Day 21 - Bridgwater to Glastonbury - 18 miles

My hotel was tucked in behind St. Mary's  church, on a quiet street in the centre of Bridgwater and the curtains must have been very effective because it was only when I opened them that I realised that it was going to be another gloriously sunny day.

In the forlorn hope that I might be able to get some instant running repairs on my boots, I took a pointless detour to Timsons - tucked in to a busy retail park on the edge of town. In fact so barely on the edge of town that even the charity shops are here.

If all of these shed businesses moved back into town rather than stand outside like a besieging army, towns like Bideford, Barnstaple and Bridgwater might stand a chance of coming back from the brink.

In the sunshine, down on the river bank it could have felt as though the spirit of Amsterdam had arrived.

Eventually, after having threaded my way through residential streets, I crossed the footbridge over the M5.

In a bush right by the motorway there was  a Robin singing with all his might - still audible above the drum of the traffic.

The battle of Sedgemoor 1685 was "the last major battle on English soil when Englishman took arms against Englishman". - the "Pitchfork rebellon" between royalists loyal to James II and 3500 protestant "pitchforks" led by the Duke of Monmouth. The battle was fought on farm land between Chedzoy and Westonzoyland. 

I didn't recall any of this from school history but there're been some really good information boards along the way.

Without having consciously planned it, my route went almost straight through the middle of the battle field !!

Apparently, after the battle, "the fleeing rebels were pursued into the surrounding fields. Some of the dead were not discovered until after the harvest."  

Those that survived were tried by Judge Jeffreys on what became known as his Bloody Assizes.

England People very nice!

Today, the good people of Chedzoy are more concerned about the fate of Ukraine.

and very fortunately for me, had arranged a charity fundraiser at the village hall.

where I joined 150 others and met 

Mike, Margaret, Christine and Jenny

who welcomed me on to their table for soup and cheeses and were all very interested to hear of the charities I'm supporting.

After a relaxed chat with Mike about his  music teaching I walked through Chedzoy's community orchard with its promising varieties....

..including Spartan, Avalon and ......the Bloody Ploughman!

At Parchey, I crossed over the King's Sedgemoor Drain. 

which was being guarded by

 these handsome guys

Don't mess with me!

Today, I saw my first Cabbage whites of the walk - but they could have been a very pale Brimstone

From about 7 miles, I got my first sight of the Tor.

Again unplanned, I'm arriving in Glastonbury on the eve of Beltane - a celebration to invoke the season's fruitfulness and there's a party atmosphere in the air. If the rain holds off, there'll be bonfires and musIc.

On the way back after a pizza supper, (over which I could hardly stay awake) there were bands playing in a number of pubs. I was drawn to the "King Billy" to hear a local band "The Razars"

I defy anyone to resist dancing when you a get a stream of great songs

- Sweet home alabama
- Won't get fooled again
- Keep on rocking in the free world
- All right now
- In the midnight hour.

The lead singer looked and was built like Meatloaf ( unfortunately not caught in the pic) and his stage trick - which drew great applause - seemed to be to stop the ceiling mounted fan with his head!!!

Safely on the way home up the High Street.

Total distance so far = 269.9 miles

Total ascent so far = 37 644 feet