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Britain 4: Taunton to Gloucester

Posted on 16 May 20132 April 2021 by Rob Ainsley


Another long and lovely day of cycling across England’s patchwork nation. Up the pleasant canal towpath from Taunton to Bridgwater this morning (picture). The route – part of NCN3, Bristol to Land’s End – has a scale model of the planets, rather like York’s. This is the sun, as if dumped at Maunsel Locks by an astronomical flytipper; Pluto is in a supermarket car park.


Some back roads got me to Cheddar. I spurned the chance to visit the caves – if I want to spend time in cramped, uncomfortable, dripping conditions, I can do that at home – or eat the cheese. But I did cycle up the Gorge (picture), which is one England’s few genuinely spectacular natural features, along with the Severn Bore.

At the top, talking of bores, I had one of those encounters with a cyclist whose sole intention is to subtly rubbish everything you do and suggest that his way is better. He was surprised I was using paper maps and not a GPS like him. He couldn’t understand why I had so much luggage and didn’t travel light like him. He was amazed I was camping and not using couchsurfing websites like any normal person.

I wanted to say yes but, if I couchsurfed, I might have to spend a whole evening with someone I didn’t like, such as you, but thought better of it. Instead I talked to him about helmets, another topic on which he arrogated expertise, and after five minutes of me explaining in detail the shortcomings of British Standard EN 1078:1997, he couldn’t get away quick enough.


Anyway, I cycled past Chew Valley Lake, and into Bristol, where I had a late lunch at the Mud Dock Cafe (picture). I remembered this as the cool place to be when I used to live in Bath 15 years ago. Cycle cafes are relatively common now, especially in London, but Mud Dock was one of the very first: a place where you can have your bike repaired, buy a top-end road bike, or – if you’re feeling really really flush – even buy a sandwich and coffee.

From there I dodged a few showers and zoomed up the A38 to Gloucester. There were several other cyclists out on the road, some of whom I chatted to pleasantly. One of them was a doctor called Foster.

Miles today: 90
Miles since Land’s End: 280

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