Brent Knoll - Mar 2025
| Return to Brent Knoll | |
| Last time we were here was in June 2019 when we hiked in short and t-shirts. Today it was a hat and glove day. The wind was cold and strong. However, the sun kept popping out behind clouds and warming us up. | |
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| Following Bernie's directions, Liz drove to and parked at a small parking lot near Ralph's Wood on Hill Lane. By the time we had circled back to the car, we had walked 3.1 km in 1.5 hours with plenty of stops. We also climbed 105 metres. It was very steep in certain sections. | |
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| We started off walking through what felt like a farmyard, but there were "Public Footpath" signs and gates to give access. It didn't take long for the steep uphill to start. We took our time enjoying the view with horses, sheep. Of course there were muddy steps for Rob to climb on the other side of the hill. | |
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| It was a particularly clear day where we could see Burnham as well as Hinkley Point and Wales in the distance. | |
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| At the top we found the beacon we had visited in 2019. Since then it has been used also for Elizabeth II Jubilee in 2022. The first Jubilee Bonfire was in 1887, so it has been here a while! | |
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| There was a second monument for the Queen's Golden Jubilee in 2002. On it was a plaque carved with distances to different towns. For example, it is 4 km to Burnham-on-Sea, 7 km to Crook Peak, 14 km to Cheddar Gorge, and 21 km to Glastonbury Tor. | |
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| In this view we could spot Cheddar Gorge, Crook Peak, and the part of the Mendips where Upper Canada is - all places we have hiked before. | |
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| Further to the east Glastonbury Tor is easy to spot from Brent Knoll - at least on a day like today. | |
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| On our way back to the car we chose to stumble down the steep northern side of Brent Knoll. We crossed farmers' fields and ended up exploring Ralph's Wood, which was planted in 1999. Lots of different trees and flowers to be found. | |
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| Today there were lots of Primroses everywhere. Beautiful! | |
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Back at the car park we tested Percy's tailgate tent on Liz' car.
It was maybe a bit wide for her car, and we could have done with some
bungees and softer ground so we could put in tent pegs. We had to use our
bags and wellies to hold the tent down on this windy day!
We still enjoyed a cup of tea made on the Trangia stove with hot cross buns from Liz. |
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Postscript: Rob and Hild had wellies while Liz had boots. The wellies were not that important today, but if it had been much wetter: wellies are the way to go! |
March 2025