Hiking Without Supervision

Weather Report: Cool, windy, and overcast in the morning; Cool, windy, and sunny in the afternoon. Perfect walking weather.

After a quick breakfast at Morrisons, we loaded up and headed to yet another canal. The Bridgwater and Taunton Canal is much more industrial and less scenic than the one we were on yesterday, but had some interesting bits.

I was a bit down when we started this morning… missing my family, my guy, and even my dog. Feeling pretty sorry for myself basically. Then we had a chat with an wonderful, inspiring man called Paul Youd. He is an 85 year old ultra marathon runner who started walking around his garden during Covid. He graduated to 10k’s and now does Ultras with his son. During the course of his training, he changed his eating habits to become vegan and was so excited about how it eliminated his arthritis. It certainly made me stop feeling sorry for myself.

After talking with Paul, there wasn’t really anything else exciting that happened. No wankers, no dive bombers, no crazy bike riders. But there were nesting swans (can’t see enough of those), lot’s of pill boxes, interesting bridge artwork, cozy garden sheds, signs that highlighted different planets (no idea why), active locks with a nice pub or two for a coffee, post boxes stuck in the strangest places, and fields upon fields of yellow stuff (I think it’s Canola but will need to check).

The pic below is an old lock keeper’s cottage and ale house called the White Lion where a pillbox was built inside in 1940 as part of Britian’s defense against Nazi attack.

A great day for a walk!