Walking DPS:Layout 1
7/19/18
3:41 PM
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WALKING
4. EBBOR GORGE It is worth reading the information board as you enter. The wooded gorge consists of a steep-sided ravine cut into 350-millionyear-old carboniferous limestone by meltwater in the Pleistocene era. Various caves within the gorge were inhabited by Neolithic people. Human and animal bones have been recovered from several of the caves. Cave exploration – particularly underwater – continues and new caves are being discovered. Go deeper into the wooded gorge and at the next signpost, turn up the steps on the right. This is a beautiful but challenging climb which will take about 25 minutes. Take it at your own pace. Notice the wickerwork badger on the right.
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5. VIEWPOINT At the next track junction, make a very short detour left to the gorge’s superb viewpoint on a rocky edge. This is a magnificent sunny spot. Return to the junction and continue on along the WMW, with a little more of a climb ahead.
6. FIELDS Leave the reserve and carry on up the next field to the next boundary and an unusual Mendip “mish-mash” stile. Stay in the field turning right with the field boundary on your left. Head along the hill enjoying views as you go. Cross another stile and on over another ahead. Ignore the stile left with the sign “Smile on you crazy diamond” in memory of someone called Chip. Continue ahead and after crossing another stile, bear right diagonally across and down the field heading in the direction of a large farm in the valley – Model Farm. Cross a stile by a Bristol Gate (this is a
OS Explorer 141, Cheddar Gorge & Mendip Hills West, grid ref: 564 463. (approx postcode BA5 2LR). 5 miles. About 3 hours walking.
gate with pedestrian access built into it, and designed originally by footpath wardens in Bristol). Follow a path under trees. Go through another Bristol Gate and on down through woodland. Another gate takes you into a field. Follow the right edge getting a good views of Arthur’s Seat and Glastonbury Tor.
7. TYNINGS LANE Carry on down to Tynings Lane. Go left a
few yards, and hidden in the hedge on the right cross a stile into a campsite. Head diagonally down left. We have now joined the Monarch’s Way, the 615-mile longdistance footpath that follows closely the escape route taken by King Charles II in 1651 after being defeated in the Battle of Worcester. It runs from Worcester via Bristol and Yeovil to Brighton. Go through and follow the right side of the field with a wood on the right. Go through a kissing gate and over stepping stones and up the field. Over left is Model Farm. 8. MODEL FARM Model farms date back to the agricultural revolution of the late 17th and early 18th centuries and the interest in improved farming techniques and design of farmsteads. It was probably in the Victorian era that the name “model farm” was actually coined. After another Bristol Gate, turn left passing the farm and walk on to the top right corner by the wood. Go through a kissing gate and along a path and come out by the junction by the Ella Gould memorial where you were earlier. Retrace your steps and at the bend you can for a change take the lane, Milton Lane, instead which takes you down to Ash Lane or continue down the West Mendip Way.
MENDIP TIMES • AUGUST 2018 • PAGE 63