Day 46 – Watchet to Steart

What Bill was correct about yesterday was that the West Somerset would be “basic”. Comfortable enough though, and good value at £35 to include a perfectly acceptable brekker. We’ll be walking along a virtually uninhabited stretch today and so, while Gary admins bill payment, John and Ben access provisions (bananas, pork pies and water) at a local shop. Under way just before 9 o’clock, and John’s logger proves to be more important than ever because today’s route is not the most straightforward we’ve encountered. The section out of Watchet is a mixture of railway footpaths, private holiday parks, roads, tracks across fields, and woods, all slightly away from the coast. We do eventually regain the coastline and conditions which are a mixture of thick wet grass and muddy/heavily puddled tracks, but things progress smoothly until we reach Hinkley Point Power Station. The seaward side which we were hoping to use is inaccessible, and the inland diversion is long and not very well marked. Again, the logger comes into its own (now accompanied by one of Ben’s OS Maps) but the diversion still involves a bit of scramblage and trying to avoid quite large areas of water – not always successfully. Yet again, the weather has been kind – just a few short sharp showers – but, as we finally leave Hinkley Point behind and approach Steart, a biting wind starts to blow and the clouds roll in, making the surroundings very bleak and reminding us how wet our feet are. We’ve been keeping our pre-ordered cab from Bridgwater informed of our progress (or occasional lack of it) and it’s good to see it approaching the meeting point just outside Steart shortly after we get there at 3:45. The wind and clouds could herald the arrival of the severe gales and rain which have been forecast, but all remains calm during our return to Taunton which we reach in time for a can of cider in the station buffet before catching trains home.

Postscript: The severe weather duly arrives in the South West after our departure. Consequences include the destruction of the rail line by the sea at Dawlish along which we’ve travelled so many times during the last 3 years enabling us to walk and complete the SW Coast Path.