We started today by buying our lunch – including Cheddar sandwiches of course! We very pleased to have discovered Hansford’s Deli who made us tasty sandwiches & even better flapjack than yesterday!

As anticipated, our walk started with an ascent! We followed the Gorge Walk up the western side of Cheddar Gorge. It was a beautiful sunny morning, but the sun was quite warm so we were grateful that most of the climb was shaded by trees. The view at the top was spectacular and we had a rest stop to admire it. The only disappointment was that we didn’t see any of the feral goats!!

The route then descend steeply back down and we followed a wide track through a nature reserve to our next ascent through Long Wood. By the time we got to the top we felt we had earned our coffee stop.

The walking then became easier, until we got to Rowberrow Warren….which was like a warren, with a lack of blue arrows to follow! We needed to use the OS app on our phones to find our way back onto the correct path. We celebrated finding it again with some lunch!

Another uphill, fortunately short this time, took us to Shipham village. After Shipham there was just Winterhead Hill between us and our hotel. We were going celebrate climbing it with a cup of tea, but the way was blocked by bullocks, so we also celebrated circumnavigating them in the next field instead.

From there it was no time at all until we were sitting on the veranda of our hotel, watching the sunset & sipping a cocktail! We deserved a reward after 8.5 miles & lots of steep hills.

R & L

After a comfortable night in our fancy hotel & a tasty breakfast, we started the day by attending the morning eucharist at Wells cathedral and buying sandwiches cafe Nero, one of the few places open on a Sunday.

Our walk today was now the West Mendips Way and as we were in the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, we were treated to some good views.

The path climbed up to Arthur’s Point which had a nice view, but nothing on the views later in the day. After wandering through the curiously named Wookey Hole, we climb up lots and lots of steps to the top of Ebbor Gorge. We rewarded ourselves with coffee & some flapjack we’d bought at the Flapjackery in Wells while admiring the view.

Next we headed to Priddy and we enjoyed looking at the campsite. The pub also looked interesting with beach hut ‘palaces’ in the garden, but pressed on and had our lunch in a field about 3km after.

We should have held off for our lunch because after the summit above Stoke Woods opened up to the most amazing view of the Mendips to the sea & even to Minehead & Cardiff.

We took the option to walk along the hillside through Draycott Sleights Nature Reserve (rather than descend down to Draycott). This was a good choice because as well as avoiding another ascent we enjoyed some of the best views on the route so far.

After a tea break overlooking Cheddar, we descended down into the town and found the Youth Hostel we were staying in.

For dinner we enjoyed a delicious meal at Zen Thai. We are a bit sore but we still took a stroll to see the touristy bits of Cheddar which is spectacularly nestled in a very steep gorge.

Today was about 11.5 miles. Tomorrow should be shorter, but promises to be a hard day with more steep ascents!

R & L

Today’s walk was much easier – no rain, a nice temperature for walking and only 6.5 miles.

The terrain today was more open, mainly fields with lots of views towards Glastonbury Tor.

We had our lunch on Tor Hill just outside Wells. We had purchased sandwiches (and tasty cakes to have as our elevenses!) at The Hive cafe and craft shop in Shepton Mallet. The staff were very sweet and went to great efforts to package our sandwiches, salads & cakes in a way that wouldn’t get crushed in our backpacks!

Being as we arrived in Wells early afternoon, we were able to take a (hobbling) walk to explore the town. We were expecting to see a cathedral, but we were surprised to find that there is a bishop’s palace with a moat! We enjoyed a cream tea to revive us and are now having a relaxing evening at the Swan Hotel.

R & L

Should have been approximatey 13.5 miles…we did about 14.5 including detours!

Frome (pronounced to rhyme with broom!) is a pretty little town with lots of independent stores, historical buildings…and lots of hills!

We started our day seeking out the start point for the Mendip Way which conveniently has a cafe (Cheese & Grain) where we could buy sandwiches for our lunch.

After a false start of walking round in circles in Frome trying to follow little blue arrows, we headed into the countryside & had pleasant days walking!

This part of the route was largely wooded valleys which worked out well as we could avoid the light showers under the trees!

The area has an industrial heritage. As well as disused quarries there is a large working quarry at Whatley which had dusted the foliage on that part of our walk with limestone! We also saw a long freight train. Fortunately, the rest of the route was quieter & we didn’t even see many people.

We are regretting our lack of preparation & not listening to our own advice in that regard! Tonight we are relaxing by the open fire at a quirky place called the Dusthole in Shepton Mallet, nursing our achey limbs & bag sores!!

We are proud of ourselves for walking pretty much the entire width of OS map 142. But looking forward to a shorter day tomorrow!

R & L

We finally decided what to take & we’re pleased we could still lift our bags – whether we can walk with them, is yet to be discovered!

We always get asked how heavy they are – we reckon about 13kg. Not quite sure how we can need so many things!

Very important is to not risk running out of snacks! You can read about what we think make the best backpacking snacks here.

After a good nights sleep at the Cornerhouse Inn in Frome, we are about to embark in the first section of the Mendips Way. Our feet are prepped – wrapped in animal wool and leuco tape. Just fuelling ourselves for the day ahead with a cooked breakfast!

R & L