Saturday 15 July. DH, RW, TO, PCL, DL, JB, DC & Albus
With the forecast again not being in our favour, I opted this week to venture a bit further afield and try out a new cafe option at the East Somerset Railway at Cranmore. The timetable of pickups was published in advance with early starts around, but as the Wincanton bunch drove through Castle Cary/Ansford we were a bit surprised to see a passenger waiting at his pick up platform. Had his lift gone through early and he had missed it, or what it simple running behind schedule? A quick stop (handy to drop of 5 litres of cider) and it was confirmed that for reasons as yet unknown, his lift had not passed through as yet.
We arrived in the station car park a few minutes before 0830 and almost on the dot the Bruton carriage appeared. Never running late at all, British Rail punctuality at its best! Albus was the lone dog this week as Sully is still taking it easy and Scrumpy was still in Border Terrier hotel following her 2 day pampering, reunited with her mum and some siblings. Again there was some debate about the amount of clothing required as the forecast certainly predicted us getting soaked at some point today, so with some waterproof trousers but jackets all round we headed off along the platform to pick up the path at the far end of the yard. Amongst the many items adding to the period look of the station, a pile of vintage luggage, an old push bike and a large phone box were on the platform. Inside the box was an old bacelite GPO handset and on the rear an unusual setup of stamp vending machines, a more familiar sight outside of post offices in our youth, I can’t say I’ve even seen any on a phone box before.
We paused for this weeks selfie in front of a first class dining car, but there were no lollies at this early point afraid. At the end of the platform we dropped onto a service road and having glanced at a pair of DMUs originally heading for Bath Spa and passed by the tidy looking signal box, we took a bit to find the gateway and path hidden behind a lot of hedge and undergrowth. On entering the field we were greeted with a large expanse of head height sweet corn and with no obvious pathway through in the direction we required, we opted to retrace our steps and take the road around to the junction of the A361 where the path would have exited the field.
Carefully crossing the road our next path was on our left and into the Cranmore sports fields. For a small village the ground had a set of tennis courts and a vast expanse and clubhouse on which many a game of village cricket gets played. A gate in the boundary hedgerow took us into our first field of cattle who were quite some distance from us. We kept heading for the field corner and it was initially unclear where we should exit, until we spotted a stone built pedestrian crossing point. The only problem was it was clearly a corner of the fields in which the cows tended to gather and so carefully picking our way through the ankle high muck, we all emerged at the other side with boots needing a good clean in the wet grass. A field full of knee high wheat and a further series of awkward hamstring stretching stiles saw us emerge onto a minor road by a run down looking cottage.
A short stretch up the road and then a right turn heading towards Yondard Broad Pool Farm and across a couple more fields before coming out onto a busier road just below a large industrial area. Walking safely up the verge we crossed the gateway onto Willmott’s transport yard, which is in the process of being enlarged even more with a new warehouse under construction. As we approached a very small chapel with a motorcycle outside the front door, we glanced at the small pretty cottages alongside before glancing up at the inscription carved above the door which told us this was indeed a primitive Methodist chapel dating from 1874. Primitive Methodism was a major movement in English and Welsh Methodism from about 1810 until the Methodist Union in 1932. It emerged from a revival at Mow Cop in Staffordshire. Primitive meant "simple" or "relating to an original stage"; the Primitive Methodists saw themselves as practising a purer form of Christianity, closer to the earliest Methodists. Amen
We crossed the road and onto a green track which forms part of the East Mendip Way, possibly our first time on this long distance path. The Eastern portion is an 19 mile extension of the 30 mile West Mendip Way (which starts at Weston-super-mare) and goes from Wells to Frome. The track started to climb as we headed eastwards and although we were going around the Waterlip quarry, at no point did we see the circular lake that sits in the central crater. In this large field a herd of young cattle took a very keen interest in us all, or most likely Albus, and so with wooden walking stick being waved in their general direction, they eventually say sense and left us to continue the climb. As we rose above the trees the view to the south opened up and it was possible to see Alfred’s Tower poking out above the wood line on the far horizon, although not for too long as we headed for a stile in the tree line ahead of us. The original plan had been to walk as far as the base of Cranmore Tower but having checked the watch I decided it would have to wait for another time and so after a brief pause for this weeks confectionery we turned right down the track and following an old ruined wall picked our way over exposed roots and fallen branches as we dropped height quickly. At the bottoms we turned left and along a slight valley leading to the hamlet of Dean. We passed by the Worleys cider farm, but certainly no time to stop today. However as it is high key recommended by Wincanton’s own Uncle Toms, it’s probably worth getting hold of some at some point.
Crossing the A361 again we passed through a tight kissing gate, or for those a bit smarter - opened the gate next to it which took us into a large field with a great looking lone oak tree on the ridge. Crossing the field and looking back the tower and radio mast we should have walked to today could be clearly seen, as we made our way towards the church tower and back into the village of Cranmore. It was then just a short stroll past the pub and village duck pond before we arrived back in the station car park having completed 4.4 miles, staying completely dry with not a sign of the heavy rain that was forecast. And who should be waiting for us? Non other than Brian who had opted for a day with his wife showing his two grandsons the sights of the steam railway and associated engines and sheds, instead of spending the morning with the walking dead. Not sure which was the easier option for him? We managed to get a table inside the cafe and placed orders for mostly standard English breakfast this week. Not too long to wait before we were all served and with the addition of some glasses of cold water I think it’s fair to say another good breakfast location found for the future.
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