Day 64: Chepstow to Bristol
? 22.10 km
?215m
After a sweltering sweaty night in the hostel we did what we needed to in the room and then finished getting ready outside where it was cooler. We had an exciting day today, the first of which was our friend Frankie joining us for today’s walk to Bristol.
The 3 amigos set off walking through Chepstow and crossed the M48 Severn Bridge as we walked back into England for the final time on the trip. The rest of the morning passed quickly as we walked through farmland and caught up with Frankie who we hadn’t seen for well over a year. Before we knew it we were at The Fox in Easter Compton, our intended lunch stop, and sat outside for an hour until they opened at 1200!
We had lunch (a cider and ham, egg and chips for me) and then continued the farmland walking until the outskirts of Bristol near Blaise Castle where we found another pub and awaited our lift…
The next excitement for the day was staying with friends of Katie’s in Bristol and not only that, Megan picked us up from the pub which saved us a slow bus journey. Back at Megan and Deano’s, we caught up, had an ice cream, showered and put a wash on. Megan cooked up a storm and we had a lovely chilled evening.
Day 65: Bristol to Yatton
? 30.77 km
?507m
After breakfast, Megan drove us back to where we left off yesterday and she and Deano joined us for the first part of the day up to Blaise Castle through the estate grounds and along Kingsweston Hill. Where we re-entered suburbia near the M5 bridge that we needed to cross, Megan turned back but Deano loves walking over the M5 bridge so much that she stayed with us for the experience and then peeled off to walk along the riverbank back to Bristol.
Things improved a bit after we had crossed the bridge and left Easton-in-Gordano but still not the best of the walking we’ve done. We mostly followed footpaths through farmers fields along some of the Gordano Circuit route. Unfortunately we had to walk pretty close to the M5 later, first beneath it, at what presumably was a pretty village of Clapton in Gordano before the arrival of the M5, then later over it again.
Around lunchtime we took a slight detour to Tickenham Village Hall and met up with Simon, a family friend I hadn’t seen for around 10 years. It was great to catch-up, albeit briefly, and from here we walked through Tickenham to rejoin the route. Upon rejoining the route we found the footpath to be extremely overgrown with brambles and nettles so we opted to continue a little further on the road and take an alternative route for about half a km.
The rest of the afternoon’s walking continued through fields alongside an irrigation ditch and through fields of sweetcorn, eventually popping out on the road into Yatton where we were just in time for the cancelled 1520 train to Bristol so had to have a pint at the Railway Pub next door. Even better, they had Beavertown Neck Oil, one of my favourites for a hot day!
We got back to Bristol and showered, did a quick wash of the clothes we had been profusely sweating in all day with temperatures up at 33⁰C, and then headed out to dinner at The Olive Shed. Jack and Alex also joined and we had a fun evening.
Day 66: Yatton to Cheddar
? 25.24 km
?552m
We got the 0723 to Yatton and set off on the Strawberry Line trail, which was an old railway line so it was pretty straight and flat. It was a nice morning, still pretty warm but due to be a few degrees cooler than yesterday and there was more of a breeze too. We didn’t see any strawberry’s but there were some early blackberry’s and we passed some of the Thatcher’s orchards.
Leaving the Strawberry Line at Sandford, we headed up on to the hills of Sandford, Limcombe and Dolebury, before going up and over Beacon Batch where we stopped for lunch. We descended and passed through a nature reserve at Swallow Whole and Long Wood.
After Black Rock we climbed to the top of Cheddar Gorge where things got much busier with lots of people having hiked up from town. We savoured the views and then headed down the steep trail to Cheddar.
I’d been having some toothache so I phoned a dentist in town and much to my surprise they had a slot in the afternoon. We just had time to check in at our campsite and I grabbed a shower before heading to the dentist. Good news, no treatment required, possible sensitive gum due to teeth grinding. Will take some painkillers for a day or two and should settle down.
Katie had found a dinner option, the Cheddar Brewery Tap Room, which sounded right up my street so after getting some supplies at Sainsbury’s we headed there and had pizza, beers/cider and did some planning for the next week’s walking.
Lots of catching up with people. Better get a mouth guard before you grind away the teeth altogether!