[1] START From the off-road parking at the top of Burrington Combe (ST488581), turn L along the main road and then quickly R down a bridleway marked with a ‘Mendip Ring’ sign. When the path splits at the foot of Black Down, bear R up a track that winds towards the summit of Beacon Batch. Now turn L and follow a gravel track that eventually reaches a gate leading off the moor. Continue through the gate and look out for a stile on the R, where the path diverts down a pasture field. Cross a small stream and keep it on your R as the route undulates down to a small road.

[2] Turn R at the road and then almost immediately L down a footpath. Follow a stream as it winds through woodland and, when you reach a stile, continue straight through a grassy field towards another stile in a drystone wall. Keep the woodland on your R to cross several more stiles, and when the path reaches a dead end at a drystone wall, turn R. Almost immediately go through a gate and turn L into a combe that leads down to the road through Cheddar Gorge.

[3] Turn R at the road and then quickly L to begin a steep climb up a rocky track through woodland. Pass through a gate at the top of the woodland and bear L, continuing until you reach a farm track. Go L here and follow the track down to a busy road, where the route turns R along the road. When you reach a crossroads, go through the gate on your R and take the grassy track that heads straight uphill. At the top of the hill, you’ll meet an old drovers’ track that passes through a gate and eventually joins with the West Mendip Way.

[4] When the drovers’ track forks R, take the bridlepath through the gate on your L and head straight through the field to another gate. Now bear R to descend steeply for approximately fifty yards before taking a third gate on your L. Cross over a small road and continue over a stone stile, past a tumbledown farm building. Head towards a gap in a line of woodland to pass through a gate and follow the path downhill. When you hit an open grassy field, descend to its bottom right-hand corner and join a track that bears R to the main road through Rodney Stoke. Cross straight over the road to reach lay-by parking by the Church of St Leonard.