A little trip out to Cheddar Gore this afternoon although the weather was still very grey.
Here is part of the upper section slopes with some foraging goats to enjoy.
Some Cheddar Gorge Facts
Cheddar is a gorge lying on the southern edge of the Mendip Hills.The maximum depth of the gorge is 137 m (449 ft),with a near-vertical cliff-face to the south, and steep grassy slopes to the north. The B3135 road runs along the bottom of the gorge.
The area is underlain by Black Rock slate, Burrington Oolite and Clifton Down Limestone of the Carboniferous Limestone Series, which contain ooliths and fossil debris, on top of Old Red Sandstone and by Dolomitic Conglomerate of the Keuper. Evidence for Variscan orogeny is seen in the sheared rock and cleaved shales. In many places weathering of these strata has resulted in the formation of immature calcareous soils.
The gorge was formed by meltwater floods during the cold periglacial periods which have occurred over the last 1.2 million years. During the ice ages permafrost blocked the caves with ice and frozen mud and made the limestone impermeable. When this melted during the summers, water was forced to flow on the surface, and carved out the gorge.
During warmer periods the water flowed underground through the permeable limestone, creating the caves and leaving the gorge dry, so that today much of the gorge has no river until the underground Cheddar Yeo river emerges in the lower part from Gough's Cave. The river is used by Bristol Water, who maintain a series of dams and ponds which supply the nearby Cheddar Reservoir,] via a 137-centimetre (54 in) diameter pipe that takes water just upstream of the Rotary Club Sensory Garden, a public park in the gorge opposite Jacob's Ladder.
The gorge is susceptible to flooding. In the Great Flood of 1968 the flow of water washed large boulders down the gorge, damaging the cafe and entrance to Gough's Cave and washing away cars.In the cave itself the flooding lasted for three days.
In 2012 the B3135, the road through the gorge, was closed for several weeks following damage to the road surface during extensive flooding.
What a fascinating looking gorge. Love the goats.
Limestone is an amazing material, love the history of what has happened in this particular part of the country.
@tramway Thank you so much-glad you are enjoying the turning into Spring in my pic. the Gorge has a great history too. (I've only scratched the surface of it)
@theboxmanreturns Thanks very much - great time of year to go in the next few weeks as Spring Time is bringing out a selection of colours (also Autumn is great too. I find in the summer there is little contrast as everything is the same shade of green!). Thanks for the fav too.
Limestone is an amazing material, love the history of what has happened in this particular part of the country.