It's been a long long time since I did a proper hike in UK. With spring coming, I figured it's time I get some exercise, starting with a short 8km walk at the Bleadon Hills in the south west of England.
Not long after I started my walk through some very muddy paths, I got out of the woods and saw an expanse of fields open up in front of my eyes. Although I live not too far away, I have never seen this side of the country side before. I'm very fortunate to have so many gems on my doorstep, and am determined to explore more of it this year.
| The next part of the walk was easier, no more muddy paths. The fields were still on my right hand side and I was walking towards the end of the path with a few houses in sight. This part of the walk is in the middle of nowhere, and people must love it here despite its remoteness. I enjoy a quiet life, but I don't think I can live so remote. | This is the road leading up to the houses I just passed by. It's a quiet country lane and a 5 minute drive from the nearest village, Loxton. I saw a couple of cars drive by, including a Tesla. I think its great that we can all live our lives as we like, wouldn't it be a disaster if everyone opted to life in the built up areas. Who would look after nature? |
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Crook Peak
One advantage of living so remote is that you get amazing views everyday. The peak in front of us is Crook Peak, one of the six summits of the Mendip Hills. The Mendip Hills an AONB (Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty) which basically means it's a very special and beautiful area and has a special status for protection.
Spring lambs were playing around in the fields, I didn't get too close in case the ewe got agitated as they can be very protective of their babies. Sadly, those baby lambs may end up on our dinner table in a few months. I love a good roast lamb, so it's really better that I don't get too close to the lamb in case I feel sorry for them and stop eating roast lamb in the future. Sorry little lambs if I next see you on my dinner plate.
Loxton
After an hour and a half walk, we arrive at a little village called Loxton. This is the village nearest to the houses I passed by earlier on. It has a population of around 200 though I'm surprised it has that many people. There don't seem to be many houses around. It's a lovely place to live if you like country life because it's nice and quiet, and if you drive through the country lanes you're back in town in less than 15 minutes.
One of the landmarks in the village is this street lamp. It was erected by the villagers in 1897 to mark Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee.
I didn't spend much time in Loxton, as there wasn't anything else to do. Time to head back and this time I'd be going through more woodlands at a higher elevation. Here's the start of a very slight ascend. England is generally a flat country, our walks never involves much climbing. Easy peasy for nearly everyone.
I saw these beautiful flowers on the way back but didn't know what they were. The plant had spikes on them and the flowers are in a beautiful shade of yellow. I didn't touch them because there were so many spikes. Today I Googled them and they are called gorse and apparently, they have a very nice coconut vanilla smell and can be used to make tea. I wish I knew, I would have foraged some to make some tea, or at least smelled them to experience the fragrance.
A little more ascend...
And I get the stunning open views again. Crook Peak is further away in the background now.
I know I'm nearly at the end of the walk when I reach the gates
I was a bit tired after the walk and slept like a baby that night. I must do this more often, and will be sure to share more UK country side walks with you.
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Wow, what a beautiful walk. I am jealous of all the green! We aren't quite there yet. Soon I hope!
We had a very mild winter this year, it's surprising how fast time flies and spring is here.
Ours has been pretty lame too.
Can't wait to have our spring walk. I missed seeing the blue skies. :D
We can definitely tell spring is here now, we get to see more blue skies and the days are starting to get longer
I'm jealous. The last time I saw the blue skies was in the French Alps. I just hope in the next few days the blue skies are going to show. We woke up today and it's raining.
8 km walk is not easy! I'm happy you had ana amazing scenery around you. Good luck with the walk you will do someday
8km was little easier than I expected maybe coz the views were so nice
Such a beautiful place!! I just wanna roll in those hills lol. And that house with those roots/vines/branches(?) looks like a witch house just cos of the growth. :D
I can imagine why you feel that way, it's so refreshing.
That particular house was the first one I saw as I entered the village, and caught my eye immediately. I thought what a quaint little place
Lovely greeneries, Silent pathways, colourful flowers. Looks like nature has given everything in abundance to you, so that you can breathe in fresh air. Countryside is always beautiful. In our place we experience the same, but now buildings started to rise in the place paddy fielda. Real sad.
Luckily this area is so remote it will be a while before they build anything here.
It's a pity they are building on the paddy fields where you are, it must be terrible for the farmers
Yes it is a pitiful situation
I can't wait for some spring walks. I find it so relaxing walking in remote areas, the less people the better. The fields and areas you show are just a breath of fresh air in good ole nature 😊
I'm definitely going to get out more this year, so much to explore on my doorstep. I hope the weather gets better your end soon and you can start your spring walks
What a wonderful walk!
Sometimes I feel like badly need a quiet place to live, even considering a curfew, but I am not sure I'd live all my life like this.
But I miss my mountain (or hill) climbing so much, hope I will not be too old and weak for them when my life (hopefully) will get back to some kind of normal.
Amazing shots! 😍
!LUV
We seem to grow old and weak a lot quicker than we would like. I do worry sometimes when I have aches and pain, and it reminds me of when I was a little girl and saw my grandmother with similar condition and rubbing ointment on herself. Now I'm the same 🥴
Same here 😏😒
This warm sunshine beckons us out to enjoy the countryside. A lovely walk! May you enjoy many more walks this spring and summer ☀️.
!ALIVE
!COFFEE
Thanks Dave, time to crawl out of my comfortable warm home and get healthier.
Yes, hibernation is over! 😀
!ALIVE
What a beautiful day for an outing, from your pictures @livinguktaiwan. What nice, peaceful countryside views.
What is the elevation of Crook Peak? As I cannot tell from your picture, is it a peak which we can see out over the countryside from up there? Assuming you are allowed to go up there?
Do you have any idea of the age of the houses in your pictures there in Loxton? I have always liked stonemasonry and houses like that look like they have been there a very long time. And are not going anywhere, any time soon ...
Yep, but I bet it felt wonderful, i.e. a "good" tired. Exercise like this, as I had dramatically reinforced in my life over this past year, is one of the single best activities we can engage in. Probably doubly true for those of us (me!) that spend perhaps a bit more time in front of a computer screen than we should ...
P.S. Those shoes on the left side of your last picture look an awful lot like mine. If so, I sure have found them to be a great all-around pair of shoes.
We're a very flat country, Crook Peak is only 191m high, and accessible for walks. I might try that one day, but I hear it's more rugged, hence adding to it's uniqueness and valuable landscape. On my return route during this walk, my highest point was only 162m, a far cry from your RLT!!
I'm not sure about the age of those houses , a few hundred years is not unusual in the UK and is not considered
very old. I know the village church, which we didn't visit, dates back to the 13th century and there are records of settlement in the Loxton village since Roman times. All sounds pretty old, right? 😄
I've had my hiking boots very many years, they're certainly very durable even having been in storage for 3 years, luckily the soles haven't started to crack. They are my good walking buddy
191 m. Well, that is interesting to know, as it looks a bit higher, but ... I guess it is all relative maybe!? It does look like you might enjoy the view from up there, so maybe that will be a part of your walk one day. It sure is pretty countryside.
Wow. I decided to look this little town up on Google maps. I can see it is by the sea there, i.e. near the bay at the mouth of the River Severn? I am no expert, but it looks like that might be an appealing place to which some of the earliest visits might be made vs. farther inland.
We'll all enjoy future stories of your being "out and about," I'm sure. Until then, take care! 👋
Beautiful photos! looks really a relax place 🌸
Thanks, I was lucky and went out on a very nice day
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This is a beautiful place with lots of greenery and amazing landscape view 😀
Unspoilt countryside with green pastures and blue skies always makes great landscapes for walks
The feeling of being in the countryside is amazing, what beautiful photos, thanks for sharing.
You're welcome, I'm glad I can bring some fresh countryside to Hive and share with everyone
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It's so nice to get out for walk, you're not too far from me so I know all about that mud!
Yeah, been a hermit through winter, time to stretch my legs. Have you moved west?
Yes I'm welsh borders these days, hence I GET the WET!
all that fresh air is good for the cuteness lol
🥰 definitely need to do more of it now!
LOL, i am exhausted just at the thought
This looks like a lovely walk. Don't think I'll be getting the stroller through though. But I do have the hiking backpack carrier now so if your nephew will walk then we will be ok.
Definitely not stroller friendly, in fact I think kids might get a bit bored, and there's a small part walking on the roads that I didn't like
A firm reminder of the unadulterated beauty that still exists out there!
Crook Peak is trying its damndest to look like Mt Fuji haha, and not doing a bad job.
Ha ha! Now you mentioon it does look like a wannabe Fuji.
We have plenty of stunning landscape in this part of the world, will be sharing more of it this year,time to get healthy
Rolling hills that are oh so green and so stunning! Well done on the 8 km hike! Interesting how the hues changed in 2 hours. I miss long walks in this type of landscape and the arrival of spring.
I'm surprised I managed the 8 km walk relatively easy as I haven't exercised for a long time. You guys must have great weather all the time in Philippines, no excuse for you not to go out more 😉
It's hot but tolerable during early morning and late afternoon. Daily, I've been planning to go walking but it just never happens 😂 I'll throw myself over the fence and just do it. That's the only way I think 😄
You were fortunate to find a day when it wasn't piddling down! We've hardly had a day without any rain so far this year.
The whole of Feb was really pants, so depressing. I swear I could hear my turf sing as it was so soaked!!
I love nature trails. And judging by those landscapes, I'm guessing a ton of birdwatching opportunities as well! :) Time spent in nature is always time well spent!
Wow the place is amazing that's full of green🍃❤❤
Wow!! This place looks amazing. I love a good hike myself. The colours of the blue sky and lush green grass is so captivating. We are lucky in this part of the world to have this in abundance.
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Beautiful countryside view, making the walk relaxing and less tiring.
Uk has really beautiful countryside. I really admired the beauty of Loxton, it's actually nice. Never seen such an old street lamp before... I used to go to the countryside a lot when I was in Kharkiv. I find such small villages and towns relaxing...
Thanks for sharing such a beautiful location with us, take care...
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