Lynton to Salisbury

Last night I was looking through some old files and came across an itinerary I had typed prior to a walking holiday back in college days. My comrades were Neil Mapley and Mike Attwood. I remember Neil chortling over my terse description of the giant at Cerne Abbas "A 180 FT tall naked man with club. 1500 yrs old".

Itinerary - click to enlarge.

We were in principle youth hostelling, but there was no YH near to our course across Exmoor so we knocked up a likely looking farmhouse and were treated royally.  Breakfast was a family affair around a huge table with all the farm hands.  It was a regular Enid Blyton breakfast with oodles of everything imaginable and a HUGE bowl of clotted cream in the middle of the table which everyone put on everything - cerials, toast, eggs and bacon, you name it. Possibly the best breakfast I have ever indulged in.

I remember also stopping at Chard. I think we diverted there because Neil needed to go to communion as he had recently become Catholic and that's what Catholics have to do. We couldn't find a Catholic church so had to make do with a High Anglican Church and we all joined him - it was quite the performance with bells and smells and the assistance cleric grovelling on his knees. He reminded me in looks and actions of the Grand Vizier in ""To hear is to obey," said the Vizier, wriggling himself round a little so as to get his hinder parts further away from Rabadash's toe" (The Horse and his Boy, Lewis).

Here in Chard we stayed overnight in a questionable tavern, not being able to find anything better. We were told we could rough it in the attic room, but that this room actually belonged to a lodger. They told us he would probably arrive drunk around midnight, but would not mind us sharing his room (there were not enough beds for all four of us so we had to share which posed another challenge). After bedding ourselves we waited in trepidation for the worst, but in the event the chap turned out to be quite agreeable. Breakfast next morning was not so agreeable, however - insufficiently cooked bacon and eggs literally floating on a sea of grease...

The giant at Cerne Abbas did not disappoint - it was truly amazing!

In the rare event that anyone is that interested here is a link to map segments I have downloaded that show the approximate route based on the above itinerary.