mendips meanders

Wednesday:

There are various nature reserves. We choose one for today's exploration: Draycott Sleights. That second word means field on a hill or some such. And is pronounced slates.

My first choice has a similar description -- open meadow with flowers and maybe butterflies -- though with a boggy patch and the possibility of finding... bogwort. which we would not recognise anyway.

That one is very small, so we reject... Tor-hole Bottom. Chuckle but reject. And navigate to Draycott.

It's a typical village. Old buildings, narrow streets, best explored on foot. The car is too fast, we pop out the other side. Which is lucky because we find a garden centre. Which has all that we are looking for. parking, coffee and cake, toilets.

it's Hilliers, seems to be one of a chain.

it's a supermarket of garden related products. plants, tools, garden furniture, outdoor clothes. Food for wild birds. packet of worms and bugs, anyone?

Deb and i share an eclair... at last, just what i have been looking forward to on this holiday-- a cake filled with real cream:-) the stuff which would just go off in Perth.

yum:-))

and so, on to the Sleights.

There are conservation workers replacing a gate post, clipped by a tractor, they explain. They describe the path and we walk.

if we were nature experts, There are things to look out for. trees, flowers, limestone outcrops and so on. We just walk a bit over 2km and enjoy.

The forecast mentions rain, possible thunder, hail, stories of flash floods.

the weather stays fine. with a very chilly wind.

There are views over Somerset Levels, the flat stuff below the mendips.

very nice views, though misty.

We circle the field and return to the workers.A very pleasant walk.

Nearest pub is at Priddy, the Queen Victoria, so we go back there for lunch.

we each have fish (smoked haddock) pie, simple, nice, filling plus a slice of mud cake plus thick cream which we take home for tonight's dessert.

Then we go in search of a local henge. More on that later.

--

Dr Nick Lethbridge / Consulting Dexitroboper
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Dying for you to read my blog, at https://notdotdeaddotyet.blogspot.com.au/ :-)

The word "boobs" is so scary until you get to the second "b". (Alfred E. Neumann