January has not been an enticing month to be outside. However you can’t keep an outdoors girl inside for too long so a plan was hatched to get out whatever the weather this weekend. Given that the chance of us walking in the rain without any hint of an expansive view was approaching 100% a plan was made for a country walk, near Bristol, involving a pub.

Getting out my handy ordnance survey map I plumped for the area known as Goblin Combe – mostly because of its cool name although the fact that it made a nice destination for a loop from Wrington (home to the delightful ‘The Plough’ country pub) certainly added to its appeal.

Arriving in Wrington we parked up and the first thing I saw was a sign for Bristol, 10 miles it said. It really made me sit up and think about the countryside we have on our doorstep. Sometimes we all need a dose of fresh country air but we feel there are boundaries stopping us; they may be time, transport or a feeling the we are hemmed in, stuck in our urban boltholes. I want to really make a commitment to explore some more of my local area, meaning I can have a weekend that combines the best of town and country.

Good if slightly muddy bridleway took us up and out of Wrington into the heart of Goblin Combe. An evil Goblin force had clearly been at work as the powers that be had replaced our chosen path with a river… Some true adventuring was required to navigate down the valley with dry feet sustained.

Always one to enjoy an educational factoid on a walk we learnt that Goblin Combe was one of six valleys all lying parallel to each other that had been carved out by rivers during the last ice age. It was fairly easy to imagine those raging torrents of what I can only describe as a biblically wet Saturday.
  

A route back up and over Cleeve Hill via Kings Woods showed us some beautiful early signs of spring along with the buds of what I suspect (my plant knowledge is pretty poor) will be a spectacular display of bluebells later in spring.

Once safely out of the weather ensconced by the fire in The Plough at Wrington we learnt all about the local issues and debated whether the Molecatchers advert was possibly the best we’d ever seen. We dried out kit and ourselves by the fire and indulged in some delicious food made all the better by the warm welcome we received despite looking like savages that had just returned from a month living wild.
  

All in all a perfect adventurous walk with an excellent pub all within 10 miles of Bristol. Happy days.

I’d love to hear any suggestions for more local adventures.

Zoe