
WALK 5
CURRY RIVEL
A pleasant hamlet, a disused canal
and a former brewery
Easy walking via country lanes
but a busy section of the B3168
Distance 10.9 Km/6.8 miles
Total ascent/descent 64 m
www.mapmyrun.com/routes/view/18652310
Updated January 2024 Comments to [email protected]
1 From the bus-stop (GR392 252) walk E (towards Langport) and just beyond the petrol station, go R through gate (SP Back Lane). Keep hedge on L and where it bears sharply L, continue straight ahead parallel to the field boundary on the L for 350m to reach a gate and sleeper bridge to reach a road. Turn L and after a few steps, go R through a gate and go 300m straight across field on clear path passing beneath electricity lines to reach a stile in the opposite hedge. Pass a garden on L then bear slightly R to locate gate in opposite hedge. Bear R between two fences to reach a Bristol gate to a grassy lane. Turn L and follow 200m to reach a tarmac road by the Old Vicarage. Go ahead to bend in road in Drayton and after 130m go R at T-junction (School Street) and follow 450m to track on R just beyond new houses [2.1Km]
2 (GR406 243) Continue 200m and when road bends R go straight ahead (SP Midelney Manor) on no through road for 1Km to reach Midelney bridge just beyond which take path on R (SP Westmoor Bridge). If time, go ahead for 400m to see the pleasant hamlet of Midelney and its Manor House(1). Follow path with the River Isle on the R for 600m to where the river bears R. Just beyond is a Bristol gate and the disused Westport Canal(2) is joined. Continue with canal on R for 1.2Km to reach Bristol gate and road [2.8Km]
3 (GR402 215) Turn R and walk 650m ascending gently to reach a T-junction opposite the pub in Hambridge and turn R (SP Curry Rivel). Follow with care, particularly along the sections with no pavement, for 1Km crossing the River Isle and passing the former Langs brewery(3) to reach the driveway to Bowden’s Farm. Continue round the curve with great care for 400m [2.1Km].
4 (GR395 229) Just beyond a high level cable across the road, turn L (no sign) along the quiet Crabtree Lane, with pleasant views across the Somerset countryside to the Burton Pynsent monument. After 1.3Km at a T-junction opposite a metal gate go R (no sign). After 800m ignore the L turn at grass triangle but go ahead another 650m to reach the B3168. Go L for a few paces [2.8Km]
5 (GR391 243) Turn R into Back Lane and after 500m, just beyond cottage called Springfield, go L through a wooden gate with fingerpost. Keep the hedge on the R for 200m and at end of field go through waymarked gate and follow winding path 250m through scrub area to reach a road. Turn R for 130m to reach the war memorial in the centre of Curry Rivel. The bus-stops are to the L [1.1Km]
FOR A SHORTER WALK Distance 4.9Km/3.1miles
Go to end of paragraph 1 and go R along track (SP Holden’s Way) with Drayton Drain on R. Follow for 1Km and cross stream near end of large field. Now with hedge on L, go through hedge gap beyond small copse. Bear R 45 degrees to follow waymark across field to gate then through two more gates to reach track to road. Go R for 150m, R into Back Lane and follow from para 5
For car travellers:
There is a free car park off School Street, to the west of the crossroads in Curry Rivel.
Refreshments:
Lamb & Lion, Hambridge
Firehouse, Curry Rivel
1 Midelney Manor was built in the late 16th Century in two distinct halves by Richard and Thomas Trevillian. It is a Grade I listed building. The site, a former island, was owned by Muchelney Abbey, passing to the Trevillians after the dissolution of the monasteries.
2 The Westport Canal is 2¼ miles long and was built around 1840 to link Westport with Langport and the R Parrett. By 1858 it was losing money and it closed in the 1870s.
3 H M Lang & Co founded a brewery here in 1780. Brewing ceased in 1953 and in 1958 it was acquired by Ind Coope and used as a distribution centre. A water-powered corn mill stood behind the brewery.
2 (GR406 243) Continue 200m and when road bends R go straight ahead (SP Midelney Manor) on no through road for 1Km to reach Midelney bridge just beyond which take path on R (SP Westmoor Bridge). If time, go ahead for 400m to see the pleasant hamlet of Midelney and its Manor House(1). Follow path with the River Isle on the R for 600m to where the river bears R. Just beyond is a Bristol gate and the disused Westport Canal(2) is joined. Continue with canal on R for 1.2Km to reach Bristol gate and road [2.8Km]
3 (GR402 215) Turn R and walk 650m ascending gently to reach a T-junction opposite the pub in Hambridge and turn R (SP Curry Rivel). Follow with care, particularly along the sections with no pavement, for 1Km crossing the River Isle and passing the former Langs brewery(3) to reach the driveway to Bowden’s Farm. Continue round the curve with great care for 400m [2.1Km].
4 (GR395 229) Just beyond a high level cable across the road, turn L (no sign) along the quiet Crabtree Lane, with pleasant views across the Somerset countryside to the Burton Pynsent monument. After 1.3Km at a T-junction opposite a metal gate go R (no sign). After 800m ignore the L turn at grass triangle but go ahead another 650m to reach the B3168. Go L for a few paces [2.8Km]
5 (GR391 243) Turn R into Back Lane and after 500m, just beyond cottage called Springfield, go L through a wooden gate with fingerpost. Keep the hedge on the R for 200m and at end of field go through waymarked gate and follow winding path 250m through scrub area to reach a road. Turn R for 130m to reach the war memorial in the centre of Curry Rivel. The bus-stops are to the L [1.1Km]
FOR A SHORTER WALK Distance 4.9Km/3.1miles
Go to end of paragraph 1 and go R along track (SP Holden’s Way) with Drayton Drain on R. Follow for 1Km and cross stream near end of large field. Now with hedge on L, go through hedge gap beyond small copse. Bear R 45 degrees to follow waymark across field to gate then through two more gates to reach track to road. Go R for 150m, R into Back Lane and follow from para 5
For car travellers:
There is a free car park off School Street, to the west of the crossroads in Curry Rivel.
Refreshments:
Lamb & Lion, Hambridge
Firehouse, Curry Rivel
1 Midelney Manor was built in the late 16th Century in two distinct halves by Richard and Thomas Trevillian. It is a Grade I listed building. The site, a former island, was owned by Muchelney Abbey, passing to the Trevillians after the dissolution of the monasteries.
2 The Westport Canal is 2¼ miles long and was built around 1840 to link Westport with Langport and the R Parrett. By 1858 it was losing money and it closed in the 1870s.
3 H M Lang & Co founded a brewery here in 1780. Brewing ceased in 1953 and in 1958 it was acquired by Ind Coope and used as a distribution centre. A water-powered corn mill stood behind the brewery.