a picturesque woodland walk through the Brendon Valley
A fantastic circular walk is a 5 1/2 mile walk from Watersmeet up the north bank of the East Lyn to the Staghunters Inn in Brendon, then back along the south bank of the East Lyn.
There is a bit of road walking from Brendon to Rockford but it’s a very quiet road and I didn’t actually see any cars whilst doing it.
In the woods at the moment, there are patches of the pretty, pink Wood Betony flowers. Augustus Ceasar wrote of a myriad of uses of this plant including ‘when mixed with honey is of special use for those that are troubled with the falling down of the mother’!! I then came across a very brightly green caterpillar which I think is possibly a Lunar Marbled Brown moth, though there are a lot of very similar green caterpillars, so I can’t be certain.
As you get close to Brendon, look out for the cobbled bit of the path by the river which has been worn down by cart wheels over the centuries, it really shows how old these woodland paths are.
Above the path between Rockford & Brendon, look out for the heart on one of the rocks, I’m not sure whether someone has cleared the moss to form this or whether it’s natural
Another delight along the river are the Dippers, if you’re lucky you can watch them swimming underwater hunting for riverfly larvae.
Happy walking, Danny.
Author and Image Credits
Danny Jarvis
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