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Some TADS do, some TADS don't. Some TADS were up for the 10th TADS two dayer in Weston-super-Mare but some TADS weren't. Most missed of all, of course, were Big Neil and Bee who have, in recent years, become pretty much the life and soul of these events.
Worry not though. We had some good replacements (let's hope Big Neil and Bee can return and the others can remain next time) and a decent posse for our Somerset escapade. Ten of us on the walk on Saturday and eight on Sunday.
The weekend began when I met Pam and The Mad Bishop And Bear at Paddington station and the two of us took the train (and some beer and gin) down to Weston together before checking in at The Premier Inn right by the seafront. I was straight out to meet with Neill who'd arrived earlier and we sunk a couple of beers outside the unfortunately named Bare Grills.
It was lovely and sunny and it wasn't long before Tina, Neil, Pam, Adam, Teresa, and Ian all joined us. We made our way to the nearby Loco Mexicano where I, quite ludicrously, had the same meal for starter and main course. I do really like those deep fried jalapeno peppers in sour cream even if they're not particularly healthy.
A later bar crawl that ended up in the Sass Bar proved even less beneficial to my health. The music was terrible, Ian was accused (correctly it turned out) of sipping someone else's pint, and then when we finally left after 2am I walked to the wrong hotel. It was only on the way home after the weekend was over I dared check my steppage on my phone and found I'd walked around WSM for a completely unnecessary two and a half hours.
Ouch! Unsurprisingly I was a bit tired and emotional as I struggled through breakfast in the morning but we all made it to the big wheel on the front in time and we were joined by Ben and Shep. Soon the ten of us were traipsing along WSM's large (and, apparently, rather sinky) beach on Marine Parade with views of the islands of Steep Holm and Flat Holm in front of us and we could even see the Welsh coastline. Ben pointed out Cardiff, Penarth, and Barry.
WSM (from which hereon in I'm calling it) isn't a big place (unless you're lost at 3am) and has a population just north of 80,000 people. Notables from WSM include Jeffrey Archer, Roald Dahl, John Cleese, Bob Hope, Rupert Graves, Jill Dando, and the actor Con O'Neill. Musical luminaries include Racey (for whom the walk was named) & Coil. I wonder if anyone, ever, has segued straight from Some Girls into The Anal Staircase?
Ritchie Blackmore of Deep Purple and Rainbow is another local luminary too and probably more famous than any member of Racey or Coil but it's not how we roll. We passed round, rather than over - thankfully, Uphill Hill and alongside the River Axe (which flows from Wookey Hole Caves in to the Bristol Channel) and near a holiday camp in a place called Breen we crossed that river and soon came to our first pub of the day.
I told Adam to find a table and we'd come and join him and then went and sat at a completely different table. My bad. I'd had a late and heavy night. We had a leisurely pint and chat but was rather surprised when somebody said there was wrestling on. We had a look in the saloon bar and sure enough it was full of wrestlers, overexcited children (of all ages), and a man leading a rather unfortunate chant of "in the ring, in the ring".
We moved on and headed to the long wide sandy beach that led us to Burnham on Sea. Apparently the tide comes in very quickly and the dunes can be pretty hazardous so that probably explains why such a beautiful stretch of beach was almost deserted. We walked and walked in a straight line and I had one of those moments I so enjoy on these walks when I looked round and saw people who'd either never met before or barely know each other deep in conversation. I love arranging these walks but my proudest part of the whole thing is having such a wonderful team of people to work with. No morality police.
On arriving on Burnham-on-Sea we had a quick drink in the Victoria and took a friendly cabbie back to WSM (except Tina and Neil who took the bus). That evening we enjoyed a good curry in Two Chefs and, after watching a rock covers band (lots of G'n'R and AC/DC, I enjoyed them, Ben wasn't a fan) a few of us ended up back in the Sass Bar. It wasn't quite as late this time but still a bit silly. Neill and Shep had left during the curry. I found a phone at the Sass Bar and handed it in. It turned out to be Tina's.
Predictably I was even more knackered the next morning and went for a lie down after breakfast. I was woken by Pam knocking on my door and everyone was waiting to get the minivan to Axbridge. Luckily I'd only delayed them by about ten minutes but I was reminded of when Shep said that if I take a long time to write a blog about a walk it's because someone has annoyed me. Someone did annoy me. That someone was me!
We had the same cab driver all weekend and he was an absolute gent. Dropping us off in the pretty little town (the smallest in all England apparently) of Axbridge we soon headed off along the Ellenge Stream eventually crossing it and following the Cheddar Yeo into Cheddar itself. On this stretch we saw dogs joyfully splashing around in the water and were treated to a row of cows either doing the Poznan or showing us their arses. Ben provided some good tuneage. Everyone else had a good yakkage.
I'd given people the option of waiting in Cheddar of going up the Gorge itself and, after a pint (and a Southern Comfort'n'lemonade) at the Bath Arms Hotel, everybody opted to try the gorge. Which was steeper and tougher than I had expected. The path was pretty rocky as well and I soon realised we weren't going to do the circular route of my imagination.
Ian and Ben went a step extra by going up the Cheddar Viewing Tower and Ian even had a look at Jacob's Ladder (he wasn't overly impressed) and we all walked for about forty minutes up a hill that seemed to get steeper and steeper but with views - of the gorge itself, of the nearby nearly circular Cheddar Reservoir, and for miles around, that just got better and better.
More than one person was suffering a bit of "height anxiety" but there were lots of people, both younger and older than us, continuing upwards and onwards as we descended into the comfort of The Riverside Inn where we played games of singing the Top 40 singles of the year of various years in the 70s and, so as not to leave our youngest member - Ben - out, the 80s as well.
Taxi arrived quickly and we zoomed back to WSM. Neil wasn't feeling too well and, sadly, that would affect him later in the day too but pleased to report he was soon back to his best. In Weston, Ian and I had another quick drink before Ian left and I joined the others in the Fork'n'Ale Taproom & Kitchen for more drinks (more Southern Comfort too), a decent mac'n'cheese, and a few games of Chameleon.
The pub was dead though and most people turned in early. Pam, Ben, and myself went for another at the rather lovely Brunello Lounge and then Ben and I talked about Pavement, tried to remember the lyrics to Kendrick Lamar's King Kunta, and had the final drink of a weekend in which I drank way too much in WSM's Wetherspoons, - the Cabot Court Hotel.
A pub that, for some reason, featured a pergola. Then it was back to the Premier Inn. I missed breakfast on Monday and then Pam and I took the train back to Paddington where carnival goers were arriving in huge numbers. I love carnival but I was too tired and my three wheeled silver trolley would have just got in the way. I'd had enough fun for weekend.
For which I'd like to thank Pam, Neill, Adam, Teresa, Neil, Tina, Ian, Ben, and Shep. Thanks too to those of you who provided photos for this blog. Next year let's go somewhere where the pubs close at 11pm!
