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