Stoughton to Sandford

15 May 2010 - Stoughton to Sandford

Distance - 17.2 miles

Weather - Sunny

We stayed at - Sandford Cottage B&B, Station Road, Sandford, Winscombe, Avon, BS25 5RA Cost - £45.00

The next day we left the Somerset levels and set off along lovely lush meadows filled with flowers to Brinscombe Hill, where there was a great view over to Cheddar and the Cheddar reservoir. From this vantage point, we could also see the slightly mystical Nyland Hill to the east. The route I've included shows that we had planned to walk along the Cheddar Yeo to Cheddar, but actually we took the footpath to the reservoir and walked around the top, emerging a little later on at a car park. The reservoir was huge and as this was a sunny Saturday, everyone seemed to be out on it doing everything from fishing to sailing.

We wandered through Cheddar and had lunch at a cafe there before taking the footpath over the top of Cheddar Gorge. At the start of the walk there was a wooden observation tower, giving good views back over the Levels and Cheddar itself. Although I've been to Cheddar a couple of times before, I had never walked by the top of the gorge before and the views were simply breathtaking. I was also delighted to stumble upon a slow worm basking itself in the sun, as it was several years since I'd last seen one of these lizards.

As we came down from Cheddar Gorge to Black Rock we crossed a deliciously scented bluebell wood, then the route took us up to Beacon Batch and across to Dolebury Warren. There was an Iron Age fort at the end of Dolebury Warren, but sadly the path went straight through, rather than round the fort. The views from here though were excellent. 

From Dolebury Warren there was a fairly straightforward walk down to Sandford via Lyncombe Hill. The owner of Sandford Cottage B&B had been extremely kind and let us stay even though she was off to a wedding. She left us a really nice continental breakfast and knocked some money off the usual price because she couldn't do us a full English. The accommodation was really lovely - we were in more of a holiday cottage than a B&B. I was so grateful she let us stay, as finding accommodation around this part of the country had been difficult. To top it all, her cottage was opposite a really good pub, where we had a lovely evening meal.