It was a very soggy day with only brief respites from the rain. Slow start, the Thai effect not fully passed yet, but no point waiting so off into the rain. First up, the assault on the senses that's the M5
Don't like it any better than when I'm driving on it....
Still, it soon falls behind and all is squelchy silence.
A long walk through a commercial orchard: nothing much to occupy the mind except estimate the number of trees - typical accountant.
The town used to be pretty much surrounded by cider orchards in the 19th century.
In this one field alone I reckoned there must be upwards of 8-10,000 trees. Still, that's what Somerset's famous for - cider production I suppose
Then a long walk to one of the few crossing points over the Bridgwater and Taunton canal, over the railway and all the way down to the river Parrett.
There aren't many crossings of the river hereabouts so it's a long walk alongside the river which looked pretty high. I learned later that it's tidal (and a favourite place for fishing for elvers) which explains house names like Saltmoor farm.
The river crossing was at Burrowbridge, famous for its "Mump" a Norman motte reputedly used by Alfred now topped by a ruined church dating from the 15th Century. Just down the road, but unfortunately not on my route, is the Isle of Athelney where Alfred hid before gathering his forces to defeat the Danes at the battle of Edington in 878. A commemorative pitstop was required at the King Alfred pub and you can see how high the water is - less than a foot from the top of the arch.
From there along the drove road but the livestock had got there first and churned it up pretty well so it was slow going. the picture doesn't do it justice.
I remember at the start of the SWCP back in April 2018 I warbled on about the mud and its various types and consistencies so I guess I should have been prepared.
Although most of the cattle are indoors because of the weather the locals still find ways to celebrate them:
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| Fresians, I think? |
then a 1km or so walk along the busy A361 to a crossing of the Kings Sedgemore Drain. The alternatives were more A-road or a 3km walk along the drain. I opted for the latter although not suprisingly a quagmire. Similar to a long walk on a shingle beach - knackering. But beautiful all the same. It's hard to convey the scale of these levels or the extent of the flooding
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| Start of the Sedgemore drain |
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| Waterlogged |
What wildlife there was had sensibly sheltered from the cold and wet, that is until I came by: various moorhens and mallards, even a snipe took flight. For the most part the fields were impromptu swanneries. The farmer I met said they stayed even after the fields dried out (which some never do) and "just ate a lot". He didn't like them but of course it's illegal to shoot them as the Crown has first dibs on that.
By now the rain had set in and I didn't feel like taking pictures, plus the enormity of the remaining distance had become apparent so I just looked down, got into a walking rhythm and waited for the distance to unravel.
Towards the end I could see the scale of the flood and storm damage. Although nothing like the Severn valley, Wales or Yorkshire it was still extensive, even though storms Ciara, Dennis and Jorge largely missed this area.
The various rivers and drains make travel a little difficult sometimes, with circuitous journeys to use the few crossings, and there's definitely a shortage of taxis so it took some time before I could recover the car and get back to the (youth!) hostel in Street.
Tomorrow I walk through Glastonbury to Gurney Slade, an estimated 14 miles but since that's the same as I estimated for today I'm expecting another long day. Should be a tad less wet though.
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