The Wessex Tour – sort of! Day Five

 I am up early because a decision is to be made. We are leaving the site this morning and the issue is ‘Mats or no mats’’?

The wind last night helped dry out some of the field in front of us and it doesn’t seem so squelchy underfoot.

Our immediate neighbour who arrived in a large motorhome last night is also out and about. We discuss whether to use mats or not and then about the Schengen rules and how to calculate how many days you can stay in Europe etc etc. He is an experienced motorhomer and is going back into Europe in a few weeks’ time. We go on to discuss the merits of air suspension (he is thinking of doing it on his van – what do I think? WHAT DO I THINK?  I’ve never been asked my opinion before about anything motorhomey. It’s a coming-of-age moment!) He is also thinking about fitting all terrain tyres as well.

To cut a long story short, we get off the site without using the mats. Its squelchy but the new wider tyres seem to cope well. We head for Weston and a stroll along the beach.

It is the very first time we have ever arrived on the Weston seafront road and not seen a single car along it. The whole road is completely empty. Wow! Hardly surprising because it is absolutely hammering down with rain! We admire the rainbow which ends on the beach near the pier and we decide against digging for the pot of gold. The tide is well out but we would still be at risk of drowning! The rain is lashing down. So, the beach walk is off and we head for Sainsbury’s. Bacon rolls, lattes, newspaper read and a groceries stock up.

The Cheddar CAMC club site is well laid out and we have the pick of the available hard standings. The adjacent river is very high and one or two hard standings are out of action because they have flooded. Not from the river, but from groundwater just not infiltrating away. Our welcome is warm and set up quick. We have it down to 15 minutes now.

We head into the village and start to walk up the road to the gorge only to discover crowds in the car park. The ‘Children in Need’ bike team are heading down the gorge and the cyclist is Tom, a local lad. He is about to get a great roaring reception, one which is well deserved, given how far he has come in such squally weather.

We are just up near the little ponds when the convoy headed up by Tom and Matt Baker whizz by. They were filming. We might be on the telly tonight!

Cheddar gorge is a marvel. The geographer/geologist within me starts to sing. I’m in a happy place! Soaring cliffs, piles of scree, hidden swallow holes and resurgences at cliff foots. As the sun peeks out between clouds, the gorge takes on many changing hues of gold and yellow. The autumnal colours of trees are luminescent. There are no climbers today, just jackdaws peering down.

We discuss the merits of climbing Jacob’s Ladder. The entrance is open and free at this time of year. However, watching people trying to descend, it is clear that it is extremely slippery under foot and possibly not the safest option for a day walk. Instead, we head up the road.

At one of the car parks, protected by gabion baskets we happen across one of the gorge rangers and we stop for a quick chat. He has a rope strop hooked up to the front towbar and he is pulling back into shape a destroyed gabion. ‘Boy racers’ each evening! Last night one doing donuts lost control destroying a huge cubic metre square basket. Its contents are disgorged across the car park along with circular tyre marks on the tarmac. Hence all the baskets trying to limit the entrance into each layby. “How do you allow access to the car parks, restrict the nocturnal activities of cowboy drivers and keep the management done appearing sustainable” he muses.  The team don’t want to lose the wilderness feel of the gorge.

 I miss teaching limestone landscapes. It was one of my favourite units in the GCSE geography course – resurgences, sinks, swallow holes, scars, pavements, frost shattering and cave formation. It all comes back to me in a flash. It is wonderful to be able to walk through a landscape and have a pretty good idea of how it formed and what management problems it is currently facing. 

Back down the gorge, we promise ourselves a return visit to do the ladder and walk along the soaring cliff top route another time. As a ‘pick us up’, we call in at the local cake shop and collect four iced cupcakes. Yummy, diabetes inducing provisions to take back to Bryony!

With the promise of cupcakes and mugs of steaming hot chocolate, even the heavy showers can’t dampen our spirits. Thank heavens for Gortex waterproofs, eh?

Useful websites: https://cheddarvillage.co.uk/  https://www.cheddargorge.co.uk/   https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/cheddar-gorge

The Cheddar CAMC site https://www.caravanclub.co.uk/club-sites/england/southern-england/somerset/cheddar-caravan-club-site/?&bidkw=defaultkeyword&dvc=c&h=https://clickserve.dartsearch.net/link/click?lid=39700059241766054&ds_s_kwgid=58700006548319804&gclid=Cj0KCQiA7oyNBhDiARIsADtGRZbg_DTN4dJ5L7MWPELz91HuXT8TW-jKRtbTyBMQzRkwOkr6Eb_jDf4aArN5EALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds