Tuesday 2nd April 2019.
I drove to Cheddar with Posh strapped firmly on the carrier. I stopped for a tasty chilli and a glass of cider in Draycott before arriving at the Caravan Club site just before 2 p.m. On the way I had encountered rain, hail, wind and some sunshine so I was pleased to find it had almost completely dried out in Cheddar.
Soon got set up with the mains connection and tank filled with water and was away on my bike on The Strawberry Line cycle route. Rode alongside the lake to Axbridge, a charming little town. Then much to my surprise had to climb a steep hill to get back onto the cycleway.
Lovely views towards Brent Knoll and the Quantocks.
The path went through a tunnel complete with a display mounted on the replica of a wheel barrow and shovel used by the "navvies" building it. Evidence of the old railway in the form of disuse platforms in several places.
The countryside here is mainly dairy farming with nearly all the cows I saw being Fresians and mostly relatively small herds by modern standards. Do the farmers make their own Cheddar Cheese? The hedges were thick with blackthorn flowers and the hawthorns were greening up nicely.
When I got nearly to the end of the line at Yatton I missed a sign and soon found myself only 5 miles from Weston-super-Mare in the village of Hewish. Not wanting to go back I cut across country to Banwell, passing many more farms. Banwell like most of the villages around the levels is built on higher ground so it is normal to have to climb uphill into them. Banwell was no exception and the hill rises up from just over sea level to the Castle at just over 200 feet. From Banwell there was a nice descent to Winscombe. From there I retraced my outward route back to the campsite.
Here are my map and other details of the ride:
The sun had disappeared behind the clouds now and there was a bitter NW wind so I wrapped up and went exploring into the town of Cheddar. popped into Tesco Express to get some supplies for a picnic on Wednesday. By 7.30 I'd had supper and was tucked up in TeeTee with a good book. Needed the heater on as it was very cold in the night with a sharp frost.
Wednesday 3rd April 2019.
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| Mark Church and the Jubilee Green. |
Breakfast eaten and chores done I was ready to set off on a new adventure. No set plan other than to head towards Glastonbury. This plan was soon changed as I reached Draycott and decided to first go to the seaside. I skirted Nyland Knoll on my way to Wedmore & Sand (200 ft) where I turned west through Mark to Highbridge. The way through Mark and along Mark Causeway was almost completely flat. The only hills being over the M5 and the Railway.
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| The Pier. |
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| Hinkley Point Nuclear Power Station some miles away. |
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| Gardener weeding one of the colourful borders. |
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| Tide's Out |
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| Cycle/Footpath between Burnham and Highbridge. |
After chatting to some holidaymakers and one of the gardeners I decided I'd had enough of the seaside and rode back out of Burnham along the raised path. Good views of the Quantocks where it appeared to be raining. Brr!
My destination was now Glastonbury via a string of villages along the side of a ridge which runs along the south side of Sedgemoor almost to Street. The first of these was Woolavington where I had my lunch break in a patch of sunshine but as I left the village a shower started. I hightailed it away and soon left the rain behind.
My next stop was in Cossington where I discovered this historical landmark.
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| This one is in Somerset! |
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| Shapwick Church. |
Shapwick was of particular interest to me as it was the home village of friends of my family when we lived in Somerset..
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| Peat. |
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| Even more Peat! |
After leaving Shapwick I was riding across the moor where the peat is still being extracted.
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| A nearby spectator to the peat operation. |
A few miles on I discovered another old railway track being used as a cycle path into Glastonbury. I followed it and made another discovery, this was a memorial picnic site in memory of Amy Thomas a young lady of 14 years who had sadly died from asthma.
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Amy's Memorial Picnic Area.
Spot the Tor? |
What a lovely way to remember her.
I did not spend long in the town which I remembered well from when Jean was a Guider there and I helped too with the Guide Shop and auditing Guide accounts. I was awarded a Thanks Badge for my efforts. Happy memories.
It had started to rain gently now so I needed to turn for "home". I had to take the main road towards Wells to get over the Hartlake River before turning at Polsham to head west. These lanes were very quiet and much nicer than taking the main road. I had to climb over the ridge through Wedmore once more and was soon back in Cheddar having slipped through a Road Closed section of the B road with the agreement of the workmen.
Here are the facts and figures of a most interesting and enjoyable day.
Thursday the weather was horrid and the forecast was not good so I decided to cut my losses and come home rather than get wet again. (Half of my clothes weren't dry anyway.)
I was very happy with my time spent there and I drove home via the Gorge marvelling at the size of it and feeling glad I'd not tried to ride it. I think it would have been too much and I am in admiration of my friends who I know have done it!
Gridironman.
