Saturday 21 September ‘24. DH, RW, DL, JB, CH, Scrumpy & Albus
After a brief but very pleasant few days the end of summer arrived at the end of the week with thunderstorms and rain showers, so the forecast for todays walk was not too promising. As we drove down the A303 towards the RV at the rear of Cadbury Castle the visibility was poor to say the least. Richard was already parked up in the lay-by on Kimbers Hill as the four of us from Wincanton arrived and we were soon out and booted up, but the prospect of rain caused a few dilemmas with the clothing choices. Chris had obviously seen a forecast for heavy rain so was already wearing his waterproof trousers, but the general consensus was to give them a miss this week although with the forecast showing the possibility of some showers, waterproof coats were either carried or worn.
We headed along the road and turned left onto the public footpath and another section of the Macmillan and Monarch’s Way for a steady climb up the side of Parrock Hill. We quickly gained height and it wasn’t long before we were level with the top of Cadbury Castle and looking north the skies were still pretty grey but as we traversed along the ridgeline it was looking a bit brighter in from of us. We passed through a gate and into a large field with sheep spread along the top and side of the hill. As we approached them they took very little notice of the dogs on leads and moved off down the slope without any worries. However no sooner were we past but we heard some loud shouting behind us.
We immediately stopped to see if it was us that there were the target of the shouts, but it was clear with the continued hollering of what sounded like ‘Layla’ , that it was in fact a walker calling after his loose dog who was getting close to the sheep. Having just passed the gate ourselves with a large sign warning of sheep in the field and asking for all dogs to be on leads, we were all pretty dumbfounded that someone would ignore the sign. After more shouting and a lot of clearly incorrect ‘good girl’ praising, the owner finally managed to regain control of his dog.
As we walked along the ridge we had a good view of a small farm area down below us which in our time of walking this way has developed considerably. Previously just a small cottage it has since been extended and also now posses a massive lake, with obligatory small island, in the back garden. At the moment it stands against a bear background but I’m sure with addition of some trees and landscaping around the lake wil become a very pleasant and relaxing area in due course. As we reached the latter stages of the ridgeline we turned left and followed a tightly hedged path steadily downhill towards the village of Corton Denham.
At the end of the track Dereyk thrust his stick into the ground and having avoided any of last weeks more healthy suggestions, offered round his bag of sweets. Whilst most opted for a good old fashioned lolly, there was some discussion about the odd packet of bubblegum and the odd tube of orange mentoes, which after some deep though Richard opted for. Once we had managed to unwrap the lollies we set of through a gate and over a stream which at just 70m asl was the lowest (geographical) point of todays walk. Half way through the field as we started to climb again Dereyk went to lean on his trusty stick, but noticed it was unexpectedly absent from his hand. So for the third time he had to retrace his steps whilst we all continued up to the top of the field. Climbing this short rise had a few of us changing the top layers, with coats that had been put only only a few minutes earlier being removed. Whilst we were waiting by the gate we managed to grab a groupie with Dereyk and Albus just about visible in the distance as he stepped up the pace to rejoin us.
We walked along a short section of road towards the village and just before the pub took a right turn up a lane and then path heading up onto Corton Hill. The going was steady as we made our way through a much softer looking flock of sheep as once more the rain stopped and as we paused for a breather the coats came off yet again. It certainly felt like being back in recruit training where we regularly put through ‘changing parades’ to see who could react quickly and without moaning about being messed about intentionally and for the amusement of our instructors. The climb to the top continued and as we crested the top a cool breeze coming from the east quickly cooled us all down again and helped push us along as we made it to the trig pillar at the high point of the walk, a mere 194m asl. From here it was all downhill, and having managed to avoid being wiped out by a speeding 4 x 4 then stepping aside to let the Waitrose delivery through we made it down to the two cottages on the edge of Whitcombe, for which we still have no definitive answer to the question of why they are numbered 742 & 743.
A short stretch along the road and we were back at the cars having completed the 3.8 miles loop in a fraction over 2 hours, at a steady 1.85 mph although with a few stops and with a heigh gain of around 150 metres. Scrumpy and Albus had enjoyed a walk without being chased and nipped at throughout and once waterproof coats and trousers were removed for the last time it was just a short drive through the lanes and the village of Sutton Montis to the Paws Parlour cafe where we were soon at our reserved table inside the wooden hut ordering our breakfasts. There was a total range of orders this week with just one regular breakfast, whilst others opted for a veggie bagel, breakfast rolls with or without black pudding and the creamy scrambled eggs, all accompanied by coffees and tea from dodgy clear tea pots. All in all though a good breakfast again, (the black pud was the best yet) and we were all happy to sit around for a while aftewards just making the most of some quiet time.
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