Taulan two

Slow Way not verified yet. Verify Taulan here.

It is difficult to give a star rating for such a long and varied route. A good four stars is my overall verdict but along the way I’d give Taunton to Ham four stars; Ham to North Curry three stars ; North Curry to Stoke St Gregory five stars; Stoke St Gregory to Stathe, three stars and Stathe to Langport, five stars. The three star sections, totalling about 5 miles, I rate less highly because they are mainly slightly dull road walking.

The route is often waterside, following the rivers and canals of the Somerset Levels, with a central section that heads village to village along a low ridge of land, with some wide views of the area along the way.

From the centre of Taunton the route heads up the main street as far as the bridge over the River Tone where it turns off to follow the river. From here to the edge of town it uses hard, mixed-use paths and the route is very accessible. That changes after it passes under the M5 on the outskirts and takes footpaths through the bankside fields to Creech St Michael, via Ruishton. The latter village has a pub close to the Slow Way.

At Creech, the route crosses over, via village roads, to the good towpath of the Bridgwater & Taunton Canal and follows it for a kilometre or so before crossing the mainline railway on a footpath over the rails, and heading back over fields to cross the Tone again at Ham.

So far the route has been pretty much flat and off-road, but the Slow Way now makes its way uphill onto a low ridge and through a string of hamlets and villages, using lanes for the first few kilometres. This is not the most exciting walking, and it is frustrating not to be able to use the parallel path uphill through the fields to Knapp, but the area is currently blighted by crops of maize and the paths are not properly maintained. I had a go and gave up.

North Curry is a handsome old village with a pub, a village shop and a sizeable church with an octagonal tower. It’s a pleasant stroll through, and a very enjoyable ongoing walk through the fields to Stoke St Gregory, with some lovely views around. The route also passes through the grounds of the Willow Visitor Centre where there are some entertaining wicker sculptures, a cafe and gift shop. The ongoing path to Stoke St Gregory from deviates a tad from the ordnance survey map in places as it tends to follow around the headlands of some fields rather than crossing them. The Slow Way plot shows the current access.

Stoke St Gregory has a community pub which is now the village hall/cafe/shop. Nothing more in the way of facilities from here on to Langport, and there follows another section of lane walking to get around a the closed railway crossing at Holly Moor. Eventually the road leads gently down to the end of the ridge and the Slow Way crosses the River Parrett at Stathe to pick up the River Parrett Trail for the rest of the way. From here it is a wonderful walk along the river ramparts and you get a great feel for the historic Dutch-inspired land drainage system that makes this floody area habitable. Finally, the route passes under a low railway viaduct and arrives into Langport, a small town that has spent much of its history servicing river traffic and trying to keep its feet dry. The plot of the Slow Way jinks around a bit on official rights of way going into town but you can usually just walk straight on through the gate ahead of you into Community Garden and under an archway beneath the Town Hall to save time. On the way through you can admire the revered original pump that was the first to keep the water reliably at bay. Langport has a popular waterside park just beyond the shops and carpark at the meeting point with a couple of riverside cafes at the far end by the road.

Two things to bear in mind about this Slow Way. One is that the Somerset Levels can be very soggy in winter (or any time when there has been a lot of rain) with flooding possible along both the Tone and Parrett in the most extreme conditions. The second is that this is cattle-rearing country and you will almost certainly encounter them somewhere along the way at most times of year. They are usually used to people as the paths are fairly regularly walked but there’s always the chance of some friskier youngsters and cows with calves.

Once out of Taunton the access is your typical rural mix of stiles, gates, footbridges etc plus a few steps. Not much bother, I suspect, if you are up for a walk of this length.

Taunton has plenty of buses and trains. Langport is on a bus route that goes between Taunton and Yeovil on weekdays and there is a little bus between there and Bridgwater a few times a day Monday to Saturday. Sunday? Best get on your paddle board.

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