Podcasts about cheddar gorge

Wanting to de-stress and sleep better? Join Geoffrey by the campfire for a gentle sleep story, that takes you to the beautiful Cheddar Gorge, on a field trip, a spot that inspired the famous poem, Kubla Khan. Love Night Falls?

Following David's recent tales from the Lake District, in this episode he tells Joe about more family trips to Cheddar Gorge in Somerset - with stories about caves, gorges, pricy admission tickets, edgy vibes and ice cream shop wars. And then to Longleat Safari Park in Wiltshire, where he spent a wonderful day in and amongst the gazelles, lions, rhinos, emus and monkeys. Plus an invisible Elephant called Ann. FOR ALL THINGS CHATABIX'Y FOLLOW/SUBSCRIBE/CONTACT: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@chatabixpodcast Twitter: https://twitter.com/chatabix1 Insta: https://www.instagram.com/chatabixpodcast/ Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/chatabix Merch: https://chatabixshop.com/ Contact us: chatabix@yahoo.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Book Club #122 - The Anglo Saxons - It's the last Book Club of the year and we're heading back to pre-conquest Britain for the history of the Anglo Saxons with Marc Morris. Rich and Marc talk about how little people know about this period and how most of the things they do know never happened, why having very few sources to work from doesn't make this light and easy work, how Marc discovered the best way to cover this sprawling and tumultuous half a millennium was to tell it through the stories of various individuals and why unfortunately all these individuals had to be male, why the Venerable Bede is good if you have an ill cow, but not always so good if you want the facts of what happened, which Anglo Saxon king allegedly shat in the font at his baptism, which king had a threesome with his wife and her mum and which king came close to becoming a cropper in Cheddar Gorge. Plus the skill required to combine academia with readability and whether comedians and historians would have survived the departure of the Romans and the arrival of the Vikings (no they wouldn't).Buy the book here - https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/the-anglo-saxons-a-history-of-the-beginnings-of-england-marc-morris/5048642?ean=9781529156980See you next year! - https://richardherring.com/rhlstp Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/rhlstp. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Send us a textIn this captivating episode of Wildly Curious, hosts Katy Reiss and Laura Fawks Lapole delve into the ancient history of Cheddar Man, a 9,000-year-old skeleton discovered in the Cheddar Gorge caves of England. Known for his unexpectedly dark skin, blue eyes, and curly hair, Cheddar Man has puzzled scientists and enthusiasts alike. Uncover the story of his discovery, what his remains reveal about Mesolithic life, and the astonishing connection to a modern-day descendant still living in Somerset. Join Katy and Laura as they explore the fascinating world of ancient Britain and the surprising clues that human remains can hold about our past.Perfect for fans of archaeology, British history, and mysteries that bridge the ancient and modern worlds!Want to see behind the scenes and unedited footage?!

Jules Mittra, the founder of In and Beyond Bath, discusses travel in the West Country of England with a focus on Bath and the Cotswolds. He emphasizes the importance of thoughtful travel and experiencing the off-the-beaten-path gems of the region. Jules offers personalized tours for small groups, allowing for meaningful connections and engagement. He aims to make the tours more than just sightseeing by sharing the stories and significance behind the places visited. The conversation also touches on the cultural encounters and personal growth that can come from travel, as well as the exciting events and attractions in Bath and the surrounding area. The conversation explores the historic attractions and natural beauty of the Bath and Cotswolds region, as well as cultural differences between the UK and the US. Jules Mittra highlights the prehistoric sites, burial mounds, and stone circles in the area, emphasizing the rich prehistory and stunning landscapes. He also discusses the southern Cotswolds, which are less well-known but equally beautiful. Jules mentions the Mendip Hills, Cheddar Gorge, Glastonbury, and Wells as must-visit places in the region. He also talks about the relaxed and communal atmosphere in the UK compared to the US, as well as the filming locations in Bath and the surrounding areas, including those featured in Bridgerton. Finally, Jules shares his favorite places outside of Bath and the Cotswolds, which are Ludlow and the Shropshire Hills. Links In and Beyond Bath Visit Bath Cotswolds Tourism Takeaways Thoughtful travel involves experiencing the off-the-beaten-path gems of a region. Personalized tours for small groups allow for meaningful connections and engagement. Travel can lead to cultural encounters and personal growth. Bath and the West Country of England offer a wide range of exciting events and attractions. The Bath and Cotswolds region is rich in prehistoric sites, burial mounds, and stone circles, offering a glimpse into the area's prehistory and stunning landscapes. The southern Cotswolds, although less well-known, are equally beautiful and offer a different experience from the more popular northern Cotswolds. Other must-visit places in the region include the Mendip Hills, Cheddar Gorge, Glastonbury, and Wells. The UK has a more relaxed and communal atmosphere compared to the US, with a stronger sense of community and more opportunities for interaction. The Bath and Cotswolds region is a popular filming location, with many historic buildings and picturesque landscapes that have been featured in various films and TV shows, including Bridgerton. Outside of Bath and the Cotswolds, Ludlow and the Shropshire Hills are one of Jules Mittra's favorite places to visit in England, offering medieval charm, stunning countryside, and a vibrant food scene. Sound Bites “It's the small stuff that has the impact.” “Smaller groups allow for meaningful connections.” “American tourists want to connect with culture and history on a deeper level.” “It's rich with prehistory. Landscapes are extraordinarily beautiful.” “You get off the main roads into the kind of back roads, and you are in a whole other world.” “Somerset is one of the most beautiful parts of England, which doesn't get anywhere near the attraction of the Cotswolds.” Chapters 00:00 Introduction to Thoughtful Travel and In and Beyond Bath

Jules Mittra, the founder of In and Beyond Bath, discusses travel in the West Country of England with a focus on Bath and the Cotswolds. He emphasizes the importance of thoughtful travel and experiencing the off-the-beaten-path gems of the region. Jules offers personalized tours for small groups, allowing for meaningful connections and engagement. He aims to make the tours more than just sightseeing by sharing the stories and significance behind the places visited. The conversation also touches on the cultural encounters and personal growth that can come from travel, as well as the exciting events and attractions in Bath and the surrounding area. The conversation explores the historic attractions and natural beauty of the Bath and Cotswolds region, as well as cultural differences between the UK and the US. Jules Mittra highlights the prehistoric sites, burial mounds, and stone circles in the area, emphasizing the rich prehistory and stunning landscapes. He also discusses the southern Cotswolds, which are less well-known but equally beautiful. Jules mentions the Mendip Hills, Cheddar Gorge, Glastonbury, and Wells as must-visit places in the region. He also talks about the relaxed and communal atmosphere in the UK compared to the US, as well as the filming locations in Bath and the surrounding areas, including those featured in Bridgerton. Finally, Jules shares his favorite places outside of Bath and the Cotswolds, which are Ludlow and the Shropshire Hills. Links In and Beyond Bath Visit Bath Cotswolds Tourism Takeaways Thoughtful travel involves experiencing the off-the-beaten-path gems of a region. Personalized tours for small groups allow for meaningful connections and engagement. Travel can lead to cultural encounters and personal growth. Bath and the West Country of England offer a wide range of exciting events and attractions. The Bath and Cotswolds region is rich in prehistoric sites, burial mounds, and stone circles, offering a glimpse into the area's prehistory and stunning landscapes. The southern Cotswolds, although less well-known, are equally beautiful and offer a different experience from the more popular northern Cotswolds. Other must-visit places in the region include the Mendip Hills, Cheddar Gorge, Glastonbury, and Wells. The UK has a more relaxed and communal atmosphere compared to the US, with a stronger sense of community and more opportunities for interaction. The Bath and Cotswolds region is a popular filming location, with many historic buildings and picturesque landscapes that have been featured in various films and TV shows, including Bridgerton. Outside of Bath and the Cotswolds, Ludlow and the Shropshire Hills are one of Jules Mittra's favorite places to visit in England, offering medieval charm, stunning countryside, and a vibrant food scene. Sound Bites “It's the small stuff that has the impact.” “Smaller groups allow for meaningful connections.” “American tourists want to connect with culture and history on a deeper level.” “It's rich with prehistory. Landscapes are extraordinarily beautiful.” “You get off the main roads into the kind of back roads, and you are in a whole other world.” “Somerset is one of the most beautiful parts of England, which doesn't get anywhere near the attraction of the Cotswolds.” Chapters 00:00 Introduction to Thoughtful Travel and In and Beyond Bath 03:12 Exploring the England We Love: Historical, Cultural, and Landscape Gems 06:20 The Value of Small Group Tours: Creating Meaningful Travel Experiences 33:36 Cultural Contrasts: Anxiety and Community in England 43:09 Bridgerton Filming Locations and Recommendations for Fans 48:52 Ludlow and the Shropshire Hills: A Favorite Place to Visit in England

Richard Herring, a comedian who straddles England's North/South divide like a podcasting colossus, joins the boys for a deep dive into one of Somerset's deepest dives. It's Cheddar Gorge! Somerset's answer to the question, "Which Somerset attraction is almost as good as Wookey Hole?" Prepare to meet the Witches of Pocklington, the Devil (himself), grumpy gravediggers and what might be the birth of a new cryptid... You can catch Richard on his Can I Have My Ball Back? UK Tour. And please give generously to his Movember fundraiser: www.justgiving.com/page/ballback And check out our YouTube Channel to watch and listen to this episode at the same time: https://youtu.be/voIwAgwLFLw Join us for another Loremen Live in Oxford on 25th May: https://oldfirestation.org.uk/whats-on/loremen-podccast/ This episode was edited by Joseph Burrows - Audio Editor. LoreBoys nether say die! Support the Loremen here (and get stuff): patreon.com/loremenpod ko-fi.com/loremen Check the sweet, sweet merch here... https://www.teepublic.com/stores/loremen-podcast?ref_id=24631 @loremenpod youtube.com/loremenpodcast www.instagram.com/loremenpod www.facebook.com/loremenpod

RETRO RHLSTP #75 - Spaced By The Bell - At last it's the podcast that addresses the burning issue of modern Britain - which is the best Somerset based show cave complex? Cheddar Gorge (obviously) or rubbishy old Wookey Hole. It'd be a shame to have Britain's most exciting film director on the show without wasting most of the time talking about this and the obscure and sexist Roald Dahl short story - Switch Bitch. And Richard hates to disappoint. Luckily he occasionally manages to blunder into discussing Wright's canon of work, from A Fistful of Fingers through Asylum, some ideas for a new series of Spaced, right up to the amazing new film The World's End. But there's still time to talk about what it's like to be taught by both parents, desecrating the graves of your former employers and Rich's ideas to reboot Goodnight Sweetheart and We Will Rock You before Edgar has to dash off to finish off his new film. But is there time to add a shrek?SUPPORT THE SHOW!Check out our website http://rhlstp.co.ukSee details of the RHLSTP tour dates http://richardherring.com/gigsBuy DVDs and Books at http://gofasterstripe.com Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/rhlstp. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

news birthdays/events luxury home products that are worth splurging on word of the day news game: 'we are the world' trivia americans only feel "meh" with their lives...you? are you an early bird tax season person or wait til the last minute person? news game: getting to know you home remedies that are backed up by scientific research favorite cheesy movie lines news game: everybody knows things to do if you're single on valentine's day (if you care about a made up holiday) goodbye/fun facts....National Cheddar Day...as in cheese. Cheddar cheese hails from the actual city of Cheddar in Somerset, South England....Cheddar Gorge on the edge of the village, Cheddar in Somerset, England, is home to the origin of cheddar cheese. The gorge has several caves that provide the perfect humidity and steady temperature for maturing the cheese. cheddar accounts for more than 30% of all the cheese sold in the United States...but in the u.k. cheddar sales top 50%.  so make yourself a super cheesy grilled cheese today

Mario's in a good mood. Congratulates Sam for getting the band working together The rest of the rehearsal went so well, thanks to her intervention. She was right The two are planning next week's programming schedule. They've spoken to Laura They are going to do a short feature on Laura's accident and pothole campaign Barry has helped Fiona put Jasper to bed. Fiona pours him a drink. She's nervous He asks her what's wrong and she confesses that she likes women as well as men Carmella serves Jordan and Sam. She's very busy as Vicky's at the cash and carry The girls take a table in the far corner of the café and Jordan reveals she's pregnant Charlotte briefs the helpers on progress with the charity shop. They have broadcast an appeal for donations on Radio Huntsford and been inundated. Shares the details Harry agrees to collect the donations. Charlotte says they plan to open before Xmas The pair are enjoying a long country walk in Cheddar Gorge. The weather is sunny The previous day they enjoyed afternoon tea at the Roman Baths followed by a tour

Season 7 kicks off in big fashion with ultrarunner, coach, author, and now Barkley Marathons vet Damian Hall joins Doc for an unforgettable episode. Settle in and buckle up as Keith Dunn-dubbed Guy with Mohawk takes Doc on a wild tour of his amazing journey, from first time marathoner at age 36 to representing Great Britain as a runner four years later to setting FKTs and to competing in the world's quirkiest, perhaps toughest ultra marathon, the Barkley Marathons. During the discussion, Damian and Doc talk about Cheddar Gorge, Mud Claws, baked beans on pizza, our impact on the climate, John Kelly, Ted Lasso, Arsenal, Nutter Butters, and, of course, all things Barkley. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Buy/Stream 'Ill Truth - Users & Losers EP' https://overview.fanlink.to/OVR077-IllTruth Watch the video on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/overviewmusic Celebrating the release of their brand new Users & Losers EP on Overview Music, Ill Truth perform on top of the iconic Cheddar Gorge in Somerset, UK. Video: Matt James Drone: Healiosol Edit: Oliver Dumas Ill Truth https://soundcloud.com/illtruth https://www.facebook.com/IllTruth https://www.instagram.com/illtruth Overview Music https://overviewmusic.co.uk https://patreon.com/overview https://facebook.com/overviewuk https://instagram.com/overviewuk https://twitter.com/overviewuk https://soundcloud.com/overviewuk

Skip the Queue is brought to you by Rubber Cheese, a digital agency that builds remarkable systems and websites for attractions that helps them increase their visitor numbers. Your host is  Kelly Molson, Founder of Rubber Cheese.Download the Rubber Cheese 2022 Visitor Attraction Website Report - the first digital benchmark statistics for the attractions sector.If you like what you hear, you can subscribe on iTunes, Spotify, and all the usual channels by searching Skip the Queue or visit our website rubbercheese.com/podcast.If you've enjoyed this podcast, please leave us a five star review, it really helps others find us. Show references: https://carbonsix.digital/https://www.linkedin.com/in/pmarden/Paul Marden is the Founder and Managing Director of Carbon Six Digital and the CEO of Rubber Cheese. He is an Umbraco Certified Master who likes to think outside the box, often coming up with creative technical solutions that clients didn't know were possible. Paul oversees business development and technical delivery, specialising in Microsoft technologies including Umbraco CMS, ASP.NET, C#, WebApi, and SQL Server. He's worked in the industry since 1999 and has vast experience of managing and delivering the technical architecture for both agencies and client side projects of all shapes and sizes. Paul is an advocate for solid project delivery and has a BCS Foundation Certificate in Agile. https://www.rubbercheese.com/https://www.linkedin.com/in/kellymolson/Kelly Molson is the Founder of Rubber Cheese, a user focused web design and development agency for the attraction sector. Digital partners to Eureka! The National Children's Museum, Pensthorpe, National Parks UK, Holkham, Visit Cambridge and The National Marine Aquarium.Kelly regularly delivers workshops and presentations on sector focused topics at national conferences and attraction sector organisations including ASVA, ALVA, The Ticketing Professionals Conference and the Museum + Heritage Show.As host of the popular Skip the Queue Podcast for people working in or working with visitor attractions, she speaks with inspiring industry experts who share their knowledge of what really makes an attraction successful.Recent trustee of The Museum of the Broads. Transcription:  Kelly Molson: Welcome to Skip The Queue, a podcast for people working in or working with visitor attractions. I'm your host, Kelly Molson.In this new monthly slot, Rubber Cheese CEO Paul Marden joins me to discuss different digital related topics.In this episode, we're talking about the impact of design, navigation and content on selling tickets and how to go about testing if your design is working or not.If you like what you hear, you can subscribe on all the usual channels by searching Skip The Queue.Kelly Molson:  We're doing something a little bit different on the podcast this season. So alongside the usual guest interviews, which we'll have each month, me and the Rubber Cheese CEO, Paul Marden are also going to be recording an episode on a different digital related topic. So we're going to do this once a month. Kelly Molson: Each of the episodes, we're going to share insight around design, user experience, content, accessibility, SEO and loads, loads more. We're going to talk a little bit about what's possible, give you some ideas about how easy or how hard that topic is to implement.Kelly Molson: Maybe what kind of budget that you might need to look at and what some of the next steps are to take if you want to implement some of these things. We're even going to call out some of the best in breed websites, people that are doing things really well within the sector.Kelly Molson:  So I've been hosting the Skip the Queue podcast since July 2019. Goodness, that's been a long time. Five seasons in now. This is season five. You all know me already. So I am the founder of Rubber Cheese and my background is in design. Kelly Molson: I co founded Rubber Cheese back in 2003 after learning about ecommerce when I worked at a very early kind of Shopify type startup agency. The person that you don't know quite as well as me is my fellow host on this podcast. That's funny to say, that my fellow host is Paul Marden. So. Paul. Hello. Welcome. Paul Marden: Hello. Kelly Molson: This is strange. I'm going to have to share the spotlight for a while, that's very uncomfortable for me. No, it will be fine."It will be fine", she says. Paul, I would love it if you could give us a little intro to yourself. Kelly Molson: I know your background and I know you very well. We've known each other for about, I think it's about 14 years now. It's been a long time, hasn't it?Paul Marden: Yeah. Not long after I started doing this as a proper job. Kelly Molson: Well, there you go. Tell us about what your proper job is. Paul Marden: Yeah, so I'm the CEO of Rubber Cheese now, alongside another agency that I run called Carbon Six, which we merged Carbon Six and Rubber Cheese just over a year ago. My background is as a geek. I'm a developer by training. I started out ten years at British Airways, all over the airline, doing all different sorts of IT related jobs. So I saw lots of operational side of things, commercial sides of the airline, say, selling tickets, that kind of thing. I don't know if I've told you, but my first visitor attraction job was a long time ago, because when I was at Uni, I did a placement at the National Botanic Garden of Wales when it first opened. So I was there when it was a hole in the ground and I helped them write their IT strategy. Paul Marden: So my visitor attraction experience predates my involvement in Rubber Cheese. Kelly Molson: I did not know that. So you've done geek stuff for attractions. Paul Marden: For a long time. Yeah, it was amazing. I can still remember I was in an office in a farmhouse as they were building the giant glass house. It was just the most amazing place and I've not been back for a long time. It would be amazing to go and see the place, how it's transformed in the, what is it, 24 years since I was there? God, I really sound old now, don't I? Kelly Molson: You do sound old. I'm just wondering if they still use the IT plan that you put in place for them. Paul Marden: Probably not. I was only a student at the time. It can't have been amazing. Kelly Molson: So what we normally do on the podcast, listeners, as you well know, is I ask my guests a series of uncomfortable questions, icebreaker questions, which they very graciously answer beautifully for me. We're not going to do that on this episode. Ha. So we thought, yeah, Paul has wiped his brow in a state of relief there. But what we thought we would do is Paul and I both visit a lot of visitor attractions, both professionally and in our personal life as well. We've both got daughters at very different ages, so Millie is  coming up for I think, 9.Paul Marden: 10 in two weeks' time. Kelly Molson: Okay. And my little one is 2. So we're going to very different visitor attractions right now. But we thought we would talk about the attraction that we visited most recently and what we loved about it, and we thought we'd ask each other that question. So I am going to ask you that question first, Paul. What attraction have you visited most recently and what did you love about it? Paul Marden: So we just finished the summer holidays, so went away for just over a week to the Netherlands. We did visit a few different attractions whilst were there, but went to an amazing place. We went back to it, actually, it was one that we've been to before called Burger's Zoo. So I loved the whole experience of going there the first time around and we wanted to go back there. It's an amazing place. But the reason why I was going to call it out today was a conversation that we've been having and something that we've done with Kitten Museums in terms of the food offering. Because when you go to Burger's Zoo, the restaurant is amazing. We've talked recently about the sorts of food that you get at visitor attractions and your frustration around this. Lots of fried food. Paul Marden: There's never any healthy food. So went to Burger Zoo, we had lunch and of course, there'd be obligatory portion of chips there if you want to have it. Lots of kids food there, but I was able to have a massive great salad. It was in enormous and it was lovely and healthy and really enjoyable and it didn't cost the earth when you were there. And it's so unusual to talk about going to an attraction and getting that kind of quality of food without spending the earth in doing it. So, yeah, that was pretty cool. Kelly Molson: That is cool. This is probably a whole another podcast episode to talk about that. I think actually, in your intro, you forgot to mention that you are a Trustee for the Kids in Museums, which is quite a new role for you, isn't it? But it's one that kind of immersed you into the world of attraction. I think that's been a good one for you. They have set up a brilliant scheme, which is kind of an accreditation scheme for attractions to go through, just to check into how healthy and how great their food offering actually is, which I think is brilliant. It's really weird. Kelly Molson: The day that they launched it, I was having a like, literally the day before, I was having a conversation on LinkedIn about how atrocious the food offering had been at an attraction that I went to, which is one of the top ten most visited attractions in the UK. It's a great place. It really is a brilliant place, especially if you've got toddler. However, the food was pretty horrendous and I've got an unusual toddler in that. Well, she will eat chips now, she will eat chippies, but she won't eat fried stuff or battered things or anything like that. She's just not interested.Paul Marden: Nothing beige.Kelly Molson: Not really, even pasta has to be, she should have been an Italian, she should have seen the amount of pasta that she wolf down when were over there. But it's got to be good. Kelly Molson: It's got to be good. Yeah, she is particularly fussy toddler. But just for myself, I mean, just the range of food that was available that day was just dreadful. I mean, the healthiest thing that was on the menu that Lee and I both had was jacket potatoes and I think I took a picture of it somewhere and it was too awful to put on social media. So, yes, that is well needed and I'm glad that attraction stood out on the food front for you. Paul Marden: What about you? Where have you been recently? Kelly Molson: I've been to lots of different places recently, but this one I can't stop thinking about and so I want to talk about it today and it's not one that I visited with Edie. It's one that I visited with a fellow attractions professional a little while ago, but it's the Beamish Living Museum. I honestly can't stop thinking about it. It's the first living museum that I've been to, so it's the first experience of that for me. And I had such an emotional reaction to it. I'm a bit embarrassed, actually. So I went to meet a couple of people. I met one person that I'd met briefly at a conference before, and then I met one of their colleagues who I'd never met before in my life. And I actually had a bit of a cry to this colleague because it was so emotive. Kelly Molson: If anyone who hasn't been to Beamish Living Museum, there's lots of different areas that you can visit, and one of them is a 1950s area and they essentially recreate what it was like in the 1950s, where the museum is located. And it brought back so many memories of my grandparents, both sets of grandparents, for different reasons. The house was very similar to my grandparents on my father's side and just down to some of the things that they had in that space. And I just got overwhelmed by it. It was so wonderful to go back and see that. And in my head all the time I was thinking, well, both my sets of grandparents are no longer with us. They passed away when I was in my early twenties. And so Edie will never get to meet her great grandparents on that side. And I thought, God, how amazing would it be for me to bring here and say, show her some of the things that great granny used to have in her house and yeah, just lost it. Paul Marden:  It's interesting, isn't it, that you can become so immersed that even now the emotional attachment that you've built when you were there takes you straight back there. Because there's a risk, isn't there, with those sorts of places of it feeling a little bit plastic and fake, isn't it? But this clearly had an emotional impact on you. Kelly Molson: Yeah, I think for me, I was worried that it would be people in costumes. It would feel like that. And it did not feel like that at all. It just felt so authentic. Anyway, you've got to go. I don't want to cry for the rest of this podcast, but yeah, it's definitely a must visit for me, it was something really special. Paul Marden: Excellent. Kelly Molson: Should we move on to what we're going to talk about? And I'll compose myself, shall we?Paul Marden: Okay, moving swiftly on.Kelly Molson: Let's. So in this episode, we're going to talk about the impact of design, navigation and content on selling tickets and how we go about testing if it's working or not. So this episode actually launches on the 4th of October, which is one day after we release the 2023 Visitor Attraction website report. There's data that has come out of this year's report that is so insightful and I cannot wait for everybody to get this year's report. It dives deeper into a lot of the topics that we talked about in the first report last year, but there's just so much more to it and I'm very excited about it.Kelly Molson: Anyway, looking at the data from the report, a 100% of the attractions that took part think that having consistent design and clear navigation is important, which is brilliant. Big tick there. However, many of them don't think that their site meets the need and some of them think it does, but they don't test that it does. There's some really interesting stats about testing that we're going to talk about in a minute that have actually blew my mind a little bit. But one good stat around the design is that 76% of respondents believe that their websites were consistently designed despite using multiple platforms in their customer journey. Kelly Molson: And this is something that we talked about quite frequently in that sometimes there's a big disconnect if you are using if you've got your website that's built and designed in WordPress for example, and then you've got your ticketing platform and the two don't look like each other, they're not consistent, they're incongruent. That can be a bit of a challenge for people in terms of trust and how they feel about your brand. Paul Marden: It can be a jarring experience, can't it? Kelly Molson: Yeah, absolutely. Responses this year once again saw that websites that look good and are easy to use are doing far better than those that don't prioritise consistency. So I'm just going to read out this snippet from the report. We saw that websites that were high scoring for their design and navigation made more sales over the past twelve months. So those successful websites had around 200,000 to 500,000 completed transactions. Whereas on the other hand, websites with lower design and navigation scores didn't do as well, stating that they had below 50,000 completed transactions in the last month. That's quite fascinating, isn't it? Paul Marden: It is. This is not just a handful of people that are answering, is it? Because there's a large number of people that are answering that this is important to them and that they think they're doing quite well. And then you see how their perception of doing well correlates really strongly with the actual outcomes of the site itself. Kelly Molson: Yeah, I think that the way that we asked the questions this year is interesting as well. So when I talked then about we said that websites that were high scoring for design and navigation, we gave respondents the options to score their website. So we gave them how well designed do you think your site is? Between 1 and 10, 10 being the highest. So we allowed them to kind of self score. But it's interesting because some of those self scores don't correlate to the data that we then took. So those scores, they're based mostly on assumption, which is always a difficult, challenging place to be. But I think, Paul, you had some insight here around the conversion rate and design and how they tally up. Paul Marden: So the stats you just talked about were about the volume of transactions. You could say that having good design leads you to have more transactions flowing through your website, but you could also say that the organisations that have more transactions flowing through their website can afford to spend more money on design. But what I found interesting was that when you ignore the absolute number of sales that they make on the website, if you actually look at what their conversion rate is on the website, the attractions who think they have good design tend to have a higher conversion rate by about 1% or 2%. Now, that could be on a low base. Paul Marden: There could be a fairly small attraction that has fewer people coming to it, but they still perform relatively better than those attractions that didn't think they had good design but could be massive organisations with large numbers of transactions flowing through. And what I found interesting is we started to work out what is the value of 1 or 2% extra conversion rate, because it doesn't sound like much. Really. There's somebody in the business that doesn't necessarily understand the technology side of it that doesn't sound like a lot. So we started playing with converting that into money. What could that actually be worth? So we played around with we tried to model what is our average attraction and what is the absolute top performing attraction. Paul Marden: And even for our average, an increase of 1% in conversion rate could mean tens of thousands of pounds of extra sales that they make. But for the top performing attraction, it could make the difference of hundreds of thousands of pounds of extra sales just by squeezing 1 or 2% of extra conversion rate out. I think that's absolute gold dust in terms of insight that we've drawn out of this data. The organisations that think they have good design tend to have a conversion rate of 1 or 2% more, which could equate to tens of hundreds of thousands of pounds of extra sales that they make. It makes you begin to think that investment in the design of the site could actually be really worthwhile. Kelly Molson: Absolutely. And information like that helps the marketing managers build the case for good design and investing in good design. Paul Marden: Yeah. And before you say, "Oh, the large organisations with the big budgets, they can afford to do this, what about the small ones?" The smaller organisations with small budgets who had good navigation tended to be the ones that would have the better conversion rate amongst their peers. So you don't need to be a nationally recognised attraction brand to be able to invest an appropriate amount of money in design and get a return on that investment that you make. Kelly Molson: I always think that the best use of budget is on the pre planning side, which is unusual coming from a designer, I think. Yeah.  But Paul, you're really data driven, aren't you? You're super data driven. Paul Marden: Such a geek. Kelly Molson: Yeah, you are a massive geek. Massive nerd. We're very complimentary, but I never used to be very data driven. I was always far more visual driven. But actually well, I'm not going to share it on this podcast, actually, because I'm going to share it at a talk that I'm given. But I've got a really good story around why user testing is very important. We'll come a bit more onto that later. And why you should be driven by the data and the stats and not just by what something looks like. Okay, let's talk about navigation quickly as part of this design section. So it's really interesting. So we've actually got some findings from the Journal of Market Research. Kelly Molson: So they state that, when websites are easy to understand and navigate, individuals have a lower cognitive load, so fewer things to work out, and therefore are more likely to have a positive experience to go on to purchase. So having a consistent and well designed website can really help people make complete purchases with your visitor attraction. What I've always said, it's about trying to stop making people think, give them something that is really easy. So I think when we worked with Eureka!, and this is back in 2016, when we first worked with them, we did some research around what people wanted to find out about attractions, what were the first things they needed to know about. And it was literally, when you open, how much do you cost? How can I get there? Kelly Molson: So, if they're the three things that people desperately need to know, they're the three things that really need to be highlighted front and centre when you arrive at the site, wherever you arrive at it, whether that's the homepage or what. And it's the same with navigation. People need to understand where they're being taken and why they're being taken to certain places. So we're working with an attraction at the moment, we've just about to start work with them. They have got some really key, really strong elements to their Nav, but then they've got an area that says more, and there's a load of stuff that's been added onto the more section, and things like this happen over time. Kelly Molson: When you've got a website, people will say, “I need this to be featured on the site, I need this page to put up there”, and it gets added to, and ultimately you end up with all these things that haven't been thought about from the start, about where they're supposed to go. So they get kind of bundled somewhere, and a more section kind of feels an obvious place to put them. But what is it? Users don't understand what's in there. And they're not going to go searching for hours to find something that they want. They need to find it quickly. And so that for me, is a huge no about bundling stuff into these kind of sections. That just so ambiguous, you don't know what they are. Paul Marden: I think that figuring out what people are trying to do, what are they trying to get out of the website? I think that bundling exercise, putting lots of things onto the site that happened over time or putting it in a bucket of more is often there's so many people in an organisation that want their content heard and seen, don't they? Everybody wants their content on the site. It all goes on there. And sometimes you have to step back and think, what's the point? Who is it that's coming to the site and what are we trying to get them to do? We want the customer at the end of it to think, now that you've read this, what are you going to do next? But we don't always think about that journey. Paul Marden: We think about the snippets of information that we put onto the site, but we don't think about what the journey is they're going through. Attractions are really lucky. I think a lot of the people that go to their sites are really motivated to buy, a lot more motivated to buy than the average ecommerce site. So how do you get out of the way of those people so they can just buy stuff? And then for the people that are less motivated, they don't necessarily want to know how, when and how much they still want to be sold on the idea of going to the attraction, then maybe you need to give them more information. Paul Marden: But identifying who those people are and giving them a journey to go through and coming up with a navigation that makes it really easy for those people to navigate along that journey, there's a lot of psychology that's hard. That's your prep work, isn't it, before you do the design? Kelly Molson: Yeah, and it's the hardest part of it. And I think that's where the most amount of time needs to be spent there and the wireframes really, the design. If you've got good brand guidelines in place, the design ultimately becomes a simplified process at that point. But the pre design work is really where the time and effort needs to be spent. And I think it is a challenge for attractions. So there are attractions that are, if you compare a Chessington World of Adventures, for example, a theme park orientated to a historic museum that you're coming to visit, that not only is an attraction, but obviously has a lot of historical information to share and learning and education plays a big part in them as well. You have different audiences for those. Kelly Molson: So I think one part of that process is you need to think about all the different audiences you have and what are their motivations for visiting the site and what do you want them to do, what actions do you want them to take? But I think when you are working, this has gone off a bit of a tangent, but when you're working with an agency, I think what's really core for the attraction is to make sure that you've got key stakeholders from each of those areas of your attraction that play a part in those early conversations. So you don't want the site redesign to be driven solely by the marketing team for the attraction side. You need someone from the education side to be part of those conversations as well. Kelly Molson: You need visitor experience to be part of those conversations because if you're planning content, each of those individuals will have a different need for what content they need to showcase on the site. So they all need to be talking to each other about how that's going to look. I'm talking from experience because this has not happened in the past. Paul's nodding his head at me because he knows that we've had this challenge previously.Paul Marden: Yeah. Kelly Molson: So yeah, and I think that kind of leads us nicely onto content, really, and about the need to frequently update your site and keep it refreshed. So once you've done all of that hard work of working out what content is going to be on it doesn't stay static. So in the report we have a stat that says 31% of respondents said that they updated their online content multiple times a week. That's good. Another 31% said that they did so at least once a month. Good. However, 22% of respondents said they had infrequent content updates or didn't update their content at all. Not updating your content at all. Paul Marden: That surprised me, that one. Yeah, I was surprised that there were 31% of respondents updated it multiple times a week. I was really impressed by that. Yeah. That takes some work, doesn't it? To be able to produce that level of content change, but to do it infrequently or not at all, that surprised me. Kelly Molson: I guess it depends on the attraction and what their offering is as well. Thinking about one of our clients, Holkham actually, so we know that Holkham update their website frequently. They have a lot of different events, they write a lot of really incredible content about what happens across Holkham Estate. So they're engaging with the audience from the perspective of someone coming to visit and what they can do on the day and what they can come and see. But they're also talking about their wider sustainability efforts across the state and what they do and how they focus on that, which again, might be for that same audience. Might be for a slightly different audience as well. Kelly Molson: So the volume of content that they produce is a lot higher than potentially Thorpe Park as a visitor, they will talk about what's on that day and maybe an events that they're running, but they might not talk about the same things that are going on across the Estate that Holkham would, for example. So I think, yeah, it's what your attraction offers. Paul Marden: Holkham's a really good example because they can take inspiration from the place. They're very diverse, they've got lots of different things that they do at that location. It's quite a large location, but there's lots of different things going on and those things are inside and outside. They can take inspiration from the season. So there's a lot of inspiration that you can take there and produce. Just off the top of my head, I could think of lots of different stories that you could tell and changes to the site that can be inspired by the season. But then I think about a theme park where there's lots that goes on. I think I've done lots of trips to Legoland. There's Legoland at Halloween. There's Legoland in Spring time. It changes through the seasons and there's a lot of story around that. Paul Marden: I wonder if you're an indoor attraction, if you're Heritage Museum based, there's going to be lots of stories that you can tell about the items that you've got in your collection. But it might be harder to tell those stories influenced by the seasons, which can be a real driver for telling varying stories throughout a year, can't they? Yeah, but I don't write a lot of stories for those sorts of organisations, so maybe I don't have the right view of the world, but I would imagine it would be a lot harder to write lots of content varying through the year for that sort of organisation. Kelly Molson: Yes, probably so I'm just thinking about it would just be a change in topic, wouldn't it? So I know Blackpool Pleasure Beach, who Andy Hygate, the Operations Director, came on the podcast a couple of seasons ago, actually, and he talked about the experiences they've developed around walking up the big one and the rise that they have there. And actually, I think for people that are interested in theme parks, there's probably a lot of content around how things are built and how they're developed and that kind of side of stuff that people would be really interested in. So it's not talking about seasonal stuff, it's about the things and how they're constructed and how they're designed and kind of stuff like that. Kelly Molson: So, yeah, again, it comes back to just knowing your audience and what are they interested in and how you can engage them and what are your potential new audiences as well, and how can you develop content that attracts them. There is a correlation between content and purchases, though, which is quite interesting. So our report shows that those who were deliberate in ensuring their content was kept fresh and engaging saw an average of 25 to 50,000 completed website purchases a year, whereas those who didn't, on average, had around 10,000 completed purchases. In the same time frame. That's interesting. In addition, of the respondents who recognised the need for regular content updates but weren't action in them, 23% stated that their average sales conversion rate sat between one and 4%, which is below the benchmark for the sector. Kelly Molson: So the sector benchmark is 5% now, so that 1% is significantly low. Paul Marden: Absolutely. Shall we move on and talk about some testing? Because I know you think this one really is. Kelly Molson: Oh, yeah, I really do. So there is a statistic in the report that I had to reread a few times, actually, to believe. So last year's survey and report, we had about 70 attractions take part. This year has been significantly more than that. We got 188 attractions from up and down the UK and Europe take part, which was incredible.Paul Marden: And one in North America as well. I was really excited when I saw that one. Kelly Molson: Yes, we went international. That was exciting. Okay, so think about this: 188 attractions took part in this. 70% of the respondents have never conducted user testing of any kind on their website. 70%! That's actually not the worst stat though. I'm going to save the worst stat for another episode, but that's not the one that shocked me the most. But this one is really surprising. We've talked a bit about making assumptions about how well your website is perceived by people.Kelly Molson: Hard data from actual users is the key to designing a website that has an improved user experience because it can clarify problem areas and identify where most effort is needed to create a really great online experience. So if you're not asking your users how they're interacting with the site and do they like it? Can they buy things well? Can they find what they want? How do you know if it's good or not? It's blown my mind. Paul Marden: It's really hard, isn't it? Really hard. Kelly Molson: And I think it's really you wrote this down, actually. It's really important to be aware of a familiarity bias. So just because you think your website is easy to navigate doesn't mean other people think is it's because you're familiar with it so you understand where things are. Which is really interesting. Actually, I've just been reminded of a conversation that I had with somebody when I was at an attraction. Now I can't name this attraction, we're working with them and we're under NDA, but they asked me about a website that we'd redesigned. They said, "Oh, you did this website, didn't you?" I said, "Yes", "I can't find this thing anymore that I couldn't find. It took me ages to find it before" and I was like, "All right, what is the thing?" And he talked about what it was. Kelly Molson: I said, "Oh, well, it would be in this area". And he said, "Yeah, which makes sense. But before it was over here and I knew where it was and it just feels a bit weird now." I said, "Do you think it was in the right place before?". "Oh, no, shouldn't have been." Okay. So it's just because you know where it is doesn't mean it's actually in the right place. It's just what you get used to over the years. Paul Marden: It is incredibly hard to put yourself into the position of the person that knows nothing about your organisation. Trying to imagine what the customer is going through takes a lot of effort and I think that you can get data to be able to do that. But a lot of there's kind of levels of kind of understanding of that, putting yourself into that customer's position, the empathy that is required. Lots of people that we meet and work with will talk about how they want their site to be structured and what makes sense to them. Some people then will go the next stage and think about what they think their customer wants. And then there's a stage beyond that which is not even trying to put themselves into the customer position, but actually test what the customer thinks. Paul Marden: It's really hard to have the empathy to understand. If you know nothing, what would you do? And there's loads of stuff that you can do. I'm sure we'll come on to that later on to try to understand and test. But just sitting somebody down and watching them go from zero to hero and buying your tickets is a valuable thing that you could do, couldn't it? Kelly Molson: Yeah, absolutely. Now the report on the survey is anonymous. All the data that we get from it, we don't talk about the people that have submitted it and we don't talk about them. There was a number of websites within the data set that were doing really well in terms of both design and navigation and the impact that they were having on their conversion rate. So we reached out to these organisations to ask if we could talk about them today. And all of them were very happy for us to talk about it. So we have had their permission. I think I'll hand over to you, Paul, because you've been doing the analysis over on these sites. It's really lovely to see that Roman Baths are on this list.Paul Marden: They're on the list.Kelly Molson: Because they have been on the podcast and they're our podcast alumni. So that was good.Paul Marden: Yeah, more than once, I think, as well. Kelly Molson: Yes, they have been. Paul Marden: What I went looking for were who were the organisations that thought that they had good design and navigation in their site? But I didn't think that was really enough because of course you could think that it was good and it isn't very good. So what could I dig into the data to try to pull apart the people that thought they had good design and following through from that good design actually had good outcomes. And Roman Baths was up there in that top set of organisations that had they thought they had a good, consistent high quality design, but they also had a conversion rate up there in the top ratings that we had inside the data set. Obviously, Roman Baths really well known organisation, lots of international visitors will be going there. Paul Marden: There was another that I pulled out in the data set, which was also a really high profile brand. London Zoo came out in that top set. Kelly Molson: Also past podcast guests. Thank you. Yes, lovely people. Paul Marden: So they also thought they had good, consistent design, but coincidentally also had good quality conversion rates up there in the top performance in the data set. But to avoid you saying to me, "Oh, but all these are all big, internationally recognised brands. What's design got to do with it?" Up there we've got Roman Baths, London Zoo. Big, well known brands. But there's also some organisations that I wasn't familiar with in that data set. So there were organisations that are probably more regional, less internationally well recognised brands. And one of those that considered that they had good quality design and they also had high levels of conversion rates. Alongside that were Smithwick's experience in Kilkenny in Ireland. It's an attraction that is a brewery tour. I thought that one was really interesting when I went and looked at it. Paul Marden: It was really easy to navigate around the site, ridiculously easy to go and buy tickets. You go onto the site, it's right there to be able to buy those tickets, to go to that experience. So I think that told me that you didn't need to be a big, well recognised brand to be able to devote the time and attention and budget that's needed to get a good design, which then has the impact on your conversion rates. Yeah, this is not just for the big brands. This is also for other brands, smaller, regional brands that can maybe not devote the same levels of investment to it that a large organisation can, but they can still have good outcomes and good design. Kelly Molson: Yeah. And I think it's fair to say we do ask questions in the report about budget, but we don't ask them specifically. So we haven't asked. We don't, for example, know the investment that Roman Barths, London Zoo or Smithwicks have made in their website to get it to where it is now. We literally have no idea. So their budgets could be phenomenally big, they could be phenomenally small. We have no idea whatsoever. But we know that they have invested in good design and they've done it to a really great standard, which means it's easy for people to make purchases. Therefore their sales are sitting at a really great level. Kelly Molson: The Roman Baths I just a little shout out to Simon Addison, actually, because Simon did come on to the podcast a couple of times now, and actually he came onto a recent episode where we talked about the value of this report and the survey that we carry out. And this is its second year now and we can see the value in terms of the data that we've been able to glean from it is so much more insightful this year. The key insights themselves are much more in depth than they were last year. But one thing that Simon mentioned is that we don't work with Roman Baths. I've made that clear on the last podcast. We didn't design their website. We've not worked with them. Kelly Molson: They did use the report to inform some of the decisions that they made about designing their website and making changes to it, which I think is so great. Right. The report is actually actively doing what we set out for it to do. Regardless of whether anyone comes to work with us or not. Someone can take this report and use the insights from it to inform their current agency to make changes to their site that are going to make a significant difference to their bottom line. Well done, us. Paul Marden: Well done, us. But well done, everyone that's responded as well. Kelly Molson: Whatever. Well done, us. Well done, everyone. Thank you. Paul Marden: So I just think it's really impressive, isn't it, that we've got what was it you said? 180 something respondents from across the sector.Kelly Molson: 188.Paul Marden: It's so hard in a tough industry. There's lots of industries where people would not work together. And this is a collaborative exercise in sharing your data that takes a certain confidence within the sector to be able to be willing to share that information so that then somebody like us can then do the graph that aggregating that and seeing the interesting stories that people can then use to make things better. There's so many places where you would not see that happen.Kelly Molson: It's a wonderful part of the sector, that collaboration and that willingness to share and be open about things. Right, let's talk about next steps then, because we've talked about some of the items within design, navigation, testing. We've talked about who's doing it well. Let's wrap this up with next steps that you can take.  Kelly Molson: If you think some of these things are relevant to you and you want to do something about them. Do some testing. Do some testing and you can do that in a variety of ways. Paul Marden: Do you want me to test some stuff? Kelly Molson: Let's do some testing. Let's test. Look, there's loads of ways that you can do user testing if you're going through the process of a redesign at the moment. Go back to your wireframes, make them interactive. Do some internal testing, do some external testing. You can do this in multiple ways so you can do focus groups, get bums on seats in front of computers and give them some things that you want them to do on your site. Don't tell them how to do it, but just give them some things that you want them to achieve. I want you to buy a ticket. I want you to tell me how easy it is to go and find the interactive map. I want you to find a blog post and can you get from the blog post to buying a ticket, some of those things. Kelly Molson: This doesn't need to cost you a huge amount of money, right? You all have an asset in that. "Hey, would you like a free ticket to our venue if you come and do some testing for us?" Put on a little bit of lunch, put on people are really happy to help and give you feedback in that way. So that doesn't need to be a huge cost at all. You can use online tools, so we use tools like UserTesting.com. You can select a certain demographic that you want to test out and you upload what you want them to test. And then they go off and they do it, and they record videos, and you can see how they interact and they talk through what they're doing and how easy it was for them to do those things as well. Kelly Molson: They are not a huge, costly I actually don't know off the top of my head. There will be a fee to use the system, which will be a monthly fee and then there'll be a fee probably for that will cover X amount of tests within that monthly fee. So it will probably be from what, 150, maybe a month, something like that, maybe a bit more. Paul Marden: The cost depends as well on factors, how many factors you place on the do you only want people to do user testing that are of a particular demographic and age? If your attraction has mainly parents with young kids coming, do you want your user testing to be done only by parents with young kids? When you add more constraints to it, the cost of doing it becomes higher. But arguably the quality of the data that you get back from the testing is more relevant to you. Kelly Molson: You can do this with I've talked about going back to the wireframe stage. You can do this at any point. So great, do a load of testing before you go ahead and release something to the world. But if you've got something that's up and running now, do some testing. So you can do user testing on what you already have. You can do exit surveys so you can ask people once they've bought a ticket, you can ask them how easy that was. What did you find difficult? What were your challenges at the end of your purchasing journey? So there's small little things you can do there. Paul Marden: The world has changed a lot, hasn't it? In the last few years we've moved to almost exclusively online sales beforehand. So we've got this massive pool of data, of contact information of the people that have bought your tickets. That's such a great resource that you could use, which in previous years pre pandemic it would have been a struggle because a large chunk of your people would have been walk ins who you didn't necessarily it wasn't easy to capture those sorts of contact details and follow up with them. Kelly Molson: Yeah, exactly. And then I think there are things that you can do in terms of looking at your user experience and the design side of things. We do things like UX reviews for people. We actually offered one as a prize for all of the people that entered the survey this year and the lovely people at Cheddar Gorge won that. We're going to be looking at that in a couple of months for them. Paul Marden: Back near my home proper, that's Cheddar Gorge is where I went as a kid, like, so that's exciting to be. Kelly Molson: In that we'll be carrying that out later on in the year for them. So, yeah, there's things that you can do in terms of working with an agency to look at what your user journeys look like. Are they correct for the audience that you have? Does your design flow? Where are the barriers that you're seeing? And again, if you're looking at some of the data of where you're seeing people drop off, is that a design issue, is that a function issue? How do we work those things out? Paul Marden: There's loads of tools, isn't there, as well, like Hotjar that you can stick on, which doesn't cost a lot of money. And it's not just Hotjar, there are lots of other tools just like it which would give you insight into the behaviour of the users on the site. It's just a snapshot that you get for free, but that snapshot could really help inform decision making about maybe I need to make it easier for them to find the button because they're finding it hard to book tickets or whatever. Kelly Molson: Because they can't see where they need to book their tickets. Paul Marden: Yeah. Kelly Molson: So, yeah, I think in summary, do some testing is what I'm going to end this podcast episode with. Do some testing, come back and tell us what you find.Paul Marden: Exciting. I'd love to have those conversations. Kelly Molson: As ever, if you want to get in touch with either of us, all of our contact details are in the Show Notes. If anything has sparked your interest that we've talked about today, we're really happy to answer any questions and things like that. So if you do want to ask any questions about any of the kind of stats that we've talked about, again, just our email addresses will be in the Show Notes. And also, if you haven't downloaded the report yet, why not? Because it's out. It launched yesterday. We did a webinar. Did you come to it? Why not? If not, but if you do want to go and download the report, we'll put the link to that in the Show Notes as well. But just head over to the rubbercheese.com website and you'll be able to find it. We'll see you next time. Paul Marden: Awesome. Thank you. Kelly Molson: Thanks for listening to Skip the Queue. If you've enjoyed this podcast, please leave us a five star review. It really helps others find us. And remember to follow us on Twitter for your chance to win the books that have been mentioned. Skip The Queue is brought to you by Rubber Cheese, a digital agency that builds remarkable systems and websites for attractions that helps them increase their visitor numbers. You can find show notes and transcriptions from this episode and more over on our website, rubbercheese.com/podcast.

Adam's visiting Cheddar Gorge to check out Gough's Cave and Jacob's Ladder. They're two attractions at Cheddar Gorge and Caves. Plus, Georgia's here to give us an at-home craft to do with caves!Join Fun Kids Podcasts+: https://funkidslive.com/plusSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode 2004: Our random article of the day is Cheddar Gorge.

Hello glorious listener! For our final episode in Cheddar Gorge month we bring you Laura's best research on animals in the Victorian Era. From ole Queen Vicky herself and her pet choices, right through animal welfare and the homes of the masses, and into the more exotic choices for pets becoming available.If you want a little bit more of this kind of stuff, then why not join our Patreon where we give you a monthly live stream, an extra podcast every week, AND bonus content in every episode in the main feed. All for just a fiver a month. Banging! https://www.patreon.com/nationaltreasures Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

After our wonderful trip to Cheddar Gorge and our follow up chat with Richard Herring about why he loves it so much, we are now on to the portion of the month where we get researchy! First up, you voted for Will to tell Laura all about Gimmicky Tourist Attractions from around the world. Will digs into the internet's finest examples of terrible things you can go and see... Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We sit down with absolute podcasting royalty this week to ask him about one of his true life's passions: Cheddar Gorge. Richard Herring of RHLSTP fame has the tables turned as we ask him some seriously stupid question, some seriously brilliant questions, and have a good laugh with him about the natural wonder that is Cheddar Gorge.Richard is wonderfully dynamic and enthusiastic about his former stomping ground. For the full version of this interview head over to our patreon page where we offer a monthly live stream, an extra podcast every week, and extended versions of our main feed of podcasts all for only a fiver a month! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It's excursion week, and the start of a brand new month of adventuring! This week, the dynamic duo Laura Lexx and Will Duggan are off to Somerset, Laura's birthplace, to visit Cheddar Gorge on the orders of none other than the King of Cheddar - Richard Herring!Laura and Will go deep into not one but two caves, and also to the very top of the mountain via Jacob's Ladder. Laura is still recovering from an ultra marathon at this point so it's debatable how smart it is for her to be going up so many steps but she goes anyway.Join us next week when we chat to the wonderful Richard Herring about why he loves Cheddar so much and why he sent us there... Our GDPR privacy policy was updated on August 8, 2022. Visit acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week on the Electronic Wireless Show PC gaming podcast we're talking about the best our favourite noble failures, like the time I tried to make feta and red onion breakfast muffins. Ne'er touch the muffin pan since. No, of course it's our favourite video games that made big swings but didn't quite hit, a Nate Crowley-backed themed - and he kicks us off with a bid discussion about the infamous Jurassic Park tie-in game Trespasser. Try spelling "Jurassic" properly first time; I've never been able too. Diversions this week are discussing classic UK subterranean tourist attractions Wookey Hole and Cheddar Gorge, and how Matthew's life could have been different if only he'd been Wookey Hole's witch mascot. Nate has bought a model kit for one of those massive excavation machines, which he says is "about as big as an Alsatian" and "basically a bin-bag full of girders". So he is turning it into an Orc sewage treatment plant. Standard week to be honest.

Welcome to this week's show. I discuss the possibility of Wild Camping (with consent) coming to England and there was also a poll where Britains Top 30 Dream Camping Locations are revealled. See below for more information, plus links to the relevant website and news articles. Links to my content: www.drivinghorizons.com www.youtube.com/richardchubb Social: @RichardChubUK Wild With Consent Wild With Consent article - https://wildwithconsent.com Britains Top 30 Dream Camping Locations - https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/camping-uk-best-sites-b2077335.html Top 30 dream camping locations according to UK residents  1. Loch Ness, Scotland2. Sherwood Forest, Nottinghamshire 3. Robin Hood's Bay, North Yorkshire 4. Durdle Door, Dorset 5. Brecon Beacons, Wales 6. Waterside House Campsite, Lake District 7. Tarn Foot campsite, Lake District 8. Dartmoor National Park, Devon 9. The Needles, Isle of Wight 10. Pleasant Streams Farm, near St Austell, Cornwall 11. Giant's Causeway, Northern Ireland 12. St Agnes, Isles of Scilly 13. St Austell, Cornwall 14. At the foot of Ben Nevis, Scotland 15. Glenbrittle campsite, Isle of Skye 16. In the shadow of Stonehenge, Wiltshire 17. Trwyn Yr Wylfa, Snowdonia, Wales 18. In the grounds of Highclere Castle, Berkshire – AKA Downton Abbey 19. On top of Cheddar Gorge, Somerset 20. Croyde Beach, Devon 21. Barra, Outer Hebrides 22. Three Cliffs Bay in the Gower, Wales 23. Isle of Eigg, Inner Hebrides 24. Piel Island, Cumbria 25. Newgale, Pembrokeshire 26. Bon camping, Pembrokeshire 27. Duncansby Stacks, Scotland 28. Turner Hall Farm, Seathwaite, Cumbria 29. Hidden Valley Camping, Worcestershire 30. Lepe Beach, Hampshire

This episode, with guest Australian-based Diane Broinshtein, is one of two halves. Diane woke up early to talk about her trip with Ben to the oldest site in the landmarks book, Gough's Cave in Cheddar Gorge, where the remain of a Mesolithic (7100BC) man was found in the Victorian era. To balance the books, Diane's alternative landmark brings us right up to the 21 century with some famous street art.

12th Nov 2021: Dan and Kel visit Aston Rowant's windy woods and famous cutting, which featured in the Vicar of Dibley titles (Dan didn't watch it), where they discuss Halloween Kills, cinema killers, Cheddar Gorge, and Bucks Fizz! xSupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/nice-time-ramble/donations

For as long as humans have existed, we have been eating other humans. This week, Carmella takes us on a tour of six Stone Age sites where evidence of survival cannibalism has been uncovered. TRANSCRIPT https://castinglotspod.home.blog/2021/11/25/s3-e5-land-part-v---prehistoric-cannibalism-101/ CREDITS Written, hosted and produced by Alix Penn and Carmella Lowkis. Theme music by Daniel Wackett. Find him on Twitter @ds_wack and Soundcloud as Daniel Wackett. Logo by Riley. Find her on Twitter and Instagram @tallestfriend. Casting Lots is part of the Morbid Audio Podcast Network. Network sting by Mikaela Moody. Find her on Bandcamp as mikaelamoody1. BIBLIOGRAPHY AFP News Agency. (2016). Belgium's Goyet caves prove Neanderthals were cannibals. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pq-yZy1S12w&ab_channel=AFPNewsAgency Andrews, P. and Y. Fernández-Jalvo. (2003). ‘Cannibalism in Britain: Taphonomy of the Creswellian (Pleistocene) faunal and human remains from Gough's Cave (Somerset, England)', Bulletin of the Natural History Museum: Geology Series, 58(S1), pp. 59-81. Available at: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Yolanda-Fernandez-Jalvo/publication/253650169_2003_Cannibalism_in_Britain_-_Andrews_y_Fernandez/links/0046351fa32b97ed28000000/2003-Cannibalism-in-Britain-Andrews-y-Fernandez.pdf Bello, M. et al. (2017). ‘An Upper Palaeolithic engraved human bone associated with ritualistic cannibalism', PLOS One, 12(8). Available at: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0182127 Bowdler, N. (2010). ‘Neanderthal family found cannibalised in cave in Spain', BBC News, 21 December. Available at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-12049854 Cannibalism: Secrets Revealed. (2007). History, 24 April. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I95evV1eYqQ&ab_channel=DocumentaryArchive Carbonell, E. (2010). ‘Cultural Cannibalism as a Paleoeconomic System in the European Lower Pleistocene', Current Anthropology, 51(4), pp. 539-549. Available at: https://cir.cenieh.es/bitstream/20.500.12136/562/1/Cultural%20Cannibalism%20as%20a%20Paleoeconomic%20System%20in%20the%20European%20Lower%20Pleistocene_Carbonell_et_al_2010.pdf ‘Cheddar Gorge: a unique view'. (2021). Great British Life, 27 January. Available at: https://www.greatbritishlife.co.uk/homes-and-gardens/places-to-live/cheddar-gorge-a-unique-view-6994464 Cole, J. (2017). ‘Assessing the calorific significance of episodes of human cannibalism in the Palaeolithic', Scientific Reports, 7, 44707. Available at: https://www.nature.com/articles/srep44707 Defleur, A. and E. Desclaux. (2019). ‘Impact of the last interglacial climate change on ecosystems and Neanderthals behavior at Baume Moula-Guercy, Ardèche, France', Journal of Archaeological Science, 104, pp. 114-124. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2019.01.002 Fernández-Jalvo, Y. (1999). ‘Human cannibalism in the Early Pleistocene of Europe (Gran Dolina, Sierra de Atapuerca, Burgos, Spain)', Journal of Human Evolution, 37(3-4), pp. 591-622. Available at: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S004724849990324X Hendry, L. (n.d.). The cannibals of Gough's Cave. Available at: https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/the-cannibals-of-goughs-cave.html Keenan, E. M. (2014). A Tale of Three Caves: Faunal Contextualisation of Mixed Human and Animal Assemblages from the Yorkshire Dales. MSc Dissertation. University of York. Available at: https://www.academia.edu/9000598/A_Tale_of_Three_Caves_Faunal_Contextualisation_of_Mixed_Human_and_Animal_Assemblages_from_the_Yorkshire_Dales_unpublished_MSc_dissertation_ Kris Hurst, K. (2018). ‘El Sidrón, 50,000 Year Old Neanderthal Site', Thought Co., 6 June. Available at: https://www.thoughtco.com/el-sidron-evidence-for-neanderthal-cannibalism-172640 Lewis, D. (2019). ‘Why Neanderthals turned to cannibalism', Cosmos, 28 March. Available at: https://cosmosmagazine.com/archaeology/warm-weather-pushed-neanderthals-into-cannibalism/ Lukaschek, K. (2001). The History of Cannibalism. MPhil Thesis. University of Cambridge. Available at: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.120.4404&rep=rep1&type=pdf McKie, R. (2010). ‘Bones from a Cheddar Gorge cave show that cannibalism helped Britain's earliest settlers survive the ice age', Observer, 20 June. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/science/2010/jun/20/ice-age-cannibals-britain-earliest-settlers ‘Neanderthals were cannibals'. (1999). BBC News, 1 October. Available at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/462048.stm ‘Prehistory'. (2013). Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus. 4th ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Available at: https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/prehistory ‘Prehistory'. (2021). Wikipedia. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prehistory Schmitt, C. (2017). Cheddar Man. Available at: https://ccschmitt.github.io/Cheddar%20Man.html Smith, K. N. (2019). ‘Neanderthal cannibalism is less surprising than you think', Ars Technica, 31 March. Available at: https://arstechnica.com/science/2019/03/climate-change-may-have-driven-a-band-of-neanderthals-to-cannibalism/ Rosas, A. et al. (2006). ‘Paleobiology and comparative morphology of a late Neandertal sample from El Sidrón, Asturias, Spain', PNAS, 103(51), pp. 19266-19271. Available at: https://www.pnas.org/content/103/51/19266 Rougier, H. et al. (2016). ‘Neandertal cannibalism and Neandertal bones used as tools in Northern Europe', Scientific Reports, 6, 29005. Available at: https://www.nature.com/articles/srep29005 Saladié, P. and A. Rodríguez-Hidalgo. (2017). ‘Archaeological Evidence for Cannibalism in Prehistoric Western Europe: from Homo antecessor to the Bronze Age', Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory, 24, pp. 1034-1071. Available at: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10816-016-9306-y Saladié, P. et al. (2012). ‘Intergroup cannibalism in the European Early Pleistocene: the range expansion and imbalance of power hypotheses', Journal of Human Evolution, 63(5), pp. 682-695. Available at: https://eprints.ucm.es/id/eprint/27075/1/1-s2.0-S0047248412001406-main-01.pdf Sheldon, N. (2018). ‘Dining on the Dead: The Cannibals of Cheddar Gorge', History Collection, 17 September. Available at: https://historycollection.com/dining-on-the-dead-the-cannibals-of-cheddar-gorge/ Valensi, P., E. Crégut-Bonnoure and A. Defleur. (2012). ‘Archaeozoological data from the Mousterian level from Moula-Guercy (Ardèche, France) bearing cannibalised Neanderthal remains', Quaternary International, 252, pp. 48-55. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2011.07.028 Wallonia Belgium Tourism. (2021). Grottes de Goyet Architectural Site. Available at: https://walloniabelgiumtourism.co.uk/en-gb/content/grottes-de-goyet-architectural-site

Welcome back to the podcast, when we discuss Cheddar Gorge and a great walk in Hampshire. This week, I embark on a 2021 Recap after not posting an episode for a while. We are covering May and June when we take a walk from Keyhaven to Lymington in Hampshire. We also spend a few days exploring Cheddar Gorge in Somerset.

Like Merlin, who lived his life in reverse, we go backwards in time as we continue our two-part series on paganism. Renaissance philosophers; green men; a pagan city in the early caliphate; hooded gods on Hadrian's Wall; Stonehenge; cannibals (or were they?) in Cheddar Gorge; and the oldest evidence ever found of pagan practice in Britain. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Gemma and Ian chat to Chris Jewell.  We are on location in Cheddar Gorge, a limestone valley in the UK recording on the Ford Custom Transit Nugget.  Chris is a cave diver and cave explorer and as a member of the British Cave Rescue Council was one of the British cave divers who played a leading role in the 2018 Tham Luang Thailand cave rescue.  Chris talks more about the current film that is now on release, The Rescue and the movie that will be released in 2022 directed by Ron Howard.    Have a listen and let us know what you think. #   https://youtube.com/c/ChrisJewellCaveDiver https://www.facebook.com/chris.jewell.9480 https://cavedivinggroup.org.uk/ https://newtocaving.com/ https://www.caverescue.org.uk/   https://www.ford.co.uk/vans-and-pickups/transit-custom/nugget https://blueotwo.com/     ISSN Number 2752-6127   Contact Gemma and Ian with your messages, ideas and feedback via The BiG Scuba Bat Phone    +44 7810 005924 Or use our social media platforms.   We are on Instagram    @thebigscuba   We are on Facebook     @thebigscuba   We are on Twitter  @the_big_scuba    The BiG Scuba Website     www.thebigscuba.com

Hello you! It's D-Day, the D standing for 'Drop-Off'. It's a biggie. It's something we've been building to, stressing about, fearing and dreading. Towards the end of this podcast, Lorra gets very emotional. IF you're going or have gone through the university drop-off, you'll get it. However, we also caught up about yesterday and this lot...• A Fred West update.• Heading for a big day out but feeling flat.• Wookey Hole via Rock of Ages.• A picnic at Cheddar Gorge.• A grumpy sweet-shop tosspot.• Weston Super Mare.• The grimness of the British seaside.• Getting 'on the coins'.• The worst chippy in the world.• A final FINAL curry with Leo.• Changing Rooms on telly.• Lorra starting to get really emotional.So, this is it. Ground zero. Lift off. A cutting of the apron strings. A red letter day in the diaries of all our lives, Leo most of all. We'll be back soon to talk it through. As usual, keep your messages and comments coming. The are always a pleasure to read.Simon Insta: http://instagram.com/catboy92Lorra Insta: http://instagram.com/lorranotlauraSee you next time xSupport this show http://supporter.acast.com/husband-wife-sentenced-to-life. Our GDPR privacy policy was updated on August 8, 2022. Visit acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hello. First of all, apologies for the lack of podcast yesterday. We explain all on the podcast. It all got a bit heavy. So, today we talked about...• The failed podcast.• Lorra's inability to work out directions.• Taking Betsy Pearl in our morning walk.• A visit from Lorra's parents.• Simon's bridge nerd-out.• Clifton Suspension Bridge and fear of falling.• A grim Burger King.• Watching "Everybody's Talking About Jamie".• Richard E Grant's bad Sheffield accent.• Disappointing Asda experience.• Catching up with Dubai friends.• Watching new Bake Off & Buzzcocks.• The insane Fred West coincidence anecdote.You can watch the Fred West documentary and see the mill we wanted to buy here: https://www.itv.com/hub/fred-and-rose-west-reopened/10a1319Gotta dash...Today is Uni-Drop-Off Eve (tomorrow we say goodbye to Leo), so we're having a family day out to Cheddar Gorge & Wookie Hole today. Keep the messages and comments coming.See you next time xSupport this show http://supporter.acast.com/husband-wife-sentenced-to-life. Our GDPR privacy policy was updated on August 8, 2022. Visit acast.com/privacy for more information.

Episode 38 of the Counties of England podcast covering Cheddar Gorge and the Cheddar Man, the last pitched battle in British History and the Origins of the Glastonbury festival. This podcast was written, edited and narrated by me, Finn Gray. It is a year-long project I am tackling for my silver Duke of Edinburgh skills award. Further details about each of the counties can be found on my website: https://www.countiesofengland.co.uk I upload transcripts, maps of the counties and information I didn't have room for in the podcast. Most weeks I use information from Matthew Engel's excellent book: ‘Engel's England' (Profile Books, 2014). Music is from Tribe of Noise and the track I use at the start and end of each episode is ‘Tiny People' by Magnus Moone.

Our twenty-sixth tree, the Whitebeam (Sorbus aria). What the stately and elegant Whitebeam lacks in folklore, it makes up for with its proclivity to cross-pollinate and hybridise. David heads out into the wild, to Cheddar Gorge - the location of a very rare, and only recently discovered sub-species of the Whitebeam - to discuss the way in which species evolve from one to another, and to dig a little deeper into the confusingly murky waters of taxonomical nomenclature. The German forester, Peter Wohlleben, refers to trees as “Plant Elephants”; so what better reason to delve into the many sub-species of the Whitebeam tha by discussing Elephants first...?! Tenuous, yes; useful, hopefully! So - get your science goggles, petri-dishes and Bunsen burners at the ready, this episode is going to get a little geeky. (Special thanks to Peter Basham for adding his voice to this episode.) More from David Oakes as he uproots the secrets and stories beneath the 56(ish) Native Trees of the British Isles can be found at: https://www.treesacrowd.fm/56Trees/ Weekly episodes available early AND bonus content made free to forage by "Subscribtion Squirrels" on our Patreon. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Today's topic is cheddar cheese. That's right. It's time for another trivia podcast and this one is all about cheddar cheese. Is your mouth watering yet? I must say that I make a fantastic cheddar cheese and I hope you get to try it one day. I want to take a minute and say welcome to all the new listeners and welcome back to the veteran homestead-loving regulars who stop by the FarmCast for every episode. I appreciate you all so much. Before we get started on the cheddar facts, let me give you an update on what's going on at the homestead. Our Virginia Homestead Life Updates If you are listening to this podcast sometime in the future, your date marker is that we are in the middle of June. Almost at the summer solstice, the longest day of the year. That the crops are starting to come in already. We are continuing the overwhelmed portion of the year. It starts in spring and continues right on through the fall. Planting, weeding, harvesting, and storing food. Along the way, the animals need additional care. Breeding cycles, milking twice a day, and flies. Always the flies. This year they are particularly high in population. Large dumps of wet rain at the perfect time of year for the propagation of flies is making the animals miserable.   Cows The artificial insemination process has officially begun. The first step is to get all of the cows that are being bred to cycle at nearly the same time. This is especially important for a dairy. Ideally, the calves will be born within days of each other. In the first few days, the cows produce a thick nutritious milk product called colostrum. It is high in fat and most importantly, it is filled with the antibodies the calves need to survive and thrive. We can save that milk for making cheese or fulfilling herd share obligations. It must all go to the calves. And there is a lot of it. We save it in jars and cans and gradually dole it out to the calves. Once we get into keeping the milk, we get to keep every single drop of it until this backlog of milk/colostrum is consumed. Then we share the awesome milk with the calves and we get less milk for making cheese and herd shares. The reason that we need the births to be close together is the timing of who is in colostrum and who are we milking. We milk two at a time. If the calves are close together, then it is easy to just milk everybody the same. If that doesn't happen, then we end up milking out the ones who are in the stage of producing milk we can use and then lastly, we milk out those who are still producing colostrum. Again, ideally everybody produces their colostrum all together and then we can get on with just milking everybody and not worrying about stopping, pouring up the milk and then starting again for colostrum milk for those late birthing cows. This is our second year of AI. So far, it is going well. Tomorrow, the placing of the sperm happens. Then we wait for three weeks to see if anyone comes into heat again. Of course, we hope that everyone takes on the first try. But how often does that actually happen? I don't know. Again, we are new to this process. Sheep The sheep are still grazing safely right outside my living room window. I think we are past the predator issues for the moment. We are still looking for a dog to add to the homestead. I don't ever want to go through that kind of predator loss ever again. Lambert is in there with the girls. Perhaps we will have lambs again in the fall. Quail I don't think I said anything about the quail in the last podcast. That's a first, right? Well, the first batch has been processed – well we kept almost all of the girls. They filled out the breeding groups that were missing a hen, replaced one complete breeding group that was older and the remaining 10 we kept for extra eggs. They are all laying pretty well at this point. The second group that was a really small hatch, only 19, is now in the penthouse growing. They are growing like weeds. We did lose one and so there are 18 up there on the left side of the grow out cage. Again, the right side of the grow out cage has the extra hens we kept to lay eggs for us. Now we come to the third batch that are in the incubator. There are 72 eggs in there and they go into lockdown in two days. Two days after that, we will begin to hear some peeping. Let's pray that we have a better hatch rate this time. We shall see. Garden The biggest news I have at the moment is the garden. We planted lots and lots and lots of peas. I wanted them for the farmer's markets. Well, I got my wish. There are soooo many peas out there. Today, instead of trying to pick from each plant (which I did a few days ago), I decided to just pull up the plants, peas and all. I needed to get the plants out because the tomatoes are planted right in front of them and they will need that trellis soon. It was really quick and easy. I now have piles of plants with pea pods hanging off of them. After I finish this podcast, I will be out there pulling the pods off of the plants. And the plants I pulled up today was only half of what is out there. The beans are doing really well. I would like to get a bit of time to go out there and fill in the blank spaces where a seed here and there did not sprout. But even if I don't get that accomplished, I'm going to have lots and lots and lots of beans and crowder peas. There two beds of peppers. One is a wonderful bell pepper called California Wonder. Those plants produce beautiful large green bell peppers like you find in the grocery. If I leave them on the plant, they will eventually turn red. The red ones are really sweet. The other peppers are Italian pepperoncini. I'm going to pickle them. I'll probably sell the pickled pepperoncini at the farmer's market. Oh, and I think there are a few banana peppers out there. I don't know what I will do with them. Perhaps, pickle them as well. We shall see. The onions look fabulous. I'm not sure how much longer they have before they are done. It's easy to tell with onions. The green tops will just fall over, dry out and turn brown. That the indicator for when it is time to dig them up and cure them for storage. Fruit and the Orchard The strawberry plants look great and there were lots of strawberries. However, something was eating them and we haven't gotten very many for ourselves. That's yet another project that got on to Scott's “To Do” list. Fix up some kind of barrier to keep out the squirrels, rabbits, birds, etc that are eating the strawberries. He just doesn't have the time right now. More on that later. I checked the blueberries a few days ago. There are a lot fewer berries than last year. That is likely due to the bee hive dying off. We really relied on them to pollinate everything. This year we were dependent on the bumble bees for all of our pollination. One thing I noticed while out checking the blueberries and blackberries was that we finally have a few apples coming on this year. I don't really know how old these trees are, but we have been anticipating apples and pears for a while. Looks like the apples are coming this year. Yay!! Creamery The creamery is on hold yet again. Scott is off doing other things. Mostly gathering hay. We tried to grow our own hay for a year or two and just found that it was simply not worth it for the small amount we need. Maintaining the equipment is always a challenge. Better to let someone else have those headaches. The person who normally supplies our hay is growing his cow herd and the lack of rain at the appropriate time led to a smaller than usual harvest. So I got on Facebook and found a couple of places where Scott could get hay. Unlike the previous arrangement, which was quite close and the hay was delivered right to us, Scott is having to haul the hay here. These are large round bales. He can handle eight bales at a time. It is a time-consuming task that requires days and days and days to complete. In between, he is prepping the cows for the AI appointment and doing most of the milking tasks. He helps me on Mondays with making cheese and spends quite a bit of time cleaning up the large cheese vat and the large utensils. I handle the small stuff. On Friday and Saturday morning he does the entire milking routine by himself as I am at the farmer's market. The creamery will get back on the schedule soon, I'm sure. Speaking of making cheese, It's time for me to get to the topic of the day. Cheddar cheese. Cheddar Cheese Let's start with the basics of describing this great cheese. It is a relatively hard cheese. Ours is off-white and the stuff in the store is usually orange. Cheddar cheese originated in the English village of Cheddar in Somerset. Now it is produced all over the world. Background In the UK, cheddar is the most popular type of cheese, accounting for over half of the country's annual cheese market. It is the second-most popular cheese in the US. The most popular is mozzarella. In the US the average annual consumption of cheddar cheese is about 10 lbs per person. In 2014, the US produced about 3 billion lbs of cheddar cheese. The term cheddar cheese is widely used and has no protected designation of origin even when the UK was part of the EU until 2020. Many cheeses have a protected designation of origin name. Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) is the English name for an identification form used by the EU that is meant to preserve the designations of origin of food-related products. This labeling was created in 1992 and its main purpose is to designate products that have been produced, processed and developed in a specific geographical area, using the recognized know-how of local producers and ingredients from the region concerned. PDO The characteristics of the products protected are essentially linked to the terroir. That is a French term used to describe the environmental factors that affect a food or crop's unique environmental contexts, farming practices or growth habitat. Collectively, these contextual characteristics are said to have a character; terroir refers to this character. The EU's regulation is meant to guarantee the reputation of regional products, adapt existing national protections to make them comply with the requirements of the WTO and inform consumers that products bearing the PDO logo respect the conditions of production and origin specified by this designation. The regulations cover all sorts of foodstuff like wines, cheese, hams, sausages, olives, beers, fruits, vegetables, breads and animal feed. Foods such as gorgonzola, parmigiano-reggiano, asiago cheese, camembert de Normandie and champagne can be labeled as such only if they come from the designated region. There are other requirements. In the case of camembert de Normandie, not only is it required to be produced in the Normandy region of France, it must also be made with raw milk from Normande cattle. History Cheddar originates from the village of Cheddar in Somerset, south west England. Cheddar Gorge on the edge of the village contains a number of cheese caves, which provided the ideal humidity and steady temperature for maturing the cheese. Cheddar has been produced since at least the 12th century. Financial records of King Henry II from 1170 records the purchase of 10,240 lbs. Charles I also bought cheese from the village of Cheddar. In the 19th-century Somerset dairyman Joseph Harding was central to the modernization and standardization of cheddar cheese. For his technical innovations, promotion of dairy hygiene, and volunteer dissemination of modern cheese-making techniques, he has been dubbed “the father of Cheddar cheese”. Harding introduced new equipment to the process of cheese-making, including a device for curd cutting call a “revolving breaker”. The “Joseph Harding method” was the first modern system of Cheddar production based upon scientific principles. Together, Joseph Harding and his wife were behind the introduction of Cheddar cheese into Scotland and North America. His sons, Henry and William, were responsible for introducing the cheese production to Australia and facilitating the establishment of the cheese industry in New Zealand. According to a USDA researcher, cheddar cheese is the world's most popular variety of cheese, and it is the most studied type of cheese in scientific publications.   Cheddaring Process “Cheddaring” refers to an additional step in the production of the cheese. After culturing, cutting, cooking and draining, the cheddaring begins. It is a lengthy process of stacking and turning slabs of curd. The curd is then milled or broken up into small pieces again and salted before being placed in a press. The press forms the final shape of the cheese. The cheese is kept at a constant temperature and humidity level. Special facilities or a cheese cave as mentioned before are needed to complete this part. And it will mature for anywhere from three months to two years or more. Character of Cheddar Cheese The ideal quality of the original Somerset Cheddar was described by Joseph Harding in 1864 as “close and firm in texture, yet mellow in character or quality; it is rich with a tendency to melt in the mouth, the flavor full and fine, approaching to that of a hazelnut”. Cheddar made in the classical way tends to have a sharp, pungent flavor, often slightly earthy. The texture is firm and can be crumbly. Cheddar cheese aged over one year should also contain large cheese crystals consisting of calcium lactate. Cheddar can be a deep to pale yellow color, or a yellow-orange color when annatto is added. Annatto is extracted from seeds of a tree. Originally it was added to simulate the color of high-quality milk from grass-fed Jersey and Guernsey cows, but it may also impart a sweet, nutty flavor. Clau d'ville Cheddar We don't use annatto in our cheddar cheese. We produce a beautiful light cream-colored cheddar cheese. Bright, citric flavors at the six-month mark complement a smooth, creamy texture. As each cheese approaches it's first birthday the pineapple notes give way to a deeper, more savory cheese with a buttery, malty finish, offering a delightful taste sensation. At six months it is smooth and almost creamy. Aged a year or longer, it becomes deliciously crunchy, crumbly and tangy. Pair it with a fruity Pinot Noir, a strong ale, apple liqueur or cider, or a vintage port. Our cheddar is currently only available via our Herd Share program. If you are listening to this in 2022, this statement will be out of date. We plan to be in our inspected facility in early 2022. Final Thoughts That's it for today's podcast on Cheddar cheese. The homestead is moving along nicely. We are moving into the summer routine. The animals are doing their thing, eating grass out in the fields. The gardens are flourishing. And the work continues to keep us on our toes. It is healthy activity and we appreciate the opportunity to share our journey with all of you. I hope you enjoyed the Cheddar cheese information and we look forward to serving your cheese needs in the future. If you enjoyed this podcast, please hop over to Apple Podcasts or whatever podcasting service you use, SUBSCRIBE and give me a 5-star rating and review. If you like this content and want to help out the show, the absolute best way you can do that is to share it with any friends or family who might be interested in this type of content. Let them know about the Peaceful Heart Farmcast. Thank you so much for stopping by the homestead and until next time, may God fill your life with grace and peace. To learn about herd shares: Visit our website Herd Share page To share your thoughts: Leave a comment on our Facebook Page Share this show on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram To help the show: PLEASE LEAVE A REVIEW for Peaceful Heart FarmCast on Apple Podcasts. Subscribe on iTunes, Stitcher Radio, Google Play Music, TuneIn or Spotify Donate on Patreon Website www.peacefulheartfarm.com Patreon www.patreon.com/peacefulheartfarm Facebook www.facebook.com/peacefulheartfarm Instagram www.instagram.com/peacefulheartfarm Locals Peacefulheartfarm.locals.com

Théoden and Gandalf lead the host of the Rohirrim towards the fords of the Isen to strengthen the forces holding back Saruman’s army. But when they meet a rider coming back from the front line with news of defeat, Théoden takes Gandalf’s counsel and changes course for Helm’s Deep and the mighty fortress of the Hornburg. We look at Unfinished Tales for an account of the recent battle, learn way too much about military supply chains, and discuss Tolkien’s visits to Cheddar Gorge… which leads to far fewer cheesy jokes than might be expected.

Welcome once again to this latest journey into the unknown that is the Lost In Porridge Plaguecast, brought to you by Primordial Radio. Formed from our daily bulletins, this plaguecast is a collection of this weeks adventures in outrageous fibbing. Our intrepid guide is none other than Dr Cornelius Porridge; part gentleman adventurer, part steampunk stand up, part-time wild cheese wrangler. He can often be found in the countryside around Cheddar Gorge rounding up any stray cheeses and returning them to the safety of the herd.. Following his recent adventures on a post-apocalyptic, future earth hellscape, Dr Porridge and Colon - his cybernetic badger accomplice - now find themselves lost in space, onboard a stolen alien vessel, threatened with total destruction by all the remaining ducks in the universe.  Listen at your peril. This broadcast is not recommended for the elderly or infirm, and side-effects may include nausea, hallucinations and the unshakeable belief that you are a champion gooseberry grower. Image Credit: Tom Brown

Stevie chats with Chris from the Between the Mountains Podcast to talk about some different hiking adventures Chris has been on, and a few outdoor trips he's planning. The two travel podcasters also talk about the benefits of getting outdoors and why hiking a mountain is something everyone should try. Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/dbetravel)

The Best Hiking Practice  Cheddar Gorge is one of UK's secret (not so secret) wonders. In my opinion, it is the best hiking practice that the South UK has to offer. It is easily accessible to everyone, especially in the South West being located south of Bristol.  It's an ideal location for anyone strapped for time or fuel money and can't make it to Brecon Beacons, Snowdonia, Lake District National Parks or Scotland.  The Walk  Cheddar Gorge offers beautiful and stunning views across and all the way out to the sea. Using the National Trust's directions, it was also a super easy to follow. Parking can be difficult at peak times, but here's a top tip: go mid-late afternoon. You will bypass a lot of the traffic which means more parking and less traffic on the route. The top is west facing, which means some of the most gorgeous sunsets, and a short walk (and a few hundred steps) to finish the walk back on the street below.  The only downside? I'm yet to go to one of the cute coffee shops before they close!   The walk begins with a sharp and long ascent, takes you over some Norwegian Flat terrain (basically: not flat), down on to the road and then back up the other side on a longer, less steep ascent to the highest point on the gorge.  It is the best hike in the area to make you feel worked, and take your breathe away on two counts: the elevation and sunset.  Not Just Hiking  If you're interested, the area also provides so much more than hiking. You can do rock climbing, explore the caves, or simply be a tourist in the town of Cheddar.  ----------  If you enjoy the show please subscribe/follow and share with a friend!  If you really enjoy the show please check out our Patreon site here. Supporting through Patreon really helps cover costs and allow to invest more time into the quality!  To come on the show or work with me, please email on: btmtravelpod@gmail.com  Join in with the community. Instagram/Twitter/Facebook and our new Facebook Page to share your own photos and videos here https://betweenthemountains.org/ 

This week we review - I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue (Series 72 Episode 3)This show started out as a spin-off from the BBC radio series I'm Sorry I'll Read That Again. The idea being that I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue was an unscripted version of the original.ISIHAC is a parody of the traditional panel show, with games designed to humiliate and confuse. Points come for show's lovely (and fictitious) scorer Samantha.Games include the self-explanatory "One Song to the Tune of Another"; mad word game "Cheddar Gorge"; "Sound Charades" (a game based on the TV show Give Us a Clue which differs in just three ways); "Word for Word", the opposite of word association; and the game based on the London Underground that is almost impossible to play - "Mornington Crescent".Legendary host Humphrey Lyttelton presided over the first 50 series. In the series that followed the host's death the role of chairman was handed over to Stephen Fry, Jack Dee and Rob Brydon. The trio took it in turns to present the show. Jack Dee's episodes were generally the best received by the audience, and thus Dee has been installed as the new host.The most regular players of the game are Barry Cryer, Graeme Garden, Tim Brooke-Taylor and the late Willie Rushton.Written by Iain Pattinson & Fraser Steele (Additional Material)Produced by John NaismithA BBC Production.I'm Sorry I Haven’t A Clue is available here: http://tiny.cc/mqm0gzThe Comedy Slab Podcast is available on Apple Podcasts, Spreaker, Stitcher, iHeart Radio, Spotify and Youtube.Subscribe for a new episode each Monday.Get in touch - we're @ComedySlab on Twitter and ComedySlab on Facebook.

For our 100th episode, we welcome back science journalist Angela Saini, whose work deflates the myths we tell ourselves about science existing in an apolitical vacuum. With far-right nationalism and white supremacy on the rise around the world, pseudoscientific and pseudointellectual justifications for racism are on the rise—and troublingly mainstream. Race is a relatively recent concept, but dress it up in a white lab coat and it becomes an incredibly toxic justification for a whole range of policies, from health to immigration. It is tempting to dismiss white-supremacist cranks who chug milk to show their superior lactose tolerance, but it’s harder to do so when those in positions of power—like senior White House policy adviser Stephen Miller or pseudointellectual Jordan Peterson—spout the same rhetoric. The consequences can be more insidious, too: consider how we discuss the health outcomes for different groups of people as biological inevitabilities, not the results of social inequality. Drawing on archives and interviews with dozens of prominent scientists, Saini shows how race science never really left us—and that in 2019, scientists are as obsessed as ever with the vanishingly small biological differences between us. Go beyond the episode:Angela Saini’s Superior: The Return of Race ScienceMeet the Cheddar Man—and the many puns about his discovery in Cheddar Gorge—the first prehistoric Briton of his era whose genome was analyzedLearn how recent archaeological evidence discredits the idea that Native Americans were decimated solely due to European diseases. As with health disparities today, these outbreaks were more connected to government policies leading to poverty and malnutrition.In this excerpt from Saini’s book, she investigates the scientists behind the white supremacist journal Mankind Quarterly, which has a network of contributors who sit on the editorial boards of more widely trusted scientific publicationsRead Harriet A. Washington’s cover story for us on “The Well Curve,” which points to the social inequalities that lead to health disparities, especially with regard to tropical diseasesTune in every week to catch interviews with the liveliest voices from literature, the arts, sciences, history, and public affairs; reports on cutting-edge works in progress; long-form narratives; and compelling excerpts from new books. Hosted by Stephanie Bastek. Follow us on Twitter @TheAmScho or on Facebook.Subscribe: iTunes • Feedburner • Stitcher • Google Play • AcastHave suggestions for projects you’d like us to catch up on, or writers you want to hear from? Send us a note: podcast [at] theamericanscholar [dot] org. And rate us on iTunes! Our theme music was composed by Nathan Prillaman. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

For our 100th episode, we welcome back science journalist Angela Saini, whose work deflates the myths we tell ourselves about science existing in an apolitical vacuum. With far-right nationalism and white supremacy on the rise around the world, pseudoscientific and pseudointellectual justifications for racism are on the rise—and troublingly mainstream. Race is a relatively recent concept, but dress it up in a white lab coat and it becomes an incredibly toxic justification for a whole range of policies, from health to immigration. It is tempting to dismiss white-supremacist cranks who chug milk to show their superior lactose tolerance, but it’s harder to do so when those in positions of power—like senior White House policy adviser Stephen Miller or pseudointellectual Jordan Peterson—spout the same rhetoric. The consequences can be more insidious, too: consider how we discuss the health outcomes for different groups of people as biological inevitabilities, not the results of social inequality. Drawing on archives and interviews with dozens of prominent scientists, Saini shows how race science never really left us—and that in 2019, scientists are as obsessed as ever with the vanishingly small biological differences between us. Go beyond the episode:Angela Saini’s Superior: The Return of Race ScienceMeet the Cheddar Man—and the many puns about his discovery in Cheddar Gorge—the first prehistoric Briton of his era whose genome was analyzedLearn how recent archaeological evidence discredits the idea that Native Americans were decimated solely due to European diseases. As with health disparities today, these outbreaks were more connected to government policies leading to poverty and malnutrition.In this excerpt from Saini’s book, she investigates the scientists behind the white supremacist journal Mankind Quarterly, which has a network of contributors who sit on the editorial boards of more widely trusted scientific publicationsRead Harriet A. Washington’s cover story for us on “The Well Curve,” which points to the social inequalities that lead to health disparities, especially with regard to tropical diseasesTune in every week to catch interviews with the liveliest voices from literature, the arts, sciences, history, and public affairs; reports on cutting-edge works in progress; long-form narratives; and compelling excerpts from new books. Hosted by Stephanie Bastek. Follow us on Twitter @TheAmScho or on Facebook.Subscribe: iTunes • Feedburner • Stitcher • Google Play • AcastHave suggestions for projects you’d like us to catch up on, or writers you want to hear from? Send us a note: podcast [at] theamericanscholar [dot] org. And rate us on iTunes! Our theme music was composed by Nathan Prillaman.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Discuss on Reddit ➤ Support the Show ➤ We don’t even know how to begin, but we certainly know that we are here and discussing Dave Malloy’s spookily exquisite song-cycle, ‘Ghost Quartet.’ Spanning two full episodes where they dissect the show track-by-track, the boys get existential and talk about the other side, universal consciousness theory, the complex human relationship with alcohol, artist idolatry, how simple can often be best and the nature of protagonist and antagonist. Studio Recording: Amazon / iTunes / Spotify Live at the McKittrick: Amazon / iTunes / Spotify SHOW NOTES: The question we’re all asking is, WILL a Fosse neck do it? I guess we’ll never know. In true Prayer style, Jimi will try his hardest to not quote the Rainbow Sponge Lady video in future podcasts. If you’re batting about London this winter then check out London’s premiere of Ghost Quartet! So Jimi’s opinion on digesting Ghost Quartet is to see it first (if possible), listen to the McKittrick Live Recording, then listen to the studio recording to pull it all apart and start to change your whole viewpoint on life, the universe and everything. As usual, Dave has provided us with some fascinating insights on his music and many wonderful effusions on his fellow cast members via his Genius annotations. If you’re into Arabian Nights and are board game oriented look no further than one of Jimi’s all time favourites: Tales of the Arabian Nights! Can we start a Twitter campaign to see if Dave actually intended it to be Roxie Usher a la Anything Goes? The people need to know! In one of her standout moments, Elaine Stritch’s one woman show paints a fascinating picture about her relationship with alcohol. If you want to join Jimi’s cult of Jeff Buckley then why not start with one of the best studio albums of all time, Grace? Then while you’re feeling musical why not have a gander at one of Thelonius Monk’s greatest albums too? A staple for every record player to be quite honest. Check out Wind Cave and/or Cheddar Gorge depending on your locale for some Lights Out action! Is this podcast really just a way for Jimi to garner like-minded people who share his eclectic tase in fiction? I think so. Feel free to PM him about anything related to Twin Peaks, Lost, The OA, Rusty Lake or House of Leaves. How can it be that we spoke for around 3 hours about a show, yet there still be so much more to say? Let's move this talk over to Reddit. We're dying to hear your thoughts! A HAZARDOUS QUIZ QUESTION: During the filming of the movie that this musical is based on, a jilted lighting operator intentionally attempted to drop a lighting instrument on one of the young actresses in an attempt at revenge for his own daughter not being cast in the role. What show?

Discuss on Reddit ➤ Support the Show ➤ We don’t even know how to begin, but we certainly know that we are here and discussing Dave Malloy’s spookily exquisite song-cycle, ‘Ghost Quartet.’ Spanning two full episodes where they dissect the show track-by-track, the boys get existential and talk about the other side, universal consciousness theory, the complex human relationship with alcohol, artist idolatry, how simple can often be best and the nature of protagonist and antagonist. Studio Recording: Amazon / iTunes / Spotify Live at the McKittrick: Amazon / iTunes / Spotify SHOW NOTES: The question we’re all asking is, WILL a Fosse neck do it? I guess we’ll never know. In true Prayer style, Jimi will try his hardest to not quote the Rainbow Sponge Lady video in future podcasts. If you’re batting about London this winter then check out London’s premiere of Ghost Quartet! So Jimi’s opinion on digesting Ghost Quartet is to see it first (if possible), listen to the McKittrick Live Recording, then listen to the studio recording to pull it all apart and start to change your whole viewpoint on life, the universe and everything. As usual, Dave has provided us with some fascinating insights on his music and many wonderful effusions on his fellow cast members via his Genius annotations. If you’re into Arabian Nights and are board game oriented look no further than one of Jimi’s all time favourites: Tales of the Arabian Nights! Can we start a Twitter campaign to see if Dave actually intended it to be Roxie Usher a la Anything Goes? The people need to know! In one of her standout moments, Elaine Stritch’s one woman show paints a fascinating picture about her relationship with alcohol. If you want to join Jimi’s cult of Jeff Buckley then why not start with one of the best studio albums of all time, Grace? Then while you’re feeling musical why not have a gander at one of Thelonius Monk’s greatest albums too? A staple for every record player to be quite honest. Check out Wind Cave and/or Cheddar Gorge depending on your locale for some Lights Out action! Is this podcast really just a way for Jimi to garner like-minded people who share his eclectic tase in fiction? I think so. Feel free to PM him about anything related to Twin Peaks, Lost, The OA, Rusty Lake or House of Leaves. How can it be that we spoke for around 3 hours about a show, yet there still be so much more to say? Let's move this talk over to Reddit. We're dying to hear your thoughts! A HAZARDOUS QUIZ QUESTION: During the filming of the movie that this musical is based on, a jilted lighting operator intentionally attempted to drop a lighting instrument on one of the young actresses in an attempt at revenge for his own daughter not being cast in the role. What show?

Recently, in Tromsø, the Arctic capital of Norway, I came across the name Carleton Gajdusek. That name took me back many years and halfway round the globe to a village in the Fore district of Papua New Guinea. A man is standing in the doorway of his hut, clinging to the doorpost, his head nodding, before making his way unsteadily, emaciated and ataxic, to another hut. He has kuru. Dr Gajdusek was an American virologist and he spent the last years of his life in Tromsø. He won the Nobel Prize for his work on the aetiology of kuru. Traditionally, the Fore people honoured their dead by eating their flesh, the men receiving the muscles for strength, the women being left with the brain and scrag ends. The custom of eating human flesh had already died out with the missionaries, and Gajdusek hypothesized that kuru was caused by an infective agent – he called it a ‘slow virus’– with a long incubation period. He postulated that it was concentrated in the nervous system, explaining why women were more likely to develop kuru than men. He showed that chimpanzees injected with brain tissue from dead kuru sufferers developed the disease. We now know that kuru, like vCJD and some other fatal neurodegenerative conditions, is a prion disease. Cannibalism has a deep, transgressive and occasionally pathological fascination. Remember Hansel and Gretel? Cannibalism runs through Evelyn Waugh’s Black Mischief: Basil Seal sees a red beret in a cooking pot and realizes that he has just eaten his girlfriend. In 1991 The Silence of the Lambs attracted huge audiences and five Oscars. Early maps showed distant continents inhabited by monstrous beings and by cannibals. Geographical features became more accurate but the myths survived. Many of the monsters were clearly imagined. But we cannot be sure about the cannibalism. How far can early explorers’ and missionaries’ accounts be trusted? Depicting the inhabitants as savages permitted Europeans to subjugate them in the name of civilization, and to exploit their resources. Even if sometimes, as in Jamestown, Virginia, in 1609, it was the European colonists who resorted to cannibalism. Modern techniques show that post-ice-age Britons in Gough’s Cave in Cheddar Gorge butchered other humans. In the 15,000 years since then, there is uncomfortable evidence of cannibalism almost everywhere researchers look. Though it is rarely clear whether the victims were killed for their meat, or what the purpose was. To honour the dead, to intimidate or punish enemies, to celebrate victory, to stave off starvation, as a remedy or a ghoulish gourmand treat? I try to imagine what it might be like to butcher another human. Of course I have cut the flesh off a human. A living human. Making that first incision into a draped abdomen was always breaking a taboo. Once inside I just got on with the job, perhaps the same emotional shift happens to people desperate enough to cannibalise. But ‘Eating people is wrong’ as Junior declares in the Flanders and Swann song, so even those who have eaten human flesh as a last resort to survive are reluctant to admit it. In 1846 a wagon train set out from Missouri for California. Heavy snow trapped the pioneers in the Donner Pass for nearly four months till a relief party arrived. Some of the 48 survivors were unwilling to admit that they had survived by eating the flesh of their dead colleagues. We don’t know what discussions went on in the Donner Pass, but when the plane carrying a Uruguayan rugby team and their supporters crashed on a remote glacier in the Andes, the survivors agreed that should they die, their bodies should be eaten to give their companions a chance of life. Two months later, 16 people were rescued. Knowledge of the survival pact mitigated the initial horror with which the events were greeted. Still, acknowledging cannibalism would tarnish the image of true British heroes. No-one survived John Franklin’s expedition to na...

Recently, in Tromsø, the Arctic capital of Norway, I came across the name Carleton Gajdusek. That name took me back many years and halfway round the globe to a village in the Fore district of Papua New Guinea. A man is standing in the doorway of his hut, clinging to the doorpost, his head nodding, before making his way unsteadily, emaciated and ataxic, to another hut. He has kuru. Dr Gajdusek was an American virologist and he spent the last years of his life in Tromsø. He won the Nobel Prize for his work on the aetiology of kuru. Traditionally, the Fore people honoured their dead by eating their flesh, the men receiving the muscles for strength, the women being left with the brain and scrag ends. The custom of eating human flesh had already died out with the missionaries, and Gajdusek hypothesized that kuru was caused by an infective agent – he called it a ‘slow virus'– with a long incubation period. He postulated that it was concentrated in the nervous system, explaining why women were more likely to develop kuru than men. He showed that chimpanzees injected with brain tissue from dead kuru sufferers developed the disease. We now know that kuru, like vCJD and some other fatal neurodegenerative conditions, is a prion disease. Cannibalism has a deep, transgressive and occasionally pathological fascination. Remember Hansel and Gretel? Cannibalism runs through Evelyn Waugh's Black Mischief: Basil Seal sees a red beret in a cooking pot and realizes that he has just eaten his girlfriend. In 1991 The Silence of the Lambs attracted huge audiences and five Oscars. Early maps showed distant continents inhabited by monstrous beings and by cannibals. Geographical features became more accurate but the myths survived. Many of the monsters were clearly imagined. But we cannot be sure about the cannibalism. How far can early explorers' and missionaries' accounts be trusted? Depicting the inhabitants as savages permitted Europeans to subjugate them in the name of civilization, and to exploit their resources. Even if sometimes, as in Jamestown, Virginia, in 1609, it was the European colonists who resorted to cannibalism. Modern techniques show that post-ice-age Britons in Gough's Cave in Cheddar Gorge butchered other humans. In the 15,000 years since then, there is uncomfortable evidence of cannibalism almost everywhere researchers look. Though it is rarely clear whether the victims were killed for their meat, or what the purpose was. To honour the dead, to intimidate or punish enemies, to celebrate victory, to stave off starvation, as a remedy or a ghoulish gourmand treat? I try to imagine what it might be like to butcher another human. Of course I have cut the flesh off a human. A living human. Making that first incision into a draped abdomen was always breaking a taboo. Once inside I just got on with the job, perhaps the same emotional shift happens to people desperate enough to cannibalise. But ‘Eating people is wrong' as Junior declares in the Flanders and Swann song, so even those who have eaten human flesh as a last resort to survive are reluctant to admit it. In 1846 a wagon train set out from Missouri for California. Heavy snow trapped the pioneers in the Donner Pass for nearly four months till a relief party arrived. Some of the 48 survivors were unwilling to admit that they had survived by eating the flesh of their dead colleagues. We don't know what discussions went on in the Donner Pass, but when the plane carrying a Uruguayan rugby team and their supporters crashed on a remote glacier in the Andes, the survivors agreed that should they die, their bodies should be eaten to give their companions a chance of life. Two months later, 16 people were rescued. Knowledge of the survival pact mitigated the initial horror with which the events were greeted. Still, acknowledging cannibalism would tarnish the image of true British heroes. No-one survived John Franklin's expedition to na...

THE DISCOVERY ADVENTURES Winner: Most Original Podcast, The British Podcast Awards 2018. The twists and turns of Cheddar Gorge take you deep underground to crack the code, with the help of some skilful friends. Featuring Hugh Skinner, Kate Silverton, Debbie Arnold and Neil Oliver.This show is produced by CECILIA.FM and created by Becky Power, Duncan Paterson, Neill Furmston, Susan Stone and Robert Hoile. Written by Ed Amsden and Tom Coles with additional writing by David K Barnes. Directed and script edited by Robbie MacInnes. Episode produced by David Waters. Sound by Gareth Fry. Music by FRED and Roots Manuva.This podcast is an immersive audio experience, recorded to provide 3D stereo sound. Using multiple speakers you may hear noises which appear to come from different angles around you. Take extra care when driving and listening to the podcast and ensure you are never distracted from controlling the vehicle. By downloading and listening to this podcast you agree this is entirely at your own risk and liability. As far as permitted by law, JLR, Mindshare and Soundgoods Limited disclaim all liability related to any property damage, personal injury, or death that may occur during your use of the podcast, including claims based on breach of any law, rule, or regulation or your alleged negligence or other legal liability. The podcast is a work of fiction. Apart from the named cast and locations, people, businesses, characters, places and events mentioned are used fictitiously, for entertainment purposes. Any resemblance to actual events, names, places or people, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. Always adventure responsibly, respect the environment and other people's property. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

RHLSTP #122: Tony Robinson - Pissing in the Queen's Flowerbed. There are some fine beards on display in the front row as always, but it's all about the puny moustache that we can see on stage tonight. It's on the face of the first knight to ever appear on RHLSTP, Sir Anthony Robinson. Find out what happened to Fat Tulip's garden, what inspired Maid Marian, why Brian Blessed attempted to make a citizen's arrest on Tony, what happened when Time Team came to Cheddar Gorge and if a knight of the realm has ever tried to suck his own pork sword. Some great stuff about Blackadder and Rowan Atkinson too. Make a donation to Tony's Movember fundraiser here - Brilliant cause. https://uk.movember.com/mospace/13478805 Buy Tony's very entertaining autobiography, 'No Cunning Plan' here - https://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0283072571/comedyguide-21/. SUPPORT THE SHOW!Check out our website and become a badger and see extra content http://rhlstp.co.ukSee details of the RHLSTP tour dates http://richardherring.com/gigsBuy DVDs and Books at http://gofasterstripe.com See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Summary: Adam J Purcell, Andy Simpkins, Fake Keith, Jean Riddler, the Real Keith Dunn and Scott Fuller review the 1971 Doctor Who TV story ‘The Claws of Axos’ and the 1996 film ‘Independence Day’, play a game of Cheddar Gorge, and a variety of other stuff, specifically: 00:00 – Intro and theme tune. 01:25 — […]

Summary: Adam J Purcell, Andy Simpkins, Jean Riddler, Keith Dunn and Scott Fuller review the 1984 classic film ‘Dune’ and the 1980 Doctor Who story ‘The Leisure Hive’, play a game of Cheddar Gorge, find some general news and a variety of other stuff, specifically: 00:00 – Intro and theme tune. 01:26 — Welcome! 02:19 […]

Summary: Adam J Purcell, Andy Simpkins, Fake Keith, the Real Keith Dunn and Scott Fuller review the 1986 classic film ‘Highlander’ and the 1966 Doctor Who story ‘The Highlanders’, play a game of Cheddar Gorge, find some general news and a variety of other stuff, specifically: 00:00 – Intro and theme tune. 00:59 — Welcome! […]

Summary: Adam J Purcell, Andy Simpkins, Fake Keith, Jean Riddler, the Real Keith Dunn and Scott Fuller discuss regeneration in ‘Doctor Who’, play some festive games of Name That Character, Swanee-Kazoo and Cheddar Gorge, pull some Christmas Crackers, find some general news and a variety of other stuff, specifically: 00:00 – Intro and theme tune. […]

RHLSTP #22: Edgar Wright - Spaced By The Bell. At last it's the podcast that addresses the burning issue of modern Britain - which is the best Somerset based show cave complex? Cheddar Gorge (obviously) or rubbishy old Wookey Hole. It'd be a shame to have Britain's most exciting film director on the show without wasting most of the time talking about this and the obscure and sexist Roald Dahl short story - Switch Bitch. And Richard hates to disappoint. Luckily he occasionally manages to blunder into discussing Wright's canon of work, from A Fistful of Fingers through Asylum, some ideas for a new series of Spaced, right up to the amazing new film The World's End. But there's still time to talk about what it's like to be taught by both parents, desecrating the graves of your former employers and Rich's ideas to reboot Goodnight Sweetheart and We Will Rock You before Edgar has to dash off to finish off his new film. But is there time to add a shrek?SUPPORT THE SHOW!Check out our website and become a badger and see extra content http://rhlstp.co.ukSee details of the RHLSTP tour dates http://richardherring.com/gigsBuy DVDs and Books at http://gofasterstripe.com See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.