A pilgrimage across southern England

[CalEden]

Mendip, must have given himself a hernia from lugging that rock all over the beach, that affected his typing fingers.

[malmomike77]

^ Wait till he marries it up to a 23 carat chain when he gets back to Korat.

[Reg Dingle]

Mendip, must have given himself a hernia from lugging that rock all over the beach, that affected his typing fingers

Or dropped his even heavier wallet on his foot.

[Backspin]

Doesn't exactly look clean does it

[Joe 90]

Or dropped his even heavier wallet on his foot.

He'll be needing that hefty wallet if he meets up with you in Soho!

[malmomike77]

^ those peep shows will be swallowing his £2 coins as fast as he can feed them.

[Joe 90]

^ those peep shows will be swallowing his £2 coins as fast as he can feed them.

Mendy will probably sneak in a cubicle with Dill to save money, gonna be a tight squeeze in there knocking one out to saucy Sara from Slovakia.

Wait till they hit the hostess bars....

[Reg Dingle]

Mendy will probably sneak in a cubicle with Dill

Are we talkin Double Dutch Rudder here?

[Joe 90]

£2 coins

If he gets short on funds I'm sure Dill can provide options for a quick earner...



Well it is the season for bruverly down sarf init..


After a few cider shandies the local talent will start to awaken the Bangkok Nana senses..



It'll be like a busmans and holiday

[Joe 90]

Are we talkin Double Dutch Rudder here?

I can't believe I just googled that

[Reg Dingle]

It's not gay, apparently

[Joe 90]

Mendip those pics are small for a reason

[Mendip]

It's not gay, apparently

I'm proud to say I have no idea what a 'Double Dutch Rudder' is, and I have no intention to Google it. Anyway, what are you doing on the internet tonight... I thought you were getting your plumbing sorted this weekend?


Mack on topic... another day, another walk on the Mendip Hills.

This morning we went to Dolebury Warren.



Many people assume that with a name like 'Dolebury' it's a place up north, but that's incorrect.

This was the hill we were faced with at 9am this morning.



Much to the daughter's amusement, half way up and I was on my knees and dry retching. That hill was steep. We stopped for a rest on this conveniently placed bench but there was still a long way to go.



And that's where we came from.



As we broke through the tree line the daughter also seemed to be struggling a bit!

And then we were clear. The second from right peak is Crook Peak where we walked up to last week.



The top of Dolebury Warren is the site of an iron age hill fort built around 3000 years ago. We followed a path that was basically along the top of the southern ramparts of the fort. You can see the formidable slope any attackers would have had to ascend before attacking.



The walls around the fort cover 22 acres and it is believed to have been occupied during Roman times. It is called Dolebury 'Warren' as it was used as a rabbit warren during medieval times to supply meat and fur.

Dolebury Warren - Wikipedia

We first walked along the southern rampart which was a single rampart since the south side was so well protected by the steep slope.



Looking back westwards from the southeast corner you can see the ancient ramparts extending along the south side.



Imagine climbing that slope while under fire from a rain of spears, arrows and rocks.



The view to the north from the east ramparts. The Bristol Channel and Wales was visible in the distance but they didn't come out in the photo. My mum's village is also visible, off to the right. I feel very lucky to have been raised in this area but sadly it's now been ruined by a huge amount of new housing and the whole area has changed. If I return to the southwest it will be somewhere further south, a bit quieter.



A nice view from the eastern ramparts. Crook Peak again visible. I saw three rabbits while walking around but they were too fast for a photo. I'm sure that Shutree would have done better.



And this gives some idea of the difficulties faced by an attacking warrior against a well defended rampart. I would fancy my chances against even an eleven year-old girl defending this fort.



We walked in to the 'lookout tower' marked on the diagram above. This picture is looking east at the eastern entrance.



Apparently it's possible to find iron arrow heads and other artifacts amongst the scree slopes but I think my daughter has had enough of rummaging around rocks for a while so we didn't stop to search for anything.

As we walked out of the fort through the eastern entrance it was possible to make out the double ramparts that surround all the sides of the fort apart from the south. These ramparts were built 3000 years ago... makes you think.



We continued to walk east and saw another red kite which wasn't surprising considering the signs of rabbits that were everywhere. They have continued to thrive up here since being farmed in medieval times.



A bizarrely shaped tree.



There are loads of these small mounds across the top of Dolebury and I'm not sure what they are. They are certainly biological and maybe have a mossy origin but I don't know.



A nice style.



We found a small cluster of feathers marking a kill for a bird of prey, maybe one of the red kites we saw. There was also a regurgitated pellet (the undigested food a bird of prey will cough up) and as luck will have it I had a small plastic bag in my pocket so I took it home. It's fascinating to put these pellets in a glass jar of water to break them down and see what the birds have been eating. Admittedly the daughter found it less fascinating than I did.



A cage to drive sheep into for inoculations, shearing, etc...



We descended the hill very quietly in the hope of seeing deer. There's a lot around this part of the Mendips.



And this is where the daughter learnt the expression 'b@stard cyclists'...



We were walking silently along the path in the hopes of spotting wildlife and these wankers clatter along the paths at breakneck speed, expecting us to jump out of the way and frightening any fauna away for miles. The fukkers are all over the roads round here and they can't stay off the hills either. I hate them (sorry Chitty). Why can't they stick to cycle lanes?

Another tosser. The daughter saw my disgust and started giving them the finger after they passed. I shouldn't really have condoned such behaviour but found it hard to admonish her.



I found time to teach the daughter the age old custom of holding a butter cup under your chin to see if you like butter. If your chin goes yellow, you like butter. It doesn't really work that well with a stubbly beard.



A scattering of young hazelnuts on the path can only mean one thing...



B@stard squirrels!



And yet more b@stard cyclists!!!



We found this bumble bee struggling to fly off the pathway to get out of the way of the bloody cyclists. I think this happens when they collect too much pollen and get too heavy to take off. I've heard that you can pick them up by hand and they realise that you're helping them and don't sting, but one time I rescued a wasp from our pool in Korat and the b@stard stung me on the hand. I picked this bee up using a fern leaf and put him out of harm's way.

And that was it... a lovely couple of hours on a Saturday morning.

Until on the way home I filled up the car for the first time since arriving in the UK... fukk me, that was a shock.



Another lovely day in Somerset!

[malmomike77]

That is cheap for diesel atm

edit

I hate cyclists too, i'd happily take the fukers out with some 2 be 4

[Joe 90]

Until on the way home I filled up the car for the first time since arriving in the UK... fukk me, that was a shock.

I bet it was! Could be worse, its £2 a litre oop norf!

I hate them (sorry Chitty). Why can't they stick to cycle lanes?

No offence taken, we're used to it!
Cycle lanes are for toddlers and beginners, not for the seasoned and confident cyclists.

A cage to drive sheep into for injections, shagging, etc...

Sids your man on that subject!

They are certainly biological and maybe have a mossy origin but I don't know.

Fred West may have some answers if you can dig your weegie board out of the garage.

I thought you were getting your plumbing sorted this weekend?

He's balls deep into a game of twister or dare at the moment, unfortunately hes had to neck 10 shots of nam pla and will be having a white knuckle ride on the porcelain rollercoaster for the rest of the weekend.
Getting to be a regular weekend pastime of his

Great thread mate!

[malmomike77]

If i had the time i'd love to take you to some woodland i know in Wiltshire.

I think its magical spending time in UK woods in summer. There is a particular wood i know which has sweet chestnut trees, not native as they aren't to the UK but they have boughs which c8 feet up branch and they are massive. You climb up and they are 4 feet in diameter and you can just lay back and watch the clouds drift by in semi shade, its a truly special experience, nod off and its OK you don't fall. I first found it about 9 years old and i took all my kids there, they still go without me

[Reg Dingle]

How's the little un enjoying the UK and the change in weather, M?

I see you're getting a lot of exercise into her, which is always good.

She missing her mom?

Mine never missed hers, that I noticed, in the 5 months we were here without her.

She got any kids to play with down there?

I was expecting my daughter to have gotten one of the scout leaders to call to pick her up in tears and be back home sat there playing Roblox by now. I even called them and asked if I could pay her a little visit to see how she is (she cried for about 2 hours on the night before she went) they refused and said the other kids will get upset and she's doing OK and was one of the first ones to sleep on the first night.

Oh well, last day of being without her, better go find a beer garden.

[Reg Dingle]

[Reg Dingle]

That on the right is what I've affectionately named the Stowroni.



A fiery little Italian West English yokel cross with awful taste that will try and fuck you after a couple.

[Mendip]

^^^ She loves it here mate... the change in weather hasn't been huge to be honest as we've been very lucky so far, It's been a good temperature but without the awful humidity of Isaan so we have been getting out lots.

The neighbours have kids the same age but they've just broken up from school and gone away, which is a shame. They used to play out in the road before in the evenings... yeah, light evenings. Another bonus. I have to keep reminding the daughter to send messages and pictures to her mother and hey occasionally chat on Line, but she doesn't seem to miss her mum much. At home it's always me that does any activities with her and being here has just meant we have a lot more to do together.

As usual it's a balance between doing stuff and having easy days doing nothing... I have to remember it's a holiday for her and she loves to spend some time watching crap on Tik Tok and playing Roblox... and it gives me a break.

(I think they sell Stowfords Press in Korat, but I prefer Thatchers when its available.)

If i had the time i'd love to take you to some woodland i know in Wiltshire.

Yes Mike, the English woodland in the summer is magical and we're spoilt around here. I just wish they would ban the mountain bikers.

We'll be local this coming week as I have my third Pfizer jab booked on Tuesday and we have opticians appointments booked on Thursday. I may be over cautious but I just don't trust much in Thailand and I like a second opinion in the West for things like eye tests, when I get the chance. So this week it'll be a tacky seaside day in Weston-Super-Mare and maybe we'll revisit Clevedon Pier as well to lay to bed that rumour that I'm a tightwad.


But anyway, yesterday afternoon we had a little drive around.

If my life had taken a different course that could have been me on my way to a century at the local rec.



The ground wasn't well attended and I only saw two picnic tables with supporters which seemed a shame, but to be fair we only hung around for about 3 minutes.



It isn't all about cider in Somerset... a local vineyard. With this climate change I think Somerset wine could be rivalling the Ozzies soon enough.



And then we followed in the steps of the Wurzels and went in search of Nempnett Thrubwell.



But first, a football trivia question. What is the connection between Ubley and Liverpool FC?



As you can see from above, finding Nempnett Thrubwell was a bit confusing as the sign pointed in different directions. It seemed that Nempnett Thrubwell isn't really a place but just a scattering of buildings. I couldn't find a road sign either but I think that they don't have one anymore because Wurzel fans keep stealing them.

Blagdon Lake from Nempnett...



A couple of street signs we did find.





And looks like we found something to do in a couple of Sundays time.



After the slightly disappointing search for Nempnett Thrubwell I drove across the dam at Blagdon Lake.



As a teenager I spent hours and days fly fishing for trout on the lake with a group of mates, all of whom I've lost touch with. The memories came flooding back.



We mainly fished from the bank but an occasional boat with a flagon of scrumpy was also enjoyed. I was hoping for a day's fishing from a boat during this trip but with no tackle and no-one to borrow it off it's not really feasible. Another activity consigned to the memory... I have to accept I'll probably never fly fish on Blagdon Lake again.



Blagdon Lake was built at the turn of last century by damming the River Yeo, the same river that flows down from my mum's house after exiting the lake. A railway track used to cross the dam.



The daughter was getting pretty bored with all my reminiscing by this point so I decided to find an ice cream to cheer her up. One of my mum's friends reckons that the world's best ice cream is sold in Cheddar so we headed off across the Mendips in search, although to be honest I don't think my mum's friend has ever left Somerset so I took her claim with a pinch of salt.

Velvet Bottom... an ancient river bed across the Mendips. The hummocky ground is due to lead mining by the Romans a couple of thousand years ago. I think that the heavy metals in the water and rampant inbreeding go a long way to explaining why there are so many weird people in the Mendip area. I'm OK because I drink bottled water these days and my parents were outsiders, or White Settlers as they'd have been called in Scotland.



Many years ago I used to come up to this part of the Mendips with my uncle, a keen herpetologist. During the first few hot days of the year, usually in March, adders come out of hibernation and bask in the sun on rocks to warm up ready for mating. If you stand in the middle of a field and study the surrounding ground with binoculars it's surprising how many snakes you can find, although admittedly you can get some funny looks from passers by. I had a pair of binoculars in the car but sadly the daughter wasn't interested in stopping for a bit of snake spotting. We did see a lot of sheep, however.



And then on down to Cheddar through the gorge.



A couple of obligatory pics of Cheddar Gorge. The road follows the path of the ancient river that cut through the limestone to form the gorge.





Families with kids were clambering around on the cliffs forming the sides of the gorge. The rock faces are surprisingly steep and the limestone is often unstable. Even the mountain goats get it wrong sometimes.



As evidently do the people...



And bollocks to this... I only stopped for a photo.



Sadly I had no choice but to pay for parking when we reached Cheddar for the daughter's ice cream. I'm no tightwad and parted with 80p, although I object to paying in my own stomping ground.



And we reached our destination... purveyors of Marshfield Farm ice cream, the best ice cream in the world!



There were three freezers like this... too much choice to be honest. In the end I went for a double waffle cone with a scoop of strawberry clotted cream and a scoop of raspberry ripple. The daughter went for the same double cone with a scoop of cookies and cream and a scoop of salted caramel.



And although I felt like a bit of a traitor buying Devon cider in Somerset, I picked up a couple of bottles of this to try out.



Lovely! Although I prefer a whippy ice cream with a flake.

[Edmond]

Lovely.


What a great place for mountain biking!

[Joe 90]

Cripple Cock?

Pissing down up here, if it is down there you might want to take your daughter to the cinema this evening.
I can recommend the Rise of Dru.
Might gives you a heart attack with the entrance prices nowadays though.

[Joe 90]

What a great place for mountain biking!

Was thinking that myself

[katie23]

Very nice selection of ice cream, Mendy. I can feel my weight gain by just looking at them.

The hike that you did looked like a substantial one. Respect! (insert thumbs up emoji)

[armstrong]

Got me thinking about what I'd do with my daughter in the UK and I reckon 2 days in Norwich with a day trip to Yarmouth included in that would be enough. The rest of the time being a tourist in London.

If I start saving now should probably be able to treat her for her 40th birthday