Mark's Practise Walk Day 2 of 3

Sadly (or happily) it was going to be difficult for Jess to taxi me to the next part of the Cotswold Way due to work commitments. Mark the Idle rejoiced, Mark the Idealist just couldn't be found to argue with anymore.

Amazingly I managed to extricate myself from the comforts of home and hit the trail near the house by 10am heading towards Cheddar http://www.thestrawberryline.co.uk/. The Strawberry Line is an old railway track, so it's a little on the flat side. And very straight

... with tunnels, for which I will remember a flashlight in the future (the risk of bicycle - pedestrian interaction is high)

... and occasional, artistically strewn underwear

... and if you ever wondered what a first person view from 6' 4" looks like, here are my boots and perfectly ironed cords:

Nine miles down the Strawberry Line is the medieval market town of Axbridge. It's a place I normally associate with a great farmers market selling local beefburgers barbecued to order. I think this means I've only ever visited Axbridge on a Saturday morning, as Wednesday mornings are definitely devoid of burgers, markets and even farmers.

Three miles on down the line from Axbridge is the cheesy town of Cheddar. The ice cream is pretty good too.

Cheddar is the turning point in the walk where I started to head back towards our home town of Yatton. To make it more interesting than just following the train line back (and practise going up as well as just along) I headed for the hills around Cheddar. As you climb up above Cheddar some great views start to form. Glastonbury Tor is on the horizon in the first snap, and the Iron Age fort of Brent Knoll in the middle of the second, looking out over Bridgwater Bay and then Exmoor in the far distance.

These hills are far less well trodden by tourists and walkers, and have a strong sense of not having changed for centuries. There are the dry stone walls of course

But there are also magical spots which feel deeply ancient and peaceful. The wide grassy paths, walls and outlines of dwellings in the hillside hint at human industry from a time long since past.

Then there's a time not quite so distant. Walking past a quarry there were some strange vehicle choices quietly rusting away. The fire truck is Romanian.

After around 20 miles I wound my way back down to the Strawberry Line. Public transport never looked so tempting as the cumulative walking started to take its toll on my legs and feet

But I resisted and ended up back on the straight and narrow as the shadows started to get longer again. I'm quite proud of my Darth Vader helmet in the second photo (or is it a really tall Twiki the robot from Buck Rogers?)

I crossed a river where the algae was doing a great representation of South America, and a paddock where the My Little Ponies (a local breed called Exmoor ponies) were out in force

The joy of a circular walk that starts and ends on your doorstep is magnified when it feels like all you've been doing for two days non-stop is putting one foot in front of the other. Jess came home from work about the time I got back, which allowed her to remind me earnestly of the importance of stretching - for which I was most grateful!

Day's stats:

45,000 steps

2124 kcal,

27 miles

[Total of 60 miles over two days]