Pensford - Somerset
Circular walk: 8.03 miles
what3words address for parking: there are a couple of possible starting points for this walk, either at Pensford itself or Stanton Drew. We parked at Pensford. There is a car park at the village hall, but (understandably) there is a notice asking that only those using the hall park there. When we walked this route the hall was dark and empty and so we did park there, but there is also some space to park on the roadside. The w3w address for the village hall is:
///rockets.cold.advancing. Please park considerately. At Stanton Drew there is a small car park on the road, beside the church at:
///slicing.finer.elder.
We walked this route clockwise from Pensford and it was a lovely walk, full of variety and interest. The path passes beneath the viaduct (quite an impressive sight) on its way to Stanton Drew. The path cuts across a minor road at Upper Stanton Drew and, in the field, there was a van and gazebo where we could have stopped for a coffee and cake! Unfortunately, it was a bit too close to the start of our walk! If only we had started at Stanton Drew  and arrived here at the end! The van was at approximately ///gardens.water.available. Next time ….
At Stanton Drew we diverted to explore the stone circles. This is the third largest complex of standing stones in England (who  knew?) and the biggest circle, the Great Circle is about 113m in diameter and one of the biggest in the country. Definitely worth a detour! The site is owned by English Heritage and free to enter, but access is over private land and the landowner asks for £1 to access the field: there is an honesty box on the gate.
From Stanton Drew we headed towards Chew Magna on the ‘Two Rivers Way’ and then picked up the ‘Three Peaks Walk’ north of the village. Our route then turned east on the section of the Three Peaks Walk known as the ‘Community Forest Path’ before reverting back to its original name and turning south and back into Pensford.
This was a good walk; not particularly strenuous and with lots of lovely views of wild meadows and hills. Peaceful.
hiking
PeterHadfield on scottexservices.com