West Bagborough to Crowcombe Hike, Part IV, 'Triscombe & The Very Quiet Blue Ball Inn' 12 April 2024
Channel: semw52
Date: 16/04/2024

The peaceful hike progressed along the Quantock Greenway and I considered stopping for a Guinness at the old Blue Ball Inn but I found it abandoned and in disrepair--its thatched roof vulnerable, no sign of activity--very quiet and empty and sad. My visual diary  busy capturing this moment in time as I  tiptoe around the buildings.No barrels to be seen and with weeds appearing  here and there as Spring growth has arrived. Loving care on hold for now as such Inns and rural pubs struggle to survive as the economy dictates choices.The small hamlet of Triscombe  with once a busy quarry and where  some of its quarried stone used  to construct a runway at Heathrow Airport London but the quarry now reclaimed by  Nature and recovering  and its scars gradually fading into the landscape.Hence this quietness permeates with  lack of human activity, no workers about now keen for a pottle or 2 after labouring in the quarry, fewer people  venturing out. Risks over the past  few years of Covid, recession etc affecting  the pocket, the health risks as by products all cumulating in the  gradual withdrawal of pub goers.SO this old Inn the Blue Ball Inn a favorite for hikers and other visitors now awaiting its fate in a quiet corner of the Quantock Hills where  many ghosts linger and wander, awaiting a new spirit to embrace its charm.......