CHEDDAR VILLAGE

Cheddar is on the edge of the Somerset Levels, and has a mixture of old cottages in roads such as Lower North Street, with later Victorian and post-war houses. The most commercial areas are the Lower Gorge, between the caves and the Bays Pond (see picture) which has a number of gift shops, tea rooms and so on, and the centre of the village (around the Market Cross) which is on the main A371 between Wells and Weston. This can get busy with traffic at times, but the rest of the village and the Upper Gorge is generally quiet. It boasts seven pubs, the market cross, and a 14th century parish church. There are also banks with cashpoints, a supermarket and other local shops in the vilage centre. Nearby is England's smallest city, Wells, and the spiritual centre of Glastonbury, the "Isle of Avalon". Cheddar is also ideally placed for the seaside at Weston-Super-Mare, and only half an hour from the major business and retail centres in Bristol.

A DAY IN CHEDDAR

People who stay with us often wish they'd allowed longer to do everything. To see it all you really need to allow for at least a two-night stay.

After one of Andrea's hearty breakfasts, it's time for the Cheddar Caves and Gorge Experience. Walk down past the duck pond to pick up your Explorer ticket and join the open-topped, guided Gorge Bus Tour (not out-of-season), which takes you right the way through the gorge and back again as far as Gough's Cave. Or you can see the gorge from the pony and trap ride that starts from the Riverside Inn and passes our front gate.

Spend an hour or two in Gough's Cave, see the Cheddar Man and visit the gift shop by which time it's time for lunch - there is a cafe above the cave entrance or perhaps visit one of the many purveyors of Somerset cream teas nearby.

Then it's time to walk on down past the model railway exhibition and crazy golf, the small shops selling arts and crafts, gifts, cider and cheese, to Cox's Cave and the children's Crystal Quest. After that it'll be early to mid afternoon, time to climb the steps of Jacob's Ladder to the top of the hill and enjoy the fantastic views towards Exmoor and the coast. You might then still have time to visit the Cheddar Cheese Company and see how the real thing is made, before making the short walk back to your room for rest and recuperation.

Finish the day with an evening meal at one of Cheddar's many and varied pubs and restaurants - all within walking distance of bed. And you still haven't done the Gorge Clifftop Walk... the Adventure Caving (which we can personally recommend!)... Wookey Hole... Glastonbury... Bath... Wells... Weston-Super-Mare... hmmm, maybe you'd better look at a longer stay!

A visit to Cheddar Caves is an ideal wet-weather activity, and after heavy rain the flow of water is very spectacular.