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Ok, so this is a walk of about 9 miles around Cheddar Gorge. It is relatively easy walking, but with a few short steep pulls up and drops down at the ends of the Gorge. It is a bit muddy in places but it has been quite rainy recently and that might explain it. A head for heights will get you close to the steep drops, otherwise keep to the paths and no vertigo.
You will probably meet a few other people but no real crowds.
We have had previously Middle Bottom, Far Bottom and Scratchy Bottom. Here I give you Velvet Bottom.
Park the car on one of the old dams and set off downhill.
My favourite flower. Campanula.....Harebells. Loads of them in swathes.
Walking down Velvet Bottom is a trip in time. This was a highly industrialised landscape until recent years. Lead mining....can you think of a more toxic environment?
Black Rock is now subject of elfansafety barriers. Rocks fall off cliffs don't you know.
There is even a limekiln....
But climbing up over the western side of the Gorge the views open up. The path to this point was the muddiest section.
The meadows are full of flowers of all descriptions.
That's where we are heading, but we have some distance to go. The Gorge falls 100m between.
Limestone cliffs of the western side. I could hear the call of the peregrine falcons and buzzards that nest here...didn't see them.
Looking SW to Brent Knoll and the Bristol Channel
And East to the famous Glastonbury Tor.
Magical woods on the descent to Cheddar Village.
To the Gardeners Arms for lunch....Ha!
Steak salad and a pint of the local real ale (Butcombe Bitter). Lovely.
We can sneer in smugness at the 'toorists' in the commercial hotspots of Cheddar Gorge theme park. We dive through there quickly so they don't notice.
Sheep that eat trees...
Rocks that we walked over an hour ago.
A million years ago I used to do this sort of thing. Click the pic to see the climbers. It is quite popular in the Gorge.
The east side of the Gorge is quite stunning
Returning up Velvet Bottom the slag banks are evident. The slag is still a bit contaminated and plants don't grow on it much.
Further up the ground shows its mining history. All the lumps and bumps going back to Roman times and beyond. The fence surrounds a mine shaft.
But some of the best views of Cheddar Gorge are from the road that runs through. Drop the ragtop and trundle down the twisty road, look up, ooh ahh!
To get a decent shot of the rocks you have to stop and climb one of the banks on the west cliffs. The sun has to be just right...in the evening. So far there has been no sun, bummer!
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