All the Cheese | Cheddar, England

Elle and I visited Cheddar to see Cheddar Gorge on our Somerset day trip, however almost immediately after arriving our main focus became cheese. All the cheese. You can't blame us, can you?

Cheddar is obviously famous for being the home of cheddar cheese. Originally, cheddar could only be considered real cheddar if it was made within 30 miles of Wells Cathedral. As far back as the 12th century cheddar cheese was only made from the cows grazing near Cheddar Village. The caves in Cheddar Gorge allowed for the cheese to be stored at the perfect temperature and humidity, giving the village of Cheddar an advantage in cheese making. Today however, cheddar cheese is made around the world. Only one cheddar cheese producer still exists in Cheddar Village.

A trip to Cheddar Gorge Cheese Company was a must. Just small building a few minutes away from the gorge, the Cheddar Gorge Cheese Company is easy to miss. However, inside is heaven. With over 20 free cheese samples and a small area to see the production of the cheese, it's definitely worth a visit! Let's just say I left Cheddar happy and FULL.

Happy Sunday!
xoxo

Cheddar Gorge

Cheddar Gorge has been on my list of places to go since I first moved to England. The only reason I hadn't made the trip out to the gorge was it is quite complicated to get to if you don't have a car. Since Elle and I were making a trip to Glastonbury via bus, we decided why not try and get to Cheddar Gorge as well! After waiting around for a bus that supposedly went straight from Glastonbury to Cheddar, we were told by a local that no such bus existed. Awesome. So we took a bus from Glastonbury to Wells, then Wells to Cheddar. Confused yet? We were. Once we made it to Cheddar however, all our annoyances disappeared.
The village: Charming.
The gorge: Uh-maz-ing.

Cheddar Gorge is Britain's largest gorge at 450 feet high. Although tickets for the site almost 19 pounds, each pass allows you access to two caves, a lookout tower, a three mile gorge walk, and an open bus top tour. Because there is so much to see, each ticket is valid for 10 years! 10 YEARS! Anything you don't get to see on your first trip you can come back and do.

On this particular visit, it was cold and rainy, so  Elle and I opted to do Gough's Cave and Jacob's Lookout Tower only, saving the rest of our tickets for a possible revisit in the summer. Gough's Cave, complete with a rather hilarious audio guide, was absolutely stunning. We even managed to get a glimpse of Cheddar Man, Britain's oldest complete human skeleton! After a walk underground, we made the brave decision to climb the 274 steps up to the lookout tower. Believe me, it's no walk in the park, but the view from the top is absolutely amazing! We even managed to catch a little bit of sun!

Cheddar has easily become one of my favorite places in all of England. Although we braved it during the winter, I highly suggest a trip during the summer!

Happy Tuesday!

xoxo