As we approach the end of September, this might be an important time to write about August’s walks, before those lingering memories are forgotten!
01/08 – 14.5 miles – Bwlch With Altitude (Brecon Beacons)
03/08 – 3 mile run – Wick St. Lawrence, North Somerset
04/08 – 3.5 miles – Goblin Combe (Weston-super-Walkers)
08/08 – 9 miles – Nyland Hill (Weston-super-Walkers)
15/08 – 4 miles – Congresbury, North Somerset
19/08 – 4 miles – Goblin Combe (W-s-W)
22/08 – 17 miles – Simonsbath, Exmoor
23/08 – 14.75 miles – Withypool, Exmoor
24/08 – 8.75 miles – Dunkery Beacon and Webber’s Post, Exmoor
26/08 – 2.5 miles – Uphill, Weston-super-Mare
28-29/08 – 10.5 miles – Quantock Hills (wild camp)
Total for August 2021 = 88.5 miles
Perhaps the highlight of August was spending three nights at a campsite on Exmoor. Halse Farm near Winsford, to be more precise. I don’t always go away in this month unless I’m travelling or staying with others. I’ve found it can be a busy month in many places, with kids off school and all that. But I took a chance on Exmoor, where I wouldn’t have braved Snowdonia or the Lake District.
This would be my final full month of preparation ahead of my Cleveland Way walk – which, by now, you’ve hopefully already seen went well (and I’ll be writing about each walking in greater detail, soon). I’d bought myself a new pair of trail running shoes with this in mind and again, August was the month in which I’d break them in, ready for the hills and coast of Yorkshire.
While I don’t have any photos to support this, I did manage to lead a Sunday walk with Weston-super-Walkers. It seemed like I hadn’t done this for a long time and I’ve not done a full day walk with them (my own group) since. We’ve had a fairly busy summer, with weekly midweek evening walks around the Mendip Hills and North Somerset. But by now, those opportunities have vanished with the later light.
I also intend to make a decision on the future of this Meetup group, very soon.
Going back to Exmoor for a moment… It was great to be able to revisit one particular walk and, in the other two, I was able to explore new footpaths and historic sites that I’d not visited before. Even though I’ve visiting Exmoor with some regularity in recent years.
One triumph that I’ve not written about too openly was a single night spent wild camping on the Quantock Hills. Perhaps I will write about this experience. I’ve already made the YouTube video. But I don’t particularly wish to “condone” wild camping on land without permission. But, as I was saying; it’s already on YouTube.
I’d been eyeing this particular stay up for more than a year. At the time, this was my first wild camp since May 2019 – and I did one other on the Cleveland Way, as you’ll soon be able to read about. For various reasons, fears and concerns, I haven’t done nearly as many wild camps as I’d hoped I would for 2021. There is still time, even as the daylight hours diminish and temperatures drop.
I look forward to writing about September soon. Another month of big achievements.
Current total for 2021…
658.75 miles
Thanks for reading.
Walks With Olly 