As some of you may know from earlier blogs Gorge View Cottage was a founding supporter of the Cheddar Walking initiative. It was set up from scratch last year to help gain "Walkers are Welcome" accreditation for the village (which it duly did), and to encourage visitors and the local community to enjoy more of the lovely local walks - long and short, flat and hilly, focused on history, nature, geology and more.
One target was to get a walking festival going and we have done just that in collaboration with the Mendip Ramblers. They hold a free three-day festival every year somewhere in the area, over the August Bank Holiday weekend, and yet had never held one in Cheddar. So a perfect opportunity for us to help the Ramblers with local walking knowledge and with venues and parking. This was a great chance for us in the steering group to learn what is involved from the very experienced Ramblers group.
It was by all counts a real success with very strong numbers turning up to enjoy themselves. Over 325 walkers went out on 12 walks over the three days. Each day three walks set of in the morning (15, 11 and 7 miles approximately) and in the afternoon a shorter 5 to 6 mile walk was led out. People came from far and wide to take part, stay locally and enjoy not only the walks but the beautiful countryside, views, and warm welcome from local businesses and hostelries.
Of course you don't have to wait for a festival to enjoy the walking here: Cheddar Walking has developed a range of self-guiding walk sheets for anyone to use - you can download them here.
One target was to get a walking festival going and we have done just that in collaboration with the Mendip Ramblers. They hold a free three-day festival every year somewhere in the area, over the August Bank Holiday weekend, and yet had never held one in Cheddar. So a perfect opportunity for us to help the Ramblers with local walking knowledge and with venues and parking. This was a great chance for us in the steering group to learn what is involved from the very experienced Ramblers group.
It was by all counts a real success with very strong numbers turning up to enjoy themselves. Over 325 walkers went out on 12 walks over the three days. Each day three walks set of in the morning (15, 11 and 7 miles approximately) and in the afternoon a shorter 5 to 6 mile walk was led out. People came from far and wide to take part, stay locally and enjoy not only the walks but the beautiful countryside, views, and warm welcome from local businesses and hostelries.
Of course you don't have to wait for a festival to enjoy the walking here: Cheddar Walking has developed a range of self-guiding walk sheets for anyone to use - you can download them here.
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