Saturday 12th November ’22
DH, RW, BFS, PCl, AC, DL, Sully & Scrumpy (with guest appearance from TO)
It’s been a couple of years since we were last at Langport, so with the prospect of a shortish level route and despite the possibility of a muddy walk with all the recent rain, it made sense to venture towards the edge of our territory once again. Unfortunately I chose the very weekend that the A303 was closed to remove the temporary bridge between Sparkford and Yeovilton, and so following a detour through North & South Barrow, the Wincanton group were 15 mins late arriving at the car park. Turning into the car park I was a bit shocked to see Adrian directing the traffic around the market stalls but I think he was trying to delay our arrival whilst his colleagues wandered off to find the local conveniences.
Knowing we had a good 2.5 mile walk ahead of us and that the table was booked for breakfast at 1030, when we did get going along the Parrett riverside walk and after posing for our weekly selfie, we set off at a good pace. Thankfully the path has been improved dramatically since the days of splashing through the muddy puddles as we made our way towards the first bridge over the river and the improved parking and launching area. It looks like a local rowing club has set up base by the bridge and it was good to see a couple of boats out sculling on the water. The sun was low in the sky and reflecting on the slow running water, but as the cloud slowly broke the mercury was soon on the rise.
After crossing the bridge we headed into the fields opposite the confluence where the River Yeo joins the Parrett and onto the riverside footpath that would take us along the river all the way to Mulcheney. Following a week or so of heavy rain I was expecting the river to be a bit higher and for the track to be muddy, but apart from the area around the gateways the going was generally good to soft (same as Cheltenham Pete?) . Despite being a flat area, the views across the fields as we headed south were pretty good for a November day. With just a few sheep in the penultimate field the two dogs were having a good run around off the lead, with Sully taking the occasional dip where he could find easy access down the bank whilst Scrumpy avoided such exploits.
We reached the road near Mulcheney and as we exited through the dry gateway as opposed to the one surrounded by a large puddle, looking back over the surrounding fields there was certainly some signs of recent flooding. As we turned onto the old railway line for our return leg it was a suitable opportunity to take on board a resupply of sugar as Adrian kindly shared his supply of kiddies sweets, and for those wearing coats to remove them as the morning continued to get warmer.
The walk back along the old track bed, although only 2 wide, enabled some conversation regarding our upcoming Christmas meal and so by the time we arrived back in Langport, a majority decision of going to the Red Lion at Brewham was sorted out. Passing the Bridge cafe, which certainly looks worthy of a visit at some point, we crossed the river for the last time and made our way into the Kitchen at the Wharf, where Trevor, fresh from blowing over £100 on a new tyre for his bike, was settled at our reserved table by the windows. Unfortunately the route tracking failed me again this week, but an estimated 2.8 was completed in a little over 70 minutes, so we took our seats ready for breakfast.
The cafe was certainly busy but with orders placed relatively quickly, it turned into quite a long wait before breakfast were served. The conversation at the table whilst we waited was certainly more varied than usual, and if Dereyk s wife is reading this, don’t ask him any questions about the advice he received on his life insurance! Overall a good breakfast despite the initial but unjustified concerns about the bowls of beans, even the healthy avocado option went down well!
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