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

Day 1

Our getaway plans were very nearly scuppered and all because of the snow. 7.30pm and messages were coming via an app on Iwona's mobile phone alerting parents that some schools would be closed next morning. 30 minutes later a total of 45 schools had been closed including both of our grandsons. Colin works!!! Iwona works!!!! Who would look after the children??? Now I wonder who that delight would fall on????  We immediately offered our services and after a bit of discussion the arrangement was made for Colin to work from home so we could still go off on our travels and much appreciated it was I can tell you.

No more snow fell that night, in fact a slight thaw had started. Roads by the morning had been gritted and the snow plough cleared most of the main roads. So maybe the schools could have opened after all. Quick to dish out a fine if the kids are taken out of school without permission but who fines the teachers for failing to turn up? Food for thought me thinks!

Leaving by mid morning, it was a snowy outlook until we arrived in Somerset. The land once more turned green much to my relief. Didn't fancy getting to the campsite trying to park with ice under foot. Short lived though because nearing Wookey Hole the snow appeared once more. Getting onto the site we had a slight hill to negotiate but the site owner came out armed with sand and grit to make sure we made it without incident. Hardly anyone here and had the pick of the where we went. We choose nearest to the facilities. The views are magnificent and the sunset beautiful. The plan was to do the caves and gorge tomorrow but with temperatures set to fall to -6 I'm a bit worried that we will get out. Hey ho, the fun of winter travel. No doubt the canals will be iced over so hope you all keep warm and snug in front of the stove. Our gas/electric fire is doing a grand job and keeping it on over night is a must at present.

White Christmas after all!

Well, it was for us, anyway, as the Family Christmas had come early this year. And to wake up to snow was so unexpected seeing as the met office reckoned the snow would fall from the Midlands northward with significant precipitations for those concerned. Here in Milton Keynes, we almost convinced ourselves we were to far South. How wrong were we!!!! Over 6" fell in a space of several hours and it's still snowing.

Not sure if we will be able to leave tomorrow for the Mendip Hills. The trouble cars are having just to get up a short hill to the main road, which I might add has NOT been gritted, is amusing, to say the least. The motorhome is untried on these sort of conditions and the question we ask ourselves is...do we want to risk leaving? All roads leading from Shenley are still covered and our plan to visit Cheddar Gorge and Caves may have to be curtailed. Shame, as campsites had been found and paid for and we were sooo looking forward to the first real outing. Oh well...it will be what it will be!

Hmmm, this is the main road

That's Kev (son in law) starting the snowman.

Well that did'nt work. Too heavy for him to lift and broke up during the fall.

Start of the new body.

All good with the help from Colin

Before the snow arrived. Xmas table

Awesome!

First outing loometh.

Anticipation is building. The joys of static living is not something I enjoy so the thought of taking off once more for pastures new is exciting. But not on FS, no, the first outing is to be with the new motorhome and it happens on Friday. I'm trying to think of a name for our new mode of transport rather than keep calling her a motorhome.  Maybe Free Wheelers shortened to FW??? Any ideas? Anyway today we drove to West Hallem where she is stored. Had a bit of concern as the oil warning light kept coming up indicating there was to much oil in the engine. We spent an hour syphoning about a litre from the tank before the gauge finally showed the correct level. Why it was overfilled we have no idea. Was the motorhome on the slant when the oil went in? Had a quick read about the dangers from the web.

Overfilling the engine oil in your car can cause serious damage to your internal engine parts and eventually lock up your engine. When too much engine oil fills the crankshaft in your car, the oil becomes aerated and is whipped into foam. This is caused by the high rotation of the crankshaft. Foamy oil cannot lubricate your car well, and in many cases, it will cause oil flow to halt completely, overheating your oil and causing loss of oil pressure. The engine then becomes starved for lubrication and may potentially lock up.

 Fingers crossed it is now all good and won't cause us any problems on our journey. The car was left in her space so now all we have to drive around in is the motorhome. Good job we have a Lidl and Asda on our doorstep.

So where are we off to? First to Milton Keynes for a very early family Christmas and then next Monday we are off to Cheddar Gorge and surrounds for a week. And what of the weather??? Blooming cold if the forecast is correct. Never mind at least we have a heater that runs on either gas or electric and we can always add layers and cuddle up for warmth.  

Not many photos to show. All are now history but you know me and my camera. See something to photograph and the camera is whipped out pretty sharpish.

The Super Moon or Cold Moon giving its prper title (11pm)

At  dawn

And on the bird feeder