The family who welcomed me into their home for three days thru Airbnb were so lovely and their home (and dogs!) so cozy, it was hard to pack up this morning and get back on the road. But after I took care of some final details for accommodations in June up in Scotland, I reluctantly packed up my backpack, noting that 1) all of my clothes for 3+ months make a very small bundle, here next to sweet dog Ivan for size comparison, and 2) it is MUCH heavier now with the food I will need as I head into a sparsely populated area with few villages. I started with 18.1 pounds, today I think it’s closer to 23. Maybe over.
I took a taxi to Brayford, and continued my journey by walking about 10 miles to Simonsbath and into Exmoor National Park. I also left Devon and entered the county of Somerset. This is a beautiful part of the country of moorlands where plants grow very scrubby and low and the earth can be peaty or boggy. It makes for a striking landscape of big sky and vistas that go on forever. Also, I’m excited because it’s a clear night and Exmoor was the first European Dark-Sky Reserve. Fewer people make for fewer electric lights. I’m going star-gazing tonight, right outside the steps of my little shepherd’s caravan! I’ve walked to a sweet little shelter on the edge of a farm, two big white cows across the fence (I think one is a bull actually) for neighbors.
It’s odd and interesting to be alone now. I trained for the months leading up to the trip walking with no headphones for music or podcasts or audiobooks because I knew I couldn’t afford the battery drain on my phone. I need to keep my phone alive for safety and navigation. So it is quiet. There is wind, birdsong, my thoughts. I could get used to this.
I saw few people today. I’m no longer on a national trail, just using very small roads, and public footpaths or bridleways, so much less regular traffic. It is really a great legacy that the United Kingdom has maintained to keep access to old, even ancient, public rights of way across private land. They are well-marked and for the most part well-maintained with gates to protect farm animals, bridges, stones laid where there are bogs, and other techniques to make walking easier. Sometimes the system fails, but it still a huge network of great access to the country. When I arrived in tiny Simonsbath I was surprised to find a tea shop so I took it as a sign I needed a cake break. Today’s afternoon treat was a cup of tea and hummingbird cake (carrot, pineapple, walnut with a lime icing). I then continued the 2 1/2 miles to Pickedstones Farm (there’s an old quarry beside it), and enjoyed more views.
One of my favorite things about walking in the English countryside are the stone walls. They are different throughout the country, different resources and terrain made for varying techniques. But something that one commonly sees are trees growing right out of the walls; the years of accumulated earth providing a holding place for roots in such an unlikely environment.
