As part of my August Getaway week I went on a train ride. Choo-choo!
It was a fairly early departure (8am?) from the campsite in the morning,
arriving in Minehead at about 9am after the long downhill climb through some
nice woods, during which I saw a bird of prey of some sort silhouetted
against the sun.
As my Exmoor 1:25000 OS map didn't cover where I was heading to and paying
£8 for a use-once-this-half-decade map seemed daft, my first port of call
was to a very helpful branch of the Exmoor Business Centre on Tregonwell
Road where I printed off some colour maps from the OS website for about £2.
Thus armed, it was to the station and HQ of the West Somerset Railway where
I purchased a Rover ticket for just £11 which allowed to hop on and off the
line as I liked during the day. First train of the day was in old fashioned
carriages hauled by a shiny black steam loco with the old BR crest on the
side by the drivers door. We left the station on time and steadily chuffed
thru the beautiful Somerset countryside till we arrived at Crowcombe
Heathfield where I detrained, used the toilet and set off along the road
towards the overbridge where I was just in time to see the train depart amid
great clouds of steam.
Eastwards to the crossroads on the A358 where I headed for Triscombe along a
narrow lane just wide enough for a big farm tractor to pass me as I squeezed
into a hedge! I was intrigued to see how the the Blue Ball Inn has changed
since my great-aunt and uncle ran it back in the late 80's/early 90's,
they've turned the old pub into a house and extended the old barn/beer room
into the pub itself, with a little footbridge over the courtyard into the
beer garden. There were people there when I arrived at about 12.30pm but I
chose to pop in for a drink later.
At SS156354 I was faced with one of those issues where the route on the map
is completely invisible on the ground in front of you because of massively
overgrown vegetation despite a footpath sign pointing uphill. I decided to
head south along the road and hope the next uphill path was viable which, at
ST158350, it was. Partly.
The hill looks amazingly steep here especially as the path goes straight
upwards over a scramble of tree roots and loose dirt until it fades out in a
huge field of overgrown triffid-like bushes. I decided to continue up but
was defeated despite trying to squeeze thru ever decreasing gaps in the
plants, till they became just big enough for a deer to wind through. Hot,
tired and [censored] at this point, I then looked to my left (north) and
spotted a line of trees. Tall trees. In two rows like an avenue. Heading
uphill like a field boundary. With a stone wall besides...
It was swiftly over to this line from where 5 minutes climb took me to the
fenceline at the top and along to ST162350 where a path took me over the top
to the OS trig point at ST165351. This is fenced off to stop the ponies from
using it a scratching post. They've pulled the fence down anyway! Great
views from this site all the way up and down the Bristol Channel apart from
the nuclear power station at Hinckley Point and some pretty views inland
along the Quantocks. It was now about 1.30 pm so I headed back to the pub
directly along the ridge path which heads steeply downhill, leading me to
give thanks for my poles which I needed for balance.
Near the bottom I found out why the uphill sign was incorrect. There is a
path bisecting the hill and below it the downwards path was so steep and
impassible it was easier to head away from Triscombe towards the quarry and
then back along the road to the pub where I tried out two of the local
brews. The Blue Ball Inn does serve food but unfortunately it's high priced
restaurant fare and not bar snacks which would be nice for walkers.
I was back at Crowcombe Heathfield station in time to have a good look
around the displays and boarded the 3.13pm to Blue Anchor from where I took
a walk down the beach and enjoyed an ice-cream. Well, can't go to the
seaside without having an ice-cream can you?
Back up the line to Washford and a brief look around the Somerset and Dorset
Railway museum/shop (I returned by car the next day for a good full look
around), before heading back to Minehead at 5.45pm on the last train of the
day in the company of two ladies who remembered taking the last scheduled
service from London back in the 1970s before BR closed it.
Most enjoyable and using the railway saved a lot of worry about where to
park my car and if I could drink or not. Did I mention the on-train buffet
car which sold Real Ale and food? No? Well, it does. And very nice it was
too!
Nick