B2B Day 8 Porlock to Luxborough—Mizzling, Muddy, Meeting Folk

An OS map of today's walk (13.1 mi; 21 km; 2,604 ft total ascent) can be found here.

The weather forecast was accurate for today--most of the day was walking in mizzle (mist and drizzle), with a few periods of rain. Because of the weather, we took almost no photos, since we didn't want to get water on the camera lens.

Note the rain on Ken's sleeve

Ken had anticipated that it would be a difficult day of walking over Dunkery hill, so he had asked our hosts if we could arrange for luggage transfer to our next place. Nigel kindly made the arrangements, and so for the first time we traveled only with a day pack which we shared carrying. It did seem to make a difference not having 13-15 pounds on our backs (depending on how much water we are carrying).

Here is Ken at the Jubilee Hut on the Holnicote estate (which we walked through):

After crossing a road near Webber's Post, we saw women on four horses, one of them a beautiful appaloosa that had spotting like a Dalmation.

Instead of walking to the top of Dunkery Beacon, which was covered in mist, we walked the Coleridge Way which circled around the side of the hill. It had the advantage of a bit less uphill walking (though there was still plenty of that), not wondering if we would get lost in fog, and meeting a few other people. It is always interesting having people become part of our story and for us to become part of their stories, even if it's after just a five minute conversation. We first met a woman with two dogs, one a Doberman on a tight lead. She was friendly and we had a nice chat about the views that we could have seen and the fact that it was beautiful even though it was rainy. Then another woman with a dog with whom we just exchanged greetings. Then a man walking by himself who passed us with a hello, and then from behind us he called out, "Excuse me, are you walking the Coleridge Way?" He had seen Sara carrying printed directions of the Coleridge Way walk, and so we came back and chatted.

Sara's waterlogged and mud/dung besmeared Coleridge Way directions

He was walking the Coleridge Way in sections, and had walked the Cotswolds Way five times. He and Ken agreed that the north of the Cotswolds was the most beautiful. We had a very nice chat, and set off in our different directions. He appeared not even to have a day pack with him, but just to be walking unencumbered from place to place.

Later on Mick's path we met two women who were friendly and said they were part of a group, and they were shortly followed by two men and another woman. One man was especially chatty, and said that we were the first walkers they had encountered on the Coleridge Way in the three days they had been walking. They seemed impressed that we were on a 26 day walk, and didn't think our distances were short. They asked if there was any place ahead to eat lunch, and we suggested that there would be some trees which would provide some shelter ahead.

We walked down to a creek and stood and ate our lunch there--half of a chicken mayo sandwich each, and Sara had a chocolate chip biscuit.

We walked uphill for what seemed a very long time. We curved around the side of the hill. At one point Sara saw blue ahead and thought it was a shed or something, but it was sheep--blue sheep! Many of the sheep have numbers sprayed on their sides for identification, so we will often say, "Hello, number 5!" as we pass by. But these sheep had their entire backs, tops of their heads, and horns painted blue.

We walked down, down, down to the River Avill, and forded a few streams by walking on stones. Ken chose a bridleway on the other side because it wasn't too steep. We then came up, up, up again, crossed a road, and went up, up, up on a muddy bridleway. We joined the entrance drive to a manor house near Wheddon Cross and met a man walking his dog. He greeted us with, "You're not walking the Coleridge Way backwards, are you?" He said that the Royal Oak (where we were going to stay) was a good place, and they had done it up nicely. He gave us advice on paths to Wheddon Cross, but we ended up taking the road. We met another man and dog with whom we chatted, and he recommended the Royal Oak as well. We stopped at the "Rest and Be Thankful Inn" at Wheddon Cross; we did, and we were.

Sara at the "Rest and Be Thankful"

We set out from Wheddon Cross on Popery Lane, then up a path with slippery rock, and then into field after field. One with cute sheep, one with curious and ever moving closer cows, one a beautiful meadow with flowers. However, with all of the rain continuing to come down, the fields were of course WET. Ken felt his feet grow damp first, and Sara eventually did too. There also seemed to be a superabundance of sheep manure everywhere.

Then a long descent through a forest, then down red muddy farm lanes, along the road, and to Luxborough to the Royal Oak Inn. We arrived around 5:30. We had a comfortable room and a delicious dinner. Because it was cold and wet, Sara wanted something with chips, so had fish and chips. Ken liked the tartar sauce, which had some unusual herb in it (tarragon?). Ken had a beef, mushroom, and ale pie with mashed potatoes. We've now had a few really good pub meals, and this was one of them. That left not much time in the evening except to rest and be thankful.

Our room at the Royal Oak, Luxborough