A disused railway and tunnel, a local nature reserve with orchids and ancient trees, and a wooded return.
Description
(S/E) From the Old Manor House entrance, turn right and right again along the A38 in the Bristol direction, along the right-hand pavement.
After a quarter of a mile, cross the entrance to Wavering Down Rise and continue to a bus stop.
(1) Cross the main road at the traffic island, turn briefly right on the other pavement, then turn left onto the Strawberry Line. Follow the former railway for half a mile, at which point the Trail passes through Shute Shelve tunnel (180 metres). Beyond the tunnel, continue for 250 yards then turn left off the Trail up some steps into Slader’s Leigh Local Nature Reserve.
(2) After a kissing gate, turn left along the path along the left-hand edge of the reserve. Beyond the old lime trees at the top, bear right through a gate to a sunken track. Turn left and walk up the track, crossing the road into King’s Wood car park. Exit the car park via the gate on the right and turn immediately left.
At the junction with a path up from the Strawberry Trail, keep right to a gate within the wood.
(3) Follow the main path into the wood, bearing right and climbing a little before descending and bearing left back to the lower edge of the wood. Continue along the bottom of the wood to a gate in a fence and follow the blue waymark, still along the forest edge.
The path climbs beside the mossy remains of a wall then enters a more open, scrubby area as it starts to descend. Ignore paths to right and left until you reach a wooden hand-gate in a corner.
(4) Follow the rough path beyond down to the road in Cross village. Turn left past the New Inn back to the Old Manor House. (S/E)
Waypoints
- S/E : km 0 - alt. 15 m - Old Manor House
- 1 : km 0.53 - alt. 43 m - Railway - Shute Shelve tunnel
- 2 : km 2.01 - alt. 80 m - Slader’s Leigh Local Nature Reserve
- 3 : km 3.18 - alt. 86 m - Wood
- 4 : km 3.57 - alt. 18 m - New Inn
- S/E : km 3.76 - alt. 15 m - Old Manor House
Useful Information
Some road-walking to start, and the tunnel (180 metres) is unlit but can be bypassed. The wooded return path may be muddy and uneven in places.
Pdf Link : http://walksfromthedoor.co.uk/i/walks/So...
THE Old Manor House
Cross Lane, Cross, nr Axbridge,
Somerset BS26 2ED
tel +44(0)1934 709542
website www.oldmanorhouse.net
Always stay careful and alert while following a route. Visorando and the author of this walk cannot be held responsible in the event of an accident during this route.
During the walk or to do/see around
The Somerset Levels cover an area of some 250 square miles and are used for grazing and, further south, peat extraction. The area around Axbridge is drained by the Cheddar Yeo and the River Axe, both artificially dredged and straightened.
Although now smaller than neighbouring Cheddar, Axbridge is historically the more important settlement. King John’s Hunting Lodge is a misnomer, being a Tudor house of around 1460 now housing a museum.
The Church of St Andrew in Compton Bishop is a Grade I listed building. Its intricately carved medieval stone pulpit has been described as “one of the best in Somerset”.
Cheddar Reservoir was completed in 1937 and has a surface area of 260 acres. It is an important wildlife site, particularly for wintering wildfowl and gulls, including storm-blown rarities
