The Strange World of Temple Cloud (and Glastonbury) - Part Three

This is a copy of my blog about doing the Big Issue BigStep Challenge to raise money for the Big Issue Foundation which helps homeless people.  If you want to donate, please go to this site.

Friday 14^th September 2018

Today I got off to a fairly late start, at about 10.40, but decided to see whether it was possible to get into Wells by 7.30 in the evening. In the past, when my Beloved Partner and I had walked from our house to Wells (admittedly in the heat of summer, when we kept pausing to take breaks), it had taken most of the day.

This time, as it was a moist day, I decided to walk along the roads rather than across fields of wet grass, going through Oakhill and then along Old Frome Road. This turned out to be so much faster (whether because it involved less slogging over rough ground, or because it was so simple to follow a road that I didn't have to keep stopping to consult my map), I arrived in Wells in three hours, by 1.40, even allowing for stopping to pick blackberries as I walked, and trying to photograph the mist-veiled landscape.

I also stopped to try to rescue a large earthworm who had somehow strayed onto the road. I picked it up and intended to throw it into the mud by the side of the road, but it landed on a bramble and clung on desperately. I tried to distentangle it, but the more I tried, the more tightly the worm wound itself round the thorny branch that could wound it, but, right now, seemed to be the only solid reality I could grasp. I could understand, now, how other people (especially the Beloved, my parents, the vicar, and my therapist) feel when trying to free me from some delusional belief that I cling to because, the more it hurts, the more I feel that it must be true.

Having reached Wells so early, I wondered whether to go to Wookey, the village where my partner grew up, and visit the Wookey Hub cafe. When my partner grew up in Wookey, there were several thriving shops there: a butcher, a newsagent, a general store/post office, a television repair shop, and a hairdresser. Up until a few years ago, virtually everything had closed down, but then somebody bought the premises of the hairdresser and the television repair shop, and turned them into a cosy cafe, with books to browse and board games to play while you drank your tea and sampled their delicious cakes, or even a Hubster (sausage and bacon pizza on a scone topping). The Hub has done so well that it now also has a small grocery store attached. It's well worth a visit.

On the map, to my surprise, Wookey actually looked a bit too close for someone who wanted to spend an afternoon walking (especially now that the rain had eased off). After sitting on a bench in Wells to rest and eat my lunch, I decided to set off again, and see how far I could get in the direction of Glastonbury and back before the concert. Obviously I wouldn't actually get to Glastonbury - another time when my partner and I had tried an all-day walk from Wells to Glastonbury, we had only just reached the Tin Bridge Farm roundabout before giving up and catching the bus back to Wells, so trying to walk there AND back in four or five hours was ridiculous. But, again, walking along roads seemed to be quicker and easier than trying to follow the pilgrims' route with the nicely carved milestones - and the Glastonbury Road even had a pavement running along most of it. It was now 2.30. I set the alarm on my phone for 4.30, to allow myself three hours for retracing a two-hour journey when tired and footsore, finding St Cuthbert's Church when I was back in Wells, and buying a ticket before the concert started.

By now, not only was it not raining, but the day was turning bright and sunny, without becoming too hot for walking to be a pleasure. I had passed the Tin Bridge Farm roundabout and was on the outskirts of Glastonbury when the alarm on my phone went off. I was sorry not to have time to climb the Tor, but at least I was high enough up to see Wells from Glastonbury. I took a few snapshots of it before turning back.

As ever, the last mile of my journey was by far the longest. I arrived back in Wells with feet so heavy that lifting them off the pavement was an effort, and so sore that I hardly even wanted to have them resting on the floor during the concert (which I enjoyed, though I wished the excerpt from Dvorak's 'Symphony From The New World' had been longer. The ache of walking seemed to have spread from my feet up to my thighs and hips. But all in all, it had been a satisfying day.