Hot and Holy

Day 20 of the walk was Easter Day. It was hot and broke temperature records in some parts of the UK. We broke the walk up into short stages to provide plenty of rest and water stops which meant Bob was busy in his support role.
The first section was from Wiveliscombe to Fitzhead. A sign post at Wiveliscombe helpfully said it’s 53 miles to Bristol. I think our route is longer. The church of St James at Fitzhead was open and the scallop shell badge was stitched on the kneelers.

The New Inn Pub at Halse was also open which provided some cool drinks. The route was fairly easy going after the first steep hill, and a cheeky little footpath through a beautiful meadow allowed me to cut the corner after Halse.

Ash Priors Common, a nature reserve, was a good place for a late picnic lunch. It had some interesting flora (and possibly also fauna but I didn’t see any of that).

At Bishops Lydeard there as a steam train in the station of the West Somerset railway so we admired that for a while and ate ice cream. The walk ended for the day on the outskirts of the town.

We came back to Exford for our final night in the hostel, which has been comfortable and good value. The adjacent pub has provided good breakfasts and tonight’s evening meal: Hot and Holy in every way (with hot cross buns for Breakfast).

In the heat of the day,
When the sun burns its way across the sky,
And news comes in of more inhuman acts
And suffering beyond enduring,
It’s hard to credit the notion
That a rock rolling God
Can move heaven and earth
To make all things new,
But Christ makes all ordinary things extraordinary today.
A bun, a breath, a life:
Hot and Holy.

JAL 21.04.2019
Day 20 of the End to End, Wiveliscombe to Bishop Lydeard