Cheddar

Cheddar was on our list of possible spots to visit so we decided to head in that direction before we would go onto St German's in Cornwall, our destination by late afternoon. As we were getting closer to Cheddar we saw Wells, and somewhere I remembered someone telling me that was a good place to visit. So in we went and we were disappointed. It was a beautiful town, with a market day in full swing. Even the town crier was present and in full voice. Swans, of the sculptural type were obviously of some significance as there were many of them in various places.Next stop was Cheddar and I really wasn't sure what to expect. Mostly cheese I thought so we weren't prepared for the large numbers of tourists in this narrow limestone gorge. Cheese is an important player in this gorge, as the cheddar has been aged in the caves for centuries it is the caves and all the adventure tourism that goes with caving that is biggest attraction. We walked through the village and eventually found the cheddar factory and were able to see the cheese being made as well as doing tastings and of course there was plenty to purchase. The video showing the complete process (it takes seven hours) felt very familiar using all the terminology Sherry had used during her cheese making classes. This is the only cheese that can be truly called cheddar and it continues to be hand made in the traditional way. Some of it is matured in the caves for 11 months.

Home Link for Cheddar website

We had arranged to be in St Germans just out of Plymouth by around 5pm, so after consulting our paper map (we were not trusting Garmin to get us there on the main roads) to get us on the M5 so we could make faster time than the smaller roads as the speed limit is 80mph. Once on this road we made excellent progress and arrived on time.


 

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