A Cheesy Trip, Day 5 - Aircraft, Lots of Aircraft

The main reason I decided to come back to Somerset was to visit the Fleet Air Arm Museum at Yeovilton. When I started the detailed planning I found they’re not open Monday or Tuesday so it ended up being today before I got there. There are plenty of planes and helicopters to see, from the earliest to displays about, if not actual aircraft, the latest. They’ve also got a Concord (but then where hasn’t? 😀) which doesn’t really fit in. It is the first British one, number 002, so is historical in its own way, but not really a Naval plane. 

Replica Short S27 of 1910, an improved version was the first plane to successfully take off from a ship in 1912 

Just 65 years later Concord commenced supersonic passenger flights

Some parts of the Museum are very well done, including effectively taking you through a 1970s aircraft carrier by means of presentations and displays. I also found some of the information of the QE Class carriers interesting, I hadn’t really noted that they have two separate control islands, The principle of a single island on the starboard (right) side of the deck had been established on the earliest such ships but there are several benefits to splitting the ship control from the flight control including redundancy of systems and reduced wind turbulence. They’re on the right as most single prop planes naturally turn left so away from the structure, of course this is no longer an issue! 

It’s ironic that this Short S184 survived the First World War but was damaged when the Imperial War Museum was bombed in WW II!

Helicopters are as important as planes in naval aviation, possibly even more so, and I guess we tend to think of their search and rescue role, although civilian SAR is now in private hands. Of course they have a strong military purpose as well, be it ferrying personal and stores, detecting submarines (and potentially depth charging or torpedoing them), etc. All bar one of this group saw action in the Falklands War. 

I had the customary cup of coffee whilst looking round but didn’t fancy the cafe for lunch so when I left I did a search for a farm shop and found one the other side of Yeovil. The food was really good but again the shop was just prepack frozen stuff so no use to me - not that it matters as tomorrow I’m moving on to the hotel in Devon.

Sign of the day, outside a farm, “For sale, fresh eggs and pony poo!” 

A Cheesy Trip, Day 4 - Gorgeous Caves

Given that it was only a few minutes drive* to Cheddar Gorge I was able to have a lazy start to the day, but still got up there for around opening time. The huge plus point of this was getting parked very close to Gough’s Cave which is a good starting point. There’s quite a bit of building work going on at the moment, I think they’re putting a new roof in one of the buildings, but I got a very cheery “Good morning” from one of the builders, which was a good start. 

By the time I’d bought my ticket the staff had just finished their checks of the Cave so I was first visitor in and, for a short while, about the only person in there. It made for a special experience, having total peace and tranquility (I’d declined the offered audio guide) to wander through and take in the sights. 

There’s some evidence in this pic of both ironstone and copper salts, based on the pigments.

You didn’t think I wouldn’t find some sort of railway did you? 

As with Wookey Hole they age Cheddar here as well, in fact they were collecting some of the truckles when I left. 

The history of the caves, at least in recent times, is similar to other places - rediscovered in Victorian times, developed as a tourist attraction, still being explored today by divers! Also like other such places you can delight in finding shapes in the rock formations, does anyone else see this as a koala?

I exited the cave just in time as a very noisy school party were close to going down so after a cup of coffee I wandered down the Gorge via the Museum of Prehistory to the second cave, Cox’s. This is slightly different as there’s an AV presentation playing at various points. I was walking round with a friendly older couple - it helped that none of us were exactly running! 

I can’t really decide whether the changing colours of the lighting enhanced the cave or detracted from it but in any case it was fairly spectacular, albeit on a smaller scale than the other caves I’ve visited this trip. 

There are two distinct sides to Cheddar village, where the caravan site is it’s really just a small local centre but the moment you get up to the Gorge it’s a tourist hotspot with all the attendant shops and cafes. Having walked most of the way down I settled for fish and chips for lunch with a pot of tea - I’m mainly a coffee drinker but tea does seem to go well with F&C! I then did a bit of shopping, procuring some more cave aged cheese (there’ll be a taste off later) and a 3L pouch of dry cider - the downside of the latter being I then had to carry it back up the hill. A quick call into Sainsbugs on the way back to the site provided some salad and cream crackers to go with the cheese. 

Thought for the day, is it compulsory to put, “Caution - Very Hot Water” signs on any tap accessible to the public, even when the water is lukewarm due to the temperature control valve?

*I could have walked but I figured by the time I’d got up there, and left enough energy to get back, I’d be limited as to how much I could do in the middle. 

A Cheesy Trip, Day 3 - I Go to Prison

I wouldn’t say the day didn’t go to plan, but it could definitely have been better! 

The main target was to visit Shepton Mallet prison. One of my vague historical interests is crime and punishment (too many Sherlock Holmes stories when I was younger) and I’ve been round a few smaller, older lock ups but there aren’t that many opportunities to see a more recently closed establishment. To be honest I found it interesting, but also sad and a little frightening. The history of the prison doesn’t entirely help, it was a civilian establishment from 1625 until 1930 when it closed. Just before WW II it became a military prison, first for the British services then for the Americans from 1942-1945. From then until 1966 it was back in British military hands, and for a while housed the Kray Twins. Commonly known as The Mallet it was reckoned to be the harshest of the four military detention centres (only Colchester is still open). Having reverted to being a civilian prison, in 2001 it became a Category C for male lifers until it closed in 2013. 

The displays and information really don’t pull any punches, including the number of executions carried out there, which include two by firing squad and 16 hangings during the US occupation. I’ve read elsewhere that there was some disquiet in British circles about these due to the high number of coloured servicemen executed compared to whites. 

Because the establishment only closed 10 or so years ago it’s still got all the security fencing, razor wire, secure gates and doors, etc. and the cell block wings are very similar to the ones you see in Porridge, complete with anti-suicide netting, but I have to say the thing I found the worst (even more so than the hanging room and the condemned cell) was the exercise yard. When the lifers were moved there this was improved, instead of just being a tarmac yard enclosed on all sides by buildings it became a tarmac yard with a couple of raised plant beds and a raised pond! Imagine that your only outside time, often just an hour a day, would be spent in such a place? At least it’s open to the sky, drones being used to drop drugs (and even on one occasion a Chinese takeaway) mean that many such yards are now closed over. 

After a cup of coffee I went for a wander around Shepton Mallet, which is a fairly typical small market town. I was looking for a Boots, or similar, as I discovered I’d left my shampoo* at home and needed a couple of other things but failed to find one. I had thought about going into Wells for the afternoon but couldn’t get any enthusiasm so I looked on Google Maps and found a farm shop that looked a good place for lunch and a bit of shopping. After TomTom took me to the wrong place I finally found it and was somewhat underwhelmed. The lunch was ok, but nothing great, and the supposedly much vaunted farm shop butchery consisted of all prepackaged items, a packet of 16 bacon rashers isn’t much use in a small campervan on my own! 

On the plus side though I spotted a Boots in an out of town retail park so got my shopping there then passing back around Wells I found a Halfords which gave me the chance to get a new phone holder - it’s been a problem for a while in the Berlingo; I’m not sure how well this one will work but we’ll see. The other place I’d planned to call in at was a Cider Barn by the side of the road near Cheddar. I pulled in, thinking I might get some decent scrumpy, but when I looked in it was basically a fairly grotty looking bar in, literally, a barn, so I didn’t bother. 

An interesting one from after I blogged yesterday, I went to get another pint and the lady serving casually asked if I was staying locally. Having said I was at one of the caravan sites she commented that she thinks they’re very good for the village - not least because caravanners tend to have disposable income and will go out for drinks and meals. It’s an interesting view when so many touristy places seem to dislike visitors (while liking their money). 

*I used the shower gel this morning which works but it’s very, very minty!  

A Cheesy Trip, Day 2 - Witches and Water

The first activity today was a visit to Wookey Hole, I had been before in 1971! The caves have actually been much extended since then, once later in the 70’s and then more recently - the last new chamber opened up in 2015. It may seem strange that they’re still finding new parts to the cave system but that’s due to much of it being permanently under water. It was the second time since my recent big birthday that I’ve legitimately bought a concession ticket (although I’ve had a few when people haven’t asked the question). 

Being fairly early we were fortunate in having a small party, the guide reckoned when it’s busy they can have over 50 people, we were just 18 including a few small kids who, fortunately, weren’t too noisy! There’s quite a few steps up and down, and some low points, so you need to be reasonably mobile, one downside of the newest parts is there’s a lot of metal grating for floors, steps and bridges which is a nuisance for a walking stick. 

The caves were the location for the first ever cave dive in the UK, back in 1935, using traditional bottom walking diving suits complete with the brass helmet, lead boots and a surface compressor feeding air through a hose, hardly ideal for negotiating tight cramped spaces! It’s still one of the most popular places for cave diving in the UK with some chambers being very difficult and technical, the deepest UK cave dive of 90m was also there. 

The witch is probably the most famous legend around the caves, put simply the locals appealed to the Abbot of Glastonbury for help in ridding themselves of the witch and he despatched a monk, Father Bernard, who reportedly had had a relationship destroyed by the hag. When he came to the chamber now known as The Witch’s Kitchen he couldn’t see her so he scooped some water from the underground River Axe and blessed it. He sprinkled the holy water around until some landed on the witch causing her to be turned to stone. That’s the story, anyway, but skeletal remains and artefacts were found in around 1912 so there may be some truth there. 

After the caves you can walk through the old paper mill, built to harness the river power, it closed in the early 1970s when Madame Tussauds bought the whole site (it’s now held in Trust by Gerry Cottle’s children). There is a small cave diving display and some exhibits from the paper making, plus various other attractions. Unfortunately it was a bit early for anything substantial to eat in the restaurant so settled for coffee and biscuits - the pleasant lady who served me did check I was OK carrying the tray! 

I couldn’t leave without the other thing that the caves have become famous for, cheddar cheese! The conditions are apparently perfect for ageing cheese so having seen where this happens I bought a piece in the gift shop. 

The second visit of the day was to Westonzoyland Pumping Station Museum, the site of the first steam pump on the Somerset Levels. The Levels are drained by a series of ditches and drains but eventually you have to get the water to go uphill! At Westonzoyland that meant lifting it 6 feet up to the River Parrett. The original setup used a scoop wheel but after the ground settled and that became ineffective it was replaced by Mr Amos’s Machine, a steam driven centrifugal pump. 

It’s a slightly odd pump engine having two cylinders, one either side of the main flywheel which drives the pump impeller via a crown wheel and a long shaft. It also seems strange, given the ready availability of water, that it’s fitted with condensers which cool the exhausted steam and pump it back into the boiler, I’m guessing this was to minimise the work of operating the pump which was generally the responsibility of one man and his wife. 

The museum does have a Light Railway, sadly not operating today, it’s not original to the site but helps demonstrate the type of lines used in construction in the area , it also helps with machinery moving. There’s a decent collection of steam engines of various types, most of which work. I particularly noticed this winch engine as it was built in Sunderland and used at Hemyock Dairy for moving milk wagons in the sidings there. 

Was the museum worth the 35 mile round trip? Probably for me yes, even though it’s small and wasn’t really geared up for visitors today - they were mainly working on various bits of machinery and left me alone to wander round. I’d love to go back on a steaming day though, ideally when the railway is also operating. 

I’m now sat sitting back in the pub with another pint of Gorge Best before I wander back to the site. 

A Cheesy Trip. Day 1 - We Are the Champions!

I’m  away in the ‘van for a few days in Somerset, on my way to the annual gathering of the TOGs in Devon. Most unusually there is very little railway content this trip, partly because I think I’ve visited every line in the West Country!

I’m stopping at the CAMC site on the edge of Cheddar (hence the title) and as usual I looked for somewhere to break the journey, on this occasion it was the REME museum near Lyneham. I’d loaded most of the ‘van yesterday so just needed to put the coolbox and a couple of other things in. First problem, the coolbox wouldn’t run on the 12v leisure battery. All the signs are that battery was flat which is a bit odd as there’s a 110w solar panel on the roof to keep it charged. I later checked the charge controller and it isn’t showing any problem but I’m wondering if there’s an iffy connection. It’s not a problem for this trip as it’ll be on mains electric on site and the battery certainly seemed fully charged after the run down. 

The museum is fairly typical of such places with interesting stories and displays about a part of the army that doesn’t really get the headlines but which is crucial in supporting the fighting units. It’s worth noting that the first REME units went ashore on D Day just 20 minutes after the initial landings, and possibly before that, with the crucial role of keeping the routes off the beaches clear of any damaged vehicles - their main role is the repair and recovery of vehicles, electronics, etc. 

When is a tank not a tank? When it’s been converted for recovery with a dummy turret and gun to make it look like a fighting vehicle. 

I found the range of vehicles they’ve used over the years to be quite fascinating, from early Morris commercials through converted tanks and some specialist vehicles. 

The 6x4 Scammel Pioneer had other roles but it’s ability to cross difficult terrain was invaluable during WW II. 

How do you know it’s a a Scammel? It’s got two humps!

There’s a huge difference between peacetime civilian engineering and the wartime military - the latter can’t just order a special tool from the vehicle manufacturer and wait for it to arrive! This make do attitude also extended to other areas, they had two of these recovery wagons custom built for the exercise ranges in Canada. 

Big Red - Painted that colour in the hope that gunners on live firing exercises wouldn’t use it as a target!

I ended my visit, inevitably, with coffee and cake in the Museum cafe, very good they were too, before heading off towards Somerset. I don’t know what was going on but over the course of the drive down I had two near misses where vehicles pulled out in front of me, one necessitating me standing on the brakes very hard, and saw a third when an  ambulance had to go the wrong side of the road at a junction and a Discovery pulled straight across in front of it then panicked and stopped in the middle of the road! Fortunately the ambulance had enough room to get round. The SatNav was also in a funny mood, I’d got it set on Eco Route as usual but that seemed to involve skirting the edge of Swindon instead of using the M4 then taking me through  the middle of Bristol instead of the M5 (I did catch a glimpse of the SS Great Britain). It didn’t matter, except my left leg objects to too much clutch usage these days, and at least my ‘van is clean air zone friendly. 

Checking in at the site was, as usual, easy enough as I’d paid in advance (late last night as it happens) and there wasn’t  not much to choose between the available pitches. They do ask campervans and motorhomes to mark their pitches if they go out so nobody else tries to use the same pitch, I’ve got a very nice pitch marker that slips over the number peg with bungee cord, it’s currently sitting on the kitchen table at home! So I bought yet another sign (I think this is the fourth one) and used a a guy rope from the sun shade to secure it in place. 

After lunch I settled down to watch the Premiership Rugby final - Saints’ first one since they won it ten years ago. One slight annoyance, I’d brought the small iPad planning to hot spot it off the mobile but the ITV X app refused to believe I was in England and wouldn’t play so I had to watch the match on the phone. I won’t go into details but I did get excited a few times - although I had to calm down due to the limited headroom in the ‘van as I managed to hit the roof, literally! 

We haven’t made things easy for ourselves at times this season and it happened again, despite playing against 14 for much of the game after Bath had a red card after 20 minutes or so but Saints found that extra something when it counted to win so I’m a happy bunny tonight. I celebrated by wandering into Cheddar itself and having a couple of pints of Gorge Best from Cheddar Brewery - nice to see a craft brewer producing a genuine, and very nice, Best Bitter. I did consider having dinner there but there wasn’t really much on the menu that I fancied so in strolled back to the site for the evening. 

Campervan Update

As I’m going away soon in the ‘van I needed to do some sorting and tidying. 

The first issue was getting it started - it really doesn’t like getting going after standing for a while! Having flattened the battery once I put it on the big charger overnight then put it back in the car. Putting the charger back on in boost/start mode finally got it going but left me with the engine warning light on. I hoped a run round the block might cure it but after a few miles it was still on so I ordered a cheap bluetooth reader to see if I could diagnose the problem and hopefully reset it. Unfortunately whilst the app would talk to the reader and the reader seemed to establish communications with the engine management it couldn’t actually read anything. I was preparing to call the local garage to see if I could pop in for them to try when I realised that the warning light had finally cleared itself! Plan B would have involved using Suzie Too and hotels instead, I’m glad it’s not necessary (not least because room prices at relatively short notice weren’t cheap). 

With that done I just needed to do all the usual prep before the first trip of the year, including giving all the cooking and eating stuff a good wash. Unfortunately my trusty folding kettle had gone a bit grotty and, while trying to clean it, I noticed a crack starting to develop. For obvious safety reasons it went in the bin and a new one is on order. I also swapped the gas hose as the old one was out of date and showing signs of starting to crack and did some general cleaning. 

The final job before I start packing for the trip was to take the ‘van up to Dad’s and get the pressure washer out. It’s a lot easier washing vehicles at his house as there’s an outside tap and plenty of space on the drive. I’m not saying it’s perfect, but at least it doesn’t look like a vehicle that’s been neglected for several months! 

After the problems with starting, and given the lack of use of the ‘van, I was seriously thinking it’s time to sell it on for whatever I can get - realistically the vehicle itself has little value, maybes £500 or so, so the money is in the second hand value of the fit out and equipment. Looking at hotels, and their cost, for the Cheddar trip, and realising that other pressures have impacted on use in recent years, made me think again. I’ll stick to keeping this campervan for as long as it’s economical to run it, I’ll think again if and when it needs expensive repairs. I’ll definitely go away at least once more this year and I’ll start planning at least two long trips next year plus some long weekends.