Pickering Andrew - Cheddar Through Time Revised Edition

First published, 2011
This edition published, 2015

Amberley Publishing
The Hill, Stroud
Gloucestershire, GL5 4EP

www.amberley-books.com

Copyright Andrew Pickering & Nicola Foster, 2011, 2015

The right of Andrew Pickering & Nicola Foster to be identified as the Author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyrights, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

ISBN 9781445650715 (PRINT)
ISBN 9781445650722 (eBOOK)

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without the permission in writing from the Publishers.

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data.
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

Typesetting by Amberley Publishing.
Printed in the UK.

'For most people Cheddar means the three C's: Caves, Cliffs and Cheese.
To these might be added Church and Cross.'
Coysh A. W., Mason E. J., Waite V. (1954) The Mendips, Robert Hale, p. 169.

At the start of the twentieth century, the period from which many of the photographs in this collection date, Cheddar had a population of around 2,000. Well placed between the limestone hills to the north and the marshes to the south, the village had several industries including quarrying, papermaking and the manufacturing of shirts. Papermaking at Cheddar, exploiting pure Mendip spring water, dated from 1765. The railway, now dismantled, was hugely important for carrying raw materials, goods and produce in and out of the village. Electricity was provided by a gasometer, which provided the lighting for the famous caves close by.

The chief crops in the area were wheat, oats, barley, beans, peas, potatoes and fine strawberries. Plenty of Somerset cider has long been available in the vicinity of Cheddar. The sparkling, champagne, cider made by the Sealeys at nearby Rodney Stoke was dubbed the Wine of Wessex. It was produced using traditional apple varieties, including Kingston Blacks, White Jerseys and Tom Tanners, as well as Herbert Harry Sealeys own draft Stoke Reds. By the end of the twentieth century, the major players in the cider industry, such as the Shepton Mallet-based company Showerings, had absorbed most of the independent producers, including Sealeys, and most of the apple juice for their cider was imported from France. However, in recent years companies such as Thatchers have revived an interest in beverages derived from locally grown English apple varieties.

By the middle of the twentieth century, the initiatives of two local entrepreneurial families over the last half-century the Goughs and the Coxes had reconfigured Cheddar's social and economic landscape:

They still make cheese at Cheddar, but it is not now their sole occupation, for, alas, the town now specialises in tourist-luring and souvenir-selling, and the narrow road to the gorge is bristling with cafes, bric-a-brac shops, touters, and notices, and so chock-a-block with vehicles of every description, and sightseers of every type, that to reach the gorge at all is a physical struggle. Ruth Manning-Sanders (1949), The West of England, Batsford, p. 133.

However, the Cheddar tourist is not an invention of modern times. The earliest sightseeing reference for Cheddar dates from 1130 when Henry, the Archdeacon of Huntington, described its caves, long before the discovery of the extent of Gough's and Cox's caverns, as 'under the ground which were like great halls or rooms'. Subsequent visitors included Daniel Defoe, who wrote a detailed commentary on the communal cheesemaking process.

These days, now that the railway has gone, tourists are most likely to start their excursion in the gorge itself, having parked in one of the parking bays in the vicinity of Gough's or Cox's caves. The narrow road has been widened and, although it can still be a very busy place, it is well worth taking the time to visit both the gorge and the fascinating village that lies at its foot. In addition to its cliffs, caves and cheese, Cheddar has its industrial and agricultural heritage and a rich social history, not least in relation to its many churches and schools.

This collection of archive and modern photographs introduces many of the villages most interesting sites, some long celebrated as major tourist attractions, others less well known but of great interest to inquisitive visitors and locals alike. Starting in the gorge above Goughs Cave and ending at the Axbridge Reservoir, this book can be used as a practical guide through Cheddars busy highways and haunted byways.

Andrew Pickering: text and contemporary photographs. Nicola Foster: picture research and contemporary photographs.

The compiling of this book would not have been possible without the great generosity of a number of past and present residents of Cheddar who were willing to loan us their remarkable collections of photographs and associated memorabilia, and to share their extensive knowledge of the life of the village over the last 150 years. In particular, the authors extend their thanks to Hugh Alsop, Vera Bancroft, Mark Bailey, Mr Brice, Chris Bull, Anne Carney, Irene Gray, Audrey Hill, Terri King, Brooke McCarthy, Richard OConner, Brian Savill, Hazel Southall, Chris Simms, Gill Scard, Jackie Skidmore and Rex Thomas. Thanks also to the Bath Arms, Cheddar Bridge Touring Park, Cheddar First School, Cheddar Gorge Cheese Co., Cheddar Fire Brigade, Cheddar Post Office, Goughs Caves, Fairlands Middle School, Kings of Wessex Community School, St Andrews church, Cheddar Brownies and the Strawberry Special (Draycott).

Aerial Views of Cheddar, Then and Now

The large white building in the earlier of the two photographs is the Regal Cinema, which was built in 1939. From the Market Cross in front of it, the heart of the village of Cheddar, spring Union Street to the left (east), Bath Street to the right (west) and Church Street beyond (south). St Andrews church can be seen towards the top of the picture. There is plenty of evidence of cultivation taking place on allotments in open spaces, now largely built over. In the foreground of the colour photograph can be seen Cheddars community school the Kings of Wessex School which occupies the site of what was formerly Manor Farm. Beyond the modern buildings stand the ruins of a fourteenth-century chapel, and archaeologists discovered the remains of a Saxon palace here, which is now defined by concrete markers. Running along the bottom edge of the photograph is the old railway line, the Strawberry Line, now used as a cycleway linking Cheddar and Axbridge. Cheddar Gorge begins in the right-hand corner of the picture, and the observation tower at the top of Jacobs Ladder can be seen on the edge of the photograph.

Views of Cheddar from the North Rim of the Gorge