Take a Trip to Cheddar Gorge
by admin on 24/08/10 at 2:24 pm
Cheddar Gorge has been attracting visitors and holiday makers since the idea of the British holiday really took off in the Victorian period. The area itself is beautiful, and the long, winding road that goes through it provides almost the perfect way to experience the gorge. The truly perfect way is to climb Jacob’s Ladder (stairs of natural rock, rather than the more divine version) and follow the path around the top of the cliffs to get an excellent view of the gorge and surrounding area. At the top of the watch tower at Jacob’s Ladder you can see 360 degrees around, looking down over the gorge and Mendip hills.
One of the main reasons that the area is so popular with those on Somerset holidays are the caves. These attract people from all over the country to come and take a look around them. The largest of the caves that are open to the public is Gough’s Cave. It travels ninety metres beneath the surface and stretches over two thousand one hundred metres from its entrance to the rear of the cave. Numerous chambers and large rock formations can be found inside, and the Cheddar Yeo, the largest underground river system in Britain, is located within it.
In Gough’s Cave only the first few caverns make up the show caves. After that they are closed to the public as they are too dangerous to allow access all the time. Some are very narrow and some are completely flooded with river water. Human remains were found in Gough’s Cave in 1903 and have been dated to around 7150 BC.
The other cave which attracts visitors to the gorge is Cox’s Cave, which is made up of seven small grottoes joined together by low archways of rock. In one section, minerals have been brought from the surface down into the caves and become part of the stalagmites there, changing their colours to black, green, and orange to white. This section of the cave is known as the Home of the Rainbow.
Going back to the surface, the area is part of the Cheddar Complex, a Site of Special Scientific Interest. There are many rare animals, birds and plants that are found in Cheddar Gorge, and there is an ongoing effort by both the National Trust, who own the North Cliff, and the Marquess of Bath’s Longleat Estate, who own the Southern Cliff, to protect them.
With all of this going on there, no matter what your family members are interested in, there’ll be something to fascinate and educate them on your family holidays with a trip to Cheddar Gorge.
