Ros Carne is the volunteer Parish Path Liason Officers for Aller, responsible for regularly surveying the rights of way within the parish and reporting any problems to the Somerset Rights of Way Team.
You can find a list of the footpaths around Aller here. The maps showing the position of these paths can be accessed via the Somerset County Council website here. Ensure the top left hand drop down box is set at "paths", then enter the code for the path you are interested in eg. L1/3 in the "search" box below and click on "Find".
Details of Live Firing and Dry Training at the Langport Range and Breech Wood can be found in the latest notices here.If you wish to report any problems with footpaths you can do so using the Somerset County Council Link above or our local contact, Ros Carne roscarne@googlemail.com
Click map image for a larger view
The map alongside is taken from an interactive one supplied on the Somerset County Council website, which allows you to zoom in to a larger scale. A link to the interactive map is here. It can sometimes be a bit tempremental and may not be as user friendly as, say, Google Maps, but it does have a lot of detail.
16th March 2015
Now that the weather is improving many of us will be putting on our walking boots and stepping out onto those muddy moors and into those even muddier woods. After a year of flooding and dredging it is great to report that most of the footpaths are now open. I say “most” because there appear to be one or two anomalies on the Ordnance Survey map which direct the walker through electronic gates and private property. But generally, Aller is a great place for walking. The footpath references below are taken from Somerset County Council’s interactive map.
Summer walking on Aller Moor was impeded by broken bridges, dredging, repair and drainage works. But on my most recent walk on 13th March 2015 I was able to cross the Moor from the Church with ease on L1/1, cross the Sowy via the concrete bridge, join the Parrett Way along L1/8, turn left across the Sowy again on the new bridge onto the L1/3 and then back to the village. One good outcome of the flooding is that all the wooden bridges that had been broken or unstable before the flooding have now been repaired. The small loop walk around Aller using L1/16, L1/3 and L1/2 is now completely accessible. New farm gates with pedestrian access have been erected on all routes after several were damaged in last year’s storms. The paths along the River Parrett, L1/3 towards Langport and L1/8, towards Stathe, are also clear.
Wood Lane, the path through Aller Wood, is a magical walk. Expect a carpet of bluebells as the weather improves. Access is clearly marked from the A372, opposite Gilbert Matravers’ Farm Shop and along the side of the Old School House. That footpath leads to a steep road which leads up into the woods. Turn left into the woods or right over the fields and through the edge of Bowdens Camp Site for an amazing view towards the Quantocks. You can then cut down on L13/30 through Coombe and back to the river. Be aware that the Langport Range is used for live firing practice, and avoid it if the red flag is flying.
I have lived in Aller for 6 years and in my first two years I noted beautiful wild flowers in spring and summer on the Moor. I am not a wild flower expert and didn’t think to note their names. However I did note that after the floods last spring and summer there were very few wild flowers on the same pasture. I will keep a look out and report back later in the year.
I have also noticed an increase in the amount of litter, usually sweet and crisp wrappings, by the footpaths, as well as dog excrement, particularly along the footpath near the recreation ground. There is actually a dog waste bin by the recreation ground so there is no good reason for owners to leave it on the ground.
If anyone who enjoys walking would like to volunteer to help I would be delighted. I walk most days with our dog but a co PPLO could join me on an occasional basis. Also, if you have an issue with any of the footpaths but can’t manage the interactive map (which is not always very responsive) do email me at roscarne@gmail.com
Ros
Carne
