View Stogumber station to Bishop's Lydeard in a larger map
This was the longest walk I have undertaken for some time. It was 9.5 miles in length and took me 4.5 hours. I did not use the car, setting out from home and returning from Bishop's Lydeard by steam train on the preserved West Somerset Railway.
I have embedded the above Google map. This shows the route of the walk, but should be taken as indicative rather than authorative. For walking I recommend the use of paper 1:25000 Ordnance Survey maps. These show, for their date of publication, public rights of way and field boundaries, although both are subject to change. There are digital options but I have not used them.
The morning was a little chilly but it warmed up when the sun got higher. The day was mainly sunny with white cumulus clouds and a fairly strong breeze in exposed places. Visibility was fairly good and I decided that I would use my longer focus zoom lens and leave the standard one at home . I took an old 1980 Ordnance Survey 1:25000 map, Sheet 03/13. These were a smaller and far easier to handle out of doors than the current Explorer series but rights of way do change.
The first 1.5 miles were on the lane running from Stogumber station to the A358, the main road from Taunton to Williton. Stogumber station is actually in the parish of Crowcombe rather than Stogumber, but only just. The two place names were immortalised by Monty Python's Flying Circus
Having crossed the main road, I walked towards the centre of Crowcombe. After a couple of hundred yards I found to my left, opposite a thatched cottage, steps leading to a path that gives access to the Quantock Hills. Having passed a garden and some chickens the path leads into open pasture and continues uphill towards the open moorland. On this part of the route a couple of dodgy and difficult stiles have recently been replaced by new wooden gates. The fields had particularly pleasant spring green colour to them and trees were just coming into leaf.
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| View from the meadows above Crowcombe |
The path is not distinct here but you simply follow the signs with the Crowcombe estate woodland to the right and eventually come to the gate leading into the open country. There were none today, but I have seen deer in this area.
A narrow path then led through the heather and gorse, climbing again before levelling out somewhat and bearing right to join the track leading to Crowcombe Park Gate and eventually crossing the Crowcombe to Nether Stowey road.
The well trodden, old Quantock ridge road continues between trees. You cannot really see much from this road because of the trees and banks on either side, but at one point it was possible to get a view to the north east accross Bridgwater bay As soon as possible, in order to get better views to the west, I opted to use a gate that gave access to the open country above the steep, western, combe indented slopes of the hills. Trees are OK but too many make me feel penned up, so I was glad to get onto the open country. The prominence named Great Hill on the 1: 25000 map is less wild than most of the Quantock ridge. It consists of open grassland with patches of gorse and trees. Before long there was a clear view of Wills Neck, the highest point on the Quantocks at 384 metres above the OS datum. It is also a Marilyn.
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| View of Triscombe quarry and Wills Neck from Great Hill |
The next point of interest is the Triscombe stone. This is found at the junction of the ridge road, the track that climbs steeply past Triscombe quarry and the tarmac road that runs up Cockercombe giving road access from Nether Stowey and Bridgwater. It is not a spectacular monument, being only about 60 cm high, but it is thought to date back to the Bronze age. I have since found that there is an interpretation board about the Triscombe stone but I did not see it. I can believe its significance as the Quantock ridge route was an old drovers' road that in its day must have been important. There is a car park here and there were a few people enjoying the fine weather.From the Triscombe stone, there is an easy climb to the summit of Wills Neck. As could be expected there were good all round views from here. The Ordnance Survey triangulation pillar here is part of their GPS network. Follow this link to an informative web site about trig pillars. It seems that they have their own enthusiasts.
It was too breezy to stop for lunch on Wills Neck, so I continued to the edge of the woodland above West Bagborough. There is a large depression here that contains a pond. The OS map contains the legend "Pits (disused)". So far I have not been able to determine what these pits, which I am sure are man-made, were used for.
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| The triangulation pillar on Wills Neck with Hinkley Point power station behind |
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| Looking from near Wills Neck towards Minehead |
After eating my packed lunch I continued along the ridge track before taking a left turn onto a track that descends steeply and leads directly to The Rising Sun pub in West Bagborough. The georgian Bagborough house is to the right of the track and a good view of it was available at one point.
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| Bagborough House |
While waiting for the train I noticed some old buses stored in a barn to the west of the station. I has not spotted these before assume that these belong to Quantock Motor Services Ltd. This company owns and runs a number of restored heritage buses as well as a more modern fleet. It has its depot right next to the station Most of the vehicles I could see in the barn looked to be in unrestored condition.
This had been a very enjoyable walk on a beautiful spring day but I was pleased to take my seat on the train for the journey back.
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| Buses stored near Bishop's Lydeard station |
