イーストハープトゥリーのおすすめランニングルート

A cosy country pub serving locally produced food and excellent beer (other drinks are very much available). The pub is very dog/mucky outdoor type friendly, so a perfect stop mid run. The Ring O' Bells is on the Butcombe Trail, a 47 mile (75 km) circular pub crawl around the Mendip Hills.

Great views. Tough and technical climb up from the lake side. If on a gravel bike, it's more of a hike-a-bike segment, particularly if fully loaded with bags (wouldn't recommend as part of a bikepacking trip). Steep with large loose rocks. A fun challenge nonetheless. Once you get past this though, views are great and the surface eventually becomes double track.

West to East is the climb. Tough going on both gravel and MTB, large loose rocks combined with some particularly steep sections make for a technical climb, wouldn't recommend with fully loaded bikes (if doing as part of a bikepacking trip) unless you don't mind a bit of hike-a-bike (all part of the fun really). Views at the top make it well worthwhile though.

Just outside the village of Hinton Blewett and on the Limestone Link footpath, pause at the bench here to enjoy the excellent views across the countryside. Patchwork fields, big skies and distant hills make this a wonderful snack stop on a clear day. The viewpoint looks north west across the Chew Valley and you can glimpse the edge of the Mendip Hills due west.

A very unusual aqueduct, completed in 1851. It is formed from wrought iron tubes on top of limestone piers. It is still in use, part of a network of aqueducts and tunnels feeding the Valley’s spring water to Bristol. It is thought to be the oldest surviving example of this type of engineering in existence and, in order to preserve it, was listed by English Heritage in 1989.

Harptree Combe – a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). In contrast to the conifers of East Harptree Woods, this area contains deciduous oak and ash woodland, with old hazel coppice and rough, marshy grassland. Steep limestone walls rise on both sides, with tiny caves visible in the rock face. It is a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) to protect the flora and fauna that thrive in its old ash woodland, rocky crags and rough grassland.

East Harptree Woods managed by Forestry England has been designed and managed with wildlife in mind with a wide ride (open, tree-free space) to link areas of natural vegetation. The area was once important for lead and zinc mining, and the undulating terrain, known as ‘gruffy ground’, indicates old pits and spoil heaps. Much of the ore was processed and smelted at this site and you can see the restored Smitham Chimney. There is an easy going trail through the woods that is suitable for all users including wheelchairs and prams.

Definitely one to descend rather than climb.