Last of the year

Sat 20 Dec ‘25. DH, RW, PCL, DL, JB, CH, Ralph, Scrumpy & Albus

It’s been another wet week on the run up to Christmas and having missed walking last weekend, when there were just two of us available, (I popped around to have a good cup of Biscoffi type tea with Chris instead of putting on our boots), the Saturday morning forecast was looking good enough to be back out in the countryside for our final walk of the year. Unfortunately with Pete and John still injured and Brian on family duties, it was just the six of us signed up for today. However faced with the option of going shopping with his mum or walking with his Grandad, Ralph accepted my invitation to join us once again - although only after he had checked that his mate JB would be walking as well.

The day started quite brightly in Wincanton and after Chris had cleared the early morning frost from his car and we had picked up our last passenger, we were running a few minutes behind schedule as we made our way eastwards on the A303. The sun had not yet appeared from behind the angry looking clouds over to our south and it looked like someone was gently an early morning shower down the Blackmore Vale. Thankfully we soon turned north and with a good run up arrived at a frosty Frome Football Club only about 10 minutes later than planned. As we drove down the long driveway we were all startled when a deer shot out in front of the car, only missing hitting the bonnet by no more than a couple of feet and we also spotted a second one a bit further off to our right.

Once we had exchanged early morning pleasantries and Christmas Cards, we were good to go. We headed back down the driveway and turned left at the end for a couple of hundred metres along the road to a small gate on our left. On the gate was a warning sign for lambs in the field which, with an empty field in front of us, we all though was a left over from the spring, however as we made our way further through the frosty grass we saw a large number of young ones with their mums higher up the field. The field was a lot firmer than I expected and apart from a couple of muddy gateways it was a really pleasant start to the morning. We caught sight of another deer at the bottom edge of a field, making it three for the morning, probably the most we had seen all year. We worked our way around to the right and then dropped down to cross a busy road at Egford before heading down to the top of the area known as Vallis Vale.

With all the recent rain it was no surprise to see the Egford Brook in full flow. This is the same water course which runs through Nunney a couple of miles upstream as Nunney Brook and can trace its source into the woods and fields around Wanstow, so it’s had ample time to pick up the flow. The path alongside the river started pretty well as we passed the old quarry and stone works on the side of the valley as it cut its way deeper into the area. In places the path had been almost washed away and whilst watching our footings and keeping our eyes peeled we managed to spot a lone Dipper stood in a small natural weir looking for its breakfast. As we got closer it took off and flew right in front of us up stream. A bit further down a large fallen tree was blocking the path and it took a bit of limboing and care to pass underneath it. It places where the path went as low as water level there were large expanses of mud, but thankfully we all made it through without mishap. It was certainly a bit cooler down by the river and with the low sun coming from behind us, we paused for the weeks groupie as a misty air hung in the trees.

As we continued down stream Albus looked severely tempted to take a dip, but with a bit of encouragement was content to just paddle through the many puddles on the track. It didn’t seem to take us too long to get down to the bridge and the confluence with the Mells Brook, to form the Mells River. On all previous occasions we have turned up towards Bedlam and Mells but this week for a change we turned right and continued to follow the river as it headed towards Frome.

We continued on down a good wide path running on the northern side until we came to a large metal fence at the far end of an industrial area. On the far side of the gate was a massive blue and yellow recovery truck, which Ralph was convinced he had seen at the Monster truck show at the Bath & West show ground last summer. Alongside the fence a smaller pedestrian gate lead to a narrow path which took us alongside the row of garages and parked up goods vehicles. The path followed the fence and eventually came out into the large yard but thankfully with it being a Saturday there were no moving vehicles around today. We made our way over the river once more and into the vehicle wash down area where Ralph grabbed himself a selfie along with Albus against one of the shinny tractor units.

As we moved further down the yard we caught site of a large wooden building on the right side underneath the bank. There were a few vocal suggestions of what it might be, from a work club and cafe to a pub and skittle alley, but a notice board on the side of Foxy’s Den indicated that it included the Hapsford village hall, formally the quarry social club. With a courtesy mini bus parked alongside it I’m sure there have been many a good party and late night lock in, in this well hidden location.

We were an hour into our walk by now and although the initial plan was to go right down to the road, when I saw a large flight of wooden steps half hidden behind an empty flat bed trailer I decided to cut the corner and start our return leg. The steps were very steep and once at the top we took an obligatory breather, an ideal chance for Ralph to have a sit down on a large stone until he noticed Deryck get out his tired looking bag of sweeties. Todays selection was gratefully received but unusually limited, meaning it must be time to get a replenishment order in to Santa ready for 2026. Suitably refreshed we headed up and across a large muddy track through a field as we closed in on the outskirts of Frome.

At the top of the hill, with stunning countryside views and bright azure skies behind us, we paused by a farm enclosure to look at a large flock of geese who were slowly heading towards us. There was much discussion about what types they were, as amongst the usual white and grey geese were a couple that looked like they had been on steroids ready for the Christmas table. With internet signal a bit weak the answer was going to have to wait until we made it back to the WiFi at the cafe.

We exited the field onto Vallis Road and started heading into town, past a large industrial building and then right onto Robins Lane and the Frome Post Office Depot. It was then a steady walk along pavements through this residential area until we came to Nunney Road, on which we turned right. Ralph (and maybe others) was starting to flag a bit by now, but with the remainder of the walk being downhill he continued on without any complaints. We arrived back at the Gouldy08 cafe just over two hours after we had left it, having covered 4.4 miles.

The cafe was almost empty so we didn’t take long placing our orders. Ralph was happy to sit and watch Zootropolis on the large screen as he waited for his sausage sandwich whilst there was much googling and discussions about the breeds of geese we had seen. I think the consensus was that the large ones were Chinese geese, (no doubt fitted with cameras and microphones, reporting straight back to Beijing)! Our breakfasts were quickly served and consumed, although we did sit around for a bit longer afterwards just talking our usual nonsense!

It’s pretty hard to believe, but absolutely terrific that we have made it to the end of another year of our Saturday morning strolls with the ‘Walking Dead’, rounding off the five years in which we have grown significantly, since the early pre Covid monthly walks. There have been many more mornings of trivial banter, we have found some great new area to walk and have sampled even more new cafe offerings this year. I honestly believe that the best friendships are built on sarcasm, laughter, honesty and treating each other with kindness and respect. I thank you all for your friendship and company again this year.

I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas with friends and/or family - don’t over do the Turkey or chocolates as you’ll only have to walk it all off in 2026! I look forward to catching up again on Saturday 3rd January, on what will be the groups 260th walk! Best wishes to you all.