There is a shop at Blagdon which is open most of the time and one at West Harfleet (again open most of the time) and only a little over half way....

Neil Smith

It is an enjoyable over-the-hill hike, basically one long up followed by one long down, with a reasonably pleasant mile around the edge of Cheddar village and a fun stroll along the concrete ramparts of Axbridge’s circular reservoir lake at the end. Eventually you start descending again and reach the open-access area around Cheddar Gorge on the southern Mendip Scarp where the Slow Way takes a bit of a sideways loop east along the clifftop gorge walk to make the most of the view into the gorge. From here there is a steep descent through woodland down into the edge of Cheddar village where you can easily divert into the village proper for all the tourist facilities around the bottom of the gorge: eateries, shops, pubs etc. The Slow Way itself jinks west and continues along the northern edge of the town along quiet roads, passing the Gardener’s Arms pub along the way before crossing a main road and picking up a track and cycle path to Axbridge reservoir. Axbridge is well connected by the Plymouth Falcon bus that runs all week to Bristol and the Southwest, but you have to walk a mile west out of the main village for to the bus stops on the A38 to get it....

Mockymock

The route out from the main road goes up an alley between two houses via some rocky steps, then winds along Street End Lane lane on the outskirts of the village before diving right up another pathway just as it seems you are heading up the driveway of a house. It is steep climb from here through the fields to meet the Two Trees road which leads to the B3134. Once the route crosses the (intermittent but fast) B3135, it dips into the fields in a lovely shallow valley, using ladder stiles to climb the walls between them, and meets the very quiet Coxton End Lane which soon joins the West Mendip Way to Priddy. Between Wookey Hole and Wells there is a gentle climb through fields and a lane before following an alley into the edge of town, then crossing some school grounds and taking a footbridge over the main road into the centre....

Mockymock

This is essentially the same good route as Blawel One (see this route for my review of the rest of the route) but it uses open access land and a new, permissive off-road footpath/bridleway through the central section between Velvet Bottom and the B3135 at Plummers Lane. At the B3135, the route rejoins Blawel One, having run immediately parallel to it on the other side of the field boundary for most of the last mile....

Mockymock

Once over the top, the route makes its way down to the village of Shipham on stony tracks and through fields following the West Mendip Way. The way then continues to follow the waymarked path around to the south of the village on a fiddly route through little fields and copses which gets muddy at some times of year. It is nice enough but I think it is perhaps more straightforward simply to walk through the village (where there is a shop and pub), first using the footway above the road on the east side of the road, then the ongoing pavement, to take the lane east out of the centre of the village and pick up the mapped route again on Rowberrow Lane. The route heads on steadily downhill from there into Burrington and crosses the bottom entrance of the steep, rocky combe before heading steadily back up the hill again on lanes and tracks through the edge of the village, fields and woodland, before levelling out and making the final moderate descent through pastures into Blagdon....

Mockymock

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. 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. If you can’t be bothered though, you can walk up the quiet lanes and regain the route further up. 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....

Mockymock

There is then a climb up through some woods and a kilometre of track and road through intensively farmed land to Lye Hole, where the ongoing route follows the Two Rivers Way for a while, first along a quiet lane and then steadily uphill through a big grassy field towards Butcombe. At the top of the hill and across another lane the path drops down into a little valley of scrubby, anthill-filled pastures which are colourful with wild flowers in the summer. The remainder of the walk is a lovely up and down stroll with long views of the country around, mostly through stock pastures with some sections of quiet lane walking....

Mockymock

A short climb through pastures up from Blagdon leads into woodland on the Mendip edge and then down again towards Burrington on a track through fields, with good views into the Yeo Valley and over the Severn Estuary beyond. The route then heads down to the village of Rickford on the main road. And if just generally ongoing via this route, the 50m or so along the main road here as mapped is safe enough as there is a bit if a verge on the south side. Beyond Burrington, and across the A368 for good, the short section of minor road was quiet when I walked it. A short pleasant climb up into fields and woods around the back of Cadbury Hill leads from there to Yatton....

Mockymock

A delightful route along the southern edge of the Chew Valley using easily navigable pathways between villages that are well-walked by the locals, with lovely views over Blagdon and Chew Valley lakes along the way. There is a pub in this village, and from there a short section of the Limestone Link path goes to West Harptree, which has another pub and a shop. The onward path from West Harptree goes round the southern end of Chew Valley Lake through a pretty area of low-lying pastureland with hedgerows full of mature oak trees....

Mockymock

This is a good route overall but includes an indirect and unnecessary road walk into Bishop Sutton, and it doesn't take the best route through the village of Compton Martin either. I will post an adjusted version and do a full review of that....

Mockymock