A Walk in the Alham Valley 30th October 2021
Walking: Richard , Phil , Trevor , Adrian , Pete plus Bill and Scrumpy
What a bonus this morning’s weather was after a week of late Autumn gales and sharp showers. We lost our Leader for a week but it was great to see Adrian back walking with us after a couple of months’ absence. We gathered outside the imposing St Mary’s Church in Batcombe and set off westwards along Main Street, passing some beautifully maintained old buildings including the Church Farm and the former Wesleyan Chapel. Turning left into a single track lane we followed the route steeply downhill until we found ourselves at the site of a former mill. This was the point at which we started following a babbling stream which is a tributary of the main local river, the Alham.
The track passes briefly through a wooded area, within which stands a curious monument inscribed with the word Kick and Roman numerals 2006. Perhaps commemorating a favourite pony? Leaving the woods we crossed two fields alongside the brook, the second containing a group of very placid Shetland ponies. As usual the group had split into front-runners and laggards…the former marvelling at Trevor’s reinvigorated pace and the latter listening to details of Phil’s invitation to join a pre-diabetics support group. Pete also shared details of the Cairns diet by which he has lost some 8 pounds already – motivated by his desire not to join a group of red-faced overweight men (he clearly doesn’t pay much attention to the appearance of his fellow walkers).
Crossing Bailey’s Lane, we passed in front of Mill Farm and its adjacent barn conversion which appears to be a very attractive AirBNB. At this point the stream had joined the main River Alham and grown in size so that the first weir we came to was quite a powerful fall. The field was almost manicured and there are clear instructions from the owners not to stray from the path.
Over a footbridge and through a kissing gate we walked along Batcombe Bottom. We admired another handsome property called Batcombe Bottom Farm on the other side of the Alham. The ground was occasionally soft from rain but otherwise this is a very easy terrain for walking and as there were no livestock around Bill and Scrumpy were at liberty to roam. For much of the time the river lay to our right hand side and a leat had been separated to the left maintaining its same height even as the river gently fell away. We encountered a local lady walking her dog ; another Border terrier of very similar colouring to Scrumpy called Brillo and all dogs were on friendly terms.
We reached Lower Spargrove Farm where the leat passed into a mill building and excess water fell a good six feet over a spillway which fed back into the Alham. The stream also provided an old privy with a continuous flush-away – a true water closet. Adrian was relieved to reach this point in the walk and Pete was flushed with success by his photographic skills. (See below).
Nearby is the site of Spargrove Moated Manor House, of which the tithe barn is the most impressive remnant.
We decided not to retrace our steps but to follow a circular route back through Westcombe. The preferred route crossed an excessively waterlogged field so we stuck to the lanes instead. Having followed a very gentle downwards path by the river, we had to regain some height by the lanes into Westcombe. The compensation for an uphill trudge was a spectacular view across the Brue valley taking in Castle Cary, Evercreech and across to Glastonbury. Glorious on such a bright morning.
Westcombe is a true farming village made up largely of Higher Farm, Manor Farm and Lower Westcombe Farm and associated cottages. We also came across an excellent combined cheese shop and brewery which we shall no doubt revisit for Westcombe cheese and Wild Beer! The road to Batcombe passes the village war memorial, plunges down to Church Bridge and then rises steeply again to meet Holly Hill. Pete overrode my use of the OS map at this point to direct us back into the top of Batcombe and we dropped down a pathway alongside the Village Hall and Churchyard to find our cars.
We were booked into breakfast at The Bell , Evercreech and arrived shortly before our deadline of 11 oclock to enjoy a fine meal , ranging from the Big Bell (Trevor and Phil ) to the Tinker Bell (Pete and Adrian). Meal ratings varied between 7 and 8 , with Trevor expressing some disappointment at his side order of Hogs’ Pudding. Nevertheless, we were made very welcome and tea was not stinted to one cup each. We finished off a very enjoyable walk by sharing some delicious fruit cake in the car on the way home baked appropriately enough by Mrs Cook! After eating so much, we all need to contact Phil’s pre-diabetic group.
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