On Friday I walked up the Brue as far as Bruton, with a couple of the men from our men's group. We're planning another walk, up to the river's source, in a couple of weeks time; by then I will have covered most of the original course of the Brue and I shall be thinking about doing one long walk, from beginning to end.
The river Brue above Glastonbury is less man-made than below Glastonbury, though between Glastonbury and Lydford the banks have been made up and around Baltonsborough the channel is unnaturally straight - I think the mill stream that goes from Baltonsborough Flytes into Baltonsborough must be nearer to the original river course. Above Lydford, as we gradually climbed up off the levels, the river seems to follow more of a natural course but it's less easy to follow - mostly we were taking public footpaths that criss-crossed the river but didn't go along beside it. Near Alford we walked into a field and suddenly four grey herons took off all at once - none of us had seen four herons together before.
Our route took us right by Castle Carey railway station, where trainloads of festival-goers were being shipped off to the site by bus. We amused the stewards and station staff by asking where the footpath to Bruton could be found; they managed to send us in the right direction. By this time we were in danger of being overwhelmed by a thunder storm, several of which were following us across the countryside. Across the hills we could see one that looked like it was tipping down right on the festival site (which indeed it was). We reached Bruton and the shelter of Tim's house just in time to avoid getting soaked ourselves.
The river Brue above Glastonbury is less man-made than below Glastonbury, though between Glastonbury and Lydford the banks have been made up and around Baltonsborough the channel is unnaturally straight - I think the mill stream that goes from Baltonsborough Flytes into Baltonsborough must be nearer to the original river course. Above Lydford, as we gradually climbed up off the levels, the river seems to follow more of a natural course but it's less easy to follow - mostly we were taking public footpaths that criss-crossed the river but didn't go along beside it. Near Alford we walked into a field and suddenly four grey herons took off all at once - none of us had seen four herons together before.
Our route took us right by Castle Carey railway station, where trainloads of festival-goers were being shipped off to the site by bus. We amused the stewards and station staff by asking where the footpath to Bruton could be found; they managed to send us in the right direction. By this time we were in danger of being overwhelmed by a thunder storm, several of which were following us across the countryside. Across the hills we could see one that looked like it was tipping down right on the festival site (which indeed it was). We reached Bruton and the shelter of Tim's house just in time to avoid getting soaked ourselves.
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