Saturday 15th February’25. DH, RW, TO, PCL, DL, JB, CH, JS, Scumpy & Maisie
After the initial confusion over travel plans early in the week, we all arrived at the RV in the Old Quarry car park on yet another of this months many grey days ready to walk through the snowdrop valley of Nunney. There was a light rain falling but everyone this week was probably expecting it to get a bit worse as the day went on as it was waterproof trousers and gloves (almost) all round as we prepared ourselves for the off.
Eager to get going, those that had completed this walk before we keen to go on through the cycling area rather than down to the road as I suggested and so after a bit of squeezing between fences and diverting up to a gate we all made it down the inner pathway towards the road, before turning sharp left to join the path leading above the quarry edge. Within the first hundred meters there were ominous signs of things to come today as the narrow track was well used and quite muddy in the centre area. It was mostly possible to stick to the slightly higher ground at the edges although from time to time the ground was just too slippy and many cries from the slips and splashes could be heard as feet hit the mud in the middle before jumping back off to one of the firmer sides once more.
At the end of the track we entered a large open field used as part a cross country equestrian course, with a range of different jumps spread out around it. We made our way downhill towards the river and a small bridge to the side of the ford, with some joking that crossing it was the next stage of todays assault course. As we got closer we could see a sign on the gate and a large metal chain on the opening side and as such the prospects of wading the river was becoming more a reality. There didn’t appear to be any visible issue with the bridge but I guess it was there for a reason and so the health and safety red flag was clearly raised. Leading from the front I dropped down to the ford and with a quick glance could see an obvious route across, along an arch of stones forming a dam like shallow loop across the full width. I quickly made my way across and to be truthful made it to the other side with totally dry feet. As otjers atrted to follow, as the photo below will show, there was one member of the group (no names) who clearly did not fancy wet feet and so was seeking out a route to the bridge avoiding the gate. Clearly having no worries for either his own safety, or the prospect of causing more damage to the old bridge, he made it across without any incident whilst we all watched on.
With everyone safely across we started to make our way down stream, onto the slippery river bank being careful to tread with caution over the many exposed tree roots, far more than I remember from our last trip this way. There were also many trees which appeared to have fallen quite recently which we had to duck under or find a path around. At some point Chris lost his footing and ending up taking a slight tumble, covering his jacket and trousers with a splattering of offending mud. Maisie was having a great time running up and down the bank, meaning that Scrumpy was left alone to enjoy her own walk.
The object of todays walk was to see the multitude of snowdrops that have naturalised on the river banks and surrounding undergrowth and we were certainly not disappointed by the numbers we came across, however with it being a dull day there were not many with their flower heads open on our side of the river although across the river in the pockets of ground which would catch any sunlight there were a lot more with the heads open. I did a bit of research on the snowdrops a couple of years ago, which can be read on that weeks blog - Glorious Galanthus
At the end of the blog is another of Trevor’s jokes, don’t forget to laugh this time!
We carried on down stream, remembering to cross the river at the small bridge before we arrived at the bottom of todays river stretch, where we climbed up, crossed the bridge and paused at the side of a wall than on one of our very first group walks, pre-Covid, we had to climb over with a large golden retriever and a young child to lift over as well.
We started the return leg which was predominantly around the edges of muddy fields, paused for the groupie and lollies before finally dropping out onto the Frome road to walk back into Nunney. As we approached the village we passed the old market cross and then all took the opportunity of popping down to the waters edge to try and rinse of our muddy boots. Trevor unfortunately had developed a fault in his donated pair of boots so headed back to the cars sharpish but the rest of us took the small bridge over the river, pausing to admire the castle behind us and to discuss the rock formation in the middle of the stream which coincidentally, or maybe it’s been constructed by locals, to look like the back of a resting crocodile.
The castle dates from the 1370s and was built by Sir John de la Mare, a local knight who was beginning to enjoy royal favour. Much modernised in the late 16th century, the castle was besieged and damaged during the English Civil War by the Parliamentarians. Now sadly ruined, Nunney's dramatic great tower is never the less very well preserved. Its four round corner towers and connecting walls are tightly encircled by the castle moat.
A short stroll back up the hill and a three and a quarter mile walk completed in one and three quarter hours. It was then just a case of getting out of our filthy trousers and semi cleaned boots before jumping into the cars and heading for one of our favourite cafes at Nunney Catch. This was to be a first visit for JS and we had been bigging it up throughout the walk so expectations were high. I’m sure he must have been a bit deflated when he walked through the door but once the food was ordered, with some additional black pudding for the chosen few, and we had dragged two tables together to create one long one, with his not so back coffee in hand he started to appreciate the finery of the place.
The service was quick, even if Chris did have a bit of a battle on with someone who insisted it was theirs, and with clean plates all around it clearly went down a treat. JS certainly left the place a changed man, I wonder what surprises we can find for him next week when hopefully we may get a full house of our currently regulars. Now that would be a first!
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