Miles to Go - Day Seven

Wednesday 7^th July

Today, the weather was forecast to be wet throughout the day (but then, the forecast had said that for the past two days, and it hadn’t been true), but probably wetter in the afternoon.  I decided to set off early, and be back by lunchtime.

At the moment, many of my walks are a clockwise series of clockwork loops, so this one was intended to revisit part of Tuesday’s walk, passing through Leigh Upon Mendip, before heading further south.  First, though, I went further north, heading up to Pitcot Lane, and then along the lane leading to Spring Farm, which then turns into a track as it makes its way to Edford.

The weather as I walked along Pitcot Lane was cloudy but bright, with each successive layer of further-away fields wreathed in more mist, making them look fascinatingly distant.  I tried snapping a photo, but the camera compensated for the sunlight (bright even through the clouds) by making the whole scene look dark and ominous.

I hadn’t considered how muddy the path to Edford would be after the recent rain, but it made a change from road walking.  Like many paths round here, it is a green tunnel, a path lined with trees even when there are fields on either side.

From there, I walked – as I had the previous day – east along Marsh Lane and through Hurdlestone Wood.  Then, however, I turned south towards Leigh Upon Mendip rather sooner than yesterday, to walk along that village’s main street in the opposite direction to yesterday, from west to east, and then turn south after the school, with its pretty sparkly sign and its promise of .

Then began the new part of today’s route: walking south-west along Old Wells Road, and then north-west along Old Frome Road.  The latter is marked on the map as a Roman road, as is shown by its straightness, and you can see where more of the old Roman road continues to the south-east (as the track Funtle Lane, part of the East Mendip Way) and to the north-west as the B3135, marked in dark orange to remind us that this is a road to be taken seriously.

This stretch, however, was marked in a light orange which looked barely more serious than the gentle, single-track lanes marked in yellow, and surely not more serious than the road between Oakhill and Leigh Upon Mendip.  I hadn’t taken into account how busy a road it really was, and how brisk the traffic.  Fortunately, there were grass verges along the side which I could hop onto when a car was approaching, but not the sort of grass verges that were convenient to walk along for long.

It had drizzled now and then throughout the morning, but this was developing into a persistent drizzle by the time I passed by Beacon Hill Wood on the other side of the road.  In dry weather, Beacon Hill Wood is a delightful place to walk through, but it had been soggy and muddy when I squelched through it on Monday, and I was relieved that I was not going that way now.  Instead, I turned north up the Fosse Way – also an old Roman Road, but one that is now a muddy, stony track – until this crossed the Fosse Road, and then turned east towards Oakhill.

Yesterday, I had walked back from Oakhill along the main road, because it’s the straightest and shortest route at the end of a longish walk when I don’t want any unnecessary detours.  Admittedly, it isn’t the safest, since there is no pavement for much of the way.  Nonetheless, when I’m tired or when I’ve got a rucksack full of shopping, I much prefer this road, sloping fairly gently down to Nettlebridge, to toiling up Zion Hill and then staggering down the steep drop of Ash Lane.

Today, however, I decided to take the more winding route back that I would usually take on a short walk – say, a visit to church or a doctor’s appointment – and go up Zion Hill, along the road beside the recreation ground to Ashwick Pound, and down Pound Lane and Ash Lane.  It was now pouring with rain, and I certainly didn’t feel like walking across the recreation ground, as I would in more cheerful weather. 

I had put my waterproof jacket on, but hadn’t put my hood up until it was too late, so that my hair was soaked and water was streaming down my back.  At first, the rain had been a welcome relief in the hot weather, but now I was cold, dripping, and glad I wasn’t far from home.  At least it was dramatic weather after the early drizzle, and I managed to get some photographs of raindrops smacking into puddles – at least until the camera’s lens was too spattered with raindrops to record anything clearly.

By this time, I was standing at the top of Ash Lane, otherwise known as Sudden Death Hill.  Ash Lane, which bears signs warning in several languages, ‘Don’t believe SatNav – no access to motor vehicles.’  It’s a daunting slope even in fair conditions, and terrifying when it’s covered in ice, snow, wet autumn leaves, or, as now, just plain rain.

I decided it was about time to switch the camera off and slip it back into its case, and put it securely away in my bag, before I tried to make my way down.  I still have trouble with my elbow from a photography-related injury over twenty years ago, when I tripped and fell while holding a borrowed camera, couldn’t risk dropping it because it wasn’t mine, and instead clung grimly on with both hands and landed on my elbow.  That had been just in the college grounds – I didn’t want to make a mistake like that on Ash Lane.

I pressed the ‘off’ button, but the camera did nothing.  I tried clicking the ‘take photograph’ button, which also did nothing.  The camera wasn’t going to retract its lens so that it would fit in its case.  I stuffed it into my bag as it was, in the hope that it would get bored and switch itself off in due course.  Then I headed downwards.

I made it home without injury, took off my boots and headed straight upstairs to strip off everything else and change into – oh, who cares?  Pyjamas and a warm fluffy dressing gown would do, and it was quicker to put them on than stand around feeling chilly while I decided what I wanted to wear for the rest of the afternoon.  I was cold, tired, and in need of a mug of tea and a game of Scrabble before I even felt up to cooking lunch.

The camera wasn’t feeling well, but seems to have recovered after being taken to pieces and left on the towel-rail in the bathroom to dry.  I hope it’s survived, anyway.

Miles walkedtoday: 11 miles.

Total miles walked: 69