West Huntspill River Circular

West Huntspill sits between three rivers –  the River Huntspill, Parrett and Brue. The main part of this walk is along the banks of the river where the England Coast Path sits proud of the landscape on a grassy mound, giving you views of Burnham-On-Sea, Hinkley Point and the Severn Estuary.

To just access the river bank for an easy walk, you can park at Apex Park for free, and walk to the main area along the banks of the River Brue and Parrett for a linear walk. OR, as we did, you can walk a circular 4.5 mile route starting in the village, walking through a housing estate, before wandering along the river banks and back along an access road next to the River Huntspill.

The circular route we followed may have some livestock in the fields, so please double-check the fields before you enter and keep dogs on a lead when walking through if needed. Luckily, when we visited in April, all the sheep and cattle were secured in separate fields and we only came across one field with sheep near the end of our walk (by the church). There are also 2 un-dog friendly stiles on this route so we had to lift Bella over. This walk took us about 2 hours.

Unfortunately, both routes are not suitable for pushchairs or wheelchairs as there are numerous kissing gates and uneven surfaces.

Walking directions
1. You can park at St Peter & All Hallows’ Church in a small car park, TA9 3RN. From here, walk out of the exit towards Church Road. Walk north up Church Road, and follow this road whilst it curves to the right, past a farm, and until you reach Langlands Lane on the left with a dead end sign and National Speed Limit signs.

2. Walk along this lane until you reach some footpaths, and carry straight on, in the same direction, on a little footpath with trees on either side. At the end of this path, you will reach a field gate, go through and join the track. We put Bella on the lead here as we were coming up to a farm.

3. Follow the bend in the track to the right, walking to Maundrils Farm, where you will see a stile and public footpath sign. The stile isn’t very dog friendly, so we lifted Bella over. Follow the path through the farm, through another gate and across the track to another gate. This footpath ends in another stile where we needed to lift Bella over. The field following the stile was empty when we visited so we let Bella off the lead.

4. Follow the worn path across the field and cross over the footbridge on the other side. The following field looked as though there might occasionally have livestock in, but there was no sign of them when we visited. At the end of this field, cross over the stile (dog friendly this time!)

5. After this point, you will walk through a housing estate, so follow the public footpath signs which take you straight across Alstone Lane, past the back of some houses until you reach a telephone box, past some more gardens, straight across Alstone Road, past some more rear gardens until you eventually reach a lovely wide open field.

6. Once in this field, follow the well trodden path that is straight ahead of you, towards the River Brue. Go through the kissing gate and walk towards the main part of the walk – along the banks of the river, where you will also see two abandoned boats!

7. From here, it’s easy, just follow the footpath which will take you along the banks of the River Brue and Parrett! We did not see any livestock in April, but there were some cows and sheep in the secure fields behind the banks of the river, which we believe may graze on the banks for some time in the year as there were hoof prints in the mud, so please double check before you let dogs off lead just in case. Make sure your dog does not go in the mud here as it’s sinking mud.

8. After you finish walking along the stretch of the river, the England Coast Path will come to a sluice, do not cross the bridge, instead, walk through the gate next to the cattle grid, and along the access road that runs parallel to the River Huntspill. This field sometimes has cattle in, it was fortunately empty when we visited so Bella could be off lead.

9. At the end of this field, walk through the gate next to the cattle grid and turn left onto the lane next to some houses. Follow this lane until you come to some new build houses and directly opposite is a kissing gate to a field. This field did have sheep in so Bella was on lead. Walk across the field to the footbridge and across into St Peter & All Hallows’ Church graveyard and you will finish in the car park where you started.

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