West Somerset Railway: Part 2
As I'm writing this the weather could not be more different than on the day of the walk. That day the air had a hint of autumn to it, the sun was shining and it was lovely and warm. Today, wet, cold and gloomy. Perfect I suppose for staying indoors and writing with a cuppa.
The second half of this walk takes us from Williton to Bishop's Lydeard, finishing off the WSR route. I must say, the second half was more enjoyable and more challenging. The scenary was prettier but the paths were less travelled and there were more hills. Not a fan of them, mainly because I'm so unfit. However, I have a 'trudge' that will get me up them eventually without a coronary.
We caught the train to Williton, we being my brother and his wife, and headed out for the last 12 miles or so of the walk. As you walk out of Williton, you pass a rather magnificent old building. It turns out that this was the old workhouse, which became a hospital. As is the way of things, the rural hospital was closed in 1990 and is now housing. At this point we turned left into what looks like an old council estate, following the road round until we came to a footpath between houses that led out on to fields. And that was the only bit of real civilisation until we reached Bishop's Lydeard.
We had a slightly traumatic experience trying to get through the world's smallest kissing gate on this section. To have any hope of getting through, all rucksacks had to be removed. Even then my boobs caused a problem, but with a bit of squashing, I was through! The path follows the railway and Doniford Stream, the stream stays with us until Crocombe. It starts up in the Quantocks near Triscombe and Crocombe and flows out in to the Bristol Channel at Doniford. At this point we also met some pigs and a peacock. We were to meet a lot of animals on this walk.
We crossed the A358 and headed in to the pretty village of Sampford Brett. Turns out this is the birthplace of Richard le Breton, one of the knights who murdered Thomas a Beckett in Canterbury.
We walked past the gorgeous old church and back out in to fields, following the Macmillan Way West and the Coleridge Way. You know how I feel about long distance walks from my second blog. The Macmillan Way West is a branch of the Macmillan Way which starts in Boston, Lincolnshire and finishes in Barnstaple, a nice jaunt of 346 miles. While the Coleridge Way is a mere 50 miles from Coleridge Cottage in Nether Stowey to Lynmouth. I think I'll stick to my 12 miles.
These paths take us through very lovely countryside, pastures with cows and horses and little woodlands.
Just past Vellow we walked through the rather lovely Curdon Mill. One of those paths that takes you through a private property. I love these, you get to have a really good nose at some beautiful places. This place used to be a hotel and restaurant in the 1970's and 80's and is now a private residence. But you can still see all the mill features. It was here we picked up a dog, not literally. It just started following us, wanted to come on our walk. In the end, my brother had to lead it back down to the farmyard and sneak back. We also encountered some musical horses. At this point we were singing, as you do, and the horse was nodding along to the tune. We tried various different songs and he seemed to like Good King Wenceslas best.
The next section of the walk was a lovely wooded section that ran just below and next to the railway line. Stogumber Station is along this section so we decided to stop there for lunch. It has a lovely garden and cafe and we watched the trains coming in.
After lunch we carried on along the wooded path and a slow worm slithered across the path in front of us. Fascinating little things, legless lizards, and rather pretty. We were also set upon by some friendly sheep, some had collars on so they must have been hand-reared. The path continues next to the railway on a lovely wooded lane until Crocombe Heathfield station. Although we had a brief interlude chatting to a goat, donkey and small pony which were all in a field by Heathfield Farm.
We stopped here for a cold drink and this is the highest point on the WSR at 400 feet above sea level. Apparently you can release the brakes from the train and just glide in to Bishop's Lydeard. The houses in Crocombe Heathfield are gorgeous. On the way out we passed Denzel House, which used to be the youth hostel, but now its a private dwelling with swimming pool and tennis courts. It looks amazing.
The next part was the last part on footpaths and it was the worst bit. Not well signposted and overgrown in parts with nettles and thistles. A delight when you're in shorts. This section at Treble's Holford is the only section where you really need a map to help with navigation, but there is a lovely part just beforehand where you can stand on a grassy path just above the railway and wave at the trains as they pass by. We spent a lot of time waving and it's amazing how many adults wave back. It made me smile.
The last part is all on lanes, albeit very small quiet ones with very little traffic. We descended in to Combe Florey past The Farmers Arms, which only reopened last year after a massive fire. It's got a lovely thatch roof and a little pub garden. However, we weren't allowed to stop as my brother wanted to get back to watch the football, sigh. Combe Florey itself is an unusual name, there seem to be a few ideas as to its derivation but the most likely seems Cwm, meaning valley and the name of the 12th century Lord of the Manor, Hugh de Fleuri. I also did not know that the village was home to Evelyn Waugh. He lived in Combe Florey House, behind the church, and he and his son are buried there. Although Auberon Waugh is in the churchyard and Evelyn is in a private plot next to the churchyard. And, to top it all, the village has 24 listed buildings! That is a lot of history. We passed one on the way out, the Gatehouse. It's Elizabethan and rather magnificent.
There is a slight hill out of the village and then we pass down in to Ash Priors and nearly the end of the walk. This is another little village / hamlet with a lot of history. We walked passed The Priory, from which the place takes its name, and this was owned by Taunton Priory before the reformation. The lane opens out on to Ash Priors Common, where wallabies have been seen. It's a lovely open space, a real common and it's designated a Nature Reserve because of the habitat which includes unimproved neutral grassland and wet heath. The woods are well worth a wander through. Of course, we didn't due to the scheduled football appointment. If we had we may well have spotted, other than wallabies, early marsh orchids, twayblade orchids and viviparous lizards, which sound quite exotic.
The end is in sight, we entered the village and were back in civilisation again. To complete the route we took the steps down to the platform, despite screaming calf muscles, and finished the route.
A gorgeous walk, but make sure you take plenty of water, although these can be filled up at the stations en route, and have the right maps with you. These are OS Explorer OL9 Exmoor and OS Explorer 140 Quantocks Hills and Bridgwater. The written instructions for the route are on th West Somerset Railway website.
Next time, I'll be up a Quantock.
The second half of this walk takes us from Williton to Bishop's Lydeard, finishing off the WSR route. I must say, the second half was more enjoyable and more challenging. The scenary was prettier but the paths were less travelled and there were more hills. Not a fan of them, mainly because I'm so unfit. However, I have a 'trudge' that will get me up them eventually without a coronary.
We caught the train to Williton, we being my brother and his wife, and headed out for the last 12 miles or so of the walk. As you walk out of Williton, you pass a rather magnificent old building. It turns out that this was the old workhouse, which became a hospital. As is the way of things, the rural hospital was closed in 1990 and is now housing. At this point we turned left into what looks like an old council estate, following the road round until we came to a footpath between houses that led out on to fields. And that was the only bit of real civilisation until we reached Bishop's Lydeard.
We had a slightly traumatic experience trying to get through the world's smallest kissing gate on this section. To have any hope of getting through, all rucksacks had to be removed. Even then my boobs caused a problem, but with a bit of squashing, I was through! The path follows the railway and Doniford Stream, the stream stays with us until Crocombe. It starts up in the Quantocks near Triscombe and Crocombe and flows out in to the Bristol Channel at Doniford. At this point we also met some pigs and a peacock. We were to meet a lot of animals on this walk.
We crossed the A358 and headed in to the pretty village of Sampford Brett. Turns out this is the birthplace of Richard le Breton, one of the knights who murdered Thomas a Beckett in Canterbury.
We walked past the gorgeous old church and back out in to fields, following the Macmillan Way West and the Coleridge Way. You know how I feel about long distance walks from my second blog. The Macmillan Way West is a branch of the Macmillan Way which starts in Boston, Lincolnshire and finishes in Barnstaple, a nice jaunt of 346 miles. While the Coleridge Way is a mere 50 miles from Coleridge Cottage in Nether Stowey to Lynmouth. I think I'll stick to my 12 miles.
These paths take us through very lovely countryside, pastures with cows and horses and little woodlands.
Just past Vellow we walked through the rather lovely Curdon Mill. One of those paths that takes you through a private property. I love these, you get to have a really good nose at some beautiful places. This place used to be a hotel and restaurant in the 1970's and 80's and is now a private residence. But you can still see all the mill features. It was here we picked up a dog, not literally. It just started following us, wanted to come on our walk. In the end, my brother had to lead it back down to the farmyard and sneak back. We also encountered some musical horses. At this point we were singing, as you do, and the horse was nodding along to the tune. We tried various different songs and he seemed to like Good King Wenceslas best.
The next section of the walk was a lovely wooded section that ran just below and next to the railway line. Stogumber Station is along this section so we decided to stop there for lunch. It has a lovely garden and cafe and we watched the trains coming in.
After lunch we carried on along the wooded path and a slow worm slithered across the path in front of us. Fascinating little things, legless lizards, and rather pretty. We were also set upon by some friendly sheep, some had collars on so they must have been hand-reared. The path continues next to the railway on a lovely wooded lane until Crocombe Heathfield station. Although we had a brief interlude chatting to a goat, donkey and small pony which were all in a field by Heathfield Farm.
We stopped here for a cold drink and this is the highest point on the WSR at 400 feet above sea level. Apparently you can release the brakes from the train and just glide in to Bishop's Lydeard. The houses in Crocombe Heathfield are gorgeous. On the way out we passed Denzel House, which used to be the youth hostel, but now its a private dwelling with swimming pool and tennis courts. It looks amazing.
The next part was the last part on footpaths and it was the worst bit. Not well signposted and overgrown in parts with nettles and thistles. A delight when you're in shorts. This section at Treble's Holford is the only section where you really need a map to help with navigation, but there is a lovely part just beforehand where you can stand on a grassy path just above the railway and wave at the trains as they pass by. We spent a lot of time waving and it's amazing how many adults wave back. It made me smile.
The last part is all on lanes, albeit very small quiet ones with very little traffic. We descended in to Combe Florey past The Farmers Arms, which only reopened last year after a massive fire. It's got a lovely thatch roof and a little pub garden. However, we weren't allowed to stop as my brother wanted to get back to watch the football, sigh. Combe Florey itself is an unusual name, there seem to be a few ideas as to its derivation but the most likely seems Cwm, meaning valley and the name of the 12th century Lord of the Manor, Hugh de Fleuri. I also did not know that the village was home to Evelyn Waugh. He lived in Combe Florey House, behind the church, and he and his son are buried there. Although Auberon Waugh is in the churchyard and Evelyn is in a private plot next to the churchyard. And, to top it all, the village has 24 listed buildings! That is a lot of history. We passed one on the way out, the Gatehouse. It's Elizabethan and rather magnificent.
There is a slight hill out of the village and then we pass down in to Ash Priors and nearly the end of the walk. This is another little village / hamlet with a lot of history. We walked passed The Priory, from which the place takes its name, and this was owned by Taunton Priory before the reformation. The lane opens out on to Ash Priors Common, where wallabies have been seen. It's a lovely open space, a real common and it's designated a Nature Reserve because of the habitat which includes unimproved neutral grassland and wet heath. The woods are well worth a wander through. Of course, we didn't due to the scheduled football appointment. If we had we may well have spotted, other than wallabies, early marsh orchids, twayblade orchids and viviparous lizards, which sound quite exotic.
The end is in sight, we entered the village and were back in civilisation again. To complete the route we took the steps down to the platform, despite screaming calf muscles, and finished the route.
A gorgeous walk, but make sure you take plenty of water, although these can be filled up at the stations en route, and have the right maps with you. These are OS Explorer OL9 Exmoor and OS Explorer 140 Quantocks Hills and Bridgwater. The written instructions for the route are on th West Somerset Railway website.
Next time, I'll be up a Quantock.
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