So......we waved farewell to Wells......and I secretly hoped that I could come back again soon to visit the Cathedral...it is such a beautiful building on the outside, I would love to see how beautiful it is inside.
It was drizzling a bit as we left and headed towards Cheddar.
The Cheddar Gorge belongs to the Marquis of Bath...of Longleat famed for his wifelets (randy old buzzard)....and he lets the coaches park for free, if the travellers visit the caves....from which he receives a healthy cut of the profits.
So on arrival a chap from the caves comes on the coach and gives us the rundown of their delights.....tells us we will get a discount and a cream tea if we mention that he told us to visit.
The coach park is at the top of a fairly big hill.
When I was last at Cheddar, in February, I was ill and the hill looked as big as Mount Everest to me.......and at that time I only ventured half way down, and struggled to get Ma back up to the coach again......so thinking about this hard slog gave me palpitations.
Once off the coach, I asked Ma if she would like lunch first and browse later.......she said she would do anything I wanted
.
'OK....you get out and push me then' was my reply.
I cannot put on here what her response was, except to say, that it was not the response I expected from an elderly refined lady.
We walked down to the village. It was an easy walk down, but ma worried about the journey back up the hill.......I told her I was going to tie her to the bumper of the tourist bus and let that do the work.
Ma spotted 'Tuckers'..... a fish and chip restaurant....though it said fish and chips....they had an extensive menu.
Ma had got the scent of fish and chips in her nostril and that was what she wanted......she tried to make it seem more healthy by asking for half a portion of chips and half a portion of salad....and she asked for the 'pensioners special'.......which was £1.25 cheaper.
I just ordered plain old battered Haddock with chips.......we could have had tea and bread and butter with this, but we both wanted a cold drink.....7Up was favoured.
In just a few short minutes the meals came to the table.
I could not believe the size of the 'pensioners special'...(I know, there's a joke in there somewhere)and Ma's half portion of chips looked as much as my full portion.......and the salad overflowed the plate.
The fish was the best I have tasted. Golden crisp batter on the outside, with creamy moist fish inside. It was on a par with the meal we had had at 'Trenchers' in Whitby, and less than half the cost.
The chips were hot and crisp too.
So if you are ever in that area.....please take the opportunity to sample the food at Tuckers....you won't be disappointed.
I thought that Ma would never finish the huge plateful.....and she didn't quite make a clean plate.....but she only left some onion and the lettuce and the rind of the lemon......I was impressed.
We thanked the staff and told them how much we had enjoyed the food......Ma slipped a tip to the waitress, who looked surprised.
Now for the trip back up the hill.
It was a winding journey, and there were places where the pavement was only a little wider than the wheels of the chair.
This meant, I had to go slowly and carefully.
I can't tell you how many people offered to help me push Ma up the hill.....but where were they in February when I could really have done with a hand?
Ah well, never mind.
Ma asked me if I was going to go into the caves....I said that I hadn't decided.
When we got to Goughs cave, I asked if it was wheel chair friendly......it was but only half way......and then it was verydefinitely wheel chair unfriendly.....Ma said that she wasn't bothered about going in, but encouraged me to go and have a look and was offering me the admission money......I took the huff,(in a good natured and jokey way) and told her that I could pay for myself......it was £16 to do the whole shebang......which included a cave further down the hill and a trip on the tourist bus.
I guess that it isn't that expensive unless you have a handful of potlids to pay for.
The girl said i could just do Goughs cave and get a complimentary cream tea...then I remembered I was supposed to mention that we were here on a coach party and mention the chap who came on the bus......that gave me extra discount and I got in for £8.
Ma stayed at the entrance, waiting for me to get my cave experience over with.
I got one of those commentary things...the ones where you press the buttons and you get told the interesting facts about the place you are visiting.
I listened to the first commentary, but to be honest the guys accent and his voice got on my wick....so I abandoned that and just looked at the caves.
It was OK I guess, but I could think of better ways to spend £8......it took me about 45 minutes to go round the cave.....and when I came out it was chucking it down.
Ma was snug and dry under a very large orange brolly, which the girls in the box office had very kindly loaned her.
Ma said that she was worried about me......she said caves can soon fill up with water when it rains hard......I told her that the place would have been evacuated if we had been in any danger of that happening.
It had rained so hard that the road had become a river.
Billy said he would bring the coach down for us to get on board, but I decided that it was only water, and we would not melt......and made a dash for it......the rain was over the tops of my shoes, but it was warm rain.
We were soon all aboard....steaming and probably smelling like wet brollies......it was almost 3.30, so what was going to be a half day excursion had turned into a full day.....it would be at least another hour before we got back to the Hotel.
I had intended to go on the open top bus...but it looked like that had been knocked on the head....the fact that we were going to be getting back late and the weather were against me.
Ah, well...there is only so much you can do on these little breaks.
We got back to The Royal...ma headed upstairs...I headed off to M&S for butties for our journey home on the morrow.
To be continued.....pictures to be added.
It was drizzling a bit as we left and headed towards Cheddar.
The Cheddar Gorge belongs to the Marquis of Bath...of Longleat famed for his wifelets (randy old buzzard)....and he lets the coaches park for free, if the travellers visit the caves....from which he receives a healthy cut of the profits.
So on arrival a chap from the caves comes on the coach and gives us the rundown of their delights.....tells us we will get a discount and a cream tea if we mention that he told us to visit.
The coach park is at the top of a fairly big hill.
When I was last at Cheddar, in February, I was ill and the hill looked as big as Mount Everest to me.......and at that time I only ventured half way down, and struggled to get Ma back up to the coach again......so thinking about this hard slog gave me palpitations.
Once off the coach, I asked Ma if she would like lunch first and browse later.......she said she would do anything I wanted
.'OK....you get out and push me then' was my reply.
I cannot put on here what her response was, except to say, that it was not the response I expected from an elderly refined lady.
We walked down to the village. It was an easy walk down, but ma worried about the journey back up the hill.......I told her I was going to tie her to the bumper of the tourist bus and let that do the work
.Ma spotted 'Tuckers'..... a fish and chip restaurant....though it said fish and chips....they had an extensive menu.
Ma had got the scent of fish and chips in her nostril and that was what she wanted......she tried to make it seem more healthy by asking for half a portion of chips and half a portion of salad....and she asked for the 'pensioners special'.......which was £1.25 cheaper.
I just ordered plain old battered Haddock with chips.......we could have had tea and bread and butter with this, but we both wanted a cold drink.....7Up was favoured.
In just a few short minutes the meals came to the table.
I could not believe the size of the 'pensioners special'...(I know, there's a joke in there somewhere
)and Ma's half portion of chips looked as much as my full portion.......and the salad overflowed the plate.The fish was the best I have tasted. Golden crisp batter on the outside, with creamy moist fish inside. It was on a par with the meal we had had at 'Trenchers' in Whitby, and less than half the cost.
The chips were hot and crisp too.
So if you are ever in that area.....please take the opportunity to sample the food at Tuckers....you won't be disappointed.
I thought that Ma would never finish the huge plateful.....and she didn't quite make a clean plate.....but she only left some onion and the lettuce and the rind of the lemon......I was impressed.
We thanked the staff and told them how much we had enjoyed the food......Ma slipped a tip to the waitress, who looked surprised.
Now for the trip back up the hill.
It was a winding journey, and there were places where the pavement was only a little wider than the wheels of the chair.
This meant, I had to go slowly and carefully.
I can't tell you how many people offered to help me push Ma up the hill.....but where were they in February when I could really have done with a hand?
Ah well, never mind.
Ma asked me if I was going to go into the caves....I said that I hadn't decided.
When we got to Goughs cave, I asked if it was wheel chair friendly......it was but only half way......and then it was verydefinitely wheel chair unfriendly.....Ma said that she wasn't bothered about going in, but encouraged me to go and have a look and was offering me the admission money......I took the huff,(in a good natured and jokey way) and told her that I could pay for myself......it was £16 to do the whole shebang......which included a cave further down the hill and a trip on the tourist bus.
I guess that it isn't that expensive unless you have a handful of potlids to pay for.
The girl said i could just do Goughs cave and get a complimentary cream tea...then I remembered I was supposed to mention that we were here on a coach party and mention the chap who came on the bus......that gave me extra discount and I got in for £8.
Ma stayed at the entrance, waiting for me to get my cave experience over with.
I got one of those commentary things...the ones where you press the buttons and you get told the interesting facts about the place you are visiting.
I listened to the first commentary, but to be honest the guys accent and his voice got on my wick....so I abandoned that and just looked at the caves.
It was OK I guess, but I could think of better ways to spend £8......it took me about 45 minutes to go round the cave.....and when I came out it was chucking it down.
Ma was snug and dry under a very large orange brolly, which the girls in the box office had very kindly loaned her.
Ma said that she was worried about me......she said caves can soon fill up with water when it rains hard......I told her that the place would have been evacuated if we had been in any danger of that happening.
It had rained so hard that the road had become a river.
Billy said he would bring the coach down for us to get on board, but I decided that it was only water, and we would not melt......and made a dash for it......the rain was over the tops of my shoes, but it was warm rain.
We were soon all aboard....steaming and probably smelling like wet brollies......it was almost 3.30, so what was going to be a half day excursion had turned into a full day.....it would be at least another hour before we got back to the Hotel.
I had intended to go on the open top bus...but it looked like that had been knocked on the head....the fact that we were going to be getting back late and the weather were against me.
Ah, well...there is only so much you can do on these little breaks.
We got back to The Royal...ma headed upstairs...I headed off to M&S for butties for our journey home on the morrow.
To be continued.....pictures to be added.
