Kilve to Minehead with guest walkers Linda & Steve Part 50

 Kilve to Minehead

 Distance 15:11 Miles 

Time 5:51 minutes 

Elevation Gain 1029 Feet

Total days walking 62 (Excluding The SWCP sections)

Total mileage 1418.83 (Including The SWCP sections)

After a  very comfortable night staying at the Hood Arms Kilve, I would definitely recommend a stay here but avoid Mondays as the pub is shut & no food is available but I was still able to get a pint! 

Paul & Tracey were very welcoming and a good full English breakfast was served. Both Paul & Tracey were very warm, welcoming & nothing was too much trouble, the room was warm & comfortable & after a good nights rest full of lovely breakfast we set off, We have arranged to meet Linda & Steve who will walk from Minehead & meet us along the way.

We leave Kilve on our journey to Minehead adorned in waterproof attire the odd drop of rain soon becomes a steady shower, as we head out of the village back past the Monastery & up onto the cliff tops  I thought the paths on the clifftop would be dry under foot where as a walk alongside a flooded river would be wet. 

Wrong, the river Parrett was dry & the clifftop was definitely the wettest part of our walking.

One part of the path goes down on the beach & is not passable at high tide, this is the only morning that we have seen the sea as every other day it's been so far out, as we go down onto the beach the rain stops  the tide is receding, anxiously we walk along the beach will the path be accessible? 

Past waterfalls

Over volcanic pavement

Past another waterfall

And just around the corner are the steps

Thankfully the tide has receded & we can leave the beach via some steep steps, at the top is a steep slope leading us into the woods & onto the cliff top. 

Now down on Doniford  beach with the most beautiful fossils. Brachiopods and bivalves.

Linda & Steve are messaging us,we aim to meet up at blue anchor 

Coming into Watchett we come across Derek the duck!

& then down by the harbor 

Derek the Goose!

  Just after Watchet,we have to negotiate a diversion up through a filed with a pony & a donkey, the donkey takes a fancy to me & runs up poking it's head under my arm! its a steep field & the four legged animal wins the traction pushing me up the very wet & slippery field, we make it, leaving the field via a style continuing on our way to meet up with Linda and Steve.

Still very wet under foot we negotiate around caravan parks through very muddy fields before finally dropping down to blue anchor where Linda & Steve are waiting.

 

After a good lunch we all walked back into Minehead. past the golf course & Butlins. bidding our farewells to Linda & Steve we walk on past where we  are staying at the Quay Inn which is ok but not the greatest accommodation to the place it all started.

Stockland bristol to kilve Part 49

Stockland Bristol to Kilve

 Distance 16.70 Miles 

Time 6:08 minutes 

Elevation Gain 579 Feet

Total days walking 61 (Excluding The SWCP sections)

Total mileage 1403.72 (Including The SWCP sections)

After a very comfortable night in the Shepherds hut we have a late start,

 The lip

Lesley's discovered her lip is still sore as she caught it while washing & nearly passed out with the pain. It's now swollen & Pusey  so I have to walk with quizzi modo lip! 

We walk up the road and through the bird sanctuary across nice dry metal paths. The path turns to a wet muddy track & then back to dry pebbles! This section could easily be one of the strangest as the path runs out to the point & only a few meters away the return path, a few steps & a few miles could be knocked off but we don't cheat! 

The water has been high and the seaweed is high up the fields, the nice pavement  leading up to hinckley point power station is littered with pebbles thrown up with the high tide & strong winds.

 

Navigation around the power station should be easy but  poor signs & new rerouted paths make it a little challenging, the site is massive. The old paths are very wet flooded paths & slippery make it hard going.

Obviously being a power station the lighting is state or the art.

Now up on the cliff top recent cliff falls are evident, the fields are flooded leaving very soggy marshy paths for us. The scenery, geology as always is stunning. Finally turning off to Kilve our stop for the night. 

Fresh cliff fall with tractor tracks to nowhere. Now on the final few miles we plod on feeling blessed again that the rain stayed away. Turning off the path heading into the village of Kilve past the old Monastery established in 1329 now a ruin but with the daffodils dancing in the wind glowing in the sun light it is a lovely sight to finish the day off with.

ECP Bridgewater to Stockland Part 48

Bridgewater to Stockland Along the river Parrett

 Distance 12.51 Miles 

Time 4:50 minutes 

Elevation Gain 124 Feet

Total days walking 60 (Excluding The SWCP sections)

Total mileage 1399.53 (Including The SWCP sections)

 We bid farewell to our travel lodge accommodation & make our way to the station for our train to Bridge water, we are so lucky as we were late arriving at the station after the train should have departed but it was running twelve minutes late! Result for us, a short ride to Bridgewater & we started our walk. The days walking is simple,  follow the river Parrett to Steart Marsh turning off to Stockland.

The weather is good no wind low clouds but warm, after all the rain the ground is surprisingly dry, walking on the raised burns along the river bank we look down on the fields lining the banks of the river, many of them are badly flooded, Feeling for the farmers who are unable to prepare the ground for planting you can see the deep ruts left from tractor movement across the land, water in the river is low but running really fast grey murky muddy water.

The river has no redeeming features and lack of Bird life, the odd bird in the flooded field's & we only see one buzzard hovering in the sky.

We pass through the little village of Combwich & pop into the Anchour Inn for a Swift pint unfortunately the only ale available is Old Speckled Hen & no food so a pint of larger & a packet of crisps sufficed. 

Now just a few miles to go until we reach our Shepherds hut we had booked for the night but first we have to pass through Steart Marsh but even here Bird life is scarce, the odd Swan & duck. Leaving the wetlands we follow the road to our shepherd hut, with about half a mile to go it  starts raining getting us slightly damp.

The hut is exactly what we need warm & cosy kettle on we settle in for the night. 

Brean peninsular to Heybridge & Burnham Part 47

 Brean peninsular to Heybridge

 Distance 13.50 Miles 

Time 4:40 minutes 

Elevation Gain 556 Feet

Total days walking 59 (Excluding The SWCP sections)

Total mileage 1387.02 (Including The SWCP sections)

 we are committed to carrying on with our coast path. We [I] made an executive decision to walk to Minehead where it all began back in 2017

Having now walked from Minehead to Hunstanton in North Norfolk I thought it would be good to jump back to the Bristol channel.

Friday 8th March 2024

We took the train from Epsom Downs station to Victoria, followed by a tube to Paddington Station & the GWR to Taunton in Somerset with our last local train to Heybridge & Burnham.

A good journey down with a short walk to our accommodation for two nights. 

Saturday 9th March 

Thankfully a dry morning with a forecast of rain grey clouds overhead.

 Lesley's makes up a flask of coffee & for some unknown reason drinks it straight from the flask scalding her lip & chin, Not a good start to the day. A cold compress to take away the heat but a red mark on chin & lip is not a good sign!

We walk to the bus stop & catch the bus as far as possible towards Brean point walking the remaining mile & 3/4 to the start of our walk.  Brean peninsular is a beautiful national trust area, arriving we scale the 224 steps up onto the headland & walk to the Fort at the end of the peninsula, a Victorian fortification built to protect the Bristol channel. (Although there has been a fortification here long before the Victorian update) Fantastic views looking back towards Weston-super-Mare with its grand pier.

After a look around the Fort we head back along the lower track back to the 224 steep steps & arriving at the NT Coffee shop for coffee & cake. 

After cake it's on to the beach heading back to Burnham-on-sea, the tide is low leaving vast sandy beaches nice hard sand which is a pleasant surface to walk on.

The peninsula steadily getting smaller in our sight as we head away from it, finally disappearing as the coast curves around, This will not be the last sighting of Brean peninsular!

Apparently the sun is being harvested by Aliens so hopefully by reading this will stop it happening.

(well so the locals think)

Arriving in Burnham-on-sea its lunch time and we spy a weatherspoon pub, so in we go, a good pint & some food & we are  ready for the last few miles back to Heybridge leaving the Bristol channel we now walk alongside the river Brue arriving in Heybridge, it starts to rain but only lightly as we leave the trail & head back to the Hotel. All in all another good day with a few more miles knocked of the England Coast path. 

The lip Update.

The cool wind has helped but its now swelling still red & sore, Well what did you expect!