We now hope to get more involved over time and maybe make this a more regular event. Onwards and upwards!
We love to cycle the Strawberry Line - the reclaimed old railway line that used to connect Wells and the Cheddar Valley villages to the mainline at Yatton and (amongst many things) take fresh strawberries to London markets on specially designed well-sprung wagons. The line closed along with so many others with the 1962 Beeching Act. Then 20 years ago the headmaster of the local comprehensive school (Keith Herring) was shocked when a schoolboy narrowly escaped death in an accident cycling from Axbridge to the Cheddar school along the main road, busy with traffic including school buses and occasional quarry lorries. Looking for a solution he and a small group realised that the old railway track would make an ideal traffic-free cycle route and so worked to get the council to buy it and lease it to them. And so the Strawberry Line track started. Now it extends 10 miles, almost all on the old track, to Yatton and the mainline station (complete with community café). It is adopted by the UK's major cycling charity Sustrans (based in Bristol) and forms part of National Cycle Route 26. Well, cycle it as we do, we have been taking for granted the trusty volunteers who keep the cycle path in good condition: battling brambles, trimming trees, removing rubbish and whacking the weeds. So as we hosted a gathering of a UK sustainable group here at the house and cottage we decided to spend a busy half-day as a line gang: covering much of the Cheddar-to-Axbridge section. Not such hard work, and the weather was lovely. Very little rubbish at all (how refreshing): mostly nettles, brambles, branches and saplings to trim back.
We now hope to get more involved over time and maybe make this a more regular event. Onwards and upwards! Somerset is pretty much synonymous with cider making. Around this area are many small farm scale producers each producing a fairly heady mix (called 'scrumpy' in its rawest form). Of course cider seems to be having a revival, and when anything gets popular all the big industrial businesses try and cash in with bland and not-very sustainable versions, using lots of sublte branding and marketing to push it. But the traditional are getting overwhelmed and one producers stands out as a big British success , and that is Thatchers Cider. Still family run (for over 100 years) they are based just a few miles from Cheddar, on the North side of the Mendip Hills and indeed if you cycle the Strawberry Line you'll find a section passes through and along the edge of their extensive home orchards (thanks to Thatcher's providing a critical off-road link for the route). They do a great range of ciders, and perry's (from pears and not apples), bottled and draft, and some single varietal ciders from single apple types (and not blends). You can sample of of this if you care to pop by the "cider shop" at Myrtle Farm in Sandford (a minute or two off the Strawberry Line). Good local product is one thing but the point of this blog is to acknowledge the great sustainable work Thatchers do, most recently resulting in them being awarded the J.D. Weatherspoons CSR award for their care in reducing energy, water and waste in all areas of production. And it gets better as they have recently been working with the Bumblebee Conservation Trust to develop the orchards even more thoughtfully to support Bumblebees and solitary bees which are hugely important in pollination (and not just for orchards) and which have been seeing a worrying decline in recent years. Of course a delightful way to support Thatchers is by sampling one of their ciders: either in the local pubs, or by taking a bottle of two back to Gorge View Cottage to enjoy in the sun. Our neighbouring village, Wedmore, has been making some serious moves in improved dining recently. It started with a big refurbishment of The Swan which is a lovely upmarket pub and restaurant with great food. Another pub, the George Inn was a beautiful building but very run down - but that has now got new owners and a lovely ambience. And now, next to the George we have a new Italian restaurant: Brown Paper Pizza. The name suggests a basic pizza takeaway But this is much more. It is the next venture of Arthur Potts-Dawson the chef and restaurateur from London who made himself famous with his "The People's Cooperative" venture in London and filmed for Channel 4. Before that, and after a career with the Roux brothers, head chef at the River Cafe, executive chef at Jamie Oliver's Fifteen restaurant and working with Hugh Fernley-Whittingstall, he set up and ran the highly regarded and very sustainably run Water House and Acorn House restaurants. He has now returned to Somerset and started this new venture and rumour has it it will start to spawn more branches soon. Anyway - the emphasis on great fresh ingredients, and a very sustainable operation, are all still there. Although everything is very simple, the ambience is rustic and lovely and the food is great - eat there or grab a pizza to take home and enjoy in the cottage in front of the log burner. Check it out here: www.brownpaperpizzas.com Photo by Nigel Mykura One of the joys of the area is cycling. Quietly and healthily you can amble (or power) your way along and get that much further and faster than just walking. And you take in so much more than by car. Best of all it is a very sustainable form of transport. But you don't have to be a pointy-helmeted, lycra-clad type to enjoy cycling around here (unlike the photo which is the Tour of Britain charging up the Gorge road). Certainly up and around the Mendips are some fine but hilly cycle rides. But we are also lucky to be on the edge of the Somerset Levels which, as their name suggests, are pretty flat with many lovely and quiet lanes crossing the fields and peat moors. Running right to and through Cheddar is the "Strawberry Line" cycle path, so named as it follow the path of the railway line of the same name which famously took strawberries from the Cheddar slopes to London at the turn of the last century. Good for cyclists and walkers, it follow the path of the old railway line all the way to (and of course from) Yatton, where there is a mainline station with links to Bristol and the North, and Taunton, Exeter and the South West. There is also a lovely new community-run cafe in the old station building. A ten-mile almost wholly off-road and fairly flat route, it has a few notable features including a good tunnel as it cuts through the Mendips near Winscombe (it is now lit), and a part of the path wends through the apple orchards of Thatchers the local cider makers (and yes, they have a small shop for tasters and purchasing). The line originally went on from Cheddar to Wells along the foot of the Mendips, and efforts are under way to complete the path to Wells, but that will not be for some time yet, although you can plot a reasonable route on lanes that avoid the main road. And talking about plotting routes, I have just come across a very useful web site called Bikehike. It lets you plot any cycle route on Google Maps or OS maps and then get a gradient/elevation mapping which shows you exactly what you might be letting yourself in for. A bit fiddly to understand the first time but fairly straightforward after you learn the ropes. If you are encouraged to cycle, but don't have your own bikes (or cannot bring them) then either you can hire bikes in the village (Cheddar Cycle Store) or we are happy you lend you a couple of adult bikes that are fine for an amble (but not state-of-the-art) and are not professionally maintained - you get what you see! |
Gorge View Cottage DiaryGorge View Cottage is a characterful and environmentally renovated self-catering cottage, with stunning views Archives
August 2021
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