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MENDIP TIMES
Beauty and bluebells around the River Chew
CELEBRATE spring with this gorgeous circle in the Chew Valley from Compton Dando, south of Keynsham, taking you out into beautiful rolling countryside with views much of the way. There are bluebell woods, vales, fields, streams, old mills and an alpaca farm. At the end come alongside the River Chew at a beauty spot by an old mill and then, a welcoming pub, awaits.
With Sue Gearing PAGE 58 • MENDIP TIMES • APRIL 2022
There are only kissing gates – no stiles – so that’s an added bonus. There are hills, both up and down. There should not be too much mud, though Lord’s Wood may be the exception.
PARK: In Compton Dando, a village on the River Chew, east of Pensford and south of Keynsham. The Compton Inn is welcoming Mendip Times walkers to park there. This very comfortable inn is open all day so make sure you go in and enjoy a drink, snack or meal. If the car park looks full there is parking in the road outside.
START: From the car park, turn left past the village hall and immediately, by Compton Cottage, cross the cattle grid or the footbridge and head up the track. Enter a field and continue ahead up along the right edge. Already start to get pleasant views across country. Go through another kissing gate and more or less continue straight on, ignoring side paths and climbing gently. There is woodland and a valley down right. Go through a kissing gate (KG) ahead into another field to follow the right edge. Near the end go right through the hedge and left, in the same direction as before. Over left in the distance is the distinctive wooded hillfort of Stantonbury Camp, a familiar sight
throughout this walk. It is situated on the ancient, impressive Wansdyke defensive earthwork. It may have marked the northern boundary of Dumnonia, a kingdom, covering from Wiltshire to Cornwall. The dyke, now in fragments runs from Maes Knoll near Bath to Marlborough, about 40 miles. The exciting Wansdyke Project aims to create a walkable path along the Wansdyke.
1. FOOTBRIDGE At a crossing path, turn left across a footbridge. Now simply follow the left edge for just over half a mile, along and then down to picturesque Tucking Mill (the mill itself was demolished in 1927). 2. TUCKING MILL Drop down steps and turn right along the mill stream. This hamlet lies on the Midford Brook and was a key point on the now disused Somerset Coal Canal. Its other claim to fame is that from 1798 to 1810 it was the home of William Smith, an English geologist, known as the “Father of English Geology” who created the first nationwide geological map. He was here working on the Somerset coalfield and the canal. Whether he lived at Tucking Mill cottage or the main house is rather unclear.
