In Training - Himalayas here we come!

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We are now two months into our training and we've got several walks under our belt. The weather has been so cold though, some of it hasn't been as enjoyable as it should have been.

Sarah Drake and I have been repeating the same walk most Monday afternoons to see how we progress, so we have something to gauge our training on.

The walk starts at The Black Horse pub in Clapton in Gordano. The lane that leads up under the motorway is a steady uphill climb past cottages and houses on the right, with lovely gardens. Several rabbits scurried out of our way as we walked up the lane. As we get to the top we turn left over a stile into a field that usually has at least two horses in it that are quite friendly, but if you have dogs its best to keep them on leads. We follow the path around on the left by the side of the wood and almost to the end of the field is another stile that leads into the woods. As we climbed over the stile, we saw two deer with lovely fluffy bottoms, run up further into the woods out of our way and at the same time, an enormous eagle took flight from one of the trees and soared over our heads! We were gobsmacked. The path in the woods really does climb quite steeply and every time we walk it we forget how steep it is. The wood at the moment is still quite muddy, but I can't wait to see what it looks like in a months time when hopefully the bluebells will be flowering. There are quite a few paths leading to various points in the woods, but we take the left hand one that sweeps around to the right, then climbs (further again) to the left and to the back of Caswell House. There is a kissing gate into the lane and as I go through the gate, I see another deer running down the middle of the lane and back into the woods at the bottom. And then unbelievably another eagle that was sat on the fence halfway down the lane, flew off also into the woods. This really was a nature walk The lovely old Manor House that has been converted into several cottages, all stonebuilt. The views from this point out across Portishead and the Severn Estuary over to Wales are stunning.

At the bottom of the lane is another stile into a field that is full of sheep and their excitable lambs, all spring about in the sun. Good job we had Scrumpy on a lead! Scrumpy is Sarahs jack russell. We then continue across the field, still climbing, until we reach another stile at the top that takes us into Cadbury Camp Lane. Directly opposite is another footpath that takes us between two properties into another wood. When we walked this about a month ago when the snow was on the ground, this was the most beautiful scenery possible with all the snow and icicles on the trees. Today, its much warmer and therefore much muddier! The path continues downhill at the back of the properties leading down to Tickenham, which we can see through the trees to our left. Just before the bottom, we decide to shorten our walk as Sarah doesn't feel at this point that she can complete the whole route, and take a steep uphill path to the right, taking us between another two properties. Its really interesting to see the grand houses from the back garden point of view. The uphill climb is a little dicey as it really is very muddy making it very slippery indeed. We have to hold into the fence in a couple of places to stop ourselves heading back down.

Soon we get back onto Cadbury Camp Lane, taking a left turn and having a nose at all the properties in 'Millionaires Row'. How the other half live! The temperature is beginning to drop a little now as we continue down the lane. We meet an old lady, heading in the opposite direction, who tells us that it is very muddy down there! Yikes! As we get to the end of the lane, the lane forks in two and we take the right hand turn for awhile until we take another right hand turn heading towards the M5 motorway that we can hear in the distance. The path starts heading downwards now and we can hear the motorway getting louder. Suddenly, Sarah realises that we have to cross the footpath across the motorway and gets really nervous. The motorway is really busy and noisy. I don't like heights either, but I don't have a problem with this bridge as it is concrete and seems very safe, Sarah, on the other hand has to hold onto the back of my backpack and close her eyes being led by me across the bridge!

As we come down off the bridge we're in the back of another wood, which leads down into some fields at the bottom. We take a top path through several fields over stiles which leads us into the back of the stables in Clapton. The stables are beside Clapton House. We walk on following the road and take a right turn up a hill towards St Michaels Church in Clapton, which is a delightful, very old church which is still in use today. At the top of the hill in the church carpark, Sarah takes a break on the wooden bench and we look out across Gordano Valley, which never ceases to leave me awestruck. How lucky we are to live in such a beautiful place.

We then take the path that the local parishioners use to get to church, which leads us through the houses, back down to the Black Horse and the end of our walk for today. We are both very pleased as we have been walking for 2 hours and have completed more of the route than usual. Sarah particularly is feeling very pleased with herself. Maybe next time, we'll complete the whole route!! Watch this space.

Last time I was unable to upload photos of Walton Common, so I will attempt to do so now. Enjoy and see you next time.

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Photos

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View from Walton Common out across Gordano Valley

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Lovely blue skies on Walton Common

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View of one of the holes on Clevedon Golf Course

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Shrub on Walton Common

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Biba enjoying her walk across the Common