Day 43 – Midsomer Norton to Wells
Actual distance 20.3Km or 12.61 miles (or 31.2 times around the moat of the Bishops Palace in Wells)
Total Ascent 329m (or the height of 6.7 Wells Cathedrals)
Staying with the 5th/ 7th Wells Scout Group
We were up and ready surprisingly early today and ready to leave by about 9am which is a first! We were walking today and set off on our first day entirely off any national routes. We walked through Midsomer Norton and reached the Silver Street Local Nature Reserve that was clearly filled with potential footpaths that were not plotted on the OS Map. As we were debating what to do Pete appeared. Pete lives locally and was headed through the woods in the same direction as us. Jennie asked advice about our route, and he kindly led us through the nature reserve and a subsequent field to the next village! Thank you Pete for being our guide for a little bit of today!
We continued through the village (via Co-op for milk for Ollie, and a local garage for a toilet stop) to a footpath through the fields. We wished we’d just stuck to the main road! As we entered the field we clocked a herd of about 20 cows on the far side near where the exit stile was located. As we made our way up the side of the field the cows neared at a reasonable pace. As they approached it became clear they were bulls not cows, and their pace towards us was quickening! They then essentially chased us up the field away from the stile until they became bored of us and went back to eating grass. We braved heading back down the other side of the field to the stile, but by the time we got near the bulls were marching towards us again, and just as we were all safely over they made it abundantly clear they either wanted to join us or were guarding the gate to ensure we didn’t come back!!!
The following field was cattle free, but very overgrown, with ‘private, no entry’ on the gate adjacent to the next stile and ‘public footpath’ sign. We conclude the farmer doesn’t like walkers and was clearly trying to keep them out with crazy bulls and warning signs!
Sadly racing the bulls not only resulted in James twisting his ankle, but also causing Cara’s knee to give way again. We therefore had to leave them at this point for our support team to collect them, and guttingly for us all (but especially for Cara) Cara has decided not to rejoin us again. She has shown amazing determination and we will miss her massively.
We continued on, down, then back up a muddy valley, then along the road to Binegar where we stopped at The Horse and Jockey Inn for a drink and to eat lunch. We even timed it so we managed to watch the end of the football.
Feeling refreshed we headed back off along a few quiet roads, through a very muddy wood, across another field filled with incredibly long grass (that made the kids recite ‘We’re Going on a Bear Hunt’!), and back onto the road. As we progressed along the road the view was spectacular and we were able to see Glastonbury Tor sitting in the centre of beautiful countryside stretching for miles and miles.
We continued through East Horrington (where Bethan found an escapee chicken) and on to South Horrington where we had arranged to meet members of the 5th/7th Wells Scout Group so they could join us as we walked into Wells. We arrived at our arranged meeting point (the Wells Cricket Club) with lots of time to spare. Phil, Hattie and Ollie headed off in search of a toilet and went to the care home next to the Cricket Club to ask if they could use their facilities. They were let in and directed to the toilets, but when they came to leave found the door was locked with a key code lock and no means of calling for assistance! They found a telephone and tried to call Jennie, but her phone was out of battery, so they headed back to the door in the hope someone would appear! 10 minutes later a family arrived to visit a relative, and they jumped at the open door to escape!!
Over the next hour Leaders, and Young People from 5th/ 7th Wells arrived to join us for the last stretch of our walk. It was really lovely to have local guides leading us through the city, providing us with fantastic insights about the various local buildings. We managed a stop at a playground, a quick look at the Bishops Place and a look at Wells Cathedral (with its unusual statue replacement by Anthony Gormley). We then headed back to their HQ for drinks and cake (all gluten free – thank you!). It was a really brilliant way to end our walk.
This evening we have said goodbye to Cara who has headed back home so she can rest her knee. We have also welcomed Olly (Seawolf) who is one of our Scout Leaders, and his son Ethan who are joining us for the next few days on our adventure. Dinner this evening was a very delicious sausage cassoulet courtesy of Olly – thank you!
