HELLO- hello HELLO – hello HELLO – hello

I am echoing because you find me in a cave for this next post – I am at Wookey Hole Caves in Somerset, the location for two very different episodes – The Revenge of the Cybermen (1975) and The End of Time (2009).

I visited Wookey Hole in February 2014 and I stayed in The Wookey Hole Hotel which was unusual because it had a witch’s hat as a roof!  It was early in the day when I set off to explore the caves with our guide. The caves are a series of limestone caverns formed by the River Axe.  Humans lived in the cave up to 45,000 years ago and before that hyenas lived in the caves.

It was very gloomy in the caves and felt foreboding. The chambers were lit with multi-coloured lights so that you can see creatures such as the bats that still live in the caves.  You can also see the stalagmites and stalactites which have formed over thousands of years. How do you know which is which? One way to remember is that stalactite has a “c” in it for “ceiling,” and stalagmite has a “g” in it for“ground.” One stalagmite is the famous Wookey Hole Witch who was turned to stone by one of the monks from Glastonbury.  ( Maybe he was the Doctor in disguise).

I moved from chamber to chamber by ducking and limboing. I saw Voga where the Fourth Doctor and Sarah Jane met the Cybermen. I haven’t seen the episode yet so I’m not sure what happened but it’s on my list of episodes to watch! I also saw The Council of the Oods Chamber which the Tenth Doctor visited in The End of Time before his regeneration. The Ood warn the Doctor of a great danger rising from the darkness which will bring the end of time itself. AAAaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

I was freaked out when I walked over a high bridge between the caverns. The bridge swung like the Millennium Bridge and I felt nervous. I found the cylinders of cheese that are kept in the caves to mature, because it an ideal temperature and humidity. The cheese smelt awful as if it tasted like granite.

As I left the caves it was much better as I could breathe and the sun was shining.The garden contained models of dinosaurs like in Invasion of the Dinosaurs and Dinosaurs on a Spaceship.

I then explored inside which was very interesting to me as I have a family link to Wookey Hole. There was a Victorian hand-made paper mill there which my Great Great Great Grandfather Mr Bookless managed, and other family members worked there too. I wonder if they lived up to their last names because they wouldn’t need any paper. I could see the machinery my family used and it smelt a lot like the mouldy cheese. 

I then played some games in the Penny Arcade which was fun and I had my fortune told – which I didn’t like and will keep a secret. There was also an exhibition about the circus which showed a circus character, an alien called Ynolab who was found near Lake Arizona. Is he real? The clue is in the name!

 

I will be exploring some new places this week and I can’t wait to do posts about them.

Until next time,

GOODBYE – goodbye  GOODBYE- goodbye  GOODBYE-goodbye.