I've done three Marilyns today. I could have driven the half kilometre on the track from the road to the summit of Selworthy Beacon on the coast above Minehead (SS 914 480) with my trusty 4wd Yeti. I elected to walk! It was all nostalgia as I looked across to Dunkery Beacon, another Marilyn which I summited on my LEJOG trip in 2008.
The satnav has been invaluable, and it now took me to the tiny yellow sandstone village of Wootton Courtenay where I felt ashamed only spending a few pence in the post office to buy a postcard to send to granddaughter Katie. This was also a general store but there was nothing else I needed - how long will these little shops survive?
Periton Hill (SS 946 442) was a one and a quarter hour strenuous round trip. I was beginning to think the trig point must have been destroyed until I found it nestling in trees. They must have grown up since the triangulation was done, otherwise it's placement would have been a nonsense.
Another satnav triumph took me to Staple Fitzpaine, where do these names come from? A dead end yellow road continued on a track making a half hour round trip walk to find the trig of Staple Hill (ST 240 167). That was easier said than done. It was fifty yards off the track in dense woodland, and heavily camouflaged with moss making it almost invisible. In that situation its only sighting capability would be of nearby trees.
I am writing this on the iPad whilst dining in the Mason's Arms, my caravan site location - acceptable but not exceptional, apart from them their proud boast of an in-house micro brewery housed in a room 8ft by 8ft which I was allowed to go and view through a window. The beer I sampled was good quality real ale.
The track that I WALKED up to Selworthy Beacon
Selworthy Beacon. Dunkery Beacon on horizon
Staple Hill trig was fifty yards into this wood off the track
The reclusive Staple Hill trig
Micro brewery at The Mason's Arms, Lower Odcombe
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Well done Conrad. Soft! Never.
ReplyDeleteAlan R. Thanks for that. It's just a running theme with my brother who thinks having pots of tea in cafes dilutes the macho image of the would be hard case outdoor type, and this has now been extended to using a caravan instead of a tent or sleeping under a hedge.
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