Cheddar Gorge – Wednesday Travel Flash

Spectacular nature in Somerset?

For some reason, Somerset was never on my list for having spectacular nature. My trip down there a couple of weeks ago proved that I couldn’t be more wrong. Who has heard of Cheddar Gorge? I only learned about it recently, when I saw a Buzzfeed post of places you could not believe are in Britain.

When we entered the little town of Cheddar (yes, from the cheese), I felt like being in a village in France. Quite touristic, with loads of souvenir shops and restaurants, it still felt very friendly and welcoming when we entered. Our excitement built, because we had no idea what would wait for us after the town border.

The gorge in the town of the cheese

We soon found out as large cliffs rose up on both sides next to us when we were driving through the actual gorge. We were told that Cheddar Gorge is a limestone gorge which once was an ancient river bed.

After a few minutes we discovered that we had exited the actual gorge and quickly turned around our car. We parked somewhere in town and had lunch at one of the local pubs.

A brochure informed us that that there were multiple options for us to explore the area. There were caves for us to discover, a cliff-top walk and a view tower.

Walking on the cliff top of Cheddar Gorge

We decided to go for the view tower and the cliff-top walk. For a small entrance fee we were allowed up the 274 steps leading up to the top of the cliffs. Once there, the view tower was waiting for us on the right and we enjoyed the spectacular views from there.

We took our walk further over the plains and constantly had to stop to gaze and take pictures of the stunning backdrop. Some professional hikers told us that we could walk on top one of the so-called pillars – of which Cheddar Gorge has three – which we eventually did. I have to add that with my fear of heights, it was quite a challenge for me to walk to the furthest end of the pillar with on two sides of me the scary abysses. But we did it!

A natural wonder

Needless to say, I was surprised by Cheddar Gorge in a very positive way, and I cannot believe I had not really heard about it that much. Even more so, because it was named the second greatest natural wonder in Britain by Radio Times and a television show called ‘Seven Natural Wonders.’

I am bound to go back to Cheddar to explore the caves which are apparently incredible- and possibly eat some cheddar cheese? Who knows…

Over to you. Have you ever been to Cheddar Gorge?