Only 9.8 miles today, and it should have been very straightforward as I was to follow the Coleridge Way for most of it. Poet Samuel Coleridge lived here at the turn of the 19th century, and he encouraged William Wordsworth and his sister Dorothy to come walk the the moors, woods, vales, coast, all the wild beauty this area has to offer. They published a collection of poems based on their ramblings, ‘Lyrical Ballads’ which is considered the start of English Literary Romanticism. My favorites. Despite walking along “his way”, sadly I wasn’t having poems pop into my head. But my heart was full with gratitude and I kind of bounced along (despite my arthritic knees complaining a bit). The way is marked on signs with a writing quill (feather), but it is not a National Trail and therefore not quite as easy to follow or as well-maintained. I got lost.
I had quickly made it to Roadwater, an adorable village with a very aggressively named pub. Multiple small creeks converge in the village, thus the name. I was taken with the cottages, so many aptly named houses evoking their past or location. It’s not uncommon in England, especially in rural areas, to have the address of your house be a name. I smelled flowers, listened to birdsong, was so curious about the renovation of a big thatched house from 1700 (dated in a little circle above the windows), that I missed the hairpin turn I was supposed to take to stay on the feather marked trail, and instead walked to the top of a long, steep roadway before I checked the map app. I knew there was a hill at some point today, and figured this was it. Nope; when I checked my phone I was parallel to the route Richard had set for me, but much higher. This is what it looked like. I was supposed to be following the green line with diamonds that was staying low and following a stream, but I was trying to catch my breath after having gone rogue up the hill. I really didn’t want to walk back down, so I used my developing map reading skills, and saw there was an old stone road when the paved one ended. I found it, and walked it up and down the big hill (more climbing), and eventually met up with my original route on the other side.
Some people have asked about the rights of way and paths through private property. And how I locate them. Essentially a series of laws have been passed over the last 80 years or so legitimizing the use of pathways that have been used regularly by people getting from here to there. Some are hundreds of years old, some were drove roads, coffin roads, pilgrimage routes, visiting paths, many uses, but they were all recognized as important to the community and their existence protected.
Most are shown on Ordinance Survey maps; local authorities are supposed to maintain them with the help of the landowners and volunteers. Doesn’t always happen, but when it does it makes slow travel here a dream! Bridleways (wider, but can be a muddy mess) are marked with blue paint and footpaths marked with yellow. This helps keep you on track when you’re trying to figure out which fence or gate to leave a field by. I have sighed with such deep relief and gratitude when finding faint yellow painted on a tree or gate post.
I don’t know how people journeyed across the country even 20 years ago without good gps, smartphones, powerful cellular signal. Well I do know, it just would not have been easy: big maps that you’d have to fold out in rain or wind, carrying extra weight because of those maps, getting lost a lot, more time planning ahead of time to be exact on the route. What I’m doing seems a bit ridiculous and simple, comparatively. And it is still worrying and exhausting at times. (Another shout out to friend Richard who created routes for me to follow. If I pay attention that is!)
Some paths are easy to see ‘on the ground’. Yay!
Some paths seem not to exist in the real world. Which is when Richard’s route and gps help me track the correct direction across a field.
Some are horribly overgrown.
The day ended walking into my bed & breakfast, and being handed a glass of cold water and a clotted cream and jam filled cupcake while sitting in the garden. Showered, napped, and I was off to the pub later for a full pint shandy (!), fish & chips with mushy peas. Bliss.
