Note to oneself.....

....do research before venturing on a journey! So, as you may gather, things didn't quite turn out the way we wanted.  Wookey Hole was one of the main reasons for heading toward Cheddar, as was a train trip on the West Somerset Railway. Wookey Hole was closed only opening on weekends and then from the 22nd December until January!!! West Somerset railway was only open on certain dates and.....yep you've guessed it....closed until the weekend! No good for us then!!! But...not all was lost as Cheddar Gorge 'Gough's cavern' and 'Cox's cavern' were open.

So after the owner of this site scattered salt and grit on the 'Hill', and after dodging the ice falling from the branches of trees lining the route to the facilities (-6 and it was ice, not snow which was the problem here) we left site to travel the 5 miles to the gorge dodging the Soay sheep and Primitive Feral goats on route.

T'was good for us though, that more attractions were available including Jacobs ladder and the 3-mile cliff top walk. Ran out of time to do that so this is planned for tomorrow. We did see the Dream Hunters at Cox's cave (bit of a disappointment) and the Museum of Prehistory.

Coughs cavern was a balmy 11 deg with extremely high humidity. So much so that the camera all but gave up the ghost. Had to resort to tucking it under my jumper for protection. Lots of photos taken..or so I thought. Most came out as a dark blob on the screen. Thank goodness for digital! Still, I did get some, so for your delight..(or not), these were taken before all went very dark.

This is Cheddar Man  found in Gough's cave and has been dated to the Mesolithic period.

Those coins in the crack were cemented in during the Victorian period. A great way of showing if the walls move. Coins on the floor? Run like mad!!!!

Cheddar man and how he may have looked.

Cox's Cavern had this light show with a story of prehistoric man generated on the walls. All very well but the beauty of the cavern was lost in our opinion.

 Same photo, one with the lights and one taken with a flash. I know which one I prefer.

And this a close up of the back of the cavern.

And Cheddar being the home of Cheddar Cheese, the trip wouldn't be complete without seeing mature cheeses being rubbed to remove growth from the linen covers. For a whole year, they are left in the cavern before heading for the shops. Needless to say, we also headed for the shop to purchase three different flavours, Old cave aged mature, Cheddar with Port and extra, extra mature. Get the crackers Gromit!!! Yummie.

Cheddar Sword in the Millstream

Feral Goats