Remembering Bill

Saturday 8th October’22 - North Brewham

DH, RW, TO, BFS, AC, PC, DL, Sully & Scrumpy.

Sad news this week as we heard that Trevor had to say farewell to his trusted companion Bill after his health deteriorated. Bill was a mainstay of our walks both before and after the lockdowns and was always trotting along at the side or slightly behind of Trevor along all our walks. He was no trouble at all and often joked about when ‘New Bill’ did put in an occasionally little spurt and he always greatful for the odd bit of sausage or black pudding going spare at the breakfasts. My funniest memory of Bill is the time we walked from Long Sutton towards the river Yeo and as we came to the end of one of the many ditches filled with duck weed covered water, he climbed the bank to take a look and the next thing we heard was a great splash as he leapt with full force into it. For a dog who generally steered clear of water, the total opposite of Sully, it was a great shock to see a brown and green Bill doing his best doggie paddle. I don’t think Trevor was so impressed but Bill certainly looked proud of his adventure when he did clamber out. Although he has not been able to walk with us these last couple of months his passing is a sad loss to the group and of course to Trevor.

We met at the Red Lion North Brewham this week for a welcome revisit to one of our favourite breakfast locations, and a walk through the local countryside north towards Upton Noble. No sooner had we set of than we stopped for a quick photo of the old Queen Victorian (VR marked) postbox in a wall tucked down by the side of a property next to the pub. It certainly looked like it had been well used and had accumulated many coats of red paint over its 120+ years serving the local community. There had been a heavy overnight dew so the grass in the fields although relatively short was soaking, and it wasn’t long before those of us who had survived the dry summer with our trusty walking boots that now let in water like the proverbial sieve, quickly came to the conclusion that it might be a good decision to spend some of that hard earned cash in purchasing new ones ready for the winter.

The morning started cold but as the sun climbed over Alfs tower now being left behind us, it was turning into a wonderful October morning with blue skies and great views of the rolling green countryside around us. With our ‘undulating’ route ahead of us clear to see we dropped down towards a lovely little pond with bank side accommodation in the shape of an old caravan and then passed over the double track section of railway line running between Bruton and Frome. I presume it was another day of industrial action, as I for one didn’t hear a single train pass all morning. Passing through Batt’s Farm we paused as an old moggie convertible approached, with the driver giving a cheery wave as he rounded the corner by the dried out duck pond.

Continuing onwards with a short uphill section of road we paused for a while at the next gate to watch a lone deer stood along the far hedge of the field we were due to enter, and once inside Pete took the opportunity to snap this weeks selfie. More wet grass as we made our way through a series of fields, all with relatively good gates in, until we had to drop down and cross a small stream at a point where it joined another. The recent rains had started to trickle down and on the far side as we scrambled up we encountered our first muddy section on any walk since spring time. Walking through a small orchard there was a mix of sheep and cattle with young in the field, so farmer Brian picked up a large stick ready to fend off any over attentive mothers who might take too close an interest in us. Skirting around the edge to keep our distance from the livestock we were looking out for our next crossing point through the hedge which would take us underneath Upton Noble.

Unfortunately the stile or gateway did not materialise in the hedgerow and so we pushed on further up in the hope of coming across it. Way markers by a riding school indicated we were in the right parish but no accessible route through could be found. Continuing further up the hill side we could hear the traffic on the main road ahead so opted to head up to that with a plan to walk into Upton Noble to commence our return. Having being supplied with our weekly confectionery rations we walked along another track looked heading the right direction which we hoped would allow access to the road, but on reaching the end the fence was impassable so as time was not on our side I took the decision to retrace our steps for some of the return route to ensure we made it back to the Red Lion in good time. So back down the hill and through the cattle (good job we did as a small gate that was initially found open had been closed by our last man on the way up, as is the normal practise, however unbeknown to us a calf was still on the wrong side and separated from its mother), so we subsequently left it open this time for them to get reunited and having skirted around the muddy section and crossed the stream again we retraced our steps back to the road. From there it was a simple mile long walk along the road, crossing the railway once again and after a steady climb back up towards the pub, we arrived only 10 minutes after our target time of 11.00. No tracking this week, but the map below has our rough route and the dotted line shows the intended route. A little over 4 miles was the best guess for distance covered. Maybe we’ll have to try it again another bright sunny day?

Following a bit of furniture rearranging we only had a short wait before large platefuls of good cooked breakfast started to arrive at the tables. Two good pots of tea and one of coffee followed quickly and just as plates were getting cleared the first rounds of toast arrived. With clear plates all round another cracking breakfast confirmed it as our long term favourite (although I’m not sure Bill would have had many titbits this week) . Following a top of up tea and toast for the marmalade, and of course settling the bill, it was a relatively early finish as we bid our farewells - until next week! Take care all!