A morning of hazy sunshine greeted me as I set out along the road to Taunton. The wind had dropped and I headed across the flat fields that make up The Vale of Taunton Deane. Following the river Tone I eventually got to Taunton where the river increases considerably in size and has sluices and bridges. I stopped in the town centre to get my bearings and have a pot of tea. Leaving Taunton you follow the Bridgwater and Taunton canal which takes you to "all things wet" on the Somerset levels. I passed the county cricket ground and watched the down and outs who had just settled down under a nearby concrete bridge for the morning, with their daily cider supply. My stop for the night would be at Meare Green the only real high area of land, which runs along a ridge above the levels.As I got about 6 miles from Meare Green I made the bad choice off keeping to the west side of the river Parrot. Little did I know but the flood waters were so bad, that whole areas, up to a mile across were flooded to about 6 ft deep. I could see the village I wanted to get to but could not get there! I tried crossing several roads but this proved impossible due to the depth of the water. I managed to find a narrow ridge above the river and the flood plain and headed north to try and find higher ground. The ridge had withys stacked on it and "escaped" oil seed rape that covered me in yellow pollen. I eventually emerged out of the undergrowth to find a bridge crossing, to take me to Meare Green. I sat in the b and b garden cleaning myself off with a cloth, eating crumpets and jam, drinking tea. I imagined Noah in his ark waiting for the floods to go down!
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