Callow Drove & Shute Shelve Tunnel

(S/E) From the front door of the Woodborough Inn, turn left and left again into Hillyfields Way. At the end of the road, follow the foot-path ahead, to a kissing gate.
Follow the edge of the field ahead in the same direction, with gardens on your right. In the corner, go through a gate and follow the track ahead to the road opposite Sidcot Arts Centre.

(1) Turn left for a short distance then cross into Oakridge Lane. Follow the lane through and past the buildings of Sidcot School. Keep straight on at the junction with Fountain Lane, and pass Sidcot Farm on your right-hand side and Bird Rock Cottage on your left.
Just before the entrance to Oakridge Close on your right, go through a gateway on your left, indicated by a footpath sign on a telegraph post opposite.

(2) Pass through a field gate and hand gate, then dogleg left and right to follow a hedge up the valley ahead of you. Go through a metal gate and continue with the hedge on your right. Beyond a similar gate, pass a small wood on your left, still following the bottom of the valley.
After a wooden gate, keep on with the stream on your left, passing below a hanging wood on the right. On reaching an open field, cross straight across to a gate into a track (Winscombe Drove, followed by the West Mendip Way). Cross the track and go over a stile opposite, next to a field gate.

(3) Walk up the track along the side of the field to a gate into woodland. Follow the track up the wooded combe. On emerging into a field, bear half-right to a slab stile into the walled track of Callow Drove. Turn right and follow the Drove, with views opening up to your right.
After a stile and gate by a National Trust sign for Shute Shelve, the track enters Access Land and starts to descend. Ignore any tracks on your left to reach a gate and stile into a track, hedged on both sides, which continues to descend.

(4) Beyond a cottage on the right, join the drive and follow it out to the main road (Bridgwater Road), opposite a petrol station. Cross and turn left for a short distance. At a bus stop by a road junction, turn right along a National Trust path through trees, which emerges opposite Kings Wood car park.
Walk through the car park and turn left by the cottage, along the wall. A short distance beyond the end of the wall, take a path on the left which descends to meet the Strawberry Line.

(5) Double back left through a deepening cutting which leads to the mouth of Shute Shelve Tunnel. Beyond the tunnel, follow the trail for 3⁄4 mile, en route passing Slader’s Leigh Local Nature Reserve on your left and crossing a track, Fullers Lane, between barriers.

(6) As you approach Winscombe, pass under a railway bridge and continue past the Recreation Ground on your right. Cross the bridge over Woodborough Road, then turn right off the trail, by the public toilets. Turn left up Woodborough Road back to the Woodborough Inn. (S/E)

One long climb and steep descent.

Pdf link : http://walksfromthedoor.co.uk/i/walks/So...

The Woodborough Inn
2 Sandford Rd, Winscombe,
Somerset BS25 1HD
Tel 01934 844167
Email bookings@woodborough-inn.co.uk
Website www.woodborough-inn.co.uk

Shute Shelve Tunnel is brick-lined at its northern end (pictured) where it passes through soft marl, but the bare walls of hard limestone at the southern end are lined with flowstone.

Sidcot School (right) is one of the few independent Quaker schools in the country, and has its own Friends’ Meeting House.

The village of Compton Bishop is dominated by the tower of St Andrew's Church, a Grade I listed building. The churchyards contains a medieval cross and inside the building is a finely carved stone pulpit described by one antiquarian as “one of the best in Somerset”.

The spectacular 360° view from Crook Peak is dominated by the M5 heading towards the obvious eminence of Brent Knoll, with the Parrett Estuary backed by the Quantocks and Exmoor beyond. To the west the island of Steepholm lurks beyond the ridge of Brean Down; to the north are Avonmouth and the outskirts of Bristol; looking east over Cheddar Reservoir is a glimpse of the Gorge; and to the south are the Somerset Levels, with Glastonbury Tor prominent in the south-east.

Dolebury Warren is a well-preserved Iron Age hillfort with steep slopes and wide views on all sides. It was used as a rabbit warren during the Middle Ages, hence the name, and the ruins of the warrener’s house are still visible.

Cheddar Gorge was formed by meltwater unable to enter the underlying caves during periods when they were blocked by permafrost. Britain's oldest complete human skeleton, Cheddar Man, dating from around 7000BC, was found in Gough’s Cave.

Axbridge, though nowadays smaller than neighboring Cheddar, is historically the more important settlement and was granted a Royal Charter in 1202 by King John.