Day 15: Tiverton to Taunton

Total miles: 26.7

Elevation gain: 1,104 ft

Time walking: 10am – 9:30pm

Miles walked to date: 221.5

Tough day! It was always going to be one of the longest days mileage-wise but when your bag feels heavy and your feet hurt less than a mile after you start you know you’re in for a long one! I’m not exactly sure why I thought it would be a good idea to try to do 24+ miles with an 20kg pack in one day.  I think it was just the way the accommodation and dates worked out and I thought I’d just go with it. But I really wouldn’t recommend it!!

The day started off very well with a lovely breakfast with Maureen my host, who packed me off with sandwiches and homemade quiche to fuel me up for the day. (Maureen makes the most amazing quiches!). I was also super lucky to be there just as a duck who had been nesting for a few weeks finally hatched her ducklings! There were two cute and fuzzy duckling heads peeking out from underneath their mum, such an adorable start to my day!

A 1.5 mile walk along the edge of town brought me up to the start of the Grand Western Canal, which I was surprised to find is up above the town, i.e. at a higher elevation. It feels quite strange to be standing next to water looking down across a town! Sadly on Mondays the horse-drawn barge doesn’t run so I didn’t get to see that in action but the canal was a lovely route to walk. It was good to have some nice flat, even ground to walk along, and some nice shady bits as it was another warm day, and I made good progress for the first 6 miles. This was time for a mini celebration as I just hit the 200 mile mark, which feels pretty amazing!

Along the way I saw a woman with a prosthetic leg (from just below her hip) walking her dog, and although she looked fit and strong it made me thankful for my two working legs. Throughout the day, whenever my feet hurt, I kept reminding myself to be grateful that I had feet to get blisters on!

At Halberton, after a quick stop off at the farm shop to use their loo, I met up with Susan and her 6 month old daughter Zoe – I think most probably my youngest guest walker of the trip! I hadn’t seen Susan since university so it was great to catch up over the few miles we walked together. Three days in a row now I’ve had company for some or all of the day which has been great!

At 10 miles I stopped for my first proper break and although it was fairly early in the day considering I was less than halfway I took my boots off while I ate the quiche (very grateful for that quiche!), as my feet were starting to throb already. I’d put my first blister plaster on and although the blister was getting bigger I think the plaster helped. I decided to put one on my little toe too, given that I still had so far to walk. It took a while to persuade myself to get going again after the rest, and for the first time on the journey I felt properly tired. My feet and hips hurt as I hobbled for a few hundred metres while I got back into my stride, but then they eased back into it again feeling better for the break and refuel.

After a while walking alongside the canal did get a bit monotonous but it was pretty and I kept reminding myself to take it all in. I passed through fertile farmland growing all sorts of crops and it was fascinating to see what was growing – maize, potatoes, kale, cabbage, peas, wheat, oats. All sorts! I saw lots of moorhens and swans too. One moorhen had not long hatched her second brood of chicks and I could just see them, all black and fluffy and ungainly. Further on I came across a magnificent family of swans, with seven cygnets, swimming proudly along in a perfect line. The canal was buzzing with insect life too, particularly noticeable were all the dragonflies and damselflies, some of them in a striking blue, flitting here and there across the water. Did you know that our larger species of dragonfly can cruise at speeds of 10mph but can reach speeds of 30mph?! That’s crazy!

The canal eventually came to a sad and rather abrupt end shortly after the old Waytown limekilns and very narrow tunnel, but my intended route (picking up the West Deane Way) followed the route that the rest of the canal formerly took. I was running short on water however and as my map indicated a campsite at Gamlins Farm not far up the road I headed up there to refill my bottles and from there decided to cut across country a bit to cut out a bit of mileage. It did add some elevation but it was actually quite nice to use my legs slightly differently! I also realised that I just crossed over into Somerset which was exciting as not only is it my third county on the walk but it’s also my home county so it felt a little like I was coming home. I had a little cheer then soldiered on, I was only just over halfway and it was already gone 4pm – it was going to be a late one! Thankfully it was a beautiful evening and I counted myself lucky that it wasn’t raining!

After finding some more ripe blackberries (yippee!) my path took me across a number of fields of pigs. I’ve never walked through pig fields before and I’m not sure the pigs see many walkers, judging by the astounded look they gave me. I’m not sure pigs can actually do ‘astounded’ or in fact pull specific facial expressions at all, but they were funny anyway. The groups of piglets ran away squeaking and their mums came and stood guard protectively. I wondered whether I was about to add a charged-by-an-angry-mama-pig story to my collection, but thankfully (at this time at least) that story remains un-materialised. (Yes, I know that’s not a real word. But after 26.7 miles I think I’m entitled to make up words 😉 ). Apart from inadvertently disturbing a group mud bath (seriously, I don’t know how many pigs managed to fit into that small muddy puddle but it was way more than you’d imagine was possible!), and thinking I had a mystery pig following me for a bit (turns out it was just my rucksack talking pig…) the pig field crossing passed without further ado. A little further on however it was time for a field of “thug sheep”. Ram thug sheep! I don’t know what breed these sheep are but they really look like thugs. Lisa and I came across some last year on our hike and we named them then. We had a funny incident where one tried to head-butt me. I put my hand out and he kept coming until he was close enough for his forehead to touch my palm and then he stopped. Now Lisa thinks I am a sheep whisperer! It was quite amusing and I wish we’d gotten a photo! Even so, I didn’t particularly fancy having to give my sheep-whispering skills another go, not with another 10 or so miles to walk!

A few more fields and I’m back on the West Deane Way which follows the old canal through some lovely old woodland. It passed Wellington and I longingly wished I was stopping there tonight. I knew of a couple who were staying there tonight who were walking John O’Groats to Land’s End, we’d hoped to meet up but we ended up just missing each other by just a few miles!

There was a beautiful bit of the old canal which was where there used to be boat lifts. The brickwork is still there and a little thin pond where the canal had been, but further on there was no real trace of the canal left at all. I think it is amazing, and quite sad, how something so important in its time can disappear without a trace!

As the sun started to think about getting low in the sky I walked through more lovely arable farmland alongside the river. I passed through a field of young pea plants which for some reason made me so happy! And then the biggest (or at least longest) fields of wheat I have ever seen. With wiggles (along the river) it must be about a mile long!! It was a pretty spot and at some points you could get down to the river. I was so tempted to break again and cool my feet in the water, but it was getting late and I was worried that if I stopped I wouldn’t get started again! So instead I just gave my feet a pep talk. I think if people had heard me they would have thought I was crazy. Out loud, talking to my feet, telling them how strong they are and how I was so grateful to them for their epic performance that day. What can I say, at 20+ miles I was having to dig deep..!

As I finally drew towards the outskirts of Taunton I looked behind me to see the most incredible sunset. Proper reds and blues and fiery clouds. I was torn between marching on and constantly stopping to turn and watch the colours change. Every time I stopped my feet hurt but I couldn’t resist! It may have been a long day but if it hadn’t, I probably would have missed the sunset. Still, at nearly 9:30pm, I was definitely ready for the end of the day’s walking.

Thankfully, Gary (my host for the night) had kindly offered to pick me up from central Taunton which meant I didn’t have to hobble the last 2.5 miles in the dark. It meant a couple of extra miles to make up in the morning but right then I really didn’t care! When I got in, boots were straight off and feet in the air. I was so grateful for the cup of tea and the pasta bolognaise Gary cooked for me. I wolfed it all down, a massive bowl of it, had a bath to ease my cramping legs, and flopped into bed – for the first time ever being too tired to even contemplate trying to write my blog.

In summary, it was a beautiful day and I wish now I had split it in two to save my legs and feet and to appreciate it a bit more! But still, now my feet are feeling a little better it is quite satisfying to know I walked 26.7 miles with my pack and survived!

One day til my rest day…