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Ancient Trackway
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I spent a very tranquil afternoon at Shapwick Heath today. It was so sunny, and when you're wandering along the tracks in the dappled shade, dodging the soggiest peatiest spots, and being followed by dragonflies, it's just marvellous. We sat in a hide for ages, looking out over one of the lakes, listening to the rustling reedbeds. It really is so quiet and remote feeling, you've got Glastonbury Tor poking up on the horizon, and you feel miles away from modern life. It's very good for me. But to get to the point, at the moment, English Nature have opened the path that follows the line of the Sweet Track - it's not always open as often it's too wet. But at the moment you can walk through the wet woodland, brushing through all the sedges and the ferns (there are Osmunda royal ferns mmm) and walk pretty much where the builders of the track walked, back in 3800BC. How mad is that. It was a total pleasure. I recommend it very much.
There's even a very decently surfaced path to where you can see (imagine) where the track was - EN take access pretty seriously at Shapwick. The other tracks around the reserve are variously accessible (most very much so), and of course they are all pretty flat, it being the Somerset levels. The specially-opened track does require you to climb up and down a few steps, wind along a narrow path, and hop across trainer-swallowing squishy peat though.
There's some good information about the way the Sweet Track was built at Digital Digging. (And I finally discovered today that it's called the 'Sweet' track because Mr Sweet was the man who spotted it. Just in case you were wondering too.)
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Posted by Rhiannon
22nd July 2012ce
Edited 23rd July 2012ce
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