Blawin two

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A lovely walk, sometimes moderately hilly, through farmland pastures and along quiet lanes with varied and good views of Blagdon Lake and the Chew Valley area around. I walked it on a cold, sunny January day from Blagdon to Winford and even though it was a little soggy underfoot in places it was a real pleasure. I will definitely walk it again.

Access is via gates and kissing gates and a few stiles. There is one stream course to cross and a tiny bit of boggy ground at one point. Both these latter can be avoided by an alternative road walk if desired, as described in the review below.

There are bus services to both ends of the walk every day except Sundays but only two a day to Blagdon. Both places have village shops and pubs,

The route first heads down to Blagdon Lake and follows along its shores for a while with lake views all the way, initially via the footway along the quiet road which follows the dam wall of this Victorian reservoir, and then along a track by the shore, before routing along the edges of fields and plantation woodland to Butcombe.

There is a bit of road walking through the village and the first half is along the most regularly used route for traffic through it, so keep an eye out. After heading uphill on the way out, a path leads behind the church into a little steep valley with scrubby, anthilly fields which are full of wildflowers in summer. The path infrastructure here is a bit rickety: one stream in a dip currently lacks a footbridge (ok to cross though) and there is a small boggy area around a spring, but it is a lovely wildlife haven in an area dominated by uniform ryegrass pastures, so well worth the effort. If you can’t be bothered though, you can walk up the quiet lanes and regain the route further up. It is about the same distance.

Once out of the valley, there is a moderate haul uphill towards Regilbury Court. The path towards the top seems to have been rerouted and runs as plotted and not on the other side of hedge as shown on the OS map. The kissing gate onto the road is on the south side of the hedge. The route then continues east from Regilbury Court on the flat plateau through big cattle pastures with views out around, and follows an up-and-down course on quiet lanes and through fields to Winford via the Crown pub at Regil. There are often wide views out in various directions from the whole of this latter section of the walk.

The road into Winford can be quite lively so take care crossing to the footway on the far side of it.

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