JOGLE 4 Day 6 8 Sep 11
Start 0815 Finish 1630 Distance 17.5 miles. Taunton to Sampford Peverell. Today the weather was better, very cloudy with threatening showers and no sun. The walking plan for today is to follow the path of the Grand Western Canal which for most of the day lacked definition and in places ceased to exist almost completely. It wasn’t until later in the day we came across a fully restored part of the canal that provided some great walking and interesting sites on the way. Earlier in the day we came across a massive restoration project where parts of the aqua-ducts have been exposed which now are no more than a bridge across a stream in a farmer’s field to a huge lift installation designed to lift canal boats some 30-40 feet. Where the canal had been completely overgrown by trees all the trees where earmarked for felling. Sadly that stretch of the canal will never be re-joined to the later fully restored stages because of land reclamation by farmers and residents along with houses and garages being built across the original path. It is fascinating to see the history unfold through old buildings and areas that live on in name only. One particular site was the restored workings of a lime Kiln. Although no different from any other Lime Kiln to look at, those that had restored it made the additional effort of putting up an information board which made it all the more interesting. For the first time ever I was able to see how a lime Kiln worked. The main conclusion I drew from this it that is that an awful lot of wood was burned to make it work, probably wouldn’t get away with such a process today. Walking along canals you get to meet all sorts of people, mostly dog walkers who liked to stop for a chat and of course the miserable dog walkers with their miserable dogs who can’t seem to manage a grunt let alone a smile, you can’t help but feel sorry for them. The Canal path took us past the rear entrance of our Hotel for the night which was the Globe Inn. It is a nice place and the room was very comfortable but it has to be said Hotels just are not in the same league as B&Bs. We ate in the Merriemede Hotel which is across the road from the Globe. Don’t ask me why it is something that we do, which is too eat elsewhere other than where we are staying. We were made to feel very welcome at The Merriemeade Hotel and soon got chatting to some local cyclists who meet up on a Wednesday evening for quick ride around the country side, something like 15 miles in the evening. It seems that one of the cyclists used to live in the village that we had had lunch in the day before; that two of the cyclists had cycled from John O’Groats to Land’s End, this met with some interest from Ian but alas it didn’t last long, oh well more walking it is then; finally the same two cyclists turned out to be undertakers and knew the motorcycle hearse carrier we met in Taunton very well, small world isn’t it?
Start 0815 Finish 1630 Distance 17.5 miles. Taunton to Sampford Peverell. Today the weather was better, very cloudy with threatening showers and no sun. The walking plan for today is to follow the path of the Grand Western Canal which for most of the day lacked definition and in places ceased to exist almost completely. It wasn’t until later in the day we came across a fully restored part of the canal that provided some great walking and interesting sites on the way. Earlier in the day we came across a massive restoration project where parts of the aqua-ducts have been exposed which now are no more than a bridge across a stream in a farmer’s field to a huge lift installation designed to lift canal boats some 30-40 feet. Where the canal had been completely overgrown by trees all the trees where earmarked for felling. Sadly that stretch of the canal will never be re-joined to the later fully restored stages because of land reclamation by farmers and residents along with houses and garages being built across the original path. It is fascinating to see the history unfold through old buildings and areas that live on in name only. One particular site was the restored workings of a lime Kiln. Although no different from any other Lime Kiln to look at, those that had restored it made the additional effort of putting up an information board which made it all the more interesting. For the first time ever I was able to see how a lime Kiln worked. The main conclusion I drew from this it that is that an awful lot of wood was burned to make it work, probably wouldn’t get away with such a process today. Walking along canals you get to meet all sorts of people, mostly dog walkers who liked to stop for a chat and of course the miserable dog walkers with their miserable dogs who can’t seem to manage a grunt let alone a smile, you can’t help but feel sorry for them. The Canal path took us past the rear entrance of our Hotel for the night which was the Globe Inn. It is a nice place and the room was very comfortable but it has to be said Hotels just are not in the same league as B&Bs. We ate in the Merriemede Hotel which is across the road from the Globe. Don’t ask me why it is something that we do, which is too eat elsewhere other than where we are staying. We were made to feel very welcome at The Merriemeade Hotel and soon got chatting to some local cyclists who meet up on a Wednesday evening for quick ride around the country side, something like 15 miles in the evening. It seems that one of the cyclists used to live in the village that we had had lunch in the day before; that two of the cyclists had cycled from John O’Groats to Land’s End, this met with some interest from Ian but alas it didn’t last long, oh well more walking it is then; finally the same two cyclists turned out to be undertakers and knew the motorcycle hearse carrier we met in Taunton very well, small world isn’t it?
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