15th Nov 2021 to 18th Nov 2021
Time to squeeze in a short break to Cheddar in our motorhome before the Christmas madness takes hold.
We normally head north, but since this is low season, kids are at school and it’s mid November, we thought we would head south as the weather looked more favourable (according to the long range forecast anyway).
We chose Cheddar Gorge as there is a CAMC club site ( Cheddar Caravan Club Site) in Cheddar village which is ideal to walk the gorge as well as having easy access to pubs and groceries (Sainsbury is only a few minutes walk from the site).
Cheddar Gorge
There are many walks in, around and through Cheddar Gorge. Most use the path via Jacob’s ladder which consists of a staircase of 274 steps leading from Cheddar village. We chose to start there and get the 274 steps done first. The path then follows the south ridge of the gorge until it re-joins the road at the far side. We added a little extra to the walk by walking the trail through a small nature reserve. I can’t remember its name. There is a path that returns to the village via the north ridge of the gorge. We chose to walk through the gorge itself on the roadside. Great choice, the steep limestone cliffs are awesome not to mention the goats and sheep that have made their home on these precarious rocks.
Weston-Super-Mere
Just down the road from Cheddar is the old seaside town of Weston-Super-Mere. Moira was reluctant to visit, as when she used to live in Bristol (35 years ago) she used to go bowling there and didn’t remember it fondly. As you can see from the photos, it has cleaned up quite nicely. We walked the full length of the promenade including a brief diversion onto the pier. No litter, no endless “kiss-me-quick” tat shops, just a lovely open, clean promenade, a manicured beach and restaurants, tea shops and hotels all the way along the coastal fringe.
Minehead
Speyside single malts are produced along the course of the river Spey in northeast The weather has been superb for mid November. No rain and some sunshine every day. As a result we had done more outside that we expected by day 4. Looking around the local area we could either have a day in the city of Bath, or continue down the coast a way to Minehead. As the weather looked good again, we decided to give Bath a miss this trip and headed along the coat to Minehead. It may have been only 37 miles but the A39 was neither broad nor straight anywhere along this stretch and the journey took well over an hour. An hour well spent because Minehead on a sunny day is well worth a visit, especially the harbour.
Motorhome Niggles
Nothing at all
Round trip distance 385 miles according to google maps.