Day 16 Wellington to Cheddar
Quick Facts:
Route: https://www.cycling4charity.org.uk/august-16
Weather: H21 L15 light rain
Winds: < 5 kph
Humidity: 98%
Depart from the Blue Mantle Guesthouse, Wellington.
Destination: Gordons Cliff Street Cheddar BS27 3PT
Planned distance: 39 mi / 63.4 km
Planned ascent: 216 m / 708 feet
Planned decent: 280 m /918 feet
For actual stats see Ralph’s Strava posting
Good morning/ good day.
We headed off from the Blue Mantle at 9:00 through the streets of Wellington in our rain gear. Somerset farmers will be happy with this warm gentle rain.
This is a semi-rest day because there are few hills and it is a shorter ride than many on this trip.
The first picturesque town was Bradford on Tone.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bradford-on-Tone
The old bridge can be pictured having knights trotting over it. The White Horse Pub has probably looked the same for a century or two as do the thatched cottages and the stone church.
The history was amazing.
Quiet, smooth, B roads took us back to Taunton where we navigated the streets and cycleways until we were on the familiar canal paths. Ralph’s Wahoo and Komoot on his phone worked well. No extra touring in Taunton. Yay!
The Bridgewater and Taunton Canal were very quiet with nobody milling around the paths as rain threatened.
Our route took us onto the familiar farmers back lanes but it was a bit different in the rain with mud washing in from the fields. Ralph had just commented that there were tractor tires up the sides of the little road, when a tractor came down it. There was only enough room for us to squash into the hedge with the bikes lined up in front of us flat against the hedge too. It is a good thing I have cut back on the cream scones!
It was late morning and Ralph wondered about getting coffee and a cake at the Gas station across a busy highway. I said I would wait on our side and watch the bikes but “you will be very disappointed”. He changed his mind. We rolled on about 500 feet and “Voila”! There was a Costa cafe waiting for him!
During these stops we always have interesting conversations and hand out our “business cards” to people who ask questions because of our bike jersey map. This time Ralph also found our own personalized support vehicle for our “Corner to Corner” for Haven House ride. Unfortunately when we took the picture there was no driver in sight. Later we did meet the couple traveling in it and complimented them on the name.
Humpsfell river and the Pumping station. The canals and ditches in the area are managed by a series of pumping stations including the old Corner Pumping station. http://ea-lit.freshwaterlife.org/archive/ealit:950/OBJ/20000998.pdf
These canals were along the NCN 3 cyclepath which we travelled on much of the day including the Bawdrip Heritage Trail which was a lovely old railway bed.
We arrived in Cheddar around 4:30 and found our accommodation. They had an excellent shed for the bikes so all was good. Gordon’s Guesthouse has an absolutely beautiful garden and outdoor pool that would have been delightful to jump into on this hot summer day, BUT just as we arrived and got settled a torrential downpour started as the front of the thunderstorms came through Cheddar! Again, we were in a great spot, safe and sound when it rained.
Nobody was out enjoying a drink on the patio of the Bath Arms!
We were safe and sound in our own “home for the night”
Another good ending to a relaxed cycling day.
Lorraine Cheddar