Challenge number one Brent Knoll

We've done it!!

This morning we packed our ruck sacks with sliced apples and orange juice donned our walking boots made sure we had everything we needed for the challenge of climbing Brent Knoll which is a 449 ft or 137meter high hill just outside of Burnham between the villages of Brent Knoll and East Brent.

We parked up just below St Michael’s church and found the footpath to the knoll. It was a bit of a struggle after all we’re not kids, but we achieved the climb fairly quickly. At the top we were amazed to find it full of walkers all doing the same thing (walking). 

On the way up we spotted two huge buzzards circling the top, at first I thought they could have been eagles as they appeared so large, I later found out that there are no eagles around here, so buzzards they were (well I’m no twitcher, they could have been Fruit bats for all I knew).

A windblown Kay at the summit

Stu at the Summit

We settled down to eat our meagre fair, (I could have murdered a stake pie) and we enjoyed the fantastic views. Brent Knoll also known as the Mount of Frogs (never saw one by the way) and it overlooks the Somerset levels.  

Lunch time

The summit is a mass of ancient earthworks from settlements created in the Bronze and Iron ages, there was even a Roman temple here at one time. It was later occupied by Anglo Saxon’s and Vikings so the mound has a lot of history. 

To the west you overlook Weston Super mare the Bristol Channel the islands of Steep Holm and further out Flat Holm and in the distance the Welsh Coast. 

To the north east are the Mendip Hills and Cheddar Gorge, and to the south east Glastonbury Tor (our next challenge) and the Polden hills. 

To the south the Quantock hills and the Hinkley Point nuclear power station.

To the West

To the South East

Over Burnham

The Mendips

In AD 1607 when the sea broke over the whole of the Vale of Avelon and flooded it to a depth of 12 feet as far as Glastonbury, Brent knoll and Glastonbury Tor would have appeared like islands in the sea just as they would have been in ancient times, the Somerset Levels were all marsh land then.

We took loads of photos and most of them will appear on Animal and Blod’s Scrapbook page on Face Book. We did a rapid descent as the weather seemed to be changing as heavy showers started to roll in off the sea. We were just in time to dodge a good down pour when we got to St Michael’s church at the base of the Knoll.

St Michael's

John Somerset's Memorial

14th Century Pew carvings

So Kay had her tomb stone fix and we found some interesting history inside the church from the times of the Civil War, one monument was to John Somerset who died in 1663 and the pews have woodcarvings from the 14th century, they’re well worth a visit.

Back at the RV I decided it was time to check out the swimming pool so I nipped off for an hour or two for a swim, sauna, steam and a Jacuzzi, while Kay put her feet up for a read and to finish off the chocolates we purchased yesterday to replenish her lost calories.

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