24th June 2012

24th June 2012.

Dear All,

We had an enjoyable week in Cheddar despite the last couple of days being on the damp side. Kate, Mary-Ann, Amélie and I all arrived at Wellington Farm at the head of the Gorge on Saturday afternoon. The farmer Miles (not Giles) was very friendly and seemed to have plenty of time to chat. It was a small all grass farm which specialised in raising calves which are moved on after weaning. In addition, they had 11 alpacas, 3 goats, a pony several Guinea pigs and rabbits plus 2 dogs and a cat – all of which met with Amélie’s approval.


Three Generations

Calves and nearly walking

On Sunday the churches in Cheddar had a combined service and fun day for Father’s Day at a school including free coffee and cakes, burgers, games, bouncy castles, bubble machine and a service where the main speaker was Bob Grace a guru from the music industry who relaunched David Bowie and published or promoted many legendary performers.
Esther arrived Sunday lunchtime having been practicing for singing at the Albert Hall the previous day. We did a Mendips walk from Burrington in the afternoon.
On Monday we visited Wells which had been decorated with 60 painted swans for the Jubilee then on to Glasonbury where we climbed the Tor. We visited a wetland bird centre on the way back and were advised that the “hot topic” was the first ever nest of Greater Egrets in this country. We walked some distance to see lots of “twitchers” but the nest was not visible or any birds but we did see a bittern – which was a first for me.

Wells swan

Wells cathedral

We tried the beach on Tuesday driving through Burnham-on-Sea to Brean. The sea was very distant but the sand was pretty exciting for Amélie while Kate and I walked to the end of Brean Down. Andy arrived in the evening.

Glasonbury Tor

Brean beach

On Wednesday Kate and I walked round the Cheddar Gorge circular which included a couple of steep climbs and took over 4 hours but the views were spectacular. The others spent the day at Weston-Super-Mare where there was more sand to sample.
Andy had to return to work on Thursday and the weather deteriorated from then onwards. We drove to Watchet and walked round the harbour and inspected the museum.

Cheddar Gorge

Alpaca herd

Friday was not much better so we stayed in Cheddar. We resisted the caves as the current fee for caves, bus trip, circular walk and museum is £18.50. We did visit a Cheddar cheese factory for an interesting demonstration of how the cheese is made.

Love

Mike & Kate