Wookey Hole Caves 26th May 2019

On Sunday the 26th May 2019, myself and the family drove over to Wookey Hole Caves for a visit. We queued a short while and paid for our tickets and then walked over to another queue to gain entry, it was a bank holiday weekend so maybe the queues were longer than usual.
But it had started to rain and the covered area didn't stretch as far as the queue so we were getting wet!

Wookey Hole Caves are a series of limestone caverns, a show cave and tourist attraction in the village of Wookey Hole on the southern edge of the Mendip Hills near Wells in Somerset. The River Axe flows through the cave.

The Legend of how the Witch of Wookey was Turned to Stone

At the request of the villagers of Wookey, Father Bernard was appointed by the Abbot of Glastonbury to exorcise the Witch of Wookey.

Father Bernard had particular skill in such matters, being deeply versed in the exorcising of necromancers and wizards.

The villagers led the Father to the shadow of the cliff at the valleys end where his keen grey eyes rested on the entrance to the rock; then he looked up to the sky, as if in invocation. Unfastening the rosary and the crucifix about his neck, he moved forward, and was swallowed up by the interior darkness of the hill

For a time, with his arms stretched out before him, the monk groped blindly onwards, and already the tunnel he traversed appeared to be unending, when a point of feeble light shone through the blackness. He pressed on until he was within the threshold of a yawning cavern.

Something moved by the stone lamp set on the floor at the farther side. A crouching heap of rags stirred, heaved and then erected itself into the uncertain light from the wisp of flame. A peering form, gaunt and terrible, confronted the monk across the width of the cavern. The pale features of the stranger were barely visible in the gloom; the face of the Witch glared in full, misshapen relief above the flicker of yellow light.

There was a hissing intake of breath, a lean arm shot out towards the Benedictine, and a gloating chuckle sounded through the chamber. Then a voice, malignant and threatening, addressed him; “Rash beyond all reason, why comest thou to look on me?”

The beads were swiftly passing beneath the touch of Father Bernard’s fingers, but his answer sounded high and calm in the quiet of the cave.

” It is Holy Mother Church that bids thee. Repent O misguided spirit, and leave thy wickedness ere judgment overtake thee. Thou troublest heaven with thy sorceries and thy mischiefs are abhorred of all mankind. Repent; put away the powers of evil, for thy spells shall not avail thee against the wrath that is to come.”

The arm was gradually withdrawn, and behind the monk rose a sound of hoarse and laboured breathing. Father Bernard lifted up the crucifix and never turned his head. ” Woman ” he said solemnly, ” I say once more, Repent; for thy wizardry can harm me not.” An empty hush came down on the cave again, but for a moment only; then peal after peal of long-drawn laughter, beating on the ears and distracting the senses, ran round the gloomy void. A circle of livid light grew about the rock on which the Benedictine stood, and a thick haze interposed between the Witch and the hooded figure of the man.

With his lips moving silently, and his eyes riveted on the obscuring outline of the Witch, the monk advanced. As he stepped beyond the confining ring of flame with unscorched robes, a rending crash shook the Cave, and a mass of rock, breaking out of the lofty roof, fell headlong over the place he had just forsaken. With a shriek of execration and anger, the hag sprang back towards the river, signing swiftly with her hand.

But Father Bernard had raised his own. His gaze was relentless and fixed, and a stern and quelling authority showed in his aspect.

The Witch checked, and halted suddenly immovable, while a shadow of fear flashed across her intent and baleful visage. In strong, unhurried tones the monk was speaking, and the sonorous Latin phrases rang with a hollow echo through the cavern.

The Witch of Wookey convulsively stiffened, as if held in an invisible grasp. The glare froze in her eyes, and her lips writhed back in an effort to frame a final malediction. Her evil figure subtly changed, appearing to solidify and straighten; the tattered garments seemed to sink in and merge with her aged flesh. A supreme tremor passed into an unbreathing, deathly rigour, and, as the monk’s voice ceased, only a stony image reared itself by the unheeding river.

Folding his black robe about him, Father Bernard turned towards the way he had come. As he gained the rocky passage, the oil in the lamp sent up a hovering tongue of flame and went out.

A 1000-year-old skeleton of a woman was discovered in the caves by Balch in 1912, and has also traditionally been linked to the legendary witch. The remains have been part of the collection of the Wells and Mendip Museum, which was founded by Balch, since they were excavated, though in 2004 the owner of the caves said that he wanted them to be returned to Wookey Hole

Wookey Hole witch

The show cave consists of a dry gallery connecting three large chambers, the first of which contains the Witch of Wookey formation. There are various high level passages leading off from these chambers, with two small exits above the tourist entrance. The River Axe is formed by the water entering the cave systems and flows through the third and first chambers, from which it flows to the resurgence, through two sumps 40 metres (130 ft) and 30 metres (98 ft) long, where it leaves the cave and enters the open air.

A few places you need to bend down to fit under the caves.

Wookey Hole Witch

As we ventured further into the caves, we reach a area where adventurers we getting into a boat where they abseil and climb in the caves for an additional fee.

Wookey Hole cave is a "solutional cave", one that is formed by a process of weathering in which the natural acid in groundwater dissolves the rocks. Some water originates as rain that flows into streams on impervious rocks on the plateau before sinking at the limestone boundary into cave systems such as Swildon's Hole, Eastwater Cavern and St Cuthbert's Swallet; the rest is rain that percolates directly through the limestone. The temperature in the caves is a constant 11 °C (52 °F).

The caves have been used by humans for around 45,000 years, demonstrated by the discovery of tools from the Palaeolithic period, along with fossilised animal remains. Evidence of Stone and Iron Age occupation continued into Roman Britain. A corn-grinding mill operated on the resurgent waters of the River Axe as early as the Domesday survey of 1086. The waters of the river are used in a handmade paper mill, the oldest extant in Britain, which began operations circa 1610. The low, constant temperature of the caves means that they can be used for maturing Cheddar cheese.

The caves are the site of the first cave dives in Britain which were undertaken by Jack Sheppard and Graham Balcombe. Since the 1930s divers have explored the extensive network of chambers developing breathing apparatus and novel techniques in the process. The full extent of the cave system is still unknown with approximately 4,000 metres (13,000 ft), including 25 chambers, having been explored. Part of the cave system opened as a show cave in 1927 following exploratory work by Herbert E. Balch. As a tourist attraction it has been owned by Madame Tussauds and, most recently, the circus owner Gerry Cottle. The cave is noted for the Witch of Wookey Hole – a roughly human shaped stalagmite that legend says is a witch turned to stone by a monk from Glastonbury. It has also been used as a location for film and television productions.

The cave was first opened to the public by the owner Captain G.W. Hodgkinson in 1927 following preparatory work by Balch. Three years later, John Cowper Powys wrote of the caves in the novel A Glastonbury Romance. Hodgkinson took offence at the portrayal of his fictional equivalent, initiating a costly libel suit.

The current paper mill building, whose water wheel is powered by a small canal from the river, dates from around 1860 and is a Grade II listed building. The commercial production of handmade paper ceased in February 2008 after owner Gerry Cottleconcluded there was no longer a market for the product, and therefore sold most of the historic machinery. Visitors to the site are still able to watch a short video of the paper being made from cotton. Other attractions include the dinosaur valley, a small museum about the cave and cave diving, a theatre with circus shows, a house of mirrors and penny arcades.

In 1956, Olive Hodgkinson, a cave guide whose husband's family owned the caves for over 500 years, was a contestant on What's My Line?

The cave and mill were joined, after purchase, by Madame Tussauds in 1973 and operated together as a tourist attraction until there was a management team buyout in 1989. A collection of fairground art of Wookey Hole was sold in 1997 at Christie's. The present owner is the former circus proprietor Gerry Cottle, who has introduced a circus school.

The cave was used for the filming of episodes of the BBC TV series Doctor Who: the serial Revenge of the Cybermen (1975) starring Tom Baker. This has since been referenced in the comedy of The League of Gentlemen. The cave was also used in the filming of the British series Blake's 7 (1978) and Robin of Sherwood(1983). The caves were used again for Doctor Who in The End of Time (2009),[ including a scene with the Doctor sharing thoughts and visions with the Ood.

On 1 August 2006, CNN reported that Barney, a Doberman Pinscher employed as a security dog at Wookey Hole, had destroyed parts of a valuable collection of teddy bears, including one which had belonged to Elvis Presley, which was estimated to be worth £40,000 (US$75,000). The insurance company insuring the exhibition of stuffed animals had insisted on having guard dog protection.

An artificial tunnel 180 metres (590 ft) leading off from the third chamber allows show cave visitors to cross the seventh and eighth chambers on bridges, and skirt around the ninth chamber on a walkway, before exiting near the resurgence. A second excavated 74-metre-long (243 ft) tunnel from the ninth chamber allows visitors to visit the 20th chamber.

Cheddar Cheese maturing in the caves.

Over three tonnes of explosives and thousands of detonators were used to reveal a stunning underground cave with a rare rock formation in Somerset. 

Owners of the Wookey Hole attraction were left stunned by the incredible discovery, and the new cave - officially known as Cavern 20 - is now accessible to visitors for the very first time in 2015.

Located more than 262 feet below the surface this stunning rock formation is known locally as 'King Arthur's Beard'. It is unusual in that this type of rock face is normally created by running water not found inside caves.

Great forces have formed the caves of Wookey Hole. The pale limestone and brownish-redconglomerate is stained vermilion with iron oxide.

We leave the caves behind and head back outside, glad to see its stopped raining.

Mystic Fairy Garden with fairies, dragons and elves!

Watch the escape of the river axe as it bursts from the dark caverns and bellows into sunlight.

King Kong stands over ten meters tall at the entrance to the dinosaur park here at Wookey Hole. Kong is a scale model of the famous fictional Gorilla.

Animatronic Dinosaurs have landed in Dinosaur Valley! Roaring, hissing, blinking and stomping  pre-historic beasts have become the latest residents at Wookey Hole.

The next 4D show wasn't for a while so we gave it a miss.

Gerry Cottle’s famous Wookey Hole Circus Shows are celebration 250 years of circus this year with their fantastic new show!

We left the fabulous circus and out into the mirror maze.

 Once out of the fun maze we walked around the old fashioned pier amusements.

Next was the crazy mirrors!

Into the shop and we were done, a great day out!

Holland Haven, Holland On Sea Walk 11th May 2019

On Saturday the 11th of May 2019, My dog Ben and I drove up to Holland Haven at Holland on Sea for a walk.

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We parked at the Holland Haven car park which isn't cheap at £2.50 for 2 hours, next time I'll park on the seafront and walk in I think.

I walk along the beach pass the brightly coloured beach huts.

Passing the Gunfleet Sailing Club

The Gunfleet was the name of the large estuary fed by the Holland River or brook, which formerly ran into the sea between Frinton and Little Holland. The name is probably Anglo-Saxon in origin, as the second element ‘fleet’ is derived from the Old English word fleot meaning ‘stream’ or ‘creek’. A similar well known example is the River Fleet in London, a tributary of the River Thames which was fed by streams on Hampstead Heath and which used to have a tidal inlet and docks at its lower end. The origin of the first element of the name ‘Gun’ is currently unknown, but it possibly derived from an Anglo-Saxon personal name, so the meaning of the whole name could be something like ‘Gunna’s creek’. An alternative suggestion that has been made is that the first part of the name could be a corruption from the Count of Guisnes who possessed the manor of Little Holland in 1210.

However, the name was not recorded until 1320 when a vessel was shipwrecked on ‘Gunfletsond’, that is to say the Gunfleet Sands. It seems probable that a name originally applying to the estuary was appended to the sandbank that lay directly off the coast and opposite the estuary’s inlet. A map of 1584 in the British Library marks both the ‘Gonflet haven’ (the estuary) and the ‘ye gonflit’ (the sandbank). Other maps from that period, such as maps of Essex by Norden (1594) and Speed (1610) show the Gunfleet as a large, unreclaimed, estuary that was open to the sea at its southern end. The use of the name ‘haven’ would seem to imply the use of the estuary for trade, and the ‘Ganflete’ was also named as a port between Walton and St Osyth in Holinshed’s Chronicles (1586). The substantial marshlands along the estuary were also used by the inhabitants of surrounding parishes like Great and Little Holland as grazing for their sheep.

The reserve was the proposed landfall point for power cables to an offshore wind farm development on nearby Gunfleet Sands. A drilling rig was to be sited in the disused quarry but the Great Crested Newt came to the rescue and this didn't occur.

We approach the first hide ( a metal container) on the reserve.

The site itself allows viewing across a medium sized scrape along with a pond area, to the right from a large elevated 'container hide'. This can be found by walking approximately 500 yards northeast of the carpark, via the sluice. The scrape can provide good ‘all year round’ birding, although spring and autumn are best for scarce waders such as Temminck's Stint and Pectoral Sandpiper. 

There is also a chance of outstanding local rarities, such as Lesser Yellowlegs and Marsh Sandpiper, both of which have been recorded over the years. Cattle Egret, Citrine Wagtail and Marbled Duck have been seen here and in the surrounding fields and grazing marsh in recent years. The rough grassland surrounding the scrape is attractive to owls and raptors.

From the hide I could see Little Egrets and shelduck, wished I'd bought my binoculars.

View to Great Holland

We pass the second hide and then rejoin the seawall.

Now it starts to pelt with rain, I have no waterproofs with me so the plan to walk over to Great Holland is abandoned.

We turn around and trudge on through the cold rain.

At reaching the golf course here, the only other undeveloped piece of land between Walton and Clacton on the course other than the reserve, we turn about and head back.

We pass one of the couple of Pill boxes here.Holland-on-Sea was known as Little Holland, a small village until the early 20th century.

During the Second World War Holland-on-Sea was fortified against German attack. There is a martello tower in nearby Clacton, which was also used during the Second World War. There is a Second World War pill box in Holland Haven Country Park. After the Second World War Holland-on-Sea went back to being a holiday town.

The rain stops and the welcome sun returns.

The tall Radar tower in the distance reappears,this is one of 12 that watch over the 26,000 ships passing through the Thames Estuary each year. It is unnamed and linked to the Port Control Centre in London by Microwave.

Wind farm out at sea

As we walk back across the grass from the beach I come across a large rock with a metal plaque that read;

' AW PROJECT CLEANWATER

For cleaner beaches at Holland and Clacton

The Lady on the Bike grew and presented an Oak tree to Anglian Water in tunnelling achieved with 100% safety while building a 2.1 metre diatmeter sewer from Holland Haven to Anglefield Clacton in 1997 '

This commemorates a seven mile tunnel built by Anglian Water in world record time to take sewerage from Clacton to treatment works in Holland Haven.  No idea what the lady on the bike and oak tree is all about though!!

We return back at the car at just under 3 miles, a short walk marred by bad weather.