Today was planned to be an easy walking day , long but no big hills. (More of that later !!) Helped by the cool moist air and no rain it was a lovely walk out of Glastonbury.
To get away from any main road I walked along Long Drove and Long Drove Rhyne - a 3Km long straight drainage ditch. You can only imagine the human effort that went in to digging these ditches however long ago. Long Drove passes just a mile away from Pilton, home of the Glastonbury Festival.
The rhynes seem full of wildlife. The banks are thick with Cow parsley and Rape or is it mustard?
Today, I saw egrets for the first time on the walk but the stars of the show have been
the Sedge warblers - amazing, creative, varied and luckily for me, not at all camera shy.
They alternate with Goldfinches all the way.
As I walked up the first hill of the day I stopped to admire a fabulous Clematis
Montana and met Adrian. He explained that the tree that used to stand in the same position started overshadowing his South facing solar panels. We had a chat about feed-in tariffs and the country's preparedness for energy price hikes. Adrian is quids - in. He and his wife have just celebrated their Ruby anniversary and we calculated that he must have therefore heard almost every Glastonbury Festival since they started in the 70s. Not only that, he has a fantastic view of Glastonbury Tor from his garden.
At the top of Launcherley Hill, Kim and John were carrying out some running repairs to their bikes.
Now living in Wells, Kim had studied at Coleg Normal, Bangor and recalled kayaking through the Swellies on a Spring tide - not for the faint hearted. John meanwhile had been a lifeguard on the Cornish coast.
Wells Cathedral is magnificent.
and they do a very nice Carrot and Corriander soup with cheese scone !!
In the square, there was a lovely atmosphere and Macmillan Cancer Support were collecting.
I met Lady Mayoress Caroline, Non( originally from Llanelli), Mayor Philip, Sue (very originally from Cardiff) and Carole (family connections with Wrexham)
...I'm detecting a bit of a Welsh theme here! Non told me that she'd studied at Coleg Normal, Bangor .....that's two ex-students in one day, in the same town.
It's a small world!
In support, Newton's Toad were playing a sublime mixture of Piazzola style jazz, tango and bossa nova. Perfect for a relaxed afternoon in the Square. I could have happily stayed for the afternoon.
Philip and I agreed to swap details to help with sponsorship. Many thanks Philip to you and team....and the band!
My route led out of town, past old lime kilns
and directly to Arthur's Point looking back towards Glastonbury but also overlooking Wookey Hole
where I'd been told I'd get a good coffee at The Wookey Hole Club.
I WAS going to have a coffee but as I was here, I couldn't resist a half of..... There is a steep, steep climb out of Wookey Hole as you pass the old Paper Mill
and on, and on.......and on until,
close to the top, looking back you can appreciate the full significance of the Tors. When apparently the sea levels were higher, these would have all been islands and though Glastonbury is not the highest it certainly has a prominent position.
Eventually at the top, I came to a style with this great inscription ......
....I did and promised myself I'd sing it in the shower this evening.
If I ever feel like writing a book, it'll be Styles of styles or even Styles of style !!
All had gone well until about a mile from the pub and my bed for the night when in a narrow lane on The Monarch's Way, two blokes in a white van sped up and drove AT me. I had to leap into the hedgerow to avoid being hit by the wing mirror. Bloody frightening!!
Nettle stung and hawthorn scratched I ran out of four letter words - so I repeated them a number of fucking times!!!
Eventually, safely ensconced in the Ring o' Bells, the barman told me that there's a lot of drink/ driving while over the limit around here because there are so many lanes and so few police.
Chastened for the day !
Total distance so far = 287.7 miles
Total ascent so far = 39 602 feet
If you're tempted to contribute to any or all of the great charities I'm supporting, here are the relevant links.
Parkinsons UK - My dad had Parkinsons in his latter years and the research work this charity funds and the support it provides to patients and their families is invaluable. - https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/david-thomas215
Just Wheels UK - this is a small charity set up to provide wheelchairs in a rural community in Tanzania. It does this through funding training, education and the local fabrication and servicing of bespoke wheelchairs. My nephew uses a wheelchair and as he grows I can see the life changing freedoms that proper wheelchairs can bring to both users and their families.-
https://donate.thebiggive.org.uk/campaign/a056900002H35TDAAZ
- RNLI - these are the brave guys who selflessly head out to sea to help others. I volunteer at Littlehampton RNLI shop and often meet families of those who’ve had first hand experience of their loved ones being saved from the sea. Having sailed for years I can say thankfully we’ve never had to call on the RNLI's services but it’s amazing what it does to know they are there
https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/david-thomas216
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