8th June 2024 RW,TO,PC,DL,PC,CH plus Scrumpy, Albus and Maisie
Those of our readers who can remember anything before their last breakfast may recognize this walk…albeit a reverse of the route we took last time out. We started by parking at the foot of the dramatic Church of St Mary the Virgin , Batcombe ; a Grade 1 listed building dating back to 15th Century origins in the Perpendicular Gothic style and constructed on the proceeds of the sheep rearing for which Somerset and Gloucestershire were famed. The “combe” is a typical landscape feature of the West Country and indicates a steep narrow valley or a shallower valley through which a water course does not run.
Of course, today our local landscape was the steep valley of the River Alham which gave rise to some gentle moaning at the beginning and end of the walk. In 1643 a fight between Batcombites and Brutonians took place and was commemorated by bellringing each year on the Eve of St Mathias’ Day (originally February 24th) until 1733. We kept quiet about our Bruton connections….Somerset folk have long memories.
Setting off past the Church and the revived pub (Batcombe Inn or Three Horseshoes) we followed the road in the direction of Westcombe, passing the redundant post office building with its characterful old post box. We then plunged steeply down into the valley of the Alham and straight back up again into Westcombe where there was the traditional debate about the route…as Supreme Leader I took the group along a short lane to the top of a field with expansive views towards Creech Hill. We descended gently down towards Spargrove and made our best effort to avoid being doused by a large agricultural slurry dispenser….we avoided a direct hit but received a gentle perfume spray of Eau de Shite.
At the valley bottom we crossed the river to explore the hamlet of Spargrove with its mill buildings, mill race and leat which previously featured in photos of an outside privy being used by Adrian. The farm buildings are impressive reminders of the former wealth of the local sheep farmers. With the mill leat on our right hand side, we then followed the lush valley of the river back in the direction of Batcombe with several grand houses warning us to keep out. If you have never walked this path take time to find it….wonderful scenery. We passed through a field of Shetland Ponies (see previous rambling speculation about the purpose of this breed) and so to a gentle return climb to rejoin the cars. This meant we have made no progress towards Bridgwater …. which Trevor had set as our objective by one oclock. In discussion, it had been established that Bridgwater had nothing to offer us except reminiscences of the pong from British Cellophane and the tanning industry. The stink has gone but not the reputation.
So, we raced to the Bell at Evercreech to breakfast…just in time as it was pointed out they stop serving breakfast 3 minutes after our arrival. Good value though at less than a tenner all in. Oh, we had a political discussion….what sort of a ###### would drop out early from a D-Day commemoration event? The sort that doesn’t get re-elected.
Comentários