Off on another lovely long walk today, with sights set on Croydon Hill, as mentioned last week. For a collection of reasons a week passed by since the last walk, which was not my intention, but hey-ho.
Clouds seem to be a feature of early morning now, perhaps a sign that summer is coming to an end, and the morning dew certainly ought to be. And so it was today, with the clouds finally clearing nearer to lunch time. That made the mornings assault on Croydon Hill a little easier, but given that the climb up was almost entirely in a tree lined lane, I didn’t get much of a look at the sun or a view anyway. I finally broke cover on Monkham Hill for a view back towards Old Cleeve and the Quantocks beyond. Croydon Hill is mostly forestry plantation, so no view from there either. But it was a pleasant walk and not too steep.
I descended from Croydon Hill into Timberscombe in time for a lunch stop in The Lion Inn which was greatly appreciated. I should have skipped the pint of Exmoor though, as it inevitably leads to lunch legs. I didn’t help with the navigation either, and as I headed off towards Wootton Courtney I lost the path and had to do a bit of hedge and stream jumping to get back on track. As I climbed out of Wootton Courtney through Wootton Common (steep enough as it is) I merrily wandered through the woods and missed another turn, requiring a scramble up a very steep bank to get back on track with a 20 minute time penalty.
The treat of the day turned out to be the walk along the top of Grabbist Hill, with fine views of Minehead’s North Hill, Selworthy Beacon beyond and of course the town centre. A cracking view also before the madly steep descent into Dunster, with views back across to Croydon Hill allowing me to bask in the glory of my achievement so far. Dunster provided me with an afternoon coffee stop, and then a pleasant albeit tired walk back along Dunster Beach and Blue Anchor to return to Old Cleeve.
Days like this should be the rule, not the exception. What with a helpful epiphany on a hill top regarding an app development conundrum I have been suffering with for the last couple of days, today turned out to be highly productive even with a seven hour walk thrown in. I must get out often!
