When we booked our flights home for Christmas I suggested to the Aussie that we venture out to climb Glastonbury Tor on Boxing Day and he happily (I think) accepted the challenge.
Last time the Aussie came to the UK, he climbed Glastonbury Tor. I didn’t, because firstly I didn’t think I would be fit enough and secondly I had, had surgery on my leg about 8 weeks before and was still feeling the effects. However, I will admit that the main reason I chose not too, was because I didn’t believe I would manage the walk.
This time round I was actually really excited about the challenge and giving it a go. I was also confident that I wouldn’t struggle with the walk because I am a lot fitter than I was.
The Tor itself is a large hill which overlooks Somerset and the Somerset Levels and has an elevation of 518 feet (158 metres). To climb the Tor you can walk up the grassy side or use the stairs, we used the stairs because it was easier but it was also early in the morning and quite damp from the dew / mist.
As we climbed up the stairs the sheep who live in and around the Tor moved off the path (although we had to dodge the sheep poo!) and we worked our way to the top.
We crossed paths with a dog walker and his two dogs who stopped for a quick pat on their way up and a couple of solo walkers who greeted us with a swift “good morning” and “I don’t think you will get much of a view today” due to the mist. For me anyway, the view wasn’t the reason for the climb, I was enjoying the new personal challenge.
The mist covered the Tor as we approached and didn’t clear until well in to our time at the top. We spent some time talking to a guy who had woken up and felt the urge to climb the Tor that day and greeted the morning with some chanting.
We watched the mist go across and clear our view of the Somerset Levels before taking a different set of stairs back down the Tor and in to Glastonbury where we spent some time walking around the town before stopping for a coffee and our next stop on our Boxing Day adventures in Cheddar.
