Saturday 20 September 2014

20th September 2014 Wick St Lawrence Loop 23

Out exploring today, looking at ways back from Sand Bay.  The ordnance survey maps shows several ways and one that includes, with a bit of a detour, a good tea stop. The mission today is to find Wick St Lawrence, a small hamlet north of Weston.


Sand Bay Litter Pickers

I saw this advertised recently, calling for volunteers to help clear up the waterfront at Sand Bay. A very popular spot this with ramblers and bird watchers as part of it is a SSI. The call for help obviously paid off as there was an army of helpers scouring the beach for rubbish which, to be honest, should not be there in the first place.


Rhynes

Pronounced reen, we call them in the midlands, ditches.  These are prevalent in Somerset, Gloucestershire and South Wales and they are drainage ditches used to turn areas of wetland around sea level into useful pastures. The water table can be controlled by a system of sluice gates and pumps to maintain an optimum level of water to improve grass growth. They have given rise to the Somerset Levels and the earliest reference to them is in the mid 16th century.  This one is on the road between Sand Bay and Wick St Lawrence.


St Lawrence Church

Giving its name to the village, this church was built in the 14th century but has had major restoration work carried out after being struck by lightning in 1791. The village itself has just over a 1000 inhabitants, boosted by a development of new houses recently.



Uphill Scrarecrow Trail.

Saw this advertised recently so had to pay the place a visit.  Peppa Pig was the best of the bunch that I could find.  In case you are wondering, I plead not guilty to pulling out the stuffing.  The grandkids would never forgive me.


Clocked over 23 today. A good ride today, helped along by calling at the garden centre near Puxton for a slice of apple cake and a cup of tea.

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