After two very full days of walking we gift ourselves a lazy start this morning.  A fresh sourdough from a local bakery goes down nicely with a cheesy omelette and home-made plum jam from our campsite.

Despite the bus timetables changing overnight we don’t wait long for a bus from Clevedon back to Worle Station, but the timetable goes out the window when we hit a traffic jam on the M5. We re-trace our tracks on foot through a residential district of Weston-Super-Mare to where we left off yesterday, setting off from Ebdon early afternoon.

Today’s walk is pre-dominantly on quiet country lanes; despite missing the sounds and smells of the sea it’s a delightful stroll through the Somerset countryside. The route is well signposted as the “Pier to Pier Way” which only recently opened up with a key section on the new River Yeo Bridge.

It feels like the residents have made a real effort with troughs and wheelbarrows full of summer flower displays. We stop for a short break outside a converted church then pass the immaculate looking Wick St. Lawrence Church, almost dwarfed by the massive yew tree in the churchyard. As a self-confessed tree hugger, I am delighted to find my first conker of the season nestled in the grass below a chestnut tree, followed by many orchards – apple trees drooping with the weight of their autumnal load.

After a half hours stroll the “pier to pier” route takes a left, away from the road, through a gate onto a very long straight path, newly fenced with wild flowers growing in the verge. This is the route of the former Weston, Clevedon and Portishead Railway and the location of Wick St. Lawrence station.  The “old bridge” is no longer but two new sluice bridges; Samson Sluice and Tutshill Sluice, take us over the River Yeo and its tributaries back onto the route of the railway to Tutshill Farm and back onto country lanes.

It’s a fabulous time of the year to be walking these lanes, with trees bursting with fruit, such as the hawthorn and brambles awash with blackberries.  Sadly, not as tasty as the blackberries back home, but we cannot help but keep trying them.

The Owl in the Park café looks like our kind of café but is sadly closed on Mondays, however, we’ve made sandwiches so find a delightful spot perched beside a narrow waterway on Yeo Bank Lane for a late lunch.  We’re right beside the road, but it’s so quiet we barely notice. As we carry on take a left on Ham Lane then a right on Broadstone Lane to Middle Lane.  The lanes cut through green countryside criss-crossed with waterways with fields of cattle and many more orchards.

At Channel View Farm we can almost smell the sea but take a right toward Treble House Farm then a left on Back Lane towards Dowlais Farm, which, in fact is where we are staying. It’s tempting to nip to our tent but our car is parked in Clevedon town centre.  It’s a short turn left and we have todays first view of the sea, well actually its kind of a muddy river estuary, but still pretty under the blue sky and puffy clouds.

The tarmacked path hugs the coast for a short while before crossing the Blind Yeo and on to Poet’s Walk round Wain’s Hill Fort. We’re up really high now with a fabulous view looking across Clevedon Bay to the seaside town with its 150 plus year old pier.

We’ve driven into the town a few times but hadn’t quite clocked the Marine Lake.  Now we’re up close we can see what a fabulous spot it is and why this tidal pool is so popular with swimmers and boaters (is that a word?).  An information board tells us about the MARLENS – a group of volunteers who carry out maintenance and organise activities.  Behind the lake is a busy park with a children’s play area, tennis courts and skateboard ramp. We pass the iconic band stand and a gorgeous windswept tree then on to the promenade and pier.  This town really has everything!

We are too late for a stroll down the pier, it’s open 10 to 4:30, so take a piccie down the boardwalks then it’s time to return to our campsite to change for dinner. The sunset over the sea from the Little Harp Inn does not disappoint.