Collier Way

Saturday 23 May ‘26. DH, PCL, DL, JB, JS & Ralph

A pleasant morning was forecast as I looked for a different walk which would take us to the north east part of our patch so that we could make a return visit to Gouldy08 for breakfast. However on enquiring if they had room for us, I received a quick reply saying that they would be closed for a private wedding. Having found a suitable route I decided to go with it and afterwards venture into the centre of room to try a new Breakast location, as I had been far less than happy at the Nunney transport cafe on our last visit.

With six of us walking today we needed two cars so JS kindly agreed to take the Wincanton passengers whilst I picked up Ralph and then called via Bruton High Street to collect the lone Brutonian this morning. the Rv was at the northern side of Mells at a point where the minor road crosses the Collier Way at Conduit Bridge, with good roadside parking and an easy access onto the old railway line. We arrived a fraction after 0830 and were all ready to go but there was still no sign of the others. A quick phone call established that they were not too far away having paused in the village for a while believing that to be the RV, before realising their mistake.

We set off about ten minutes late with a gentle climb up a track to the north side of the railway line. The temperature was steadily rising but thankfully we were mostly in the shade of the trees, but in a couple of places the trees cleared to provide good southerly views back to the Mells Park area, with the ridgeline above Cranmore visible in the distance. We took a right turn onto a ride between two rows of substantial old beech trees towards the A362, the Frome to Radstock road. Turning left we continued through a much narrower pathway between the tall white flowers of cow parsley which covered the whole area. Ralph was teasing JB by trying to get at his hat and also found himself knocked off of the and into the middle of the flowers.

The path opened up by a set of farm buildings which judging by all the waste off cuts of wood dumped on their boundary to the lane and the piles of rough cut logs, it looks like they now diversified the farm into one providing firewood for the local wood burning and open fire community. On the other side of the hedge a small gap enabled us to peer through and we were very surprised to find a fairly newly planted vineyard. we are more used to seeing them in amongst the narrow Coombes and valleys that to see one in an exposed area on high ground, did question how successful it would be. Although I suppose there is nothing tall around to block out the sun and being higher up it could benefit from higher rainfall.

We continued through the back of the farm which had now turned into a dumping ground for cars or more accurately parts of cars and Ralph being the inquisitive child that he is decided to try and see if he could lift up some of the front ends before further investigating the interior of a nearby shed. Exiting the path onto what I thought should be a fairly quiet road, we made slow progress as we had to keep standing aside to let traffic past. The road started to head downhill and on the right side a long stone boundary wall followed is downhill through the trees and around a tight bend. When it levelled out the age and size of the trees were more reminiscent of the New Forest than of the edge of the Mendips. We continued along the road until we came to the bridge over the Colliers Way where we took the obligatory pause for this weeks lollies.

Normally this is a great opportunity for a group photo but JS had seen a small steam railway engine just down the road so had wandered down for a look, so we missed the chance this week. It turns out the loco was nothing special, just a relic of the old line which used to run through the local quarry works. As we waited for his return I took a look at the old trackbed from the bridge, it was clearly a fairly deep cutting they had dug through the area! When we set off again we followed a downhill access track running parallel to the line as it joined it again a couple of hundred metres later. We turned onto the old line and headed for ‘home’. The sun was out again and it was pretty warm as we made our way back eastwards. At one point along the line we entered the collier way wildlife site which was great to see. There was certainly plenty of bird song as we passed through and Ralph was impressed with the rusty old rails still being visible.

After just over ninety minutes and three and a third miles we made it back to our starting point and took the exit ramp back up to the cars, ready for a short drive into Frome for breakfast. Unfortunately my first choice for today, Gouldy08 was closed for a private wedding and following the rancid margarine last time I didn’t fancy going to Nunney Catch, so we parked up and wandered into the precinct to try the Lounge. Unfortunately there was no room outside so we ended up upstairs on a table in the corner. Ordering was all done on line, which proved easy enough for most but more of a challenge for Deryck who had to reenter his card details before it would let him order. It was very quick service and probably about average quality but it definitely gives us another option when in the area.

Cyclemeter