Mendip Hills

TheMendips are steeped in history above and below the ground. Green hills which lend their name to the area were once an industrial centre stretching back to the Romans. The cathedral city of Wells, England's smallest city, is a gem with its mediaeval core. Six miles away at Glastonbury, the ruins of the abbey stand proud in their own grounds. The famous Tor with its tower of St Michael looks down on centuries of myth, mystery and legend. Water also plays a part in the history of Avalon as visitors to Chalice Well will observe. A supply, tinted ruby red, emerges from a source in the gardens, and is claimed to have healing properties. Two miles further on is Street, the home of shoemak-ing, where visitors have the opportunity to tour Clarks museum and muse at the fashions of the foot through the years. Street attracts millions of people a year since Clarks opened its Village - a complex of factory shops taken up by the top High Street names. So much for the main towns, and of course Frame must not be forgotten. This town specialised in cloth years ago. Today it has a varied industrial base. Much of the town has a mediaeval stamp on it, though a number of its buildings have a later elegance. Mendip's villages are worth investigating on their own account. High on the top of the hills is Priddy where an August sheep fair attended by thousands from town and country is a major attraction. The stack of hurdles in the centre of The Green is evidence of fairs since they were moved from Wells Cathedral Green at the time of the Black Death. Although not a favourite with environmentalists, quarrying is a major industry supplying stone to build roads throughout the country - thousands of tonnes leave the Mendips by train for the south east. The western end of the Mendip area is rightly designated an area of outstanding natural beauty, both above and below the ground. Some areas are also noted as sights of scientific interests where farmers are restricted on ploughing.and where Saxon kings hunted from their palace in Cheddar (marked out in the grounds of the Kings of Wessex School), above ground there is the loose stone walls and straight roads, and underneath the caves and caverns are the secret delight of underworld investigators.

But all are welcome to. share the beauty of Cheddar and Ebbor Gorges, and the same welcome extends into Wookey Hole and Cheddar Caves.

Contributed by: Louise Roberts