Distance: 18.0 miles
Time: 6 hrs 20 mins
Weather: Hot and sunny
Cumulative distance: 774.9 miles
Negotiating a route across the Somerset Levels, savaged by brambles and nettles, then recovery at a farm.
I said goodbye to my hosts after a really welcoming and enjoyable stay, where the helpless long distance walker's every need was catered for. Chris kindly drove me to where we'd finished yesterday's walk and I set off to navigate my way through the Somerset Levels.
This had undoubtedly been the most difficult route planning aspect of my entire journey. The Levels are criss crossed with drainage channels (rhynes - pronounced 'reens') as much of the land is at or below sea level. Apart from the M5 motorway, there are no direct routes and few places for the walker to cross the canal, railway, motorway and main drainage channel which form challenging obstacles. Fortunately my route planning held up well and I successfully escaped.
In a residential area, I spotted a man walking towards me carrying a glass and a bottle. I was surprised to discover that they were for me - he'd driven past and dashed into his house to provide refreshment!
In North Petherton, I popped into Tesco Express to buy a meal deal lunch and ate it some miles later in a quiet country lane, sheltering from the continued heat under a tree. Just afterwards I encountered the most overgrown footpath of the entire journey. It was only a few hundred metres in length, but the brambles and nettles were taller than me. I finally emerged with cuts and scratches across my neck, arms and legs.
I arrived at my latest accommodation, a friendly farmhouse B&B, with a well stocked farm shop next door. My original B&B had been cancelled some months ago due to flooding damage, so this was a late replacement. Unfortunately there were no pubs, restaurants or takeaways nearby, so I had to walk a mile to the local Co-op to buy a microwave dinner, which I consumed with two bottles of Barn Owl from the Cotleigh brewery in Somerset.
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