St Mary's Church

When I first got up I had no idea I would be shortly heading out on a walk.  It was a very last minute decision, the weather was inviting and although I had decided the previous afternoon not to go I realised there was a possibility I could just get my walking gear, coffee and sandwiches together in half an hour.  So a quick call to my friend and her husband and they picked me up to head off to meet up with our walking group in Somerset.  We were so lucky with the weather with the mist burning off in the sunshine as we drove to the meeting point at Odcombe.  

We had a lovely walk from Odcombe walking along various footpaths and lanes to Ham Hill an old Iron Age Fort and quarry with very wide reaching views. The walk continued connecting various other hills with more views and at one point before lunch we had this view of St Mary's Church.  By now the sun was very warm and we were getting hungry so we found a sunny spot in a field complete with views.   We didn't bargain for the numbers of ladybirds that we disturbed and they were flying all around us also enjoying the warm sun.  Some were a very dark red and apparently a few were without any spots at all.  After flicking them off each other we continued our walk uphill towards a beacon on the Montacute House estate land, I think.  We then continued downhill to eventually end up walking through the very picturesque village of Montacute and Montacute Park.  It was then a slow climb back up to Odcombe.  A total of 8 miles walked.

It was lovely to meet up with the walking group as I haven't made many of the walks this year. A throughly enjoyable walk with lovely views, good company and sunny weather.  Apparently we had much better weather than at home, so it was a good last minute decision I made.