Saturday 3rd June ’23 -DH, RW, AC, Sully & Scrumpy
After a well attended walk last weekend, today we were down to just three of the founding fathers as others enjoyed the last weekend of half term and the long spell of good weather we are currently experiencing. The RV today was at Adrian’s where we all got into the one car for the journey to Shepton Mallett. Thankfully the early morning visitors to the last day of the Bath & West show did not delay us significantly, and so dropping down into the older part of the town we parked in the shade on Cowl Street. Adrian was insistent that it was cool enough to need his jumper, but Richard & myself chose the short sleeve option as we unloaded the two dogs and set of just a fraction after 9.00am. This area of Shepton is a few metres below the level of the main road as it passes through town and with a modern ish area of flats on one side of the road (more about them later) the other side is a mix of small stone cottages of varying ages which become closer to each other as we passed under a small bridge to the cemetery and turned left by an old Unitarian chapel dating from 1692, to climb the narrow Gold Hill.
Despite sharing a name with its Dorset equivalent they are leagues apart in tourist appeal and beauty, as although they are both steep hills, this one only had the delight of a couple of quaint cottages at the very top, and certainly not much of a view from it either. Wouldn’t have been much fun riding a bike down it either and I don’t think they would have sold much Hovis if this location featured had in the TV adverts of our youth!
Turning right onto a narrow path, we continued to climb and although there were steps dug into the hillside, Adrian still needed a helping hand getting up the biggest ones. We very kindly avoided a very challenging looking stone stile which has not changed much in 100 years by the look of it and proceeded around the edge of a field planted with young corn before making our way through a gate onto the old S &D railway line.
We managed to talk through quite quickly the very potted history of Shepton Mallett , the town getting it unusual name from a combination of the old English scoep and tun, meaning ‘sheep farm‘ with the addition of the second half by the Norman family of Mallet who leased it from Glastonbury Abbey in the 12th century. Situated on the Fosse Way around mid point between the Roman towns of Bath and Ilchester, it gains a mention in the Doomsday Book, suffered severely in the black plague, was transited through en route to/from Civil War battles and during the Monmouth rebellion, the Duke stayed overnight in Longbridge House on Cowl street (just below where we parked the car) before he was captured 2 days later just up the road at Downside.
In the 17th century there were over 500 mills in the vicinity producing much wool and cloth, including silks used in Queen Victoria’’s wedding dress. While wool, cloth and silk declined, other industries grew. In the 19th and 20th centuries brewing became one of the major industries. Prominent on the towns skyline as we looked south, The Anglo-Bavarian Brewery, built in 1864, was the first in England to brew lager. At its height, it was exporting 1.8 million bottles a year to Australia, New Zealand, India, South Africa, South America and the West Indies. It closed in 1921. However as I’m sure everyone knows, the town is still producing alcohol at the Showerings Babycham site.
Work on this section of the S&D started in 1872 at a cost of £400,000 as a link between Evercreech Junction and the Midland line at Bath. As we slowly made our way up the relatively steep 1:50 gradient, we looked back and could see the top of the viaduct which runs across the B3136, although iron gates appeared to block any ability to cross it and thereby continue eastwards along the old line. As we gained height the cold northerly wind did its best to take the edge off of the temperature and at times we wondered if we would be bartering for Adrian’s jumper at some point. The track crossed a minor road and into an area where when Richard, Trevor and myself recce’d this route back in the spring was then quite muddy. In the intervening time a lot of hardcore has been laid and the edges of the track tidied up although the large stones did causes a few stumbles for all of us. Initially built with just one tunnel under Windsor Hill, with the increase in traffic on the line a second tunnel was added in 1892. With a slight S bend in the track we switched from the downward line and could now see the only currently accessible tunnel ahead of us, on the newer up bound line. As we approached it and paused for our selfie, we entered an almost lost world as the suns light struggled to reach the track bed and all along the rocky sides ferns and other plants were clinging for life and stretching for light. The tunnel is currently unlit and with the ‘light at the end of the tunnel’ being so bright, it meant we were walking in effective darkness. Of course we could have used the torches on our phones, but there is still a spirit of adventure in these old boys yet. As we passed through the 130 yard tunnel, Adrian amused us with a tale about his younger days of ’playing’ with friends in a live tunnel and having to take shelter in the cut outs in the tunnel walls as trains passed. He even mentioned a time when one of the tilting Advanced Passenger Trains of the late 70s had to ‘hoot’ its hooter at them as they had not heard it behind them. H & S warning - Don’t try this one yourself!
Once through we paused briefly to look at the blocked ‘down’ tunnel, which at 240yards long and with a curve in is impossible to see through. It was used in 1968 to test the Rolls Royce engines for Concorde and due to the use of radioactive oil has been closed to the public ever since. The track bed widens at this point to accommodate an are of sidings which was used to load trains with stone from the nearby quarry. In this area we met and had a brief chat with a lady walking her Golden Retriever on its lead, as although he is 12 years old he still likes to chase after deer in the woods if let off. She was obviously a local and told us that the viaduct in Shepton was actually open for public to cross now, and that the only thing holding back the further opening up of the line for walking as it heads north is a portion that is still owned by the Duchy of Cornwall. Adrian being a bit of a charmer commented her on her lovely pink highlights in her greying curly hair and when it was mentioned he could perhaps do the same, swiftly removed his hat to reveal a neatly trimmed but very short head of hair. I don’t think the lady was over impressed but it did give us all a laugh before we parted company.
With this extra knowledge about the line we continued northwards until we reached a viaduct over the steep valley of Ham Woods which stretches southwestwards towards Croscombe. On the surface it looked like this was just a standard double line bridge but a small path at the far end led us to a position from where we could see the underneath of the magnificent structure. From here it was clear to see that this was in fact two different structures built alongside each other. Our best educated guess is that the older section is the one made from stone (on the down side) and the newer portion is that built of brick closer to the camera. Deciding against dropping down into the valley bottom we retraced our steps back onto the viaduct and contemplated some of the other paths around the area that perhaps we can try another time.
With no other option today we made our way back to the tunnel and although the incline as we climbed through it on the way up was unnoticeable, it was pretty obvious we were heading downhill on the way back, and not just because we were moving a bit quicker. Hidden slightly by the built up bank, we could just glimpse some of the 150 fences spread around Rosamund Green Farm, one of the country's premier cross country schooling centres.
Rather than walk back down the track bed all the way back, we took a pathway through a field to the south of the track which provided the dogs with a better surface for their paws. We zig-zagged through the field and stopped abruptly along a section of new looking dry stone walling, to admire some handy carvings marking the construction of the wall in 2022 by the Bowlish stone wallers. (That is obviously a local group who build walls, not a relative of Richards)! There was some debate about the construction method and I am sure we will get a good response from our North Yorkshire farming correspondent at the next earliest opportunity.
As we got closer to the residential area of Shepton once more, the land dropped away steeply as we descended past the edge of the town cemetery and into the valley of the River Sheppey. It was this area between town and Bowlish a bit further downstream in which many of the mills and workers cottages were built years ago to have access to and harness the power of the water.
A new constructed fence and a stile with no dogs access area meant a struggle of a lift over it of the big fluffy lump (Where was Phil when I needed him) ? Once over a a short stretch up the path we saw the fence was incomplete and we could have all just walked through the gap. Doh!
The pathway brought us out at the end of Draycott Road and by a row of cottages which had the river flowing right alongside the. Sully could hear it and was very keen to get into the first bit of water we had seen all day, but the wall and drop down was too big. It was a bit surprising to see that a river previously capable of powering 50 mills was today a small trickle flowing so slowly that it was unlikely to be even capable of staging an interesting duck race. I know we’ve had a lot of dry weather but I’m sure there was more flow at its source at Aldhams Well last time we were up that way.
A short bit further on we came across a very substantial old building on our right, which turns out to be the old priory in use between 1810–1831 as a convent of the Order of the Visitation of Holy Mary (Salesian Sisters). The building is grade II listed and is now called Sales House and is a Freemasons house which provides social housing in the flats within the courtyard. The cottage next door is the former Masonic Hall and I’m sure our Masonic correspondent will be able to provide more of an insight into its history and current use in due course.
Opposite this wonderful old building and on the site of many former mill cottages long ago demolished, are a series of around a dozen blocks of concrete, rectangular, unattractive and decaying flats which form part of the Hillmead estate. According to the website of The Forest Food Project, they were built to house families of inmates at the former Shepton Prison., although I do wonder if that should read ‘wardens and staff’ of the prison. Seems rather generous and unusual if families of inmates were treated so well! After a steady stroll we were back at the cars having completed almost 3 miles in 1 hour 40 minutes. A short drive up to Tesco’s car park and then a 2 minute walk, past a stream of folks queuing for their next Covid jab, and we arrived at The Hive, spot on 11.00. Adrian had been telling us that this was regular stopping point for Ruth and himself when in Shepton, where they buy odd bits of material and wool. We didn’t quite manage to establish what was every created (by Ruth I guess) but it was clear Adrian was a regular from the welcoming wave he received from one of the staff.
This was our first time for breakfast in the hive and although we could have chosen smaller items from the menu, we all decided it was our duty to our fellow walkers to sample the delights of the full traditional option. Again a slight confusion around the colour of toast on a couple of plates but easily fixed, and with the largest tomato ever served to date, we were all impressed with the quality and quantity provided. Scrumpy and Sully were getting some great attention from other diners but soon turned their attention to the food and started the crying and barking that we have become used to these last few weeks, hoping that some of it might have their names on it.
A few tit bits and a whole sausage to take away from a couple sat opposite us ensured they didn’t go without.
A really pleasant leisurely walk, and with just the three of us a good opportunity to all be engaged in the conversation simultaneously for a change.
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