0900 Wake up in my four-poster at the B and B in Wembdon to a sunny morning. Today’s objective: walk/cycle out to the National Nature Reserve at Steart Head along the banks of the River Parrett. I am on the last day of this batch of trips so have to remember to leave time to travel home...
1000 After a continental breakfast I cycle down the hill out of Wembdon through quiet lanes to the riverside footpath, passing the striking red sandstone church at Chilton Trinity. A buzzard flies across in front of me and perches some way off in a tree. Later, I come across a wing feather which I keep as a souvenir.
1030 There are plenty of things to look at as I wander along the path, pushing my bike through the long grass: skylarks making the most of the fine weather to sing their song; collared doves; a bold reed warbler perching right in front of me; inevitable waders poking about on the muddy grey bed of the river; a meadow pipit, little egret and a marbled white butterfly.
1319 The walk is seemingly very quiet - just me, a farmer mowing (without a dog though!) and a herd of bullocks munching grass - when I come across three guys in a Landrover from the Environment Agency cooking their lunch on a portable barbecue, rather surreptitiously or so it seems to me. They look a little bit guilty and I get the feeling that lunch hour for them will stretch well into the afternoon!
1352 Curse my luck – I’ve dropped my binoculars along the path somewhere. Thinking back, I remember having them just before a stile so I decide to walk back. The EA men are still cooking and the bullocks look up at me curiously as I retrace my steps, occasionally hopping onto my bike when the terrain permits. Reaching the stile I look around and....there they are on the ground... Hurrah! I turn about to continue on only to be confronted by a wall of bovine faces about 10 feet away and closing ...the whole herd has come to see what has been going on!
Now, I know some people who are afraid of cows, but I’m not one of them and sure enough they all scatter when I walk towards them. All, that is, except one who thinks it is great fun to run after me as I cycle away. Never having been chased by a bullock before I don’t know how fast or far they can run but I wasn’t going slowly at this point...even I had momentary visions of being trampled to death by the frisky Friesian and I wonder what the EA men thought of the scene as I hurtled along, but I gradually pull away from the pesky thing and eventually it got bored with the game.
1405 Mounting yet another stile (difficult with a bike in tow) I disturb a flock of many hundreds of crows which are grubbing around in the fields on the margins of the river. Protesting loudly, they rise and fly across to resume their feeding on the other bank.
1507 Back in civilisation again as I continue through Combwich village and the farmland beyond. The river widens and meanders here and the countryside is rather flat and bleak, very unlike, say the Camel estuary. The farming must be good though because a lot of the land is given over to crops which are being harvested.
1602 Finally reach Steart Head right at the mouth which is the end (or beginning!) of the River Parrett Trail. The nature reserve was deserted but is well endowed with hides including an impressive tower hide. Probably it the wrong time of year to go and see a lot though there was a crop of waders with the odd cormorant thrown in. More interestingly, the view into the Bristol Channel afforded me a different angle on the small islets of Steep Holm and Flat Holm, which I could see at a distance from my old home at Clevedon, back in the 90’s.
1700: Decide to start for home, which sadly requires me to change trains three times, so seems to take forever. The cycle back to Bridgwater took me along a few busy roads, made even busier in the rush hour.
1800: Bizarre ‘Pythoneqsue’ mural paintings at Bridgwater station – check out my photos and judge for yourselves.
1844 Waiting for a delayed train at Taunton. A consequent bonus is that I have time to nip into town and buy some fish and chips! So ends this clutch of trips to the Forest of Dean, the Malverns and Somerset: munching some excellent chips at Taunton Station, platform 2. The highlight for me has got to be the clear, clear view from the top of the Malvern Hills.
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