Day 13 - Street to Gurney Slade (that well known village in deepest darkest Somerset!)
As there was no provision for breakfast (and the other woman...or was it a man? I was beginning to wonder! well she was beginning to alarm me with her actions and comments - she was travelling onto another YH further north to be a volunteer but it's not any of the ones I'm due to stay in) I decided to head off earlier than usual and stop in Glastonbury for something to eat and drink. Another lovely day in paradise as the sun was already warm even at 8.30. After sidestepping Street, I headed off across yet more Somerset levels towards the dramatic folly standing high on a hill. I had initially planned to climb upto the tower but the closer I ran, the higher the hill became so quickly put that idea out of my head! Glastonbury is a lovely little town but you will see some bizarre sights as it's central to the myth and magic of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table - lots of colourful clothing being worn and loads of street entertainers dotted around. I grabbed a thick doorstep bacon sarnie and coffee and watched the world go by for an hour or so - this is what was so important for me to do on this trip (not the eating / drinking bit, but to see the sights and sounds of the country). I then headed out of Glastonbury and after yet more moors and drainage ditches, started to head into the hillier landscape. I did see a lovely big vixen but unfortunately the farmer on whose land she crossed, clearly didn't appreciate her - she'd either been shot or poisoned and the farmer had then hung her body on one of his fence posts : what the point of this was I have no idea but I guess he'd also killed any cubs as they would have been too young to survive without their mum - very sad postscript. At Launcherley I spotted a white stone statue way up on the top of the hill, depicting the dragon logo of Somerset. Picked up the Monarch's Way for a short time before dropping down underneath the A39 and into a really pretty village called Dulcote (certainly not Dull!)...complete with village green and fountain. There were even people outside their houses for once! Undulating lanes then took me through Dinder and onto Maesbury Castle (presumably Norman?) of which just the outer ramparts remain albeit covered with grass. Tonight the BJ's are going to be running at Hengistbury Head near Christchurch as a memorial run for our friend Lucille Dickenson. Unfortunately she died on New Years Day this year and they were going to be laying some flowers in her memory. I decided not to actually pick any to do the same as I thought they were much nicer growing in the countryside, but I did do my 'memorial run' thinking of her. After dropping down off the ramparts I again picked up some little country lanes into the villages of Binegar and Gurney Slade, where I was staying for the night. Not somewhere I would recommend nor return to I have to admit! The B&B landlady was actually out when I arrived so my plans of reading a magazine in the sunshine in the garden went totally to pot. The house was also right on the A37 so lorries thundered past! When she turned up around an hour later, there was no apology just a 'didn't think you'd be arriving so early'...I didn't call 3pm early. Anyway, to make matters worse, she asked me to wait in the dingy front room as she'd not even made up my room. After that, I went down the pub to read a magazine in their beer garden - yet another slaughtered lamb although the barmaid was very friendly. Had healthy home-made burger and chips there (with the two pub dogs sat by my table eyeing me up!) and then retired to the lovely B&B for the night - at least there was a TV to keep me occupied!
Mileage 18.6
Time 4.10