Last week I finally took a week off work. After nine months of freelancing with limited breaks, I was bordering on burnout. Thankfully, my family had booked four nights in a caravan for mid-September, which would give us all a much-needed break. 

Somerset is in South West England, and is one of the largest counties in the UK. It’s also famous for Cheddar Cheese, Cider and sinking sand!

I had been to Somerset once before many years ago. My only memory was eating hot, sugary doughnuts on a very wet and cold pier in Weston-super-Mare. 

As I was traveling to Somerset from London and everyone else was heading over from Northampton, I drove separately.

I decided to travel to Brean, the village we would be staying in, via Cheddar Gorge. 

What is Cheddar Gorge?

I had fond memories of driving through Cheddar Gorge while traveling back from family holidays in Cornwall. But to my knowledge, we had never stopped in the village of Cheddar to explore.

Cheddar Gorge is home to Britain’s deepest gorge and is famous for its caverns, as well as its cliffs. Due to some COVID restrictions still being in place, the caverns were yet to re-open. This trip would have to be all about the cliffs. 

It took me around three hours to drive from Kingston Upon Thames to Cheddar, but I enjoyed the drive. We were lucky to be experiencing some warm September weather which always makes driving long distances more bearable.

I’d never driven through Cheddar Gorge as a driver, so it was amazing to experience that. The roads through the gorge were quiet, and the scenery was unreal. I just had to make sure I didn’t lose concentration 🙈. 

Finding my way around Cheddar

Parking was reasonably easy and cost me around £5.20 for 24 hours of parking. I found most parking in Somerset charged a day rate rather than by the hour. Most car parks allowed you to pay by card or via an app. But it’s best to do some research before you head off…I found it tricky to download some of the apps on arrival, because there was hardly any phone signal!

I parked at the edge of the village and wandered into Cheddar to get some lunch. Once in the village, I found a lovely fish n chip shop and managed to get saveloy, chips and a drink for around £6. I asked the waitress whether the cliff-top walk was well-marked from the top of Jacob’s Ladder. A few websites had recommended it, and I was keen to give it a go. I was conscious I was hiking alone and wanted to know whether the chances of me getting lost! I had no map and no whistle if I found myself lost or disorientated. The lady was unable to help, but the adventurer in me decided it was worth the risk.

Jacob’s Ladder

After lunch and a stroll through the village, it was time to head towards Jacob’s Ladder. Jacob’s Ladder consists of 274 steps and leads to a lookout tower and the start of the cliff-top walk. Due to COVID restrictions, the tower was closed, but I was excited to hit the trail. Even though I’m an experienced walker, I was grateful to find places to pause and catch my breath as I made the ascent up the 274 steps.

Once I reached the top and caught my breath, I was disappointed there was no spectacular view waiting for me. All you can see is the surrounding woodland. I guess the lookout tower would be the best place to capture a view of the gorge below. As the tower was closed, I decided to bite the bullet and take the cliff-top walk instead. If the paths weren’t clearly marked, I would turn back and head back down Jacob’s Ladder into Cheddar.

Cliff-top Walk above Cheddar Gorge

I didn’t have loads of time, but I was confident I could get some steps in before I needed to leave.

I was hoping Jacobs Ladder was the last uphill stretch for a while. But as it happened, it was just the start!

Thankfully, the path wasn’t quite as steep as the steps, and it wasn’t such a slog. As I got closer to the top of the cliffs, I felt incredibly grateful to be there. I felt the exhaustion of the last few weeks dissipate and relished being surrounded by nature and beautiful scenery. 

As I climbed higher, the scenery, as I turned to look back, was incredible! I could see for miles, and I felt as though I was on top of the world. 

I had desperately been hoping for a bird’s eye view of the gorge. But sadly on this section of the trail, I never found one.

After what felt like a good couple of miles, I started to descend back down towards the road.

Walking in the gorge

Once I was back on the road, I was much further from the car park than I had thought. I’m still not entirely sure where I went wrong! If you’re planning a trip to Cheddar Gorge, I would recommend picking up a map before you head out adventuring.

Walking back into Cheddar along the roadside isn’t for the faint-hearted! There were very few pathways and some incredibly curvy bends! During this section of the walk, I felt slightly anxious and very aware that I was on my own. I picked up my pace and was very grateful when I reached my car, sooner than expected. Despite picking up pace once on the road, I still managed to take in the incredible surroundings. I loved every minute immersing myself in the gorge.

On reflection, my advice to anyone wishing to visit Cheddar is to see the gorge from every angle possible. Drive through it, walk through it, and hell, why not even walk above it?

I loved my flying visit to Cheddar. It will definitely be one of the places I add to my ‘visit again‘ list. Especially as I left without getting to try some locally made Cheddar Cheese…