Cheddar Gorge

Looking towards Cheddar Reservoir

We have done quite a lot of walks in Somerset, but strangely never walked around one of Somerset's greatest sites: Cheddar Gorge. Today - a nice sunny Friday afternoon - seemed a good day to put that right.

We started from the car park in Cliff Street - the road which runs through the gorge - walked parallel to the main road for a bit then rejoined it and immediately turned left and then right to begin the long climb through woodland, up what seems to be a rocky stream bed. Dry now of course, but it must be difficult in winter or when wet.

We emerged onto the grassy Mendip plateau and headed across the well-trodden path visible in the picture above to converge on the south side of the gorge, enjoying the initial view back towards the reservoir.

After passing through a gate, the path continues high above the reservoir on a stony track. There is now a nice view of the rocky side of the north side of the gorge.



After a while, the path begins to descend, quite steeply, and at the bottom a right turn brought us to the road. We crossed and began the equally steep ascent to the north side, again on a rocky path through woodland.

Again we emerge once again onto a grassy plateau and, after a recuperative break, continued through trees to reach a more open part of the rim of the gorge. Here there were great views back up the gorge again towards Cheddar Reservoir. With the afternoon sun on it, it looked like a bowl of mercury.




Eventually, the path descended to reach Jacob's Tower. The original wooden tower was built in 1909 and replaced by a metal one in 1936.



We descend the 274 steps known as Jabob's Ladder to reach Cliff Street. Both steps and tower were the work of an eccentric magician by the name of Roland Pavey, and were quite straightforwardly built as a tourist attraction to rival the nearby Cox's Cave.

Map: Explorer 141 (Cheddar Gorge and Mendip Hills West).

Rating: four stars. Exhilarating.


Flower of the day

Lots of Large Thyme.