Over the bank holiday weekend Cerian and I visited Burrington Combe, which is just North a little from Cheddar. I wanted to explore the area a little as my Dad and I came caving here when we were younger. So I hatched a plan for a good walk around the area. I also find the geology of the Mendips quite fascinating too so that was another escuse to go.
 |
| Scrambling up Burrington Combe |
The combe itself is filled with numerous caves, pots and swallets. The one which really sticks in my mind from my teenage years was Goatschurch Cavern, which included 12m of crawling down a narrow tunnel called the drainpipe!
 |
| The entrance to Read's Cavern |
One cave we did investigate whilst we were there was Read's Cavern. A stream disappears in to its entranceway, and you climb down about 10m to the first cavern with its boulder ruckle floor. We didn't venture any deeper as we had no other equipement apart from my headlight. Im looking forward to coming back and exploring some more soon though.
 |
| Looking up from the cavern |
The past few weeks I have been going to one of my local Hash House Harriers (HHH) group. If you are unfamiliar with HHH, they commonly refer to themselves as a drinking club with a running problem - which kind of sets the tone...its all good fun!
Runs, or hashes as they're known, are set by the hare who marks the trail our with flour. The aim is to follow the trail and not get lost. You can reach a checkpoint where the path splits, and you have to figure out which way the trail goes - there are almost always false trails to lead you in the wrong direction! In a way its kinda like orienteering, but much less serious.
Hashes always end at the pub where food and drink is had followed by some down downs!
 |
| Running up to the Pepperbox |
The weekend before last I did another long run. This time up to 19 miles. All felt good body wise. Though I think I might try some different fuel though as the dried fruit takes a little bit of digesting and can give me burps etc. Though to be honest I might just try using nothing but water for now and experiment with that. We'll see how that goes.
Brad and I also visited Goblin Combe again last weekend. I wasn't up for much leading but Brad lead up three climbs which I followed. Climbing it seems is taking a back seat at the moment. I've been struggling to find any confidence to lead climbs since my accident last year. I will still be going climbing but will just be taking it as it comes, and won't pressure myself in to doing things I know I should. My mojo will come back some day. Just a matter of waiting.
 |
| Brad looking please after leading a VS 4b |
Knowing that I won't be able to get a long one in next weekend, I did two medium runs instead this weekend. Saturday I ran from home up to Pepperbox Hill and across to Barford Down before heading back, covering 12.5 miles. On Sunday I ran 8.5 miles from Fritham around my usual loop in the forest.
 |
| Barford Down in the distance |
No comments:
Post a Comment