Cheddar Gorge and the Mendip Hills

Tuesday 6th May 2008

For the last day of my holiday I stopped off on my way home from Dartmoor in the town of Cheddar to visit the spectacular Cheddar Gorge and up the Mendip hills, and I had brilliant weather for the last day of my holiday (almost too good, it was very hot). I started by climbing onto the southern cliffs of the gorge on an unrelenting climb all the way up to the top of the hill but rewarded me with stunning views of the gorge far below. The sheer cliff faces were quite scary in their steepness and my slight vertigo manifested itself in a reluctance and general unease as I ventured near the edge. Nevertheless I got as close as possible to get the photos I wanted but I was frustrated by a sharp bend in the gorge that obscured my views of the eastern half of the gorge. 

Completing the climb to the top of the hill failed to deliver views of the rest of the gorge as once I was over the top I plunged into woodland, which although lovely didn't me any views. Descending steeply through the bluebell laden woods I eventually emerged at the road, which I crossed and entered the Black Rock woods. A walk along the bottom of this valley rewarded me with a really pleasant walk in wonderful weather through peaceful surroundings to the quaintly named Velvet Bottom. There, I began to ascend past a series of small dams that were a puzzle until I arrived at what was clearly the remains of a mine, later revealed to be a Victorian lead mine, and the dams were the remains of settling ponds. The uneven ground of the mine and the black stone slag from the mining merely adding to the awesome atmosphere and it was with regret that I eventually emerged out of the mine and onto a road. With the more picturesque part of the walk over I walked along the road towards two radio masts and beyond onto an area of open ground, mainly heather and gorse that contains the highest ground in the Mendip Hills. Climbing up the hill, I reached the trig point at Beacon Batch, but even though this is the highest point, the ground is quite flat so the views were none existent with just heathland as far as the horizon, and that was not far away. It seemed a rather desolate and barren area even though it was actually quite small. 

Continuing onward I decided I didn’t want to do my original plan which was to descend onto the Somerset Levels and walk all the way to Yatton railway station along a disused railway line, the Strawberry Line. After my disappointing walk beside Cheddar Gorge and in view of the brilliant weather I had in mind to double back on myself and return to Cheddar Gorge, so with this mind I continued along the top of Back Down and entered the woodland, Rowberrow Warren. There I followed a very pleasing woodland walk along forest tracks slowly descending to the picturesque Rowberrow Bottom where I had my lunch. It was wonderful and peaceful sitting at the bottom of the valley with a stream trickling by and the sun shining brightly overhead through the trees. Soon I resumed my walk climbing beside the stream on the bridlepath of the West Mendip Way, eventually emerging from the wood and passing through Tyning’s Farm onto a road. A short walk along the road and across a couple of fields brought me to the top of a narrow valley that contains Long Wood. Descending to the valley bottom was a delight both visually and nasally as the wood was covered by white and blue flowers and smelt of wild garlic. This was an enchanting place that I would have loved to have lingered in but sadly my path merely skirted the edge and I had other places to go. 

At the bottom of the valley I left the colourful display behind and re-entered Velvet Bottom returning to Black Rock on the road at the top of Cheddar Gorge. This time I climbed steeply up the northern slopes on a better managed path (this side is owned by the National Trust) to vantage points that afforded me with amazing views of the stunning gorge. After prolonged views of the gorge I climbed down the manufactured steps to the valley bottom right beside the tourist shops. The blatant commercialisation of this natural beauty spot made me sick so I despondently walked along the road into the gorge and away from the shops. The views from the bottom were possibly better than they were from the top with enormous cliffs towering overhead but it was rather ruined by the road that threads along the bottom of the gorge. Nothing could have more ruined this natural masterpiece than a road and it makes one despair. Returning through the commercialisation I came back to Cheddar and caught a bus to Weston in order to begin my journey home. Cheddar Gorge is an awesome sight sadly partly ruined by materialism.

A Dartmoor Traverse, part two

Monday 5th May 2008

This was the second half of my epic hike across the length of Dartmoor from the northern tip in Oakhampton to the southern tip in Ivybridge. I had never walked in the southern half of Dartmoor before so this was a bit of a voyage of discovery, and I must admit I was not impressed. I started the walk by hiking through the woodland south of Bellever until I reached stepping stones over the East Dart River. The weather at this point was wonderful, sunny and warm, but unfortunately it wasn't to last. Climbing away from the river I passed through the hamlet of Babeny and up a road to Yar Tor which was beside the road. From there I descended steeply down the hillside to the tourist spot of Dartmeet. Personally I couldn't see the attraction of the place, besides the fact that it is the point where the East and West Dart Rivers meet, but it's only a bridge over the river!

Once over the bridge I crossed the West Dart River by another set of stepping stones and started to climb up onto the high moorland. On the way I passed Combestone Tor which featured a large collection of rocks that were great fun to climb and also a bit of a challenge, but unfortunately they were to be my last bit of excitement on this walk. From there I ventured out onto the moorland on a clear path past ancient settlements, which show that people once actually lived out here. Eventually the path disappeared and I had to use my GPS to locate the top of Rider’s Hill as the landscape was bleak and deserted with no visible landmarks, not even Tors. There may once have been people living here but no one would want to now, and certainly not me as this is not my sort of place at all. From there I accelerated my pace as I had a train to catch in Ivybridge so I quickly passed over Snowdon (it’s changed a bit since I was last there!) and Pupers Hill before descending to an eerily deserted valley, the head of the River Avon, miles from civilization.

Even the birds which can usually be heard on moorland were silent here as I hurriedly made my way beside the stream, over a bridge and climbed once more onto the moorland. Rushing past the top of ‘Petre’s Cross on Western White Barrow’ (as marked on the map) I noticed my objective: a deserted tramway. This wide track would take me almost all the way to Ivybridge with no steep gradients to negotiate and an easy surface to walk on, so I set my GPS to tell me how long it would take me to get to Ivybridge at my current speed and paced myself to ensure my e.t.a. stayed around the 15.00 mark, stopping for my lunch or for anything else only if I had built up enough time. This way I was able to get to the station with ten minutes to spare for the train at 15.26. Unfortunately it did mean I was unable to explore the landscape on the way and I didn't visit any Tors that may have been around. I have rather a negative memory of that mad rush on the second half of the day and the landscape may have benefited more from a relaxed walk across it, which is a pity. The weather had turned grey and overcast so I had no enticement to linger and, besides, generally the landscape seemed just too bleak and flat for a mountain lover like me. From Ivybridge I travelled to Cheddar in preparation for another day's walk on this holiday.

A Dartmoor Traverse, part one

Sunday 4th May 2008

After the cold, wet weather we have had for the last couple of months it was a relief for spring to finally arrive with this wonderful day's walk from Oakhampton to Bellever. Dartmoor is an eerily atmospheric place with rocks on top of the many hills that are dotted around the moorland, which add a spooky air to the surroundings, but it can be a very inhospitable place especially in bad weather such as I had last year when I was there. I had been looking forward to seeing the moor in better weather, and fortunately I got my wish, but the weather wasn't great to start and I was feeling rather gloomy about my prospects as I passed Oakhampton camp and climbed up onto the moor. Soon I reached my first hill or tor of the day: West Mill Tor and after a scramble to the top and back down again I crossed over to the highest points in Dartmoor: Yes Tor and High Willhays. I went up these two hills last year, but it was almost obligatory for me to include them again on this traverse. There seems to be some difference of opinion on which of these is the actual highest point, as I have heard some say one and some the other. As they are right next to each other with very little drop between I don’t think it makes much of a difference, but Yes Tor is the more prominent as it stands on the edge of the escarpment, clearly visible for miles around.

From there I ventured off-path across rough, tussocky ground that was basically dead grass that hadn’t started growing again since the winter. Last year I came to the conclusion that the best thing to do in this part of Dartmoor was to stick to the Army tracks and other paths along the ridge tops as much as possible (and I had a great walk doing this despite terrible weather), but here I was not doing that and I paid the consequences. Eventually, I managed to reach Okement Hill where I met a track and the hard work, for now, was over as I followed the track over the infant River Taw and onto Hangingstone Hill, where the path abandoned me and I had to fend for myself, bog-hopping over to Whitehorse Hill. Looking at the map it would appear that there is a path to the east that by-passes the bogs, but of course I never took it, I just went straight across. The ground improved once I passed the top of Whitehorse Hill and this took me across to Quintin's Man, a cairn, where I had lunch in a shelter. This marks the edge of Okehampton Range, the Army training ground that I had been walking in since passing the Okehampton camp. Fortunately the Army wasn’t using the range this month so I had free access, but the other two (smaller) ranges were restricted (but were actually open on the day I was walking because it was a Sunday).

With now excellent weather I crossed the young North Teign River and climbed up to Sittaford Tor, which provided the name for Agatha Christie's “The Sittaford Mystery”. For this reason, and for a long time, I have wanted to go up there, even though it is really just a hill. My original plan had been to go from Sittaford Tor down to the East Dart River and walk along the eastern bank all the way to Bellever, however, since it was only lunch time I had plenty of time left to enjoy myself further in the lovely weather. So I descended gradually down Sittaford Tor’s southern ridge to the East Dart River and crossing the river I climbed up over Broad Down and walked alongside a wall until eventually I reached Lower White Tor. There was a family of Dartmoor Ponies on this hill that didn’t seem too bothered by my appearance though I seem to have rather startled the stallion at first for he neighed loudly when he first saw me, though soon he calmed down enough for me to take a picture of his family. I hadn’t actually been taking many pictures during the day, possibly for two reasons: firstly the distant views were rather hazy which obscured anything near the horizon, and secondly because I was simply finding the moorland views rather dull. The landscape was never-ending and it didn’t vary much whatever direction I was looking and so didn’t seem to me worthy of a picture.

Subsequently I crossed over to Higher White Tor, which proved to be a popular place, perhaps due to the proximity of a road. Not far from there was the enormous Longford Tor which provided me with great scrambling opportunities so I was really disappointed to soon leave even though it was rather popular. I really noticed the large number of people on the moor that day as it was in sharp contrast to the almost empty moors that I had to myself last year when the weather was much worse; it’s amazing what a little sun will do. From there I followed a bridlepath down to a disused mine, complete with chimney, and across to a road. Crossing the road I entered a wood and followed the paths to Bellever Tor on the other side. This was my final tor of the day and provided me with more scrambling work and made me long for more of the same, but I doubted the southern half of Dartmoor would have such grand rocks. Last year I didn't go far south but now I had gone much further and I went even further the next day, all the way to Ivybridge.

Glastonbury Tor

Saturday 3rd May 2008

It’s been a while since I have posted anything on this blog so to prevent myself getting out of the habit I’ll quickly start recounting my holiday from over the May Day weekend: I was away for a long weekend in Dartmoor but on the way I stopped off in Glastonbury for a visit, mainly because I’ve never been, but also because it gave me something to do on the way. Because of the enormously high cost of petrol I used public transport all day which frankly is probably not cheaper than driving and it's certainly not quicker. After changing at Birmingham and Bristol I caught a train to Bridgewater where I caught a bus that took forever to get to Glastonbury taking what seemed to be a chaotic route going all over the place until eventually I reached the legendary town after midday.

The first place I visited was the abbey, and I’ve got to say I was very disappointed. It's just a ruin, which I did know before I came, but there's hardly anything left, so there was hardly anything worth seeing. I had a look around, wandered around the grounds and took a few photographs, but I didn't stay more than an hour. My next destination was my real reason for going to Glastonbury and of course it's a hill: Glastonbury Tor. Although it's only 158m high it has really steep sides and commands great views across the Somerset Levels plus at the top is St Michael’s Tower, which must be one of the iconic pictures of the West Country. I recently saw a book about the places in England you have to visit and the Tor was actually on the cover and since seeing that I was determined to go. It may not be a high hill but as an icon of the English landscape it's enormous.

I next visited the chalice well which sparks thoughts of the Holy Grail, but in fact it is simply an entrancing garden with a stunning series of water features that emanate from a holy well. The place was billed as a spot for quiet contemplation and it certainly was restful, but my main reason for visiting was for the view of the tor opposite! After strolling around the garden a couple of times I returned to the town centre and caught a bus to Taunton, which took an almost straight course to the railway station. From Taunton I caught a train to Exeter and then another bus to Oakhampton on the northern tip of Dartmoor. I was now set for an epic traverse from north to south of one of the wildest and most inhospitable places in England.