Day 30 Wells to Cheddar

I would like to say we felt fully refreshed after our rest day and started with boundless energy. Not quite true. We started rather late due to some home admin I had to attend to, by which time the sun was shining intensely in a blue, cloudless sky. We took the West Mendip Way to Cheddar.

I have walked from Wells to Cheddar before. It is a lovely route. Yes there are ups and downs but there are far-reaching views, different terrains, and a pub bang on the route, the ingredients for a perfect walk.

We had a very unpleasant experience. I failed again at a kissing gate -they can be tricky with backpacks. “Don’t worry Rose, there’s a gate” said Sue and reached for the gate only to find that someone had smeared the top of the gate with cow dung. Truly disgusting. We marched on, warning oncoming walkers, and eventually reached the pub at Priddy, where we stopped, firstly for a good hand wash, then a refreshing drink and an ice cream.

We left the pub about 1.30, only to find that the heat had intensified. We felt drained, and not even the sight of the Priddy sheep hurdles could cheer us up. On we plodded, through fields with long grass, past some rather grumpy tree-cutters (there’s a lot of ash dieback around here) until we realised that it had clouded over and the temperature had fallen by several degrees. It was quite a relief, because, once again, we had come to some tricky stiles. Oh, and another bull. But the view was amazing.

The stiles on the way to Cheddar consisted of a high stone slab, often waist or chest high. If you had short legs they would be nigh on impossible.

What with the earlier heat and the efforts of the stiles, one of which lead into a field with another herd of cows with a bull, (no diversion necessary today, they were at the other side of the field) we found ourselves still with some miles to go at twenty to five. Now I know that midsummer is approaching and it doesn’t get dark until about ten o’clock, but Sue and I have definitely had enough by six. To be perfectly truthful, I’ve usually had enough by 4pm and the last hour or two is a bit of a footsore struggle. Moreover dinner was booked for seven and we wanted to be showered and changed by then.

We decided we would skip Cheddar Gorge today and just head downhill to Cheddar village and our B&B.

Our B&B had an outdoor pool, so Sue, who always travels with a swimsuit and a towel, had a swim before we set out, clean and sweet-smelling, although still footsore, to the Italian restaurant for dinner.

Dinner, as you might expect at an Italian restaurant was cheery and filling. I managed a video call home (out in the street, no signal in the restaurant) as it was Matthew’s birthday, and I wanted to watch the unwrapping of the joint present from our children, Lily and James (my birthday is next week). We headed home after dinner, feeling pretty good and got in before the rain started.