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Six miles west of Wookey on the A371, the rather plain village of Cheddar has given its name to Britain's best-known cheese - most of it now mass-produced far from here - and is also renowned for the Cheddar Gorge , lying beyond the neighbourhood of Tweentown about a mile to the north. Cutting a jagged gash across the Mendip Hills, the limestone gorge is an impressive geological phenomenon, though its natural beauty is undermined by the minor road running through it and by the Lower Gorge's mile of shops and coach park - and you'll also find here Cheddar's tourist office (mid-March to mid-Nov daily 10am-5pm; mid-Nov to mid-March Sun 11am-4pm; tel 01934/744071, ). Few trippers venture further than the first few curves of the gorge, which admittedly hold its most dramatic scenery, though each turn of the two-mile length presents new, sometimes startling vistas. At its narrowest the path squeezes between cliffs towering almost five hundred feet above, and if you don't want to follow the road as far as Priddy , the highest village in the Mendips, you can reach more dramatic destinations by branching off onto marked paths to such secluded spots as Black Rock , just two miles from Cheddar, or Black Down , at 1067ft the Mendips' highest peak. Cliff-top paths winding along the rim of the gorge provide an alternative to walking on the road. The tourist office can give you details of a two-and-a-half-hour circular walk and of the West Mendip Way , a forty-mile route extending from Uphill, near Weston-super-Mare, to Wells and Shepton Mallet. Beneath the gorge, the Cheddar Caves (daily: May to mid-Sept 10am-5pm; mid-Sept to April 10am-4.30pm; GBP7.90) were scooped out by underground rivers in the wake of the Ice Age, and subsequently occupied by primitive communities. Today, the caves are floodlit to pick out the subtle pinks, greys, greens and whites in the rock, and the array of tortuous rock formations that resemble organ pipes, waterfalls and giant birds. Outside, close to Cox's Caves, the 274 steps of Jacob's Ladder (same ticket as caves) lead to a cliff-top viewpoint towards Glastonbury Tor, Exmoor and the sea. It's a muscle-wrenching climb - anyone not in a state of honed fitness can reach the same spot via the narrow lane winding up behind the cliffs. You can also survey the panorama from Pavey's Lookout Tower nearby. Among Cheddar's handful of B&Bs , try Chedwell Cottage , Redcliffe Street (tel 01934/743268; GBP40-50), or Wossells House , Upper New Road (tel 01934/744317; GBP40-50) - booking ahead is recommended for both of these. There's also a youth hostel here, opposite the fire station off the Hayes (tel 01934/742494).
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