On Saturday 27th, rugby was over and we had the day to ourselves. Our first target was Wookey Hole, a famous cave in Western England and home to this rather scary mermaid:
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| The mermaid of Wookey Hole |
The main attraction at Wookey hole is cave itself, but the site also has a 1920s style penny arcade, a paper-making mill and some other attractions like dinosaur models and a foam-ball pirate battle.
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| Aim cannons! |
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| Of course it was for the kids... |
Next stop was the mirror maze:
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| Are we lost yet? |
After walking through the Penny Arcade and looking at all the old games, we ended up in the paper mill, where the kids (and Kris) got a chance to make some hand-made paper. Cam decided to opt out of this one as he was tired.
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| Alana making paper |
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| Making paper |
The first step was to dip a frame in the water, which had a pulpy fabric and wood mix.
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| Next you pull it out and let the water drain |
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| Then tip the frame onto the drying paper and push down to let the water drain |
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| Great concentration |
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| Push down |
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| Lift the frame off |
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| The finished product. It was then wrapped in the drying cloth and wrung out. It took the rest of the day to dry |
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| Wringing it out |
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| Tom and Kris had a go |
After making paper it was off to the caves. The caves were made by the river Axe, which runs through them. There is a legend that says a witch lived in the caves and was turned to stone by a monk.
I had been to Wookey Holes about 20 years ago, but they have since opened up more caves. The way they do this is to send divers underwater to discover new chambers and then they drill and blast to open a path to those chambers.
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| The witch |
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| Heading into the cave |
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| Stalagmite |
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| Cave with a boat - I kept expecting to hear "My preciousssss." |
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| Cave aged cheese |
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| On the way to the new cave - it's a long way down... |
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| Cleft in the rock |
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| Hard hats are needed in new chambers for the 1st year |
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| Tunnel to the new chamber |
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| Wall of the new chamber |
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| The new chamber |
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| Outside the cave |
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| This poor dragon fell asleep and was covered in dirt, not he is unable to escape or eat so he awaits small children who climb over the fence and crunches them up. Hoping to feed and build his power until the day he can finally escape and seek vengeance on the groundskeeper who trapped him in this terrestrial prison of dirt. |
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| Unfortunately King Kong invaded during our visit. Many dragons were injured. |
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| Where the river exits the cave |
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| Having completed his task of planting a mushroom, Frank waits patiently. For when it rains, he alone will have cover... muhahahahaaaaa |
Our next planned stop of the day was Uffington. This was the site
of a chalk horse on a hillside and the blowing stone. To be honest, my
main reason for wanting to go was that it was a major part of a series
of books I had read (Duncton Wood) but it was well worth the trip:
The
white horse is the older dated chalk figure in England (1400-600 BC).
Uffington is also the site of Dragon Hill which legion says is where
Saint George killed the dragon and its blood poisoned the ground on the
top so grass cannot grow there (the less exciting version is that the
high content of Potash in the soil is the cause.. but it could be dragon
potash...)
It is also the site of Uffington castle, a raised hill with earth ramparts and ditch.
The view from the top of White Horse Hill:
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| Looking out towards to White Horse Hill - the horse is just visible in the top left |
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| Looking down at Dragon Hill |
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| Sitting by the horse |
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| Looking down at Dragon Hill from the Horse |
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| The path down from the Horse to Dragon Hill |
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| The view was amazing |
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| Top of Dragon Hill |
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| Since we couldn't get a good shot of the horse from ground level, here's an aerial pic stolen from Wikipedia |
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| The Blowing Stone - So called because if you blow into one of the holes it makes a loud hollow noise |
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We had planned to head to Straford-Upon-Avon, but it was a
2hr drive and it was starting to get late. In the end we started on
our way home but stopped via
a market in the small town of Wells, where we picked up some books and
some Cornish pasties:
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| Bishops Palace gates in Wells |
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