Ash, Callum O’B and Michael set off from Buckfastleigh at 9.30, parked outside Neil’s house in Newton Abbot and rode the short distance to the station for about 10.05. The Rodgers family arrived while Michael was buying a new Family & Friends Railcard, and when Lawrence arrived with his Mum we had our photo taken on the station platform. The train arrived on time, loading the six bikes was easy and we left on time at 10.32.

It was a sunny but cold morning when we arrived at Bristol Temple Meads just before 12.00. We found our way over the bridge to the start of the Bristol & Bath Railway Path, although several new buildings had popped up since we were last there. Everyone had a packed lunch, so after taking some photos and videos we set off along the railway path without delay, passing through the “dodgy area” of Fishponds – we warned Callum O’B not to shout things at the locals!

Further along, a couple of boys had set up a table by the side of the path and were trying to sell ice creams and drinks in aid of a charity - two drinks for 50p! Our lot thought they were “chavs” and were lying about the charity collection, which Michael thought was a bit mean as they were very friendly and clearly not at all dishonest. Sadly they didn’t really have anything we wanted so we didn’t buy anything, but they were actually doing a great job there and Michael told them so.

We stopped for lunch at Old Mangotsfield Station, where we had lunch on our last visit. It was sheltered from the wind in there and so actually quite sunny and warm, and there was plenty of space for rocket and frisbee fun.

Next stop was Bitton station and café. Michael had found there was a better café just down the road, at Willsbridge Mill, but after riding there we discovered it was only open at weekends. The large “Welcome” sign on the door seemed rather inappropriate. So we returned to the Station buffet, located in a disused train carriage, which was actually very nice and offered a good range of cakes and ice-creams.

The path continued all the way to Bath. Michael was using the SatNav, but of course it didn’t know the cycle routes which led to a little confusion, but we got to the famous Pulteney Bridge soon after 4pm and of course everyone was impressed with the bridge, river and weir. Michael had originally planned to visit the Roman Baths next, as he knew they closed at 5pm, but Lawrence and Callum O’B had made it clear they didn’t want to go in there for £7, so Michael decided to go up the hill to see the Circus and Royal Crescent first, since everyone wanted to see those. He also reckoned that if we went to the Baths first we might never get to the other places.

Well we saw the Circus, with Gay Street leading off it, and the famous Royal Crescent, then returned to Sally Lunn’s café with a view to checking that out. But everyone saw the Bath Sweet Shop and loved it so much that we went in there for a while. By the time we got to the Roman Baths entrance it was just 5.00: the doors were closed and the bloke at the entrance wouldn’t entertain any idea of us going in, even for just a few minutes. It looked like we would be coming back here again tomorrow morning.

We went to Tesco Express and Sainsburys Local. Then George and Will wanted to visit a Subway for their main meal. Michael and Ash would have preferred Pizza Hut, but John felt that would cost him too much money for the three in his family. In the end Ash and Michael couldn’t find anything else they both wanted, so everyone ended up getting food from Subway. At least it was fairly inexpensive. We carried them halfway up Bathwick Hill towards the hostel and ate them on a little grassy side track that offered nice views in a sheltered, sunny location.

We arrived at Bath Youth Hostel at around 6.30. After the usual showers, some needed some advice on making their beds as they seemed a little confused. When Michael and Ash had eaten their desserts (yoghurts and fruit pies), we played some games of Bomberman as darkness fell and then headed out to the extensive grounds for our customary game of Manhunt.

Michael had a good spot way down in the woods near the driveway, but it was taking people too long to find him so he moved to a bush nearer the hostel. George joined him there for a while, then ran out to give himself up and brought the searchers back to get Michael. Except Michael had gone, which left him rather frustrated – he had thought that would be an easy catch! A few minutes later, Michael went back to hide in the same bush, and poor George walked past it several times and didn’t think to check there again. Callum O’Brien eventually found him.

Back in the dorm we watched some Pink Panther videos on the laptop while people were getting ready for bed – there were seven of us in a ten-bed room so we had plenty of space. We put out the lights around 10.55.

Today offered us the best weather of the tour – a chilly start but getting quite warm during the middle part of the day with bright sunshine. Our alarms went off at 7.55 and everyone woke to the sound of Long Way Home by Supertramp emanating from Michael’s phone.

We got away at around 10.00. John definitely wanted to see the Roman Baths, so we returned to the centre of Bath. In the end only John and Will decided to go in, so they did that from 10.15 while the rest of us visited the Bath Sweet Shop again and then went to a nearby café where excellent coffees, hot chocolates, Danish pastries and coffee cakes kept us happy.

John and Will came out at 11.10, so we left the Roman Baths at around 11.15 and rode directly to Beckford Road to join the Kennet & Avon Canal. We had really enjoyed riding the canal path on our last tour to the area, and by starting in Bath rather than at Claverton this time we were extending the canal riding by a factor of nearly three. We passed more barges than we could count and thoroughly enjoyed the entire route. Ash stopped briefly at Claverton to remind ourselves where we started last time.

We stopped again to watch numerous barges cross the Dundas Aqueduct, and after Michael used his phone for the first time to take some additional group photos we continued along the cycle route through Monkton Combe to join the railway cycle path at Midway. When we arrived at 12.35 we found several cyclists taking part in the opening of the final section of the Two Tunnels cycle path from Bath to Midway, which officially opened just two days ago. It sounded interesting, but we felt sure our canal route to Midway had been the more scenic route.

We were running late of course after the visit to the Roman Baths, so sadly we had to pass the farm café at Wellow without stopping in order to reach Radstock in time for lunch. We did stop briefly at Stoney Littleton at 1.20 where we remembered seeing friendly lambs on our last visit. We got to Radstock soon after 1.45, went to the well-stocked Coop to buy lunch and then settled down to eat it overlooking the nearby Tom Huyton Play Park. Michael and Ash had some hot veggie sausage slices, finest Coop yoghurts and some tasty Coop profiteroles. John went to use the public toilets and returned to advise us that they were “grim”. The younger members had fun on what could perhaps be described as a sit-on rotating scale set, until Callum O’B got off his side without warning, leaving Will to crash to the ground. It was a bit painful at first, but he seemed to be OK.

We pressed on to Midsomer Norton, then took our planned new route through Ston Easton that we hoped would be easier than the route we took last time. And it really was much easier. George, our youngest rider, did really well today, being up front with Ash for much of the ride. Callum O’Brien got slower during the afternoon and started complaining about the hills as we climbed onto the Mendips, but this was mainly because he had brought too much stuff with him and was carrying the excess in a heavy backpack. He got Lawrence to carry it for a while, then we strapped it to Michael’s pannier.

There was more downhill than we had expected for the final part of the ride, including of course the descent of the impressive Cheddar Gorge, so we arrived in Cheddar roughly at the planned time of 6.35. The Cheddar Cheese Company, which was much further down the gorge than Michael had remembered, was closed when we arrived. We then rode the short distance to Cheddar Youth Hostel, calling at the nearby Tesco Express on the way.

At the hostel we were given a 6-bed room that had a clever mattress and frame on castors that could be slid out from under one of the bunks to make a seventh bed for George, so we could all be together - the arrangement worked fine, and we saved a bit of money in the process. After showers we prepared our meals in the spacious kitchen and ate them in the light and airy dining room, which felt more like a conservatory. Michael and Ash cooked ready meals in the microwave, which was quick and easy.

We played Atomic Bomberman on the laptop after dinner, but then there some really wanted to play Manhunt, so we all went out to the back garden at around 9.55 and played a few games. The garden was quite a small area, but it was very dark in some places making it easier to hide, so we had good fun. We finished the game around 10.30 and managed to get lights out not far off 11pm.

To make sure we all got up, Ash’s alarm went off at 7.55 and Michael’s at 7.58. Then Michael treated everyone to Down and Out by Genesis. After breakfast Michael asked the warden whether YHA stamps are still given out when requested, and he was given 7 stamp booklets, all with the Cheddar stamp. We haven’t had stamps for many years, but everyone seemed to like the idea. We were ready to leave by 10.10.

There was some interest in seeing the Cheddar Cheese Factory, so as it was close and quite cheap, we went straight there from the hostel. Entry was £1.95 for adults, with free entry for children. We learned a lot in the factory. The main process takes a day, and we could watch it all happening through glass windows, but video presentations showed the whole process compressed into 25 minutes – it was far more involved than we had expected. We then went on to the shop where we were able to taste many different varieties or cheeses – the cave matured seemed to be tastier than the standard matured. There were also chutneys to try, and our youngsters tried to prove that they could manage the Hell Fire Pepper Jelly chutney without showing any sign of discomfort. John bought some cheese to take home, but for those who didn’t, it can be ordered online.

We left just before 11.10 and set off along the panned lane route to Wookey Hole that avoided the main road as far as possible. The route through Rodney Stoke was fine, but the lane through Old Ditch, whilst interesting, was hilly – George had to eat some sandwiches before the climb – so the main road would have been preferable and would have saved us twenty minutes. There were then more unavoidable climbs to Wookey Hole, but everyone was spurred on by the promise of a café/restaurant when we arrived. We probably got there at 1.15 - 8.4 miles of riding and 200m of climb.

Michael hadn’t really discussed the possibility of a Wookey Hole Caves visit previously, or the prices, but when he started talking to the bloke at reception it turned out the normal entry price was £18 for adults and £12 for children. We only had an hour max to spend there, and Michael is used to getting a good discount in such circumstances. Today, however, he hit a brick wall: the guy would not budge on the standard gate prices. Michael asked him to ring his manager, and she confirmed there would be no discounts. It was possible to get a 10% reduction by booking online, but he wouldn’t even give us that. It was all looking way too expensive.

The old café at the top of the car park was now a hotel, so we went to the new restaurant to eat lunch and mull things over. The place looked and felt like a school canteen, only offered fast food and was quite expensive. Callum OB and John tried the Leek and Potato Soup, but it was £4.50 and very average. Michael and Ash just had a drink and a £1.50 flapjack, but we were all disgusted by the poor quality.

It seemed that Will and George and Callum OB really wanted to go in to Wookey Hole: Callum thought there would be plenty to do and the other two thought they should take the opportunity as they would probably never go there again. It was a difficult decision. Michael was now against it, firstly because they would not discount the very expensive price, and secondly because it would delay us by two hours which would mean we would have to miss out on other visits that would be free entry. John thought we should only do it if they give us the 10% online discount, but when we tried to book via our phones we found there was no mobile signal! We returned to the gate one last time and found a new person on the gate. She seemed more willing to help, but she had to ring the same manager to confirm, so of course the answer was no again. At this point we gave up and left at 2.05. We were pleased to deny them a substantial amount of money because they had been so uncompromising, and yet the youngsters had missed out on an interesting visit. Perhaps we should run a special visit there one day to make up!

We got to Wells really quickly, found a spot in front of the cathedral, used the facilities and then bought very nice pasties from the town and ate them on the lawns. There was a light wind so it felt chilly there, and by the time everyone had finished playing with the rocket and tennis ball, some of us were quite cold.

We left around 4.05 and rode through the very attractive Bishops Palace and Gardens. John had to stop to fix George’s bike there in the Palace grounds which delayed us a little. We then followed the cycle route via Long Drove towards Glastonbury. Will got a bit despondent at one point and was dragging off the back, but Ash went back to assist and soon he was racing Ash to the front of the pack.

We took the steep climb via Old Wells Road to the rear path up Glastonbury Tor, but Lawrence got a puncture on the way up. Michael sent the rest on ahead while he assisted Lawrence, then as they sped on to catch up with the others they passed Callum OB two-thirds of the way up, sitting down on the side of the road and feeling really tired. Michael went on ahead and reached the start of the path in Stone Down Lane as the rest were almost ready to start walking up the Tor, so he sent them up, went back a short distance for Lawrence, sent him up with the others and then waited for Callum OB. He took a good deal longer however, and when he finally arrived he had no interest in climbing up the tor. He decided to sit at the bottom and wait for us, even though it was cold, and Michael went up to join the others.

It was quite cold on the tor, but those who went up had fun around St Michael’s Tower for the camera. When we returned to the bikes it was around 6.20, leaving us no time for the planned detour through Glastonbury Abbey. We rode directly across the levels via Butleigh Drove and Street Drove and proceeded to the McColls grocery shop in Ivythorn Road. When we had stocked up with food for the evening we rode the short distance to Street Youth Hostel, probably arriving at around 8pm. It was a shame we had arrived so late at such a great hostel. On future visits to the area we will leave out Wookey Hole unless we can arrange good rates in advance, and if we do go there we need to arrive by 11.30 with a packed lunch.

We were all on the top floor as usual, with John and Will in the 3-bed room and the rest of us in the 6-bed room. We scrambled to shower and eat in whatever order was fastest. It was funny when Will thought his Dad had gone missing: his room door was locked, then we rang his phone but got no answer. It turned out he was in the kitchen making his food, so we weren’t sure why Will hadn’t looked there first.

By 9.55 we were finally ready to play our final game of Manhunt in the grounds. Michael volunteered to be “on” for the first round, but then he felt a little full after his large, late meal, so he just observed for the last two rounds, offering help where needed. Ash hid nicely on the balcony in the first round, on the bike shed roof in the second round and under a car for the third round, so he did pretty well overall.

We went back into the hostel at around 10.35, then John went ahead to make the hot chocolates we had planned to round off the tour. It was round 11.15 when we finally got to bed, and we all had a good, quiet night’s sleep.

We had a pretty good night’s sleep, and everyone was gently woken by Michael playing OMD at 7.55. But it seemed everyone was so tired they just couldn’t get out of bed. Michael went down for breakfast alone, John came down a little later, Ash arrived when Michael had finished his cereal, but Lawrence never turned up at all! He was so tired he said he would make do with shortbread in bed! He was still in bed when Michael returned to the dorm and didn’t think he was serious when he said they would be leaving at 9.30 either with him or without him. When he discovered that we would be returning near the hostel after the visit to Clarks Village, and that the hostel closed at 10, he decided he had better get up.

It was actually 9.40 when everyone was out, and by the time we had got our YHA books stamped, taken group photos on the hostel balcony and Ash and George had finished their video tour of the hostel, it was after 9.55 when we finally got away on a very cold and grey morning.

We went straight to Clarks Village for around 10.15 and wandered around there, buying things from the Cadburys outlet and MenKind, and browsing in Adidas, Mountain Warehouse and a few clothing outlets. We then returned for the planned café stop at Starbucks at 11.15, but now there were queues for both Starbucks and the other café nearby. Michael and Lawrence would have happily waited for the chance to sit down somewhere warm, as it really was quite cold and miserable outside this morning, but John wanted to get takeaway refreshments, so some got donuts from the kiosk while Lawrence, Ash and Michael saved money by getting 99p hot chocolates from the Cadbury shop and shared a bag of Misfits.

It was about 11.50 when we finally left, which was way longer than Michael had intended to spend there. Still, everyone had enjoyed the visit. We took the direct route to Nythe which avoided climbing up to the hostel again: this did mean we missed out on the Walton Hill woodland track from near the hostel, but we needed to save time now as we had a train to catch at Taunton this afternoon. On the approach to Nythe, Will stopped briefly, said “Oh shit” for some reason, and then a passing bird dropped its deposit on him, much to everyone’s amusement!

We followed the Levels roads over King’s Sedgemoor Drain, which was all pretty much flat and easy, although we did get a few drops of rain at one point. When we reached Othery we found the corner shop we had visited previously was now closed down. There was a general store in the middle of the village, but usefully, that was closed for lunch between 1pm and 3pm! Do they think this is Switzerland?

We continued to Burrow Mump with whatever food we had with us, and Michael decided we just about had time to climb it. It was still grey and cold on top with a stiff breeze – we really have had quite miserable weather on this tour. We had sheep for company around the ruined church, and while the youngsters climbed over the walls and windows, John used the opportunity to eat some sandwiches. Once again, we were a little later leaving there than Michael had planned.

We set off again for the Willows & Wetlands Centre, got stopped by a passing engine at the main line level crossing at Athelney, and then Michael got a blowout at 2.05! Ash led the rest on to the Willows Centre with instructions that they could either look around the centre or visit the café. Meanwhile Michael replaced his split tube, patched up the hole in his tyre and met everyone at the centre by around 2.15.

They had looked around the swinging willow seats in the shed and then decided to go to the café. The silly woman there, however, had told them all to go and sit down and she would come along to take their order. That is where everyone was when Michael arrived, and by 2.25 she still hadn’t come over to take our orders and was actually serving new people who had come in after us! It actually felt like she didn’t want to serve our teenagers, and if we had not been pushed for time, Michael would have complained bitterly. We had no choice but to leave, however, which was actually just as well as it took longer to get to the station than we had expected. Michael got some video shots of the youngsters in the swinging willow seats and then we sped off at around 2.30.

Originally, we had hoped to have time to do a ride extension from North Curry to the Bridgwater and Taunton Canal near Outwood, but with time now running short we instead rode directly to Creech St Michael, joining the canal there at 3.10. We had four flat miles to go to the station and our train was due to leave at 3.49. George was a little tired but nobody really needed major encouragement to keep their speed up. We stopped for a break every five minutes where Michael handed out some of his Cadbury’s Misfits to keep spirits up. The ride was actually pretty easy, and we were soon passing Morrisons. It was 3.44 when we got to the station however, which was way too close for comfort.

We came up on the nearside platform where Callum OB’s parents were waiting to take him on a family trip up north. Michael had wanted to have a proper chat with them, but as things were we only had time to tell them we were late before dashing off to the platform. Fortunately, our train was leaving from that nearest platform, and it was running four minutes late, so in the end we had plenty of time. It would have been better to have booked a later train, but there had only been four bikes spaced on the later train when we came to make the reservations.

Unusually, there was a Travelling Chef on board our train, making hot food meals for the very reasonable price of £4.50. He made Michael a cheese and tomato toasty on brown bread, and a bacon baguette with 2 fried eggs for Lawrence. Ash just wanted an orange juice.

The train arrived at Newton Abbot just before 5pm, only a little later than the scheduled time of 4.41. We got our bikes off the train very efficiently as usual and were thanked by the Train Manager for helping him get the train away on time. That’s the first time we have ever been thanked for our efforts! She said she really appreciated us helping them to keep the train on time, as so few people do. Lawrence’s parents were waiting for us on the platform, so we had a nice chat with them. Kelly was waiting outside the station for the Rogers Clan, the Ash and Michael rode the short distance to Neil’s where they stayed until 6pm, glad to find somewhere to warm up. Ash had toyed with the idea of cycling home, but it was cold outside we both he and Michael went home by car.

That had been another adventurous tour, and despite not being blessed with the best weather we had all enjoyed the trip and seen many interesting sites along the journey.