Sandford to Easton-in-Gordano

16 May 2010 - Sandford to Easton-in-Gordano

Distance - 16.8 miles

Weather - Overcast

We stayed at - Days Inn Bristol Hotel, Gordano Service Area, Junction 19, M5 Motorway, Portbury, BS20 7XG Cost - £65.00

For our route from Sandford we made use of a disused railway track, which was once called the Strawberry Line, but was now known by the rather less intriguing title of the Cheddar Valley Railway Walk. The path skirted round the edge of Congresbury and up to Yatton, where it met up with a still functioning line. Someone had gone to great lengths to make this a good walk, by including informative signs and interesting wrought iron sculptured signs. We particularly liked one in the shape of a steam engine, which allegedly included all the things you could hope to see on the walk, including cyclists and runners. I can vouch that, it being a Sunday, we did see a fair few of those.

At Yatton we left the disused railway line and had to do a bit of pavement walking to North End, then took a footpath leading us to Kenn. After that, we picked our way via footpaths overlooking Clevedon on to Cadbury Camp. We stopped at the top to have some sweets and a bit of a rest, as this was quite a strenuous day with a full pack. From there we went on to Clapton-in-Gordano which had a nice pub where we stopped for a quick pint. It was here where the GPS decided to crash and wipe all the information we had amassed about our journey over the last eight days. Needless to say I was not amused.

It was interesting once we neared the services at Easton-in-Gordan, where we were going to stay that night, as obviously everyone arrives by car, so there were no facilities for anyone arriving by foot. We managed to reach the car park without being ran over and to find the motel. It was really funny watching all the travelers queuing for the burger bars and toilets, all in a rush to get back on the road, whereas we had all the time in the world. Whilst it wasn't the best place we've stayed, it did give us a reasonably cheap and efficient roof over our heads that night.