Short walk on the Mendips

On Sunday, we had decided to have a short walk, not far away, and used the car to get to the starting point.  Arriving up at Deer's Leap, the car journey up the hill above Wookey Hole was hair raising, and we both agreed that that road was not to be used again, as it is far too narrow, and the oncoming vehicles we met just did not back up the hill, even though there was a easy road junction just a few roads behind them, which would have made passing easy other so easy.  Should we wish to go  on the Deer Leap another time we would come via the Priddy, travelling south to the pull over.

Having parked up at the Deer Leap pull over, and started our walk, we soon turned back.  The wind was blowing fiercely over from a northerly direction, and it was more than 'a hat and coat' cooler than down in Wells. I heard this term from the daughter of a Mendip Hills Farmer, and certainly felt it that day. 

As we wanted at all costs to avoid driving back down Deerleep, we decided to have a little look around Priddy, which we have often driven through.  

Manor Farm off Priddy Green

In the middle of the green, there is a a stack of Ash Sheep Hurdles, 

which has a well thatched roof, which at a great height making inspecting the the straws and all that live there quite mesmerising.

We stopped there and enjoyed passing our time, looking at some of the stone buildings, and the interesting church of St Lawrence.  

There is a beautiful embroidered old altar front from the 15th, now behind glass on the wall, and well worth a closer look.  Walking around  the church and the by the school, we found a stone stile, and from there a the green path through the recently cut meadow beckoned us.  

This led to a wooded area at the top of Greenhill, which is surrounded by closely planted beech trees.  To one side we could see a group of people, and I assume they were waiting for cavers to appear up from Swildon's Hole.  There are extensive underground caves to explore, with ropes, wetsuits, lots of safety equipment etc, but neither Mr S or I are tempted.  Visiting Cheddar Caves were top of our list, but with the lockdown and now closure for the foreseeable future, I'm not sure if and when that will be possible.  Luckily we both recently had a tour of the Wookey Hole caves with my U3A Geology group.

As we arrived back at the green, we had a pair of horses to admire:

This was just a taster, and we are sure to return for more walks.