Valley Life October - at the Heart of the Cheddar Valley

welcome

Welcome to the sixty-eighth issue of Valley Life and we hope you are continuing to enjoy the offering of news and views from around the Cheddar Valley.

The closure of the road through Cheddar Gorge is bad news for businesses and resi dents alike.

The road is a vital link road through the Men dips and will mean a long detour for many people using this part of community.

Although the need for safety is paramount it shows just how depen dent we are on good communication links to move around our com munities.

The people of Axbridge can be very proud of

. . .

the Pageant which brought in thousands of people to the town to witness the specta cle.

As the artistic director John Bailey said after the event; it just goes to show what can hap pen when a community pulls together in the same direction.

He was rightly proud of everyone’s involvement. It was a resounding success and everyone who had anything to do with the production in such a great four days can be rightly proud of their achievements.

So now it’s on to 2030 and the hope that the event will be as suc cessful as this one has been.

Rob Perkins, Editor

Gorge set to close for most of October

Themain road through Cheddar Gorge is set to be closed until the end of October.

It seems that the long hot dry summer has worsened cracks in the rockface which are not in imminent danger of collapse.

They will now have to under take urgent rock safety work in the Upper Gorge resulting in The Cliffs road in the Upper Gorge having to close completely to traffic.

The road closure will cause significant disruption and in convenience to those people who live and run businesses in and around the gorge.

A spokesman for the Cheddar Gorge and Caves said: “The urgency of this work has been brought about following a recent inspection of the rock face, which identified areas where the risk of rock fall is high and imminent,.

“This subsequently requires our immediate action.

The long dry summer has exasperated existing weak nesses in the rock, which has increased the risk of uncontrolled and dangerous rockfalls associated with autumn and winter storm conditions.

“The need for urgency is enhanced by ecological con straints, which require that the rock work is completed before the end of October, when bats potentially occupy their winter roosts in the cliffs.”

The road will be closed to all traffic, cyclists and pedestri ans, to allow the specialist rope access abseil workers, already experienced in such projects in the gorge, to com plete the work.

It will involve scaling of loose rock fragments using hand tools, which will then be dropped to the base of the slope under controlled

conditions.

A spokesman added: “We will take all steps possible to protect the integrity of the gorge road. During this time, we will also endeavour to car

ry out work to remove trees affected by Ash Die Back, and perform flood prevention work by clearing soakaways of accumulated debris.

“We have considered all alternative options that would allow us to complete the work while keeping the road open, but due to the location, scale and potential for serious harm in the case of rock falls, there is no other viable option other than to close the road.”

A slippery character turns up in Axbridge

Itsusual home is the trop ical rainforests of Central and South America – so when a menacing 5ft-long boa constrictor turned up in Axbridge it certainly caused a stir.

Ian Faulkner was pottering around his garden when he caught sight of the snake curled up in his wood store.

As the snake’s tongue flicked out menacingly, Ian froze on the spot not knowing if the animal was poisonous or not.

Self-employed Ian, 54, from Axbridge, Somerset, said: “I’m not a great fan of snakes so to be confronted with a beast the size of this first thing in the morning was a bit worrying to say the least.

“I called my son, Reece, and told him he’d better get down here pretty quick but there was no way I was going to handle the snake.

“I’ve seen pythons and boa constrictors on the TV but that’s about as close as I thought I would get to one.

“I knew that they could kill by wrapping themselves around their prey and squeezing the life out of them before swal lowing them whole – perhaps I was just too big for this one.

“It looked extremely well fed and someone had obviously been looking after it well so I suspect that it’s escaped from someone in the neighbour hood.”

Ian’s neighbour who is used to handling snakes came to the animal’s rescue and confirmed it was a boa con strictor. He took the snake away

where he could keep it warm and wait to hear if anyone locally had lost a pet boa. If it wasn’t claimed he was going to take it to the RSPCA centre at Brent Knoll in Somerset.

Ian added: “I usually potter around the garden when I’ve got a day off so I was almost on auto-pilot.

“I use the space above the child’s play house to store my wood I was just about to put another log on there when I just saw this massive head with a tongue flicking out.

“I must admit there was very nearly a nasty accident when I realised it was a snake – and a big one at that.

“It was one of those occasions when you almost have to do a double-take to make sure that you weren’t imagining it.”

Autumn

Notes for your diary

Cheddar

Vale Lions Club will be holding their next Jumble Sale at Cheddar Village Hall on Saturday October 22.

The club are looking for good condition and clean clothing, household items, small toys, etc.

There will be Lion members on the door to take your Items that can be delivered to the Hall on the day from 12 noon to 1.30 pm, so they can be sorted ready for the opening at 2pm.

There is an entrance fee of 50p and refreshments will

be available throughout the afternoon..

If you need any information or assistance, please call 0345 833 7402 or email informa tion@cheddarvalelions.org.uk

• Save the Children lunches are served in the Shipham Village Hall at 12.30pm on Friday 7 and 21 October, and November 4 an 18. Join the group for soup,  bread and cheese,  pickle, homemade biscuits,  tea or coffee for £4.50pp pay at the door.

• Royal Air Forces Mid-Som erset Branch resumed its

2022 programme with a Late Summer Lunch on September 5 at Wells Golf Club; this was also  a centenary celebration of a Branch Member who flew Wellington and Catalina aircraft in Coastal Command from 1944 to 1945.

There are two forthcoming General Branch Meetings on Monday,October 3 and November 7 starting at 11am at the Street Inn, Somerton Road, Street, BA16 0DR. For more information on how to join e-mail  rafa.midsom erset@gmail.com or phone the Secretary 01458-224057 for further information.

Pageant brings community

Withall tickets sold, every seat taken and the weather perfect for outdoor theatre organisers of the Axbridge Pageant that took place over the Bank Holiday weekend said they were ecstatic about the outcome.

Over three days the drama tized sequential history of the town was staged in front of packed grandstands in the Square with each perfor mance commencing at 3pm at the sound of the church clock.

Edith Bailey sang I Am a Poor Wayfaring Stranger before a Neanderthal man appeared and was chased away by a family of Neolithic hunters ahead of the arrival of the Romans.

And so, each scene passed through the centuries chart ing the town’s evolution from Roman graveyard to Saxon stronghold and onwards to the Victorians and the 20th century.

Battles, punch ups, Royalty and Protestant rebels all helped to bring the story to life along with vintage cars, horses and hounds, bull baiting and even a Victorian train.

Artistic Director John Bailey said: “We knew there was an enthusiasm for the 2022 pag eant after the delays caused

by Covid but the reaction was amazing.

“A standing ovation on the first performance set the seal on an amazing weekend.

”It has exceeded all our expectations – and thanks go to the cast and crew for putting on a hugely successful production.”

The Pageant Chairman Phil

Saunders said: “All the tickets were sold making it a finan cial success as the pageant is a charity – and it means planning for 2030 can now begin.”

Around 1,800 people packed into the three stands erected in the Square with some coming from New Zealand, America, Australia, Germany, Denmark and France to see

Pictures: Adam Clutterbuck

community spirit to the fore

the spectacle.

In the evening there were music events each night with large audiences with a free pageant party on the Monday night in the Square with local bands, Easy Tiger and The Stopcocks.

Organisers said they wished to thank the support of those who backed the pageant by

buying tickets and awarding grants to

The Axbridge Pageant is a community event and has been held regularly since 1967 when a celebration of the town’s history was held in the town square.

Since then it has been held in 1970, 1980, 1990, 2000 and 2010. Due to the Covid Crisis

it was postponed from 2020 to this summer.

The pageant is funded through community fund raising events throughout the year, ticket sales, programme sales, grants and sponsorship.

For more news, features and photos on the pageant visit  http://axbridgepageant.com

Sport talk

Cheesemen find their feet after testing start

With

the new foot

ball season barely into its third

month and just eleven league games old, Michael Danger field’s Cheesemen appear to be holding their own in the Toolstation Western League.

This despite losing the nucle us of his team before a ball was kicked at the start of the season.

With the greater part last sea son’s squad (who so narrowly missed out on the play-off places) opting to stand down or move on to pastures new, the new manager has had to adjust his squad by recruiting players from the Cheddar area.

He has also been forced to promote from within, fielding players in the semi-pro fessional world of Western League football, with those who have only previously experienced County league football in the past. Meanwhile, the Bowdens Park club, undeservedly to many, saw an early exit to the FA Vase competition with

a 2-4 home defeat against Devon club Crediton United during September.

The youngsters being bled into a higher level of the football are finding their way steadfastly and although currently lying in 18th posi tion in the league they have already produced some nota ble performances in winning two and drawing four of their eleven games.

A busy October sees Danger field’s young hopeful’s travel to away fixtures at Gillingham Town, Longwell Green Bristol Telephones, Tytherington

Rocks and Almondsbury whilst welcoming Hengrove Athletic and Radstock Town whilst finishing a punishing looking eight match schedule with a home match against league new boys Shirehamp ton.

Meanwhile, County League Winscombe, are enjoying a four-match winning streak, having recently enjoyed ad vancement in the county cup competition with a compe tent 2-0 victory over Saltford. Rikki Hutt’s Winscombe en tertain Wrington on Tuesday (October 11) and Middlezoy on Saturday (October 22).

A look at the feats of our sporting men and women with Alan Cooper

Tiggi’s Travels

Return of the Bustard

Itwas my brothers 70th birthday a few days ago. As a gift, be it an unusual one, he wanted to see the Great Bustard birds on Salisbury plain. Who was I to refuse?

The great bustard is on the Red List of Threatened Spe cies and European popula tions have been in long-term decline. This has only been arrested by conservation proj ects in some areas in Europe.

In the UK, the great bustard became nationally extinct when the last bird was shot in 1832.

This iconic species of the Wiltshire landscape returned to the UK in 2004 when the Great Bustard Group initiated the 10-year trial reintroduc tion.

The project sourced birds rescued from agricultural operations in Russia, with a plan to release 20 birds per year onto Salisbury Plain.

To date there are about 100 birds on the plain and they live wild and are self-suffi cient thanks to the tireless work of the Great Bustard Group. An amazing effort by

many passionate volunteers.

This was one trip I had to leave my guide dog Jackie back at home as I didn’t want her scent to disturb the pre cious birds.

My worst nightmare was she might chase them back to extinction. The GBG greeted us warmly and after an intro duction we were transferred to a land rover with some other enthusiasts. Off we set across the fabulous and mystical empty open plains of Wiltshire.

There was an Great Bustard expert in the hide who did his level best to enable me to see these magnificent birds feeding in the far distance. But alas I saw nothing with

my reduced sight.

However, my brother, the birthday boy, saw loads of these spectacular animals and was overjoyed. My expe rience was uplifted when a young girl who was commis erating with me about her failed brownie exams.

I did suggest she write to her MP. Suddenly produced a Great Bustard tail feather which she had been given by one of the volunteers. We both agreed that missing a brownie badge and me seeing nothing, touching the tail feather of a nearly extinct bird, made us both feel a bit better.

My brother did ask what noises the birds made but our guide was for the first time guarded. My brother is a musician so as soon as he got home, he googled the call of a bustard sound. He forwarded to me.

With the greatest respect to all ornithologists, it sounded like Henry VIII passing wind after a banquet of the birds. Perhaps, and this is only a hunch, this may be the re venge of the Great Bustard for destroying all their relatives.

Seeing life differently with visually-impaired Tiggi Trethowan