8. Day 4. 11th June. Wheddon Cross to Tintern.

Tintern Abbey


Severn bridge

Severn Bridge

Looking over to the South bridge

Cycle&pedestrian crossing

Wheddon Cross B&B

Dunster church yard

Dunster church

Dunster high street

Coming into Weston Super-Mare

Weston Super-Mare

Left Wheddon Cross at 9.15 and headed for Dunster – a beautiful mediaeval village .
The day started cold but very soon I was down to a t-shirt for the rest of the day – the first really nice day .
The run to Dunster was easy and passed through ancient wooded valleys . After Dunster joined the A39 . Not an enjoyable experience . Heavy traffic on a narrow road .Was happy to escape onto  minor country roads just after Kilve .

Re-joined the A39 for a short while at Cannington and again escaped at Wembden for a while . After that , I joined the A38 and I made swift progress to Weston-Super-Mare . Then onto Congresbury, Yatton, Clevendon and Portishead .

I had read that the Avon bridge had a side track for walkers and cyclists . The bloke said that one followed the M5 signs and that eventually cyclists were taken away from the main traffic .
I saw the sign for the M5/A403 and followed it . I eventually found myself on the hard shoulder of the M5 going over the bridge . Too late to turn back – so I carried on and some public spirited drivers hooted at me .

Having passed the midpoint and speeding up on the downward slope , I heard some loud hooting and assumed it was another enthusiastic driver and ignored it . But the hooting persisted and on turning round saw that it was in fact Avon&Somerset’s finest in a motorway patrol vehicle .
So we had a wee chat about the dangers of cyclists on the hard shoulder of a motorway . They then escorted me off at the next exit , which was in fact the A403 which I wanted . We parted on the best of terms .
I then followed the A403 to the north Severn bridge which has provision for walkers and cyclists . Had hoped to get to Monmouth but time was getting towards 8pm and I decided to stop at Tintern where I lodged at the Wye Valley Hotel . There I met David Moore, another E2Ender , going north to south and he kindly gave me his maps of the ground that he had covered - more detailed than my maps .

Stats:
Distance 96miles