{"id":3210,"date":"2022-06-26T13:21:00","date_gmt":"2022-06-26T12:21:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.stonekicking.co.uk\/?p=3210"},"modified":"2023-04-23T19:43:14","modified_gmt":"2023-04-23T18:43:14","slug":"day-51-west-harptree-to-stawell","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.stonekicking.co.uk\/?p=3210","title":{"rendered":"Day 51. West Harptree to Stawell"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Samaritans Way Day 2.<\/strong>
Distance today:\u00a024.7 miles<\/strong>.
Total distance:\u00a01020.6 miles<\/strong>.
Accommodation:\u00a0campsite<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let’s just get the hills out of the way shall we? A steady 3 and half mile climb and that was pretty much all the ascents finished for the day. I’d temporarily given up attempting to follow my pre-planned route and just made use of Google Maps to find me some convenient roads. Preferably quiet and country. I wondered whether the Romans had spent much time in this area because there were a couple of really long straight roads. In contrast, you also had the winding road through <\/em>the Cheddar Gorge. I emphasize through <\/em>because there was a real sense of being insignificantly small compared to the surrounding landscape. I’m sure I must have been through there before but I have absolutely no memory of it. A few climbers looked like they were preparing to scale various cliff faces and it was another one of those rueful moments where I would have liked to have been there with more time and a proper camera. Never mind. I consoled myself with a couple of rounds of very nice (thick!) toast at the busy Edelweiss Caf\u00e9<\/a> in the centre of Cheddar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the outskirts of Blackford, I came across a pub called Sexeys Arms<\/em> and decided for the name alone, it was worth a pint. I obviously still needed consoling. (… Did I ever mention the time I was in bar called the Sexy Tractor<\/em> in Lijiang, China? … ). The pub was pretty busy and as ever I probably stood out in all my hiking gear. Bizarrely, I heard someone mention John o’ Groats to Land’s End and I said, yes, that’s what I was doing. I could see a few people having a Sunday roast and as tempting as it was, I resisted. If I am going to have a big meal I do tend to like it if I have finished walking. Unless it’s a Wetherspoons breakfast. When I left the pub, quite a few people wished me well on my trip.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My original route would have taken me through Glastonbury but with the location of available campsites, it didn’t make any sense to do so. Leaving Cheddar I had taken a direct-ish route towards Bridgwater whereas Glastonbury would have meant a bit of dog leg to the east. Nevertheless, at one point I was less than 10 miles away and I was fully aware that the festival was on this weekend. I’d even concocted a scene in my head where I passed a campsite housing people working at the festival and when they heard about my amazing selfless challenge, they offered me a free ticket and accommodation. It didn’t happen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I arrived at The Hideout<\/a> campsite at around 6pm. Is it possible for somewhere to be too <\/em>immaculate? It’s nice to have clean facilities but it does spoil the effect a little bit, if you rely on a myriad of warning notices to keep it that way. The site was in a lovely setting but the whole place seemed to be devoid of any character. In spite of there being a number of caravans, the place seemed to be largely devoid of people too. I think I spotted one couple. Jackie, the owner was not on site and had instructed me to post the \u00a318 pitch fee through the letter box. I wonder how many people, like me, ended up putting \u00a320 in because they have no change?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With it being a bit far to walk to find food and drink, I called it a day. At least I did once I’d had my immaculate shower.<\/p>\n\n\n\n