LEJOG 2015
Tickenham Friday 08 May 2015
Start: Cheddar
Finish: Tickenham
Miles walked today: 15
Total miles: 238
You didn't sing loud enough, did you?
I'm sitting on the bed at the Star Inn feeling quite content. I've eaten, and carried out Ke - Anon's instruction to have a pint of Proper Job. Jim is on the train as I type, speeding west. The Archers has just finished, and my feet are feeling not too bad tonight.
I slept reasonably well at the youth hostel, and after a coffee and croissant I was walking. Rain was forecast, although it never amounted to much. I climbed up for a mile or so north of Cheddar, then a flat and slightly bleak landscape, and then down again ending up at the village of Wrington. A friendly post woman directed me to the Little Red Beetle cafe, where there were lots of ladies enjoying a morning coffee.
Immediately after the village, on a quiet path, I heard thunder. No, it must be an airforce jet. Then, very low, a Ryan Air airbus floated overhead, en route, presumably, to Bristol Airport. Wrington Warren lived up to its name. A glorious patch of woodland, with some towering cliffs, which eluded my efforts at navigation. I eventually emerged, west of my planned path. There were lots of grassy seed heads (picture below) with haloes of tiny flowers. I've always liked these, not sure why. They seem to sum up, for me, everything about a spring meadow.
Onward over the North Somerset Levels, skirt round Nailsea, and eventually arrive at the Star Inn, where Jim had managed to book a room this morning. Sarah was very kind and welcoming, and we had a long chat about her father, who had been looked after by the local hospice. If you read this Sarah, thanks for taking the time to talk.
Severn Road Bridge (English side) Saturday 09 May 2015
Start: Tickenham
Finish: Severn Road Bridge (English side)
Miles walked today: 18
Total miles: 256
I'm lying on a double bed in a Travel Lodge in the motorway services on the English side of the Severn Road Bridge. Sherpa Jim Son is lying next to me. It puts me in mind of Morecambe and Wise. Should I get my pipe out? Or a stick of celery? Will SJS show me the first draft of the latest play wot he wrote?
We are full of a delicious steak dinner we treated ourselves to in a nearby pub, after a longer day than expected. Earlier, we had called many of the numerous B&Bs in the area, and all were full. The Travel Lodge had a double room, but was a little further than we had planned on walking.
Last night Jim got the train from London and met me at the Star Inn. It was so good to see him. Our day started late (for me), we weren't walking until 10. SJS insisted on carrying my back pack. The day brightened, and the sun shone. It was a day of contrasts. Woodland paths, lanes, and housing estates on the edge of Bristol, views of both bridges over the Severn, and Wales on the other side.
The last few miles were along the bank of the Severn Estuary in glorious evening sunshine. SJS is feeling the weight of my pack, but refuses to hand it back. Thanks Jim. Nice to walk with a light pack today :) Pub first, then back to the room to compare short, fat, hairy legs.
Llandogo Sunday 10 May 2015
Start: Severn Road Bridge (English side)
Finish: Llandogo
Miles walked today: 14
Total miles: 270
Behind the curtains to my right I can see bright daylight. I reach for my phone and check the time: 8.45 ! I look to my right and see a pair of short, fat, and presumably hairy legs under the covers. Little Ern! Or Jim, in the real world. Who actually has perfect legs. Like his Dad...
We're walking over the older Severn bridge now. Some of the down cables have strange metal objects clamped to them (photo below). I would really like to know what these are. Anyone know? Nigel? Ken? Tim? Mike? They aren't present on the shorter cables, and don't have anything connecting to them. A mystery - for now.
Chepstow! A late breakfast together, then Jim and I embrace, and he heads off to the station :(
My afternoon stroll takes in Offas Dyke:
Offa's Dyke is a great frontier earthwork built by Offa, King of Mercia from 757 to 796 A.D. It gives its name to a long distance footpath, one of Britain's National Trails, which runs from Sedbury, near Chepstow, to Prestatyn through the varied and little-frequented landscapes of the Welsh Marches.
and the Wye Valley Walk. How amazing must it be if over 1200 years after your turn on life's merry - go - round your name is still being mentioned daily by many people. The scenery is stunning. Most of the time I'm high above the river, in the wooded hillsides. Occasionally, the trees part and at the "Devil's Pulpit" there is a view of Tintern Abbey, far below. A shame SJS isn't here to see it.
The score overall today is Wales 2 - 2 England. Every time I cross the River Wye I change countries. I'm staying at the Sloop Inn tonight in Llandogo and it's definitely in Wales.
Chris has emailed me about the grasses with haloes: "You prob don't want to know but - just in case- those 'grassy' flower heads are plantains. they are weeds with strappy leaves. Of course in our garden they never get as far as having flowers.........! If you get an insect bite the leaves are supposed to reduce the itching if you chew them slightly then rub them on the bite." I did want to know - thanks Chris!
PS An email from Ken:
These objects are called Stockbridge dampers. They dampen wind-induced vibrations of the cables, reducing cable fatigue. As wind passes across the cables, they shed vortices which cause them to vibrate at low amplitudes - in the millimetre range - but at high frequency, around 60 hertz.
The oddly shaped masses are called dogbones, for an obvious reason. They are tuned so that they flap when the cable starts to vibrate. The flapping of the dogbones dissipates the energy of the vibrating cable. They are also used on high-tension power lines and for large road-sign support spans. The dampers are tuned so that they flap and dissipate energy when the cable starts to vibrate.
Fascinating. Thanks Ken!
Ross on Wye Monday 11 May 2015
Start: Llandogo
Finish: Ross on Wye
Miles walked today: 18
Total miles: 288
In my room at the Royal Hotel in Ross on Wye this evening, I did something I hadn't done for a long while... I had a bath. The short term effect was wonderful.
Today I followed parts of Offa's Dyke and the Wysis Way (a 55 mile walking route which forms a link between Offa's Dyke and the Thames Path) and a miscellany of lanes, paths and disused railways from Llandogo to Ross on Wye. How many different shades of green are there? I don't know, but I must have seen most of them this morning. The sun shone, the views were glorious, I climbed high above the Wye, and then plunged down to walk alongside it. Several times.
Great Malvern Tuesday 12 May 2015
Start: Ross on Wye
Finish: Great Malvern
Miles walked today: 24
Total miles: 312
I think I could be lured over to the dark side... maybe our friends Dotty and Tim have the right idea? Could a bath each night mean less pain? I'm not going to find out tonight though. The charming Puddle Lane B&B in Great Malvern has a shower.
I started walking well before eight full of porridge. As I followed the river out of town I fell into conversation with a lady dog walker. Among the topics we discussed was her recent trip to Iceland. She was the second person to urge me to visit that cold country. Maybe...
Not being totally sure of my destination tonight I headed roughly in the direction of Ledbury, and hoped to reach Malvern. During the later part of the morning the local footpaths and I fell out. Clearly marked on my map, the paths were either non existent or rarely used and overgrown. I ended up crawling through hedges, tackling barbed wire, diverting around huge fields of crops, and, at one point, tramping through someone's front garden. By lunchtime, and Ledbury, I was bloodied but undefeated.
Ledbury is the most attractive town I've seen so far on this walk. All black and white buildings, narrow lanes, a beautiful church, and one of those buildings on stilts:
"The Market House, erected in 1653 by the celebrated John Abel, styled the "Kings carpenter", is a dominating structure of brick and timber supported on 16 massive posts of either Spanish chestnut or English oak. Legend has it that the supporting pillars were once part of the Spanish Armada, but it is more likely that they were obtained from the Malvern "Chase"
The Market House was originally constructed as a grain store, but now serves the purpose of a Council chamber."
Sitting drinking a bottle of pop under the market house, I can smell something cooking. Behind me sausages are sizzling and smelling delicious. I try to buy a sausage bap, but the owner of the stall is absent and the neighbouring stall holder refuses to sell me food. She says it's not allowed, as she's not trained. We are having a heated but good natured discussion during which I try to persuade her to rebel, when the sausage lady returns. She serves me a delicious and tasty snack, and explains that she's a farmer and that she makes the bangers herself. The two women ask me where I'm headed, and promise to look at this lowly journal. I do hope you have seen this, both of you. In a further act of kindness Mrs Sausage wraps some bangers in foil to sustain me during the afternoon.
Great Malvern sits to the East of the Malvern Hills. My afternoon takes in some woodland trails, then a slog to the top of the afore mentioned hills. At the top, a sign tells me I'm leaving Herefordshire and entering Worcestershire. Another county. There are stunning views to the East, and I sit near the priory Googling for a room.
