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MENDIP TIMES
Walking quiz in the heart of Mendip
THIS circular walk is a great way to find out more about the heart of the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty on Mendip. We are on the eve of 2022 which is a significant date – the 50th anniversary of the setting up of the Mendip Hills AONB. As Christmas and New Year is for many a time of quizzes, I thought it might be fun to give you a few simple questions to answer as you go round. The answers are all there for you! Sadly, I am not giving any prizes. This is not a long walk but has quite a lot of uphill. The paths are easy to follow and should be relatively mud-free. There are no stiles and it would be a great outing for dogs. At the start is a cafe (open Thursdays to Sundays) and a food van at the lower car park, open at the weekend. PARK: Near the bottom of Burrington Combe in the Rock of Ages car park (the one with a toilet) and next to Rock Cafe.
With Sue Gearing PAGE 58 • MENDIP TIMES • DECEMBER 2021
There is an information board there which you need to read.
START: What is the name of the nearby cave where 50 skeletons were found? The cave is up the road on the left if you want to go up and look afterwards, but take care on the road. Cross the road and take a look at the cleft in the rock, which is the Rock of Ages. Who wrote the hymn Rock of Ages? Cross back and take the path at the side of the toilet, through a gate. Go past the Rock Cafe, a great place to start or finish this walk (open Thursday-Sunday). Then continue down the combe. This area at the bottom of the combe will be changing quite radically in the next few years as Yeo Valley, the owner, has great plans for renovation and to make it a gateway to the Mendip Hills.
1. THE LINK Just past the car park with the trees, turn right on the Link. Follow this as it climbs above Burrington village. At the triangle of grass keep straight on up.
2. GATE At the top, reach a gate on the right. The stony track continues to rise, going past disturbed ground, the result of mining for calamine and lead. Reach a signpost, where we go right on the footpath. What activities are allowed on the bridleway which we are leaving? Our path goes up under a beautiful avenue of silver birches. The origin of this avenue is shrouded in the mist of time, but it could have been the
work of the first warden of the AONB, Tom Elkin, who had a lot of these saplings left over after a job and made an avenue here on the footpath which he had created to reach Burrington Camp. Stay under the birches, ignoring a turning left. Eventually the path bears left and reaches the open area. 3. CAMP Go ahead, bearing right to reach Burrington Camp and the outer ditch and bank, and an information board, a Journey Through Time. This camp and surrounds has been well maintained and cleared in recent years thanks to the work of Sir David Wills who manages the area. How many phases were there to the building of the camp? When was it started? To have a look round you can go up the bank into the camp and then return here. There are great views across Wrington Vale. Take the path to the left of the noticeboard. This takes you past the camp (on your right) and is heading towards the edge of Burrington Combe. Keep on to the edge where there is a magnificent viewpoint over the combe and Rock of Ages. But do take great care and keep children well under control as it is not fenced and there is a sheer drop. Go back up the path and take a path on the right (if you missed out the viewpoint, it would be the path on your left). Shortly, join another path and bear left through trees, bushes and bracken and eventually come up to a distinctive rocky ridge. This is part of the earth movement of about 3 million years ago.
