Them shoes aren’t made for walking

Sat 25 Oct ‘25. DH, RW, TO, JB, CH, JS, Scrumpy & Maisie

Having ventured further afield and with just small numbers in the last few weeks, it was good to be more local again and with a solid group of six of us ready and raring to go. My usual, method of sorting out each weeks walk these days is to find the cafe first and then sort out a route. I keep a list of dates we have visited tall the fifty plus cafes we have used to date but am always on the look out for a new venue to try out. As such my initial plans this week were to park at and try the cafe at The Lighthouse, at Thyrington just south of Frome. Having walked past it on a walk about a year ago, it seemed ideal to do the loop in reverse this time. Unfortunetly the cafe is currently closed whilst the main property is on the market, so plan B was to walk the same area but go to Gouldy08 at Critchell afterwards. A quick enquiry returned a negative response there also as they would be closed for the next three weeks. Not wanting to give up totally I opted to repeat the route and RV from last time but just walk the opposite direction on the end, followed by breakfast at Nunney Catch cafe.

And so having communicated the changes to all, with a Wincanton car of four and two from Ansford/Pitcombe, we met at 0830 by the church at Marston Bigot. I had already decided we would go anti clockwise this week which would allow us to walk the roads first before heading across the fields and grounds of the nearby Marston House to return. This decision was made all the more necessary when Richard came across to our car with his normal cheery greeting but extended with the question ‘Idon’t suppose anyone has any spare boots do they’? It turns out that having got his walking gear all ready at home and positioned by his front door, that when Trevor turned up to pick him up, he left in his haste without them! Unfortunately all his questioning resulted in a negative response which left him the only option of walking around in the shoes he had on, thankfully he had a least remembered to load up Scrumpy.

With plenty of banter and ‘soleful’ remarks ringing around the group, we set off down the church track and then left along the narrow road heading in a southward direction. The sun was starting to break through the grey skies and we cracked on at a good pace, with dogs on leads and Scrumpy walking to ‘heel’. We had to step to the side to let a tractor through so just before it I managed to catch a photo of cows in a field, not something we see very often theses days. At the crossroads we took a left and started heading eastwards, with views across the fields and cows to Manston House which apart from the reflections off of the windows, was almost lost in amongst the backdrop of autumnal trees behind it.

As we continued along the road we past a farm on the right which obviously used the fields on the left - looking at the state of the road in between them. The gateway on the left and for around thirty metres all around it was black and churned up by the daily crossing of cattle from field to farm and back again. However two bright white spots in the middle of the mud quickly drew our eyes and as we got a bit closer it was clear that two little egrets were searching for food in amongst the mud. They quickly took flight and moved further up the field before resuming their foraging.

Richard had been quite happy with his shoes performance this far, but now it was time to turn left, into the fields and across grass, damp with early morning dew, for the second half of the walk. The path across the field was well marked out with four foot wooden stakes hammered into the ground at regular intervals along the right of way, so the grass was actually quite well trampled down. We passed through the area of the medieval village of Marston, where ditches and flat areas can still be seen. When we reached Marston Brook, a small stream running from the lake to the nearby River Frome, the ground was considerably more churned up as we passed through the pinchpoints of the gates either side of a small wooden bridge. On the far side we had entered an area of open ground which is currently open access to the public for recreational use and dog walking. The grass this side was a lot longer and as we made our way north past other dog walkers it was clear that Richards light coloured shoes were getting a bit darker. Rather than go out to the road we passed in front of the the closed cafe which is all part of The Lighthouse which is currently on the market as a whole, possibly to be returned to residential use, so it’s not clear if this open access area will remain open to the public much longer. At the top end by the car park we turned left along a fence line heading back towards our cars.

The footpath across to the front of the house was very well signed again with no option to deviate from the public right of way, and Richard was pleased that the grass was back to a shorter length again. We stopped for our weekly group photo with the church in the back ground, looking splendid against the bright morning sky, although there were no lollies on offer today. When the long facade of the house came into view it looked a lot brighter than when we were further away on the road, with bright blue skies behind and it’s fabulous parkland setting emphasised by the specimen trees and cattle in the foreground. For those not aware of the lengthy and almost catastrophic history of the house, here is a good article, with interior pictures courtesy of Countrylife magazine.

We completed the walk through the grounds and out through a gate by Church Lodge then up the track past St Leonard’s church to the cars. The early morning mist had lifted since our arrival and the view down the woodline of Gare Hill was a lot clearer. At the end of the track and behind a metal fence, a friendly cow posed for the evidential photograph.

It had been a quick and shorter walk than usually but we still completed three and a quarter miles in just 85 minutes. Thankfully Richard had made it around without getting his socks too wet, although I suspect he might need to get his shoes well dried out over the next few days. No doubt it will serve as a great reminder to all of us to check we are suitable equipped for the walk, especially with the conditions only going to get colder and wetter over the next few months.

To round off a good walk we hopped in the cars and took the five minute drive to Nunney cafe for our breakfasts. It was a bit quieter than usually so we were straight in and ordering at the hatch. We pushed a couple of tables together and as always it was not too long to wait for the young lady to bring our meals out of the kitchen. As usual the decor in the cafe came under some scrutiny but the biggest question was ‘Who would be putting all the clocks back one hour tonight’?

Maybe we will have to wait until next time to see if anyone did, although with the vast difference in time displayed on most of the clocks, it’s going to be very hard to confirm if they have been adjusted or not!

Cyclemeter