We both had a fitful night, but The Litton has opened especially early for us and the breakfast is delicious. We need to set off promptly as it’s going to be hotter today. The waitress says it was no problem as it’s quiet but they’re fully booked tonight because of the festival. ‘What festival?’ Rich asks. ‘Glastonbury’ the waitress and I reply in unison. We’re lucky we’ve got all our accommodation booked up.
We set off uphill along the road, but soon take a footpath up into a field. This path is part of the Mendip Ring, a 117 mile walk devised around the Mendips by the Mendip Ramblers and including nearly 10,000 feet of ascent, of which this hill is one. As we round the top, we pass into another field containing some young cattle. As we approach the next stile, we hear thundering hooves behind us. We leave the cows behind as we enter another field.
We leave this field via a somewhat brambly path and Rich keeps losing his washing on the thorns. Both of us have underwear drying on the outside of our sacks. Some of us have affixed it more securely than others. We emerge onto a road and locate the next path by a stile with a knotted rope alongside to assist the awkward climb. We’ve never seen this before, even in Scotland. There is another wooden stile as well before we can continue.
We are now pretty much on top of the hill at over 280 metres and we stay in this high plateau for some time. We join the Monarch’s Way again (which seems a very circuitous route), joining the Butcombe Trail, a 75 mile pub crawl over the stunning Mendip scenery. Ultimately, we arrive at the B3135. We now walk uncomfortably along this almost vergeless, busy road for a short while, aggravated by some highly dubious driving. We turn off gratefully into the cool of Stockhill Woods, owned by the Forestry Commission.
The path here has been rerouted along a forestry track here as the larches have been infected with Phytophthora ramorum. It is well-signed and a good track, so is not a problem. We cross the invisible site of a Roman road that ran from Old Sarum (Salisbury) to Charterhouse to service the lead-silver mines.
We emerge from the woods, cross a road and go into a lovely grassy area with stunning views. Although this is all limestone, it has a completely different character from the Cotswolds, with more open spaces and plateaus, as well as sink holes andcaves. As we press on, we realise that we are walking on coal and this is clearly an old mining site. We chat to a couple of men who are out looking for orchids and rare butterflies. We don’t catch sight of any, but Rich spots a common lizard in the grass.
We reach an unclassified road, that’s helpfully closed to traffic, and walk into the village of Priddy for lunch. We had to continue until then because there are no shops in Litton and there were none along the way. Priddy has a pub, the Queen Victoria, but we arrive a few minutes before it’s noon opening time. There’s a very warm welcome when it does unlock the doors, complete with staff wearing bespoke T-shirts.
We leave Priddy via its green, where there is a sign warning of Ash dieback. The trees seem to be having a difficult time around here. We continue along the plateau to an escarpment with views across to Exmoor on one side and Glastonbury Tor on the other. We pass through Somerset Wildlife Trust’s Cook Fields Nature Reserve, talking to a pair of young women anxious about an injured sheep, but there is little we can do as they have already called for help. We drop down to the valley and a barn owl flies low across us, despite the fact that it’s only 3:00pm. We enter the outskirts of the village of Westbury-sub-Mendip and stop for a rest in the shade.
We get up and walk on to the hamlet of Rodney Stoke to find a route across the fields and drainage ditches of the Somerset levels and moors. The path across Stoke Moor starts well but soon we arrive at a heavily rotted bridge. We try to place our feet on the sides, but my boot sinks in as I push through the brambles to cross the stile on the far side. Luckily, the plank does not give way.
We continue on, eventually crossing the River Axe using another less than safe bridge, although this one has a warning notice, to reach Wedmore Moor. We cross this on footpaths and finally an overgrown but passable track to arrive at the George Inn in Wedmore, our stop for tonight.
Total distance: 312 miles