A maize maze with Maisie

Saturday 31st August ’24. DH, RW, TO, JB, Scrumpy & Maisie

As summer 24 draws to a close and with just four of the group available today, I opted to go to one of our lesser used cafes where we have to sit outside as unfortunately dogs are not allowed inside at any time of year. So it was that we met in a tight busy parking area outside of the church at the East Pennard for only our second time. Last time we ventured westward through the Avalon orchards and vineyards but today we headed east to take a loop onto the ridge-line by the Fosse Way and into the small village of Pylle.

Parking was a little tight this week around the junction but with only four of us walking this week in just the two cars we both managed to squeeze ourselves in OK. Once booted up we headed out on the road southwards and down a short slope to pass over a small brook. Looking up to the left a quaint little bridge crossed the gulley whilst below a small waterwheel was turning well. We climbed a slight gradient towards another of Somersets small independent cheese makers, Batch Farms. Not one I can ever remember trying myself but the online reviews sound good. Just past the farm entrance a large building on the right caught our attention as it looked, with a bell high up on the front wall, that it might have been the village school at some point. On searching the www back home, I discovered it was indeed an old school and school house which has been recently renovated and put onto the rental market as two separate semi detached properties.

Our route directly opposite the school house took us over the first of what would be many awkward stiles this week, as it was a bit loose and on an uphill slope. Once over we headed gently uphill and took the first of many opportunities today to take in the views of the surrounding countryside. Unfortunately there was a lot of low cloud and haze which limited the visibility and picking out landmarks was a bit challenging, but no doubt on a good crisp morning the views are spectacular. We passed a small outbuilding with a few rusty sheep pen fences and moved along the ridge on an unkempt gravel track which had been long ago consumed by the gassy field.

At the next style we crossed over to be faced with our worst nightmare at this time of year, a field full of over head heigh maize stretching as far as you could see. Even more unfortunately our intended path was straight across the field and with absolutely no sign of anyone having beaten a path through before us, our only option was to walk anti clockwise right around the perimeter of the field. To get onto even ground we followed the line of planting and stepped in a couple of rows. Thankfully it hard not been raining recently or else we would have got exceedingly wet brushing through the 7 to 8 foot high plants. We passed alongside the busy A37, a still used part of the Fosse Way and around to the opposite side of the field where we found the gate into our next field of maize. This time we opted for a clockwise route which was considerably shorter than the first field. Thankfully the two dogs stayed pretty close to us and we all made it through unscathed. A short stretch through a basic plain field, with a non too friendly sign on the gate, and we were out onto a minor road in the small hamlet of Little Pennard.

We turned right into a farm track and as we turned the corner of the farm yard we’re met with a large quantity of parked up vehicles. Not just any one farmyard rust buckets but a selection of Range Rovers and oddly for farmers a couple of Aston Martins. Who says there’s no money in farming! We found the track eventually and headed uphill away form the farm, then turned left at the top to follow the hedging through to a second field which then led us downhill towards a large open gateway at the corner of a wooded area. Although the visibility was still not amazing, the view as we stood at the gateway over to the north of the county has to be one of the very best we have come across in over five years of walking. It was too good an opportunity to kiss so we grabbed this weeks groupie before moving on. The field below us had the most unusual name of ‘Jack and Joan’s Bower’, which our English correspondent informed us was an old English term for a dwelling, shelter or chamber or also an attractive dwelling or retreat. Maybe there was a cottage somewhere on the land, although with the steepness of the hill as we descended through at least six of the ten metre contours on the map, if there was one, it would have had to have been at the bottom of the slope.

At the bottom we passed through a couple of more fields, and actually met two ladies out for their morning dog walk, before, with the village church in view, we came to the outskirts of the village of Pylle. A couple of new houses had been built by the road side, one of which appeared to be on the public right of way, and although there was a gate into their garden, we opted to climb a gate to one side just in case we were wrong. We walked down into the village, passed a few tidy looking properties before taking a sharp left turn up a driveway towards the Old Rectory. Clearly they didn’t want any visitors as a large set of iron gate stood across the drive. Our footpath went down a narrow path to their right which took us by the large tennis court before coming out into open ground where we could see a beautiful Georgian style property stood in manicured grounds with a small lake and associated seating areas at the bottom of the plot, making the most of the fully sunny position.

We stood and admired for a while before we started the climb back up onto the ridgeline above. There was a small gate in the deer fencing but we went through a large gap in it as we made the ascent in steady stages. It wasn’t quite obvious where the footpath went as a new fenced area appeared to have been erected, so we climbed through the hedge and jumped a ditch on the far side, to enter a large field where the crop had recently been harvested. My planned route would have taken us along the ridge-line and beside an orchard but with time getting tight we crossed the field and then over another dodgy stile into the edge of a large cider apple orchard.

We skirted around the edge of the trees and exited onto the road leading back to cars. More tasty properties stood on the roadside, including a 18th century former school house, now a grade II listed dwelling. We arrived back at East Pennard after exactly 2 hours of walking, although with the corn field diversions and the many stops to admire the scenery we had only walked three and a quarter miles today. A short drive up the A37 took us to the Den at Jon Thorners where we managed to get a table out in the sunshine to enjoy another good breakfast, and of course grab a tasty Steak and Stilton pie from the shop.