At this time of year a highlight on the village calendar, and great for cottage guests too, is the Cheddar Festive Night. Now well established and very popular for people from a good distance around, the main village road, up to the lower gorge is shut for the evening. Stalls and events all pop up. Decorations twinkle. IT feels that the Christmas season has well and truly started.

But this is not a usual year. The Festive Night was of course cancelled a long time ago. However the creative people at Cheddar Arts have been promoting an alternative to lift spirits. They call it Cheddar Winter Window Wanderland. Homes around Cheddar, and even some temporarily closed stores in the Lower Gorge, have been busy decorating their windows with tissue paper and silhouettes. And today, Sunday 6th, and for the next 14 evenings between 6pm and 9pm, people can wander the village (map and addresses supplied - over 200 participants) and marvel at the creativity of the many. All COVID safe, in our little groups outdoors.

And today is that start, and we signed up alongside so many others. We're looking forward over the next two weeks to wander around and see what everyone else has done. And here for you is our little offering. Firstly the house and cottage in their usual Christmas lights and then the main house window with our contribution. In our case a vague theme of ecological wonderment with seasonal twists. In the centre the pale blue orb that is our precious planet, with Father Christmas flying over. And, yes, that is a penguin too ... our younger daughter (now 30) has loved penguins since she could talk! We also appreciate the surreal situation, Escher-esque, of animals on the Earth looking at ... the Earth. Hmmm.

And for all of you coping with the trials of this tough year, we wish everyone a safe, peaceful and hopefully nurturing seasonal time, including all cottage guests, past and future.

Huw and Mary

No, sadly we're not talking about the end of the COVID crisis. We are talking about a real tunnel.

One of the lovely adventures to undertake whilst staying at Gorge View Cottage, or visiting Cheddar, is to cycle along the old Strawberry Line trackbed. From Cheddar is goes to Axbridge, and here is about the only stretch on road as you get routed through the centre of Axbridge (2.5 miles from Cheddar) through the medieval town square and past St John's Hunting Lodge. What follows is the only steep-ish bit, back up to the course of the old railway line. Thereafter, with the occasional well organised road crossings it is flat or a gentle gradient.

The next main stop is Winscombe (5 miles from Cheddar), on the north side of the Mendips at it is on this section that the tunnel comes in, as it cuts under the Mendip ridge. As you see from the photograph it is straight and you can always see the far exit. But at 165m long, in the middle it can seem very dark. Solar lighting put in seems flakey so best to take bike lights or a head torch.

If you still have energy (remembering you must return this way too) then the next main stop just 1.5 miles further on is Sandford. Here a stop is definitely recommended because as the route now jinks through the orchards of Thatchers Cider, you can stop at the recently renovated Railway Inn which as the Thatchers HQ "tap" serves a wide range of ciders, alongside great food. Or pop a tad further along the road to visit the Thatchers shop  - local produce and ... well, yes, ... more ciders to taste.

The really keen might want to go the whole way. That gets you the full 11 miles from the cottage to Yatton station, which is on the mainline, from Bristol to Exeter and beyond. The Strawberry Line Cafe at Yatton station is itself worth a stop, run as a community cafe and provides work experience and training to adults with learning difficulties.

The Strawberry Line (National Cycle Route 26) takes its name from the strawberries that were taken to London by train in vast quantities back in the very early 1900s. The rolling stock was especially gentle sprung to protect the fruit. This all came to an end with the Beeching cuts of 1962. There are plans to one day extend it through to Wells and Shepton Mallett, and spurs to Clevedon and to Wrington. Slow work but it will be magical when done.
​
Guests at Gorge View Cottage are welcome to borrow a couple of reasonable 21-gear bikes, one for ladies and one for gentlemen. We have helmets and can provide lights if needed. If you are not cyclists then the other option is to bus out (First Bus route 126 towards Weston-Super-Mare) and walk back. The bus can drop you at Axbridge, Winscombe or the Railway Inn in Sandford. Cheddar Walking walk #4 describes this, from Winscombe to Cheddar.

Dateline: 19 March 2020

These are indeed extraordinary times. A global pandemic that is affecting people and countries around the world. Every day seems to see new developments in policy and guidance. We felt it important to update on where we stand at Gorge View Cottage. But to reassure: we are open for business.




Cleaning and hygiene
We are being scrupulous in the cleaning and turnaround of the cottage. We are firstly steam cleaning everywhere, followed by a cleaning of surfaces etc using a sanitising cleaner. And we finally clean door handles, the key and fob, and the TV control with Isopropyl alcohol. The cottage is only cleaned by Huw and/or Mary. We wash hands thoroughly every time before entering the cottage to clean, or carry on cleaning, and after leaving the cottage. We are fastidious about not touching our faces between entering and leaving. When you arrive we will be our usual welcoming and friendly selves but will be avoiding shaking hands or getting too close. And to be clear, neither of us has any symptoms that might suggest we have the virus, and we are certainly being careful ourselves with social distancing.

Shared space?
The cottage itself is wholly detached and independent. There are no shared spaces, it is entirely for you. In this respect we think it is a great place to continue any personal social distancing.

Food and supplies
Of course the cottage has everything you need to self-cater. You might want to bring all you own food and be completely self-contained. In Cheddar, within easy walking distance, there are convenience stores, specialist food stores, a Deli, and a Tesco Local and the main Sainsbury's store. As of today the Sainsbury's was generally well stocked and working normally, although of course they are asking that people limit shopping and don't mass-buy. The pubs are open at the moment, but naturally quiet which helps ensure social distancing if you should choose to go. Likewise the restaurants, but useful most restaurants do takeaway and some deliver. For Pizza, Chinese, Thai, Indian or Fish and Chips there are plenty of options, and all just two or three minutes away.
We also have a brilliant local grocery delivery company we've recommended and used for years: Somerset Local Food Direct. They deliver orders in Cheddar each week on Thursday or Friday - so you can order ahead online (before the Tuesday morning deadline) and have the food delivered to the cottage. They supply fresh vegetables and fruit, meats, dairy, grocery and deli goods, bakery items, ready meals and larder stock. Its pretty extensive and a lot of it is organic. If this is before you arrive we'll handle it and ensure it is stocked in the the cottage and if appropriate in the fridge/freezer, for your arrival. Currently they re finding they're getting a lot of extra traffic but seem to be coping: supplies are fine but manpower to deliver is stretching them and we and others locally are on hand to help.

What to do?
The obvious thing in these times is the walking. There are many lovely walks in and around Cheddar and we have maps and self-guide walking sheets for many of them. You can keep fit, stay socially distanced from anyone you pass, and enjoy this beautiful part of the world. Check out Cheddar Walking website for some ideas - walks ranging from 1/2 mile to 20 miles and everything in-between. Some on the flat, some up the hills. And we have the bikes if you should want to cycle off along the Strawberry Line old railway track and path.
The other options such as Cheddar caves are currently open but we suggest you check this and other visitor attractions online to be sure.

Stay safe, stay well
We hope this addresses some obvious questions, but if you are booked with us, or are thinking of booking, and have other questions then do please get in touch.

Huw and Mary

Tsk, tsk, another gap in blogging. Note to self ... try and make time

So yes, life has been busy, and the cottage is still getting lots of lovely guests and consistently lovely comments and reviews. And suddenly here we are at Halloween with Christmas on the horizon. Here in Cheddar for the last good few years, the festive season starts early. The first Friday in December has now become the tradition that is Cheddar Festive Night. The best bit of this is that the whole of the lower gorge road (The Cliffs) and the road on down in to the village (Cliff Street) is closed off for the evening.

And then up and down that route lots of people, of course mostly local at that time of year, come to Cheddar to enjoy a host of Christmassy stalls, events and entertainment. Much of it is raising money for good causes and it can vary from commercial craft stalls through to a small charity setting up a mulled wine stall on a table outside a house. So quite "home-made" and parochial in places, but that gives it real charm.

Just wandering the lower gorge without the normal traffic is a treat. Indeed although traffic is not formally banned, the main (upper) gorge road is not a through route and so traffic stops, and that makes for a noter possibility for the fit (although in the dark not so wonderful).

And most all the good shops are open with Xmas offering - lots of tasters, lots of samples. For those getting to the top of the route earlier on, you can get in to Cheddar's main caves for just £5 (all going to charity)

So if you happen to be in the area (or indeed maybe even choosing to stay at the cottage), this Friday 6th December is a good event to aim for.

Since we started with Gorge View Cottage we have donated £10 to charity for every booking we take. Initially we picked Prickles Hedgehog Rescue as our chosen charity and more recently we added The Mendip Hills Fund.

Prickles is a very local Cheddar success story driven in the beginning by the passion of one woman, Jules Bishop, who started looking after orphaned or ill hedgehogs in 2007. The project grew and grew in her regular home on an estate in Cheddar, and finally they managed to secure dedicated premises. They typically care for over 600 hedgehogs and hoglets every year. And that takes a lot of money. We are just giving our next donation to them of £250 bringing the total donated over the years to almost £2,500. Given that we are delighted to have hedgehogs in our garden, and indeed once discovered an unwell confused hog which we took to Prickles for care (although sadly it didn't make it), we are proud to be helping in a small way their brilliant and dedicated workers and volunteers.

​​The Mendip Hills Fund on the other hand is a community fund set up to conserve and enhance the environment, communities and economy of the Mendip Hills. It is a partnership between the Mendip Hills AONB Partnership and the Somerset Community Foundation. It is supported by local businesses and last year was able to give £11,000 in grants to thoughtful projects throughout the Mendips. Given that almost all guests at Gorge View Cottage gain from the beautiful and varied Mendip Hills we feel it is the least we can do to given back a little to the area, to help the maintenance and improvements that keep it special. The recent £250 donation brings our running total to MHF to £870.

So hopefully for all guests coming to the cottage they will know that every stay helps the local good causes.

Three years ago the AONB and Sedgemoor District Council invited interested parties to a meeting: they wanted to challenge Cheddar to become a fully fledged Walkers are Welcome destination. We were up for it and so Gorge View Cottage became a founding member of what became Cheddar Walking. And in record time we got our accreditation and launched. 
Three years on and the steering group has achieved a lot to be proud of: 10 fully tested walks with self-guide walking sheets published (downloadable for free from the website or for a small donation pre-printed from the National Trust Shop); 45,000 downloads to date and over 6,000 printed copies bought; then we've supported 3 local festivals with guided walking activities (and we're set to help again with the 2019 National Trust's Top of the Gorge Festival in its third year); and this month we finally completed a long project to fund, design and install three promotional information boards (or as we prefer to call then - "inspiration boards") laying out the 10 walks.
The walks vary from a 30 minute loop on mostly lanes, to the challenging 20-mile section of the West Mendip Way from the coast (Weston-Super-Mare) to Cheddar (you can bus out and walk back).
Anyone coming to stay at Gorge View Cottage gets all these walks in a folder along with many others from the AONB, National Trust, RSPB and Somerset Wildlife Trust. Pop a walk sheet out for the day and then pop it back for the next guests. And all these walks can be done without any car being involved. In fact probably 70% or more of our guests do at least one walk and almost all of them thoroughly enjoy and recommend them. The Mendip Hills, the Gorge and the Levels all have something for everyone.

And a big thank you to the wonderful Cafe Gorge and excellent Cheddar Medical Centre for allowing us to place these information boards on their railings for all the visitors and community to see and get inspired to walk a little.

A few weeks ago we were surprised but delighted to get a visit from our neighbours in Cheddar Gorge. No-one (person that is) actually lives in the gorge, but it is well populated with goats and sheep. The goats were released in to the gorge area to keep down the scrub and whilst they have done a good job of that they've basically gone feral and the population is pretty large. The sheep are Soay an ancient British breed that are also fairly feral.
​
Most days you can bump in to the goats and sheep (almost literally) as you drive the gorge road, early morning or late evening when they are down nibbling the verges. Seemingly completely oblivious to cars bearing down on them (and at this time of year) their babies. Luckily I have never seen any sad roadkill so it all works.

Anyway it seems that their populations are growing so much that they are looking further afield for good food. And last year for the first time in most people's memory a few ventured in to the upper village and raided the gardens. It seems they have a strong liking for tulips and a couple of neighbours were very annoyed to have their spring beauties systematically eaten. And now it is happening a second year, and we had a few visits.

This particular mother and her lamb (kid?) seem a regular in Birch Hill and a number of neighbours have tried to shepherd them back to the gorge. Luckily for us we don't have any tulips and nothing at the moment in the garden that would be a huge frustration if it got nibbled.

If you come and stay at the cottage we cannot guarantee any close-up encounters on the cottage patio, but if you do the gorge walk then you'll almost certainly spot some sheep and goats. Some of the billy goats are very impressive with long goatee beards. You will probably also smell them from a distance - the goats have a very soured goat milk odour!

Pretty much anyone in the UK, or indeed Europe, has been experiencing some of the most wintery weather we've experienced in many years. To start with, here in Somerset, we were just suffering the cold temperatures, and in particular the biting wind.

And then suddenly Somerset was in first an amber and then a red weather warning area as storm Emma drove moist air up in to the cold air mass over Britain, and the two weather systems colliding whipped up the winds even more.


In fact because of the winds the snow was not "deep and crisp and even", but much more variable. Birch Hill outside the cottage was pretty much clear of snow whilst in the garden and anywhere, the winds eddied around, the snow piled up in deep drifts. All in all we probably got 6 to 8 inches on average. And certainly it all looked lovely.

For possibly a day on the Thursday/Friday we were snowed in as far as vehicles went (no 4-wheel drive available). Birch Hill at the one end has a short steep bit that was too much for normal cars. But there are two flatter routes in that work fine if taken gently. But why drive if you can walk? So we did enjoy walking down to the village a few times with the roads largely to ourselves as most people heeded the advice to not go out if they did not need to.

And now on Saturday it is all thawing quite fast. The worst is over and life around us is returning to normal.

The snow itself has been rather wonderful as it drapes across the gorge slopes and the trees and the cottages. The nastier thing has been the easterly winds, and whilst the cottage has been solid throughout, and snug with underfloor heating and the log stove if wanted, our house has had two tiles ripped off and we're getting them fixed ASAP (but not for a few days  - so no rain, please). That is the first time in 15 years here that we have experienced any storm damage and it says a lot about the strength of the gusts. Not that we are complaining. Despite the dire predictions we have not suffered in any serious way and we know further afield many have.

Must stop now and finish the snowman!

"Cheddar Man" is pretty famous because the nearly-full skeleton discovered in Cheddar Caves over 100 years ago is the oldest example of Homo Sapiens ever found in Britain. How old is he? Well just around 10,000 years. As part of the Cheddar Caves attraction there is a bloke who dress up in old skins and a wild wig (in my mind a cross between Fred Flintstone and a Monty Python character). Entertaining and importantly a fun reminder of the deep pre-history of this place.

But now we have more information due to very recent DNA testing, and to be revealed in a new documentary on Channel 4 on 18th February ("First Brit: Secrets of the 10,000 Year Old Man"). Before I look at the big news story today as part of the fanfare for the documentary, it needs to be pointed out that DNA testing of the skeleton has already thrown up a fascinating fact. DNA from Cheddar Man was compared with local testing of residents. And amazingly there were two exact matches with two children in the village, and an almost exact match (just a single mutation away) with the history teacher in the local school. Indeed our children's history teacher. It cannot get much better than that for your teacher to be a direct descendent!

But the earlier idea of what Cheddar Man might have looked like is harder. Of course wearing animal skins, but what of skins, hair and eyes? Research for the new documentary was funded by the Natural History Museum in London, and from that they realise that far from the fair-skinned, brown-eyed, fair-haired examples of reconstruction to date, in fact the new  and more precise reconstruction shows Cheddar man to have blue eyes, set in a very dark-skinned face and with dark curly hair. All very surprising but somehow wonderful.

I'd love to include a picture here but at the moment the images are very much copyrighted and as and when I can get a photo from the exhibit in the NHM I'll add it to this post. meanwhile you can see it, and learn a bit more on this good Guardian Online article. 

So following a poll featured in the Daily Mail to find what people think is the "Best View in Britain", whilst the view from the summit of Mount Snowdon came in first, Cheddar Gorge was a creditable fifth. The views from inside the gorge looking up, or on top looking down are all spectacular, but the view that people find the most iconic is the one from the highest point on the east side looking over the gorge to the reservoir and on along the Mendip Ridge towards the Quantock Hills.

The full list was: Snowdon summit, the Three Sisters mountain range in Glen Coe, Stonehenge, St Ives Bay, Cheddar Gorge, Loch Ness (from Dores), Buttermere in the Lake District, the Palace of Westminster (viewed from Westminster Bridge), The Giant's Causeway in Co Antrim and finally Loch Lomond.

So we feel Cheddar Gorge is up there in the best of company. See more on the Daily Mail article.