I decided upon this walk quite spontaneously. The previous day the weather had been atrocious, with nothing but wall-to-wall rain, and today’s forecast hadn’t been too promising. For that reason I hadn’t anything planned, my thinking being I’d check out the weather and make plans accordingly. Being a Sunday, public transport options would be limited, therefore I decided upon a walk from home. I set about planning something, and was ready to walk by 10:30am.
Bird on a wireThe walk I had planned was to include stretches by Exminster Marshes, which after the rain of the day before, I suspected would be very wet, and that’s exactly what I found. The River Exe was in flood, and there was a lot of water lying about the marshes, which I’d have to cross later in the day. That could be interesting. There was this lone bird, quite big, a shag I think, sitting on the electricity wires of the national grid, quite unconcerned about the 10,000 volts running between its feet.
Field of wheat
The air was crisp and crystal clear having been washed by the rains of the previous day. Visibility was excellent, and the light was strong and full of contrast, good for taking dramatic photos. The corn crops are coming on fast, but still early in growth and green in colour.
St Andrew's Church, Kenn
I stopped briefly to look around Kenn Church, the church of St Andrews. This appears to be a very old sandstone church, with much erosion to the exterior walls visible. Inside there are many very old church pews, and these are no less eroded, this time by woodworm. Still, it’s nice to see them still in place and not having been swapped for plastic seats in someone’s zeal to clean up and modernise. Most of the stained glass appears to be Victorian. There’s an interesting font which I’m unable to place or date.
Exminster Marshes
Later in the day I am, true to my word, down on the Exminster Marshes, and they are very wet as I’d anticipated. I had to resort to taking my socks and shoes off at one stage, and waded through some water rather than turn back. Well, it did prevent my boots becoming water logged. It really wasn’t the best of choices coming through here, although it was very nice to see the marshes in their natural state i.e. very wet.
This proved to be a long walk, and I knew it would be. After I’d completed the planning I calculated the distance and found it quite long, but decided to set about it anyway, as it is June, and I had the whole of a very long day to complete it. I’m glad I did, as it was a lovely walk through wonderful country. I arrived home by 7pm, rather tired, and could only manage to stick a pizza in the oven for my tea.
Walk Statistics:
Total Distance: 19.8 miles
Moving Time: 7hrs 13min
Stopped Time: 41min
Total Ascent: 457 metres
Maximum Elevation: 174 metres
Buses: (None)
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