Bridgwater to Stoughton

14 May 2010 - Bridgwater to Stoughton

Distance - 15.8 miles

Weather - Dry, but overcast

We stayed at - Poplar Farm, West Stoughton, Wedmore, Somerset, BS28 4PP Cost - £60.00

The whole reason for choosing the route we followed for this stage of the LEJOG was to have as much variety as possible in the scenery and our surroundings. First of all we had experienced the beautiful Devon countryside, followed by Exmoor and the Quantock Hills. Today we left the hills behind and walked through the Somerset Levels, which in contrast to yesterday, rarely took us above sea level. Since the land often floods, there are few public footpaths, so most of our walking was on narrow lanes or farm tracks. We spent a good while negotiating ourselves out of Bridgwater, but finally we left the footbridge over the M5 and walked into the little village of Chedzoy.

A bit further on we followed a footpath along the incredibly straight King's Sedgemoor Drain up to Bawdrip. I had thought the Somerset Levels would be full of reed beds  but instead the landscape reminded me of the sluices found around Lincolnshire. It was then quite a fiddly route through Cossington to the pumping station at Gold Corner. The pumping station stood by the side of the Huntspill River, which for a river I had never previously heard of was extremely wide. Some old pumping machinery stood in the grounds of the pumping station.

From Gold Corner we walked on to meet the Cripps River and a bit later the River Brue. More fiddly routes led us to Westham and Blackford. There isn't really much around this area except for fields, drains and rivers and so to get some accommodation for the night we had to walk to West Staughton. We stayed in a lovely log cabin in the grounds of Poplar Farm. I much preferred sleeping out there, than with the other guests in the farmhouse itself. It was like a posh Wendy house, with even its own shower and toilet.