Blog/Updates

D49 – Okehampton to Launceston

Actual distance 39.64Km or 24.63miles (or 243.2 lengths of Meldon Viaduct)

Total Ascent 647.87m (or 14.1 abseils off Meldon Viaduct)

What a busy day!

We started out and headed directly up to the station in Okehampton (a very, very steep hill) to meet up with Linda and some of the 1st Okehampton group who joined us along the Granite Way. The Granite Way was a lovely easy ride which took us over two viaducts through picturesque countryside. The Leaders and younger members from 1st Okehampton left us after a few kilometres to head back home, but Zeak (one of the Scouts) happily joined us all the way to the end of the Granite Way then turned around to go back home!

At the end of the Granite Way we met up with a Scouting family from 47th Coventry who are here on holiday. They had hoped to join us when we were in the Midlands, but sadly the dates didn’t work. It was lovely to welcome the Ots today instead! We headed off and instantly hit a fairly steep down, followed by some fairly massive climbs which was quite an introduction to our adventure!

The kids liked the idea of a little off road cycling, so we chose to turn on to a path leading through farm land (still on the national cycle route!). Unfortunately this may not have been the best of plans as we rapidly found some serious off-road with some very technical riding (especially for Phil on his slick tyres). Hattie came a cropper and fell into a stoney puddle causing some grazes and very wet, muddy clothes. Impressively she got up and kept on going despite this!

We continued onwards up another couple of hills until we found a bench where we stopped for lunch. We continued, with the promise to stop in the next pub for a drink and a rest! Following a fairly fun descent we stopped in the Lifton Hall Hotel. We were then fortified enough to push for Cornwall, our final county of the JOGLE!

As we approached Launceston we realised our planned finishing point and the point where our support car had be dropped were in slightly different locations, each on opposite sides of a very large hill! As we were running out of time to make it the car at Tescos (where there was a 3 hour free parking window), Phil was dispatched up the road (it was definitely very up) to try and make it in time whilst the rest of the group continued to the planned finish point.

Day successfully completed, we had ice lollies courtesy of the Ots then we said our goodbyes and headed back to Okehampton to collect the vehicles before driving to Dartmoor’s Edge campsite where Immy and Adam invited us in for a delicious meal, warmth and internet to write our blog!

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Day 48 – Westpoint Arena, Exeter to Okehampton

Actual distance 50.26km or 31.23miles (or 1,005.2 lengths of an Olympic swimming pool (as we were that wet!))

Total Ascent 679m (or the height of 1,697.5 ducks (it was nice weather for them today!))

It was tough today.. really tough.

We started bright and early in traditional Devon ScoutEx style with ‘Wakey Shakey’ to get us going- after Ollie, Bethan and Jennie had done some dancercise to some classic cheesy music we headed for breakfast courtesy of Taff and the Ice House team (pancakes and for the GF pair mushroom omelettes!)

Our plan for an early get away was slightly scuppered by us moving the vehicles to Okehampton fist thing in order save time later. The drive to Okehampton was fine but the on returning we got stuck at a roundabout 2km from Westpoint for 30mins! Once we finally got back we realised it was lunch time and wouldn’t get very far without feeding the younger team and so we went back to see Taff again! Once full there was a quick round of goodbyes and off we headed under dark skies for Okehampton.

However, we didn’t get too far before we had to stop as we found the security gate to exit the Westpoint Arena didn’t recognise bikes- even 5 of them together, so we were trapped! Ollie managed to squeeze through a little gap in the gate to call one of the businesses on the site who kindly opened the gate and we were off. We flew into Exeter via some lovely cycle paths. After about 10km we stopped to say hello to Kate and family, one of Jennies old Uni friends. Following a warm welcome we had soup, drinks, crisps and sweets to fortify us for the next leg. We even managed to avoid a very heavy shower leaving us feeling smug, but did head off again under very, very grey skies.

On we went, with the gradient going up, and up and then up a little more which was quite an assault on tired legs! Then the showers started. Linda, from the 1st Okehampton had warned us that it was a wet area but we were hoping that the rain gods were going to remain on our side.

On and on we went, getting wetter and wetter. A quick pub stop helped with fuel but we were all struggling, particularly with a cold wind that made us feel cold to the core. With about 16km left of the day we called in the cavalry and Hattie finished the day in the support car. The rest of us continued, but so did the rain. We got as wet as it is possible to get, but we made it to Okehampton by19:00 to be greeted by our support team (Elaine and Phil) and Hattie in a warm, dry HQ with food ready prepared!

We all had a quick shower to warm up (one of Phil’s highlights of the trip as he was so wet and cold!) and then tucked in to fajitas followed by home made Rocky Road or Bara Brieth- just what was needed after a tough, wet day!

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Day 47- Halberton to ScoutEx- Westpoint Arena

Actual distance 32.28Km or 20.0 miles (or 1,176.8 laps of the caving complex at ScoutEx)

Total Ascent 312m (or 31.2 climbs up the climbing wall at ScoutEx)

Staying with the Devon County Scout team at ScoutEx in Westpoint Arena

What at day! We had an early start keen to get to ScoutEx- The Devon County Camp just east of Exeter in good time to relax and enjoy the fun. Jen and Phil headed off first thing to drop off the vehicles and were back to start by 10am which was phenomenal.

We jumped on the bikes and knowing we only had a 30km ride to complete (we have got to the point where the kids don’t worry at anything less than 60km on a bike!) we hoped to be done by lunch time. Whilst this was entirely possible we thought it might be a little optimistic. However, we quickly got into our groove and started moving. We had a few moderate climbs to start but dealt with them easily enough, and managed to keep going for a good 10km without pausing for a drink- unheard of for us!

By 11am we had managed 17km and were absolutely flying along despite some relatively busy roads. With 10km left Phil needed to stop for a call of nature and remarkably there was a portaloo 2 minutes down the road which Steve was happy for him to use- it was obviously a day with everything going our way!

We made it to our ScoutEx in under 2 hours which was a real boost for us all and was a real demonstration that we have got fitter and faster during the past few weeks (hopefully this will continue for the final days!)

Almost as soon as we arrived at Westpoint Arena we met Steve Donahue, Devon County Commissioner, who made up feel really welcome, showed us around the ScoutEx site and arranged for us to participate in the activities. A fun-packed afternoon followed with climbing, caving, a Harry Potter escape room, inflatables and archery!

We met Taff and the Ice House team who are a catering dream, supplying brilliant food including a wild stew from the ‘fruits’ of the survival base- pigeon, rabbit and venison (there were also pizzas)!

We listened to an amazing talk by Jamie Gane who was both funny and inspirational and again embodied core values of self motivation, determination and never giving up- all things we are finding on our adventure.

As if things couldn’t get better Ollie became a Scout during the evening disco! He was invested by Steve on the stage in front of the camp (totally apt for Ollie) and has been made an honorary Devon Scout!! He did correct the County Commissioner on the monarch in the promise- again typical Ollie!!!

Truly fantastic day!

The team caving!

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D46 – Taunton to Halberton (Tiverton)

Actual distance 36.26Km or 23.2miles (or the equivalent of 250,069 pairs of men’s sunglasses)

Total Ascent 330.93m (or the height of 6.2 Wellington’s Obelisk’s)

Staying with Halberton Scout Group

We were up early keen to get off to avoid some of the heat. It was a well practiced display of packing, tidying and cleaning and we were off on time arriving at yesterday’s finish point around 10.

We followed the rainbow road out of Taunton (“It’s just like Mario Kart” said Ollie!) and hit some hills almost immediately slowing our progress slightly. However, our trip has definitely made us stronger than we realised, so despite the gradients we ploughed up them fairly quickly.

We stopped for leisurely drinks (and ice creams with ‘edible’ flowers on top- Ollie tried them all but the big yellow one wasn’t too good!) and refilled our water bottles at the White Post Cafe in Langford Budville then headed to a convenient park for our picnic lunch. Olly- always a mind of information, pointed out Wellington’s Monument- still the tallest 3-sided obelisk in the world!

Full and keen to finish so we could get out of the heat we were back on the road tackling one of the bigger hills of the day (which was a surprisingly busy stretch of single track road!)

Hill done we joined up with the canal for the final 10km along a nicely maintained gravel track (with only one detour for a toilet which kindly resulted in a donation!). Olly dropped his sunglasses as we flew along the track and they nearly fell in the water!

We reached the endpoint for today within 10 minutes of our eta (a first- previously we have been very early or over 2hours past our estimate!). Julie, Tiverton DC, let us in to the Scout HQ in Halberton and showed us around their lovely building, making us feel very welcome. She had left the County RBG camp to let us in (and have a sneaky shower) before heading back to ScoutEx camp where we will be joining her after our cycle tomorrow!

Sadly we had to say goodbye to yesterdays guest blog writer Olly and his son Ethan from our Scout troop who had come up to join us for a few days. They covered a distance of over 100km with us which is no mean feat! We waved them off along with James, who has to go back to do some essential face to face administration in order for him to be able to start his new job. He’ll be back by the weekend!

We rounded the day off with a campfire and toasting marshmallows before sprucing up ready for ScoutEx tomorrow in Exeter!

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D45 – Bridgwater to Taunton
Actual distance 19.88Km or 12.35miles (or the length of 8,147.5 8ft fishing rods)

Total Ascent 95m (or the height of 60.5 Deborah Meaden’s)

Written by guest writer Olly Mackley..

0810 and I am 10 minutes late for starting breakfast! This was day 2 for Ethan and I (Seawolf / Olly), and I couldn’t believe I had fallen back asleep, after waking at 6.15ish!

Phil, Jennie and James were already up and getting things organised for the day.  I got the bacon and scrambled eggs on (plus beans for GF’s), along with the coffee. Did a bit of washing up and cleaning, and got ready to go, whilst Phil and Jennie made sandwiches for lunch. As you can imagine the kids, after 44 days of non-stop exercising, take a bit of steam to get going. 

We got in the car about 10 to drive back to the Boat and Anchor pub which was the end of the day before and the start of today. We had a lovely drink in there yesterday at the end of our bike ride, whilst we waited for the support crew to pick us up. 

It occurred to me though, that under no illusion, this is not a holiday. At every single waking hour there is something to do – making lunch, walking here, cycling there, washing this and cooking that, planning this and writing blogs. From 7am to gone 11pm, they are on the go. And at the end of the day trying to write a blog post/social media (which uses considerable brain power / energy, which is a ‘thing’) after a long day of exercising, logistic planning, driving, cooking, washing etc it’s draining. This is no mean feat, especially when you consider it will be nearly 60 days and 1100 miles, when they finish. 

Meeting us at the Boat and Anchor was Lynne and Imogen (a Scout from the 1^st Chandlers Ford, and her mum). We started our journey on the canal path towards Taunton (the Taunton to Bridgewater canal). As you’ve probably read that the team have had a mix of success with Canal paths, but this one, for 12 miles, was the best. 10 out of 10! No problems whatsoever – gravel path all the way. 

For some reason, which I never understood, there were stone statues of each of the planets (equi-distant) but scaled down, including the Sun, along the canal path. Many discussions around why Uranus was so important in the Solar system, and how ‘My Very Educated Monkey Just Served Unicorn Noodles’ is a great way of remembering the order of the planets (we love a good acronym)!

The canal water was clean and at lunch I got a reprieve from the heat and stuck my hot feet into the cool water! Bliss! We mused at the thought of the little fishies giving me a bit of a spa treatment, but no such luck. We carried on towards Taunton, but by this time the heat had turned up a notch. 

We took a quick detour into the Creech St Michael Baptist Church, where they gave us free coffee, tea, cold drinks, flapjack and Hot Cross Buns (which was lovely). We chatted with three of the parishioners who had opened the café today to help weary travellers, one of whom who had lived in Southampton not long ago! We even had a few rounds of Dobble, with Bethan and Hattie winning the last 3 hands, after Phil had been victorious in the first!

Back on the canal path, getting ever closer to Taunton, we wandered under the M5 and back into sillyivisation (thanks Imogen). There were a few notable pieces of Graffiti along the way, a couple of which caught my eye. 

We finally stopped at the Morrisons, around 4.30pm after walking past the Somerset Cricket Ground and the junction of the River Tone and the canal. Elaine and Phil met us with the cars, and supplies in hand, we zipped back to the same campsite, and had a tea of sausage, chips and beans! 

Like I said, this is no easy feat, and I am in awe of Jennie, Phil, Hattie, Ollie, Bethan, James and Cara.

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Day 44 – Wells to Bridgwater

Actual distance 42.21km or 26.23miles (or the length of 196,325.6 Bridgwater bricks)

Total Ascent 294m (or the height of 98 maize plants)

Staying at Huish Woods, Blackdown District Scout Campsite

It is always a treat to stay at the place we end one day/ start the next. Not needing to drive means we are able to head off that little bit earlier. Phil quickly popped to Bike City before we started today to grab a part that had fallen off Ollie’s bike, then we headed off on our bikes on the National Cycle Route 3. The path was really easy riding – initially along designated pavement alongside the main road, then along a disused railway line before turning onto country lanes leading to Glastonbury.

There was a definite favourite road of the day. Just before Glastonbury there was a 3km completely straight and flat lane leading through Queen’s Sedge Moor. On either side was very small water filled trenches with swans swimming in them! We were able to make really quick progress with very little effort which was fantastic.

We circumnavigated Glastonbury (stopping at a local shop to find a toilet), then turned into Ham Wall Nature Reserve which is a peaceful and well set out RSPB centre. We stopped at their visitor centre for lunch and ice creams (and a stretch!) before heading back on the road.

The route took us through country lanes, then through a series of little villages before turning down yet another disused railway line, where we almost instantly found a playground so had to stop for a play. Whilst there James got a call to say he has got the job he was interview for which is excellent news!

We continued on, turning into a village called Bawdrip (that Phil misheard as ‘Baldrick’!), then on to a path alongside King’s Sedgemoor Drain which is a tributary of the River Parrett. With only 5km left we headed off along roads again, and were surprised when the route took us off the road and down a farm drive, then over a tiny very, very overgrown footbridge.

Jennie braved the bridge first and got rather tangled in rose thorns, brambles and nettles, but cleared the way enough for the rest of the bikes to get through. We then cycled across a field with lots of dried mud to a tiny gap in another bramble and nettle filled hedge with a plank of wood denoting the pathway over a ditch. Again we squeezed through, all getting stung or scratched on the way, and found ourselves in a field of corn. There was no clear footpath around the side of the field (as shown on the map), and we found it easier and far less damaging to the maize to walk between 2 lines of crop rather than to try an walk along the edge of the field. At the end of the field was another tiny bridge, then a short grassy path, followed by a footbridge over the M5. The motorway bridge was another challenge and was missing a platform at the bottom to allow you to reach the bottom step from the path! Having carried the bikes up and over the motorway, we finally found a ‘normal’ path again! It was certainly a challenging half a kilometre (bridge to bridge), that had taken nearly an hour to negotiate!

Our last few kilometres were incredibly easy in comparison, and we were able to complete our journey for the day really quickly. We stopped at the Boat and Anchor Pub on the canal for a well earned drink and to meet up with our support team, before heading in the car back to Wells to collect our other vehicles. Once back at the 5th/ 7th Wells HQ the kids went in to use to the toilet before we jumped back in the car to drive to Huish Woods, our home for the next 2 nights. We locked up to leave, only to find Ollie was still in the toilet. We locked up again, and headed to the car, then got a call from Bethan to say she was locked in the building and couldn’t get out either!!

We arrived at Huish Woods early evening, chatted to the lovely team here and had a quick wander around the site (with Ollie trying the bouldering wall and assault course of course!), before sitting down to eat a lovely curry for tea made by Elaine (thank you!) in the Govett Hall – a brilliant facility with a kitchen, bunk rooms and a large hall. The kids were very excited to see a large TV on the wall in the hall and watched an episode of Ghosts before settling down for the night.

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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!

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Day 42- Bath to Midsomer Norton

Actual distance 17.97km or 11.16miles (or the length of 9215.4 of the 3 man tents we have been using during this trip)

Total Ascent 297m (or the height of 742.5 red foxes)

Staying with 1st Midsomer Norton Scout Group

Following the luxury of sleeping in an actual bed for the night, we were treated to an amazing breakfast cooked by Jonny, making us all feel totally spoilt. We left the Gibbons to continue preparing for the village fete, finishing off cake decorating and importantly finalising how each entry was to be displayed. We hope you did really well girls!

Having said a sad goodbye we headed back to Dundas Aquaduct in Monkton Combe to meet up with The Wiskin family who were joining us for the day. We set out and circumnavigated the car park before finding the correct path to take. We ambled along in the warm August weather following route 24 which mainly ran along another disused railway line. We passed some spectacular houses as we chatted and walked.

Just as we entered Wellow it started to rain very lightly, so we headed into the Fox and Badger in Wellow for a drink and lunch. Whilst we were sitting in the pub garden the kids suddenly started giggling and pointed. We turned around and watched a man climbing out of a skylight onto the roof. He happily waved, fixed a tile on the roof, then rather awkwardly half climbed, half fell back through the window again!

We continued on, making our goal of Midsomer Norton with enough time for the younger ones to find another playground. As we approached tonight’s base we found our next support crew- Jennies Mum and Dad, Elaine and Phil just outside. We then had the lovely surprise of finding our last support crew, Emma and Niall had unloaded our wet washing and wet tents before they left and hung them up to dry from the horrendous soaking they received in Tetbury when we were packing them away!

Home cooked bolognaise was served, along with a homemade delayed joint-Birthday cake for Hattie and Ollie, and some delayed birthday presents from the family!

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