Sand Bay - half a walk backwards!

A suddenly warm and sunny spring day so we sprung to W-S-M to do half an 8-mile walk 'Kewstock and Woodspring Priory' that we had enjoyed in May 05. We soon found that the beach wasn't as friendly as it looked.

Soon after the picture on the right was taken, Margie was literally knocked off her feet by a couple of excitable dogs who were bounding along the beach, in love with each other and oblivious to anyone else. They took Margie out just above the knees and she landed gracefully on her face in the sand. How we all laughed!

The walk out onto the promontory revealed some spectacular violets

and a chance to use the new camera tripod:

Towards the end of the walk we passed what Geoff described as 'grain silos' but which seem to have had a change of use:

We found a cafe just along the bay, and although it was particularly caker, (20 items on menu, ALL ending 'and chips'), no cake. Tea and crumpets instead, then home.

Uley - 22 Feb 2009

On a suddenly warm and sunny day, a short walk in a part of Gloucestershire that neither of us knows at all well. Essentially, the walk involved parking in the village, and walking up a steep hillside for about 20 minutes to the hilltop fort.

Once there, the views were spectacular...

we felt that this walk, which mostly involved following the perimeter of the fort, would have been considerably less rewarding if the trees which lined the main edge were in leaf. In other words, we were glad we had done this in winter.

The path was very good, and as we turned onto the western side of the fort we were able to walk alongside the fence which ran round the fort area itself. The inside of the fort is accessible, you go through a gate on the corner, (although this would not be encouraged when cattle are grazing it from april to october), but there's not much to see in the central plateau, the interest is all on the edge looking out.

At the south-east corner (where Ralph is pictured) you undertake a steep descent through scrub, then woodland (described as 'bushes' inexplicably in the guide), then a 'meadow', essentially a recreation ground, although with far too much of a slope for ballgames.

After a while, the main street is reached, and a gentle stroll back to the car gave us a chance to look at some of the very grand houses. It's clearly a wealthy area, and also pleasantly quiet.

Having passed the Uley Brewery as we descended to the village, we were pleased to find that there was a pub which sold the local beer. The pub also sold a huge bowl of chips for 2 quid, including the 37 sachets of assorted tomato, mayo, tartare, hp and other goop with which we decorated the table. A really lovely trip, followed by a detour on the way home to take in the features of Wotton-under-Edge.

The Faculty Walk ! (no. 2) 1st Feb 09

On a freezing Sunday our intrepid band set off for a walk round Blagdon Lake. After a hesitant start, and having to mollify an irate publican whose car park we were abusing, the weather improved dramatically, and we had a very enjoyable stroll. Very muddy in places, but this didn't stop everyone enjoying it.

Box Hill - march 07

We did this walk with our friend Ellie, on a bright, fresh day in march. It was descibed in the Evening Post handout where we found the walk as 'Geoff's favourite walk.'

The 'Geoff', is of course Geoff Mullet, a deeply unpromising name for a hugely influential presence in our lives. He's authored two books on local walks (Walk West, and Walk West Again), and we have spent a lot of time in the past few years working our way through the books.

There's nothing systematic or nerdish about this - some we have done several times and some we've chosen to ignore as they seem unpromising. More of this elsewhere...

... the reason that i've chosen to put this walk in as the first in the blog is that i was sorting through some photos on the computer this morning, and found some good ones of this walk. The picture above is at the start of the walk, with Box Tunnel (must be important - note capitals) behind ellie (left) and margaret. It's Brunel, it's (quite) famous, and it's still a major part of the southwest rail network today.

The early part of the walk was along the banks of a river, and in the way it wound through undulating countryside it was just about as lovely as a river could be. This photo does it little justice!

Whilst walking along the river, we came across a small (2) working party, seemingly stripping long branches from the riverside trees. After a small discussion as to what they were doing (collecting materials for basket-weaving was my contribution), we approached them to ask. It turned out that they were pruning back the overhanging alders and osiers, which would otherwise clog the river. They were friendly and very well-to-do, and we surmised that one of them was the landowner. The sort of encounter which makes walking so enjoyable.

Other noticeable points were the welcome lunchtime beer in the Quarryman, whilst furtively eating our picnic in their front garden - see photo!

The last third of the walk was significantly uphill - rather a strain for one member of our party who was rather puffed! Hard to imagine, overall, a more pleasant walk, with variety, beauty, and challenge. Very muddy indeed in places, but these were few and short!

Introduction

I've got to start somewhere! The idea is to create a blog of the walks enjoyed by margaret and i, and where possible to post some pictures, comments, even the occasional video clip. So that's it - i'm up and running!