Saturday 20th January ‘24. DH, RW, TO, BFS, PCL, DL, JB, Scumpy, Albus & Maisie
It was another very cold morning as we made our way down the first new section of the A303 Sparkford to Podimore upgrade, which was only opened overnight, as we made our way to the first time RV of the village hall in the often passed by village of Kingsdon. The Bruton & Cary car with Richard behind the wheel followed us in by a different route just as we were getting boots on and Albus out of the boot. In the back seat we could make out Trevor holding tight to his new puppy Maisie, as at 16 weeks old and fully vaccinated, she joined us for the first time. Unfortunately it was also her first long journey in any car and Richard allegedly doing his best ‘Schumacher’ driving so as not to be late, had thrown it round a few corners which in turned caused poor Maisie to revisit her breakfast - all over Trevor’s leg! She was clearly not too fussed about it as she jumped down to introduce herself to everyone else and the inaugural rubbing noses with Scrumpy and Albus. Trevor on the other hand was not best pleased as he emerged with the residue in a bag having scrapped it off of his trousers mid journey.
Firmly attached to her little pink lead we set off through the village with Maisie at the front, as she kept turning around to see if her new found mates were following her. Our route today would be an anti-clockwise loop northwards to the edge of Charlton Mackrell before returning through Kingston Wood and on the map it looked like a good portion of it would be on made up tracks. The early morning wind was certainly cold but thankfully behind us as we left the last houses of the village behind us and joined Nuthill Lane. Despite only being at around 50 metres altitude and with a large hedgerow to our right, there were sufficient gaps in it to see the National Trust medieval Manor House at Lytes Cary house in the near distance and the prominent contours of Creech hill further away. The view extended round to the south passing Cadbury Castle and Yeovilton Naval Air Station although the traffic going slowly along the A303 was easier to hear than it was to actually make out.
As we continued northwards along the part metalled track, which had been interspersed with ice topped puddles along its length, we came to it’s end at an open gateway. There was plenty of evidence of recent light vehicular movements, but thankfully with the hard ground over the last few days it was certainly not claggy today. Our path took us down in a delightful Coombe with trees on the tops of the surrounding higher ground and having passed through a new looking gate we came to a small stone bridge over the River Cary, a small stream which we have not really come across before. It’s source is somewhere in the area of Castle Cary and it flows at times close to and parallel to the River Brue as it makes its way westwards onto Kings Sedge Moor, eventually to join the River Parrett near junction 23 of the M5 and then into the Bristol Channel.
Maisie was having great fun off the lead and interacting really well with Scrumpy and Albus, however with sheep in the field on the far bank it was time to get them all hooked up again. A steady walk across the field and after dodging a large spraying fountain from a hole in a water pipe we made it out onto a lane on the edge of the village of Charlton MaCornell. After just 50 metres along the road it was back over another fence and into fields again, and release from the leads once again for the three dogs. The path was along a large width of unploughed grass following a the hedgerow as we made our way south westward along a portion of the Macmillan Way West heading towards Kingston woods. As we got within about 400 metres of the tree line the first of many gun shots rang out across the otherwise peaceful area. There were no sign of any birds taking flight in our direction so we presumed it was perfectly safe to push on. Distracted only by a train running along the line towards Cary which we had previously not even realised was there, we continued getting closure to the sound of many loud shotguns, obviously taking part in an organised shoot in the woods. The dogs were all either acting deaf or did not realise what was going on as none of them really paid much attention to the bangs.
We entered the wood line onto a track alongside which were signs notifying walkers of the shoot along with the advice to keep all dogs on leads.
This proved an ideal place to stop for a while, to listen to the gaining on in the woods and of course take on board some extra calories for the short steep climb ahead of us. Dereyk handed around his famed lollies and have taken our choices and with dogs securely on their leads we set off slowly along the track. It had certainly warmed up a bit already and as the track was in the shade of the trees it was holding onto some very large puddles and some sticky sections as we slowly ascended, trying to take large breaths of oxygen with lollies hanging out of the corner of our mouths. Richard was clearly more concerned about the inaccuracy of the shooters than his lolly as he proceeded to shout ahead a warning of walkers on the path to any one who could hear him over the sounds of the 12 bores. As we reached the top and the end of the wood we noticed two ladies just inside the wood line who were clearly dressed as part of the shoot and had dogs under their control. They just about acknowledged our presence before heading along the top edge of the wood no doubt trying to flush out any remaining birds unfortunate enough to have to take flight. We paused for a while to enjoy the views again before heading down lane in the direction of Kingston. As we passed a large open gate there was a area of hard standing full of 4x4s which was obviously the meeting point of this weeks country sportsmen and women.
It was all downhill back into the village and we arrived back having completed just over 3.5 miles in a fraction under 100 minutes. A quick pose for the selfie under the oak tree and then it was into the cars for the 10 minute drive into Somerton for breakfast. Maisie had done tremendously walking all the way and is certainly well and truly up for joining us on subsequent walks. This week I had opted for a cafe with a bit more space for us all, and on walking past a crowded M&M in the shopping precinct the decision to go to the Courtyard Cafe on West Street was certainly well justified. Our table was ready and waiting for us and although the cafe area of the shop is quite large, there is not a lot of space between the tables unfortunately. It was a tight squeeze in some areas but once seated we were quickly served and placed our drink and food orders. Maisie was certainly getting some attention from other diners although the poor waitresses trying to serve tables behind us were finding it a bit difficult to squeeze past. Trevor went for the big breakfast (no surprise there) but mostly it was the smaller ones, or even a veggie for John and a tasty plate eggs royals for myself. Brian and Dereyk were eyeing up the lunch menu as we spoke and I don’t think it will be many weeks before I hear reports of at least one of them heading back for a testing of the liver and onion option.
Dereyk had already bought his bread for the weekend so having paid for breakfast it was just a slight delay as we waited for Trevor to emerge from the pet shop with a bag of food in his hand and Maisie proudly wearing a new red harness. The perfect end to her first of what will be many walks with us all we hope. Let’s hope she had a better journey back home and quickly gets used to the car and even faster journeys around the countryside when Trevor gets behind the wheel in future.
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