Day 12 - Towards Bristol

Day 12 - We had decided that 20 miles in one day was enough as after that, walking seems to become a bit of a trial, and we are not doing this journey as an endurance test. Walking a thousand miles is a challenge and requires strength and persistence but we are not in such a hurry that we need to push too hard and risk injuring ourselves in the process. However, days 12 and 13 are going to break that rule as, firstly, we want to get to the Wye Valley for the weekend to meet out wives, and secondly there are few places we could stay between here and there if we are to avoid BRistol.

So we set off accepting that there would be 2 long days through more urban and often less interesting terrain, followed by a bit of a holiday to follow. For the first couple of hours we were continuing through the lanes and fields of The Levels, getting frustrated once or twice when a footpath was hard to find. As we approached Axbridge, we met a gentleman walking with a large dog; he had a very lean face and a hat with a feather and as he greeted us, we stopped to talk. He was Nick Newton who lived in Axbridge and new the paths well and outlined all the best ways to get to the town. He saw my guitar and told me that he was a drummer, and wished us luck on our journey.

Axbridge is a little town with a lot of character as it has retained many of its old buildings and streets, centred on a delightful main square with butcher, newsagent and pharmacy on hand. We had a break sitting on a bench, drinking water and munching our trail mix (nuts, dried fruit etc) and liquorice allsorts, which are John's favourite.

The sun came out as we climbed out of the village and, crossing the A371 Cheddar road, joined the Strawberry Line Cycle Path northwards. This is an old railway line that has been restored to an excellent cycle path for much of its length. This section runs from Cheddar, through Axbridge and then through a gap in the Mendips to Congresbury and Yatton Station. It makes for easy and pleasant, though not always interesting, walking without any car traffic. Some of it was very pleasant indeed, through woods and fields and skirting urban areas. At one point, the route was blocked with signs telling people to keep out and pointing to an alternative. We thought that it might just be some repairs going on and we could walk through, which was a mistake. We ended up climbing a series of gates and yomping through a couple of boring fields before we got back onto the route as it crossed a smelly water works. There followed a long section of old rail track across more levels and rheins, through farm land.

Every farm we pass through has lots of rusting vehicles, machines and other scrap metal lying about, sometimes in large quantities. This is not only very unsightly, dangerous but also seems like a terrible waste. It is a problem for the farmers but there must be some value in the metal, whcih should be cheaper to recycle than to smelt new ore.

We left the cycle path at Congresbury and immediately passed a shop called 'Country Inspirations' which sold coats and hats and BRASHER BOOTS! Just what I needed, and he was doing a special of £20 off, so I bought a pair of lighter boots with softer heels than my hill masters at a great price and my old ones went to the bin at last. Hooray.

Our destination for the day was Wraxhall Church, which was going to be 23 miles, and as we trudged on we watched a mass of black cloud over Bristol edge closer. Luckily we remained dry, but the last stretch up the hill through the streets of Nailsea, then on up the busy B road to the church were interminable.

But we did get there, and quite soon, John's sister-in-law, Sue arrived like the cavalry and whisked us off home for a bath and delicious roast dinner with the family.