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ome little shortcuts such as the delightful path along a babbling brook at crowcombe bridge or the old lane being reclaimed by prickly vegetation the route linked a number of wonderfully named villages nestled in the low hills the roald dahl esque stogumber the potential treasure trove of monksilver and finally roadwater i have now entered exmoor national park and it feels like the final straight only fantastic walking across high moorland and along dramatic cliffs remains posted by jim at 08 47 0 comments friday 18 january 2008 cheddar to bridgwater setting off into the somerset levels past the huge round bowl of cheddar reservoir my world consisted of drainage channels pumping stations and incredible quantities of mud the land often only a handful of metres above sea level after crossing the river axe i found a rare hill rising to the majestic height of 58m there were wide views of the wetlands under a big and complex sky but soon the little used paths became very difficult to follow without stiles and therefore my usual way of finding the right route i passed through fields until i lost any sense of where i was i gave up trying to match the walls and fences to the lines on the map and wandered along in roughly the right direction crossing streams and clambering through lines of trees i slowly lost height to reach a track then back onto the levels proper with endless long straight lanes to numb the mind and make the soles or souls of my feet tingle desperate for some variation i took to the fields when they weren t flooded as well as some muddy tracks but soon faced another stretch along roads a short cut across fields followed by an exciting scramble down an embankment lead to a tiny section of dismantled railway more hard tarmac followed and a crossing of the huge king s sedgemoor drain which just manages to be beautiful due to its size and directness i refused to be tempted by invisible paths indicated by wooden signposts and ended up on a pavement next to a main road and a long march into the centre of bridgwater an unmemorable day but another bite taken out of the remaining miles posted by jim at 21 21 0 comments thursday 17 january 2008 yatton to cheddar the aching of my muscles made me feel like a rest and a little wander along an old railway line and over the low hills of the mendips fitted the bill perfectly the railway in question was the old strawberry line now a gently curving path with views across the plains to the towns of yatton and congresbury before long i had covered half the distance to cheddar and after passing through a cider orchard i decided to leave the fast track and chose a longer route through the hills with no time pressures i picked paths at random from the myriad wandering around the limestone ramparts of the hill fort on grassy dolebury warren dropping off the ridge the number of paths meant i only had a vague idea of where i really was thinking i had helped a map less runner find her way home i soon realised the path we had both chosen wasn t going where i expected and hoped i wouldn t see her coming back towards me i couldn t face her realising i wasn t the proficient walker i seemed to be it was a long and enjoyable climb through heather and thin yellow grasses to the summit of black down with the views you d expect from a hill surrounded by so many flatlands this was followed by a leisurely although sometimes muddy descent into cheddar it was far too early to get into my room for the night and settle into a hot bath but the next best thing was to sit in the pub as the rain began to fall outside especially as i hadn t felt a drop all day so it was almost a perfect day although it does make me wonder whether people who take this trek at a more leisurely pace might have the right idea posted by jim at 20 05 0 comments wednesday 16 january 2008 severn view to yatton today i spent approximately nine and a half hours moving my legs about mostly with the added bonus of wet feet on the end of them the heavy mileage was largely due to a lack of bed and breakfasts but also because i wanted to escape the tentacles of bristol the council estates and commuter villages that radiate from the city with this in mind it was very early when i tucked into the continental breakfast that had been deposited outside my room the world felt peaceful as i strolled through the pretty village of aust and along grassy tracks in the dim early morning light pathless fields followed proving that even if people have been given the legal right to walk across wet fields near a motorway it doesn t mean anyone actually does after passing through a farmyard provoking the usual vicious barking from the dogs not the farmer i emerged onto a small lane then things went belly up and i m not referring to setting off in the wrong direction although that did happen suddenly there was water as far as i could see filling the shallow depression of the lane and forming a neat lake between the hedgerows i made little progress trying to cling onto the prickly vegetation and decided to stride confidently through it causing a line of waves to roll across the calm surface of the newly formed pond liberated from trying to keep my feet dry i could splash through the floods for the rest of the day crossing the motorway small roads took me into easter compton and then a climb up onto a muddy hill with reasonable views across the flatlands another motorway to cross and then into suburban bristol not the long distance walker s natural habitat luckily andy robinson s end to end book offers hope in a green corridor that follows a small ridge much nicer despite being covered in slow moving dog walkers after another section of housing estate it was time to join a footpath that shares the motorway bridge across the river avon noisy and unpleasant the only views were of a muddy estuary and huge industrial estate after slowly working my way through easton in gordano i followed a complicated series of paths which were often muddy and sometimes almost impossible to find i made sure i was careful when navigating across the playing fields of an isolated school especially since i was wearing the modern equivalent of a macintosh the visual highlight came when i gained enough height to see the whole of the bristol channel laid out before me time was moving on so i abandoned the footpaths for an exclusive road plastered with warnings of security cameras protecting the huge houses hidden in the woods appearing out of the trees at the hill fort of cadbury camp i looked down over a vast flat plain criss crossed with straight drainage channels and shallow pools of water that had formed on the grassy fields i descended to follow these drainage channels the banks of which at least rose above the flooding but there was a lot of crossing other drainage ditches involved lastly a very straight and boring road took me through the setting of the sun and well into the evening before i reached the north end of yatton the much anticipated destination bristol was the last urban challenge of my route just beautiful countryside to come posted by jim at 19 56 0 comments tuesday 15 january 2008 bigsweir to severn view while i tucked into another full english breakfast this morning a week s worth of rain was falling putting off leaving my warm and dry accommodation for as long as possible i ventured onto the hotel s exclusive path which led back to the main trail luckily after slogging along the dark wet road last night it would be a relatively relaxed day after clambering out of the valley on steep slippery zigzags through the trees i was soon following thin lanes and heading down small enclosed paths rainwater tumbled down these alleyways as they wound their way between dozens of small fields there was no alternative but to splash along these streams and get wet a steep climb followed due to crossing a small tributary and then everything improved as i entered a large ditch archaeological experts or people who can read labels on the map will tell you these are the remains of king offa s dyke despite this ancient boundary lending its name to the long distance trail i have been following the ditch had been absent since my first day on the path the rain began to clear as the dyke took a commanding position at the top of the heavily wooded slopes of the wye through the trees there were expansive views along this steep valley that holds the ever widening and now tidal river the striking jagged ruins of tintern abbey slowly emerged from the mists in a beautiful and mysterious way every now and again there were glimpses of the tall limestone cliffs beneath me the path sensibly cut across the neck of a huge meander and then wandered behind people s back gardens as the surroundings became increasingly urban into chepstow a large tesco was a good excuse to stock up on cakes before a long walk through an endless estate to reach the motorway and the old severn bridge compared with my memories of the forth road bridge it seemed like a poor and rusty imitation but both represent significant milestones this is the end of the welsh adventure five memorable days of both real challenge and captivating beauty it feels like a lifetime i have reached the south west peninsula the beginning of the final chapter of the walk posted by jim at 19 54 0 comments monday 14 january 2008 pandy to bigsweir last night the girl behind the bar had warned me about this next stretch of offa s dyke apparently someone had counted sixty three stiles between pandy and monmouth and my destination lay even further away rain was falling as i tucked into my breakfast but as soon as it cleared i got down to work finding my way across the endless fields most of the time was spent scrutinising the map for little navigational clues the thin blue squiggles of streams or the solid black lines of hedges or fences then hauling my awkward pack over each newly discovered stile i can t pretend i ll remember much of the scenery but the green hills were pleasant enough at the well preserved white castle the path loops around the ruins and water filled moat so the traveller can appreciate them from every angle i must be getting fond of the offa s dyke path as i followed it all the way round instead of cutting across as i continued down narrow lanes and alongside rivers of various sizes the defining feature of the day was what was under my feet the ground was completely saturated resulting in huge quantities of mud where animals had roamed or large shallow lakes on any flat ground wet feet were inevitable eventually i took a lovely path over a wooded hill and then residential roads into monmouth it felt like a natural place to end the day but i wanted to break out of the traditional itinerary and make sure i had time to cross the bristol channel tomorrow crossing my old companion the wye once again the climb out of the town was steep long and sweaty i rested a moment at the kymin naval temple looking across the landscape i had spent hours stuggling across it was then an easy stroll downhill on sheltered paths to return to the riverside with darkness falling and with my accommodation off the main path i decided to follow the a road for the rest of the way it turned out to be many more miles while rain began to fall in greater quantities and cars forced me into the verge the river was an angry brown full of debris and spilling out onto the fields the riverside route is no longer an option for tomorrow but hopefully the flooding won t cause me any more serious problems than that posted by jim at 20 10 0 comments sunday 13 january 2008 hay on wye to pandy described on a map today s stretch of offa s dyke looks almost perfect the path takes the crest of a long ridge which rises to just over 2300ft with the promise of magnificent views and after the initial ascent rapid progress southwards hay bluff forms the rounded end of the ridge and looks down benevolently on the little town of hay on wye yesterday it was clearly iced with snow but this morning i only had memories as cloud shrouded its current state in mystery following a well travelled path and soon gaining height the blustery gusts i had noticed in town grew to form a constant and strong wind after climbing steeply through a wood i emerged on a grassy plateau that spread out from the base of the bluff the wind swept down these treeless slopes and blasted me with incredible force i could hear nothing but roaring as it rushed past and struggled to make upward progress i began to consider alternatives to the exposed ridge which seemed a bit daft for some reason i kept going ignoring a path into the valley that runs alongside after rounding the nose of the hill the wind began to ease slightly and i took the opportunity to rest a little before i headed up onto the ridge and all hell broke loose reaching the crest it was more like a boggy plateau and i could follow the flagstones in the disorientating clouds the wind knocked me about constantly many times off the path which i then had to fight my way back onto but i was able to walk roughly where i wanted to go in this world of drifting whiteness and occasional stinging showers the presence of such a powerful noisy and invisible force was unnerving although the flagstones disappeared in places and i had to pick my way through the bog i found my way to the summit cairn it was all downhill from here after some time i dipped down under the clouds and got a taste of the views that make this part of the world so special on the welsh side peaty ridges rose to impressive heights and hid narrow green valleys while the english side is a blanket of fields and trees that stretches into the distance after many hours with the wind as a constant companion i was becoming more comfortable with the situation and was glad i hadn t chickened out earlier the ridge went on for many more miles and i used the trig points and cross paths to judge my progress it also became much narrower with one particular section being a little bit exciting as i couldn t let the wind deposit me too far to the side the more i descended the more the wind began to ease until i dropped off the ridge itself to wander through the remains of a hill fort lanes led down to the valley before i followed a main road through the very strung out village of pandy to find an inn settling down to a pint i slowly adjusted to the lack of noise although it ll take a while for the ruddy glow to leave my wind scoured cheeks as the landlord said that should have blown out a few cobwebs posted by jim at 08 25 0 comments saturday 12 january 2008 kington to hay on wye the storm moved away overnight and i woke to a peaceful and frosty world after putting on my reasonably dry clothes i took a small lane out of town and headed for the old racecourse that encircles the summit of hergest ridge as i climbed far reaching views revealed themselves green valleys and snowy hills illuminated by the pure winte...