete: 23.7%

GPS satellite track of today's route: Day 23 (click!)

What a fantastic day for a walk!  And what a walk!  My route this morning took me from the Polden Hills and Wedmore across the last of the Somerset Levels to Cheddar and the Cheddar Gorge, right at the base of the Mendip Hills. The Polden Hills, and the cute little village of Wedmore, bisect the Levels between the much more substantial Quantocks and Mendips.
 
My original intention was to take the West Mendip Way over the top of the Mendips which apparently affords the odd view into the gorge, but in the end I chose to walk through the gorge itself in order to get a better feel for it.  This was probably a mistake as the South Western end of the gorge is appallingly commercialised, with dozens of day-trippers and pensioners getting down to the serious business of eating after spending 10 minutes in the gorge. Even the road through the gorge is an abomination; about as much out of character with the spirit and grandeur of the gorge as can be.  In mitigation, it has probably been there for hundreds of years in one form or another as it is such a logical way of negotiating the Mendips without having to climb them.

Things improve as one steadily progresses up the gorge.  Eventually I began really to appreciate the cliffs around me, starkly outlined in the brilliant, clear sunshine. In fact I got so carried away that I completely missed my turning onto a path out of the gorge.  In fairness, the turn-off was at a point right on the edge of my map which I hadn’t yet turned over, though I did greet a group of walkers at the precise point of my intended departure, which should have given me a clue.

Anyway, by the time I realised my error, I was heading due South and had walked a kilometre or so in the wrong direction!  You would have thought that the bright sunshine on my face would have alerted me, but I was deep in thought and thoroughly appreciating the environment.  At least retracing the path was all downhill, which made me feel better about it!

The correct path took me to a nature reserve with the alluring title of “Velvet Bottom”, though the term in this case apparently does not refer to some intriguing underwear from yesteryear, or indeed to the undercarriage of some delightful wench, but rather to the soft, green, close-cropped and undulating sward of grass that covers the base of the valley along the entire length of the reserve. It is worth visiting the gorge for this little gem alone.  Isolated bushes and shrubs populated the sides of the valley and gave it a very different aspect to any that I have seen so far on this journey, completing a picture of intense harmony. And of course the soft green grass was a pleasure to walk on after the metalled roads and iron-hard, drought-stricken paths that came before. After the scowls and ice-creams of the gorge, amongst the few people I saw in Velvet Bottom, there was nothing but smiles and bonhomie.

Eventually I turned out of the valley and gradually climbed until I breasted the top of the Mendips, to see before me the most magnificent view all the way to Bristol. I could see the top of the substantial stanchions of the new Severn Bridge and further to the West, the ugly brown water of the Severn estuary. Below me, in contrast and in total tranquillity, Blagdon Lake and Chew Valley Lake reflected the blue of the sky.  I need poetry to describe that view. Photography won’t do it for me; the shots just can’t capture the panoramic grandeur of it all.  And there, in the distance, was Wales; the second country of my journey, now just three days walk away.

This does feel a bit like a turning point, so it is probably as good a time as any to take stock of my current situation. Physically, my condition is improving. In fact my legs felt better today than at any time since I started, helped by yesterday’s rest day, and the fact that my ankle seems gradually to be returning to health and strength. I am still carrying one or two blisters from the intensive road work (and I am ever grateful to my daughter Marion for introducing me to those wonder products, Compeed, which act like a second skin and no serious walker should ever be without), but these were hardly noticeable today. The base of my neck is still sore from the weight of my pack and this remains my most serious physical problem, though hopefully gradually receding.  I do find it interesting that different parts of the system seem to complain on successive days. It is as if favouring some parts of the body automatically puts a greater strain on other parts which subsequently complain. All in all the caterwaul of complaint is manageable and no serious impediment to the journey.

The distances I am walking are still slightly shorter than I feel I could, and the rest days slightly more frequent than I feel I need, but the plan is for the first to increase and the second to reduce. My problem is that the Penine Way will be far more exacting and my schedule shows that it is just over three weeks away!  Will I be fit and strong enough to take it when the time comes?

As far as my equipment is concerned, I have no idea whether my rain-wear is up to the task; I have not yet had any need to test it. The rest of my stuff is all working well, with the exception of my poor, old, battered netbook. At least the jerry-built wifi system is now working perfectly, courtesy of André’s expert advice and my hands-on plumbing, and Veronica arrives in Monmouth with a new screen in just a few days’ time. If that installation goes according to plan, I should be fully up and running again.

I really can’t wait to see her, and it’s not because she has that new screen!

An attractive church in Wedmore

One of the last rhynes on the Levels on my way to the Mendips

Cheddar Gorge just visible in the midst of the Mendips

How to take a lovely place and ruin it!

Veronica, the St Maria Gorge rewritten!  This time I held my pace (and the devotees were older!).

A tree startlingly illuminated by the morning sun in the depths of the gorge

Fingers to the cosmos

Abseiling in the gorge

This guy doesn't need ropes...

The beautiful surface in "Velvet Bottom"

This is "Black Rock", but not as we know it!

Surely someone would have noticed? (Or see what happens if you cut up a long distance walker!)

You're forgiven if you can't make it out, but that there brown bit is the Bristol Channel and Wales is on the other side!