Wesaxb two

Slow Way not verified yet. Verify Wesaxb here.

Probably the most useful route between Weston and Axbridge. Fine views once you have climbed the hills which are very muddy in places when wet. The really steep muddy climb south of Hutton can be avoided using the Hutton millennium green footpath linking with Canada Combe - you do miss a delightful woodland stroll though at the top.

I walked this from Axbridge to Weston. It is a top-quality five-star hilly hike for the seven or eight miles between Axbridge and the edge of Weston at Oldmixon, which is then brought down a star by a sudden switch to a tramp through Weston’s urban sprawl for the remaining couple of miles. It may be a useful, direct route to Weston’s transport hub but cannot help, in this context, making a disappointing ending to a fine rural walk. If I was walking the route again I’d be mighty tempted to pick up the No 5 Hutton/Worle bus, which at the time of writing passes fairly regularly through Oldmixon, to take me the rest of the way into town.

Starting from the lovely historic centre of Axbridge village, the route uses the well-signed Strawberry Line path as far as the A38. There it departs the cycle route and takes the bridleway which starts a couple of hundred metres further up the road. There is a pavement, so it is safe to walk up to it. The bridlepath isn't currently signed at this end, but is the very obvious first track angling a bit north-west off the road. This leads up through the woods to the National Trust at Kingswood.

The next section of the walk is a climb up through woods and onto and over the open hill of Wavering Down. This high, dramatic, steep-flanked area of the Mendip scarp has fabulous panoramic views over the Somerset Levels and across the Bristol channel. It is very popular with local walkers on a fine day.

After this the Slow Way departs the ridge via a steep footpath north down through little fields with hawthorn scrub around and a track, then crosses the lane at Barton to head on into the open fields of the wide, shallow valley of the Lox Yeo river.

Signage isn’t brilliant here and access is mostly through ordinary field gates, but the route through is pretty obvious. Note that after the narrow metal bridge that crosses the river, there is a right turn through the double gates nearby to continue. There is, temporarily, some disturbance from the laying of Hinkley C connections but apart from that, it is a beautiful walk.

Approaching the west of the valley, the roar of the passing M5 motorway increases. Once over it, the way up to, along and down from Bleadon Hill is a pleasurable stroll on tracks and bridle paths through farmland and woods, and fenced paths through horse pastures (this area being hugely popular with horse owners). Along the way there is some lovely woodland ground flora in Spring, and wide views up the Severn Estuary, with Weston and Worle sprawling across the foreground below. The footpath through the woods down Hutton Hill to the edge of the village is narrow, moderately steep and rocky in places, and had a couple of fallen trees across it today.

It is then all-change at the bottom of the hill at Oldmixon as the route transitions very suddenly from a Mendip hill walk to a thoroughly urban route. Putting the shock of the difference aside, it does a pretty good job of negotiating some awkward territory with two railway lines limiting easy access, and mostly manages to use quiet roads, paved cycle paths and footways. It passes through an industrial estate and modern housing, eventually entering lines of Victorian terracing as it approaches the centre of town. It is about as direct as it can be.

Access on the rural portion of the route includes gates, kissing gates, a few stiles and footbridges. There are steep climbs and descents, some rough rocky paths, plus stony and sometimes rutted tracks which may be muddy in winter. Low ground in the Lox Yeo Valley can also be soggy and muddy at wet times of year, especially where cattle are grazing.

The urban portion of the route is flat and almost all paved, with a couple of short slopes to access railway crossings and, as I remember it, the route looks mainly wheelable, although there may be one or two motorbike deterrent-type barriers across footpaths.

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