Parking: A small amount of spaces on the Wiveliscombe side of Washbattle Bridge on the left
Terrain: Very steep in places. Combination of wide paths, fields and a whole lot of mud.
Distance: Approximately 3 miles
If my photos seem to capture both Autumn and Winter in the same glorious walk, it is because I have combined them from the couple of times I have done this walk. The walk was followed as part of Circular Walk Number 1 in the Wiveliscombe Circular Walks book (ISBN 0955285100) published by said parish council.
Just metres from the parking spot, we spotted this hair ice which seems to have been all over the countryside media in the last few months, but something I have never actually seen for myself.
You may be forgiven for thinking that this is a wonderful flat walk when you start down by the River Tone with the forest on either side and game birds aplenty (we saw a grouse one time – another first), but it will get steeper! Walk all the way along the flat until you reach Bulland Ford. There is a road (uphill) immediately to the left which you need to take. Keep walking up (and there is a nasty false summit there) along this quiet road until it bends to the left and starts to decline. The second time I did this was three weeks post Coronavirus and it was tough.
Look for a footpath on the left between two hedges. Continue on this track until you get to a section with three farm gates. Turn left after the third and then take a right into the next field.
The walk is relatively flat again as you traverse a few fields, next to a lovely old hedgerow, where you can see sheep in the next field, and in the distance the Quantocks.
When you reach the end of the series of fields, take a left onto a track and walk uphill for another short section. At the end, the path turns left. There are some great views to be glimpsed to your right. This area can get really muddy and wet…
The path looks like it peters out, and can be quite overgrown, but push forward and go through a gate into a field. I suspect this is the same field that we had already been through but I can never quite be sure. A very short way through the field, there is a gate to the right into another field.
The field is surrounded by woodland. You need to walk in a vaguely diagonal direction to a gate in the bottom right section which leads onto a forest track. This is a pleasant steep decline all the way back to the main road. Take a left at the bottom and you are back at Washbattle Bridge.
mrs jones walks 