Brian returns to the fold

Sat 1 Nov 25. DH, RW, BS, DL, CH, JB, JS Scrumpy & Albus

It was back in May ‘24 that Brian last walked with us on a Saturday, so it was good to have him join back in again today. In that time he has missed around seventy walks and breakfasts including many new areas and cafes, and of course all the banter that goes on each weekend. Having stopped because of the pain in his hip, the new one fitted in Shepton Mallett hospital back in the summer has now settled well enough for him to return to the fellowship of the group. I opted for a short local one this week with about a half being across fields and the other half on minor roads or tracks. There had been a lot of rain in the preceding week so I was expecting it to be a bit damp underfoot with some areas of muddy ground.

Todays group of ‘magnificent seven’ met at 0815 at the church/village hall at Lower Shepton and with seven pairs of boots this week we set off on a clockwise loop towards the old Dowding farmhouse. Taking a path at the side we passed through a small orchard and then came across our first claggy field of the Autumn. There was no alternative but go straight across it, so we were thankful it was only about thirty meters or so to reach the far hedgerow. My map showed the path passing through near the corner but JBs live mapping showed it a bit further down the hedgeline. The edge couple of feet of the field although out of the mud appeared to have been the stumps and stalks of a former hedgerow, which typically was laying against our direction of travel.