A Windy Night Above Cheddar Gorge (Skjul Bivvi Camp)

This walk and camp took me to a gorge that has been on my to-do list for a few years now. Ever since driving to and from Bristol Airport, I’ve often found myself looking at this place on the map.

Since driving through the road that winds below Cheddar Gorge in Somerset, I’d looked up and thought it would be a wonderful place to explore and spend a night. I’ve often returned to it on the map, studying the paths around the gorge, looking for the quieter areas and trying to work out where a good place would be to settle for the evening.

It was a midweek day in late April. The sun was out, but there was still a chilly spring feel to the air. My hope was that it would be quiet and the perfect time to finally explore the area properly.

I entered the gorge from the town, deciding to begin at Jacob’s Ladder, which is a steep flight of 274 steps leading to the top. This would get my legs moving and my heart pumping. My thinking was that this side was the most popular and accessible, and probably not the place I’d want to stay for the night.

It contained lots of flat grassy viewpoint areas and somewhere I could pass through before heading further along the cliff tops towards the quieter side of the gorge.

The first thing I passed was the lookout tower when I reached the top. It was locked up, so I continued along the path, embedded with large rounded rocks that had been exposed and worn smooth over the years.

Once I reached the plateau, the view opened up. The opposite cliff face became visible, and the shiny surface of Cheddar Reservoir could be seen in the distance on the far side of the town.

What I noticed very quickly was the wind. It was a very windy day and it remained that way until I descended the following morning. As I continued higher, the views opened up even more and kept getting better. The path widened and there were many large flat grassy areas to picnic on all along the top.

There were dips in the grass, small viewpoints dotted around and lots of places that would have made perfect spots to stop for the evening. There were only a handful of people at the top. Some were just passing through, while a few were sat around enjoying the view.

I continued along the Cliff Top Gorge Walk. By this point, I had already begun my litter pick and was finding the odd bit of rubbish in this beautiful place.

Because of the wind, I was glad I wasn’t planning on staying on this side too long. I could even see the waters of the Bristol Channel in the far distance. I had read about the wild goats that live around the gorge and I was hoping to see them very soon.

As I began descending from the top towards the road, the flat open grass areas slowly gave way to more foliage. Bluebells were still in bloom beneath the trees and bushes, and the scrub was getting denser.

It was then that I spotted my first group of goats. There were four altogether, just leaving the path and heading into the undergrowth of a small valley side. They were long-haired and smaller than I expected. I watched them for a short while feeding on leaves before moving on again.

I still had a few hours before it would get too dark, but I also had a lot more to explore. The Cliff Top Gorge Walk led down to the bottom of the gorge, crossed over the road and headed into Black Rock Nature Reserve.

I had two choices here. I could either head up some steps back to the top of the cliff and continue along the cliff top, but it was then that a local asked if I needed directions. He mentioned the quarry was only a few minutes away and said both routes were nice, and that I’d be able to rejoin the Cliff Top Walk from the quarry, so I changed plans and headed that way instead.

I followed the path past the old derelict kiln, which was fenced off with warning signs around it. A little further on, the valley opened up into Black Rock Quarry, with its huge stone walls and flat grassy areas below.

There was no one around, but from the fire pits and old beer cans, it was safe to say this was a popular place for people to socialise. But not a place for me to stay around.

I tried finding a route that lead back to the cliff tops, but as my sense of direction is non-existent, the route I followed only took me back to the same path I had entered on.

While checking the map, I suddenly heard what sounded like a bird calling from the trees beside me.

It sounded almost like it was mocking me. I thought it must have been an escaped parrot or myna bird. I ignored it for a bit, but it continued. The curiosity got to me and I had to find out what it was and where it was coming from.

I walked up the bank and closer to the tree to investigate. Eventually, I realised it was the tree making the noise and not a bird at all. The branches had grown in a way that they rubbed together as the tree moved in the wind.

I felt odd, and probably looked even odder, standing halfway up the bank staring into a tree while a couple walked past.

Once I was satisfied I’d found the source of the noise, I carried on. At the end of the valley was a gate leading into Long Wood Nature Reserve. I really hoped this would lead me back onto the cliff top path again.

It eventually did, but I had wandered quite a way from the gorge itself. Along the paths and fields, I spotted foxes, more goats, deer and several areas that looked like they would make quiet sheltered places to stop for the evening.

Finally, the gorge came back into sight again. As I got closer to the town, I started seeing hill runners coming up the paths. I’d already identified a few quieter areas away from the main routes, so I slowed my walk as they passed me before making a sharp turn off the path towards Piney Sleight, which is an area that sits above the northern cliffs.

I came across a maze of narrow grassy walkways winding through hawthorn bushes, gorse and small patched of woodland that would have been pretty creepy at night.

I saw cows grazing some distance away in the corner of a field and passed a large patch of bluebells before eventually finding an area that looked promising.

The wind was still strong and cold. I’d been wearing my fleece and hat for most of the afternoon. The bushes around me gave some protection, even though the wind still found its way through from all directions.

The place I chose was quite tucked away. It wasn’t far from one of the smaller paths, but the uneven ground, bushes and scrub between myself and the path made it very unlikely that someone would wander through here late at night.

I really liked this spot because it gave me a partial view of the gorge. The moon had already appeared above the landscape and, in the far distance, I could make out the unmistakable shape of Glastonbury Tor.

This was the place.

Quiet tucked-away spots like this are usually the places I end up enjoying most.

You can read more about that here in The Way I Wild Camp – Quiet, Stealth and Low Impact.

Before I set up the bivvi, I sat down and ate my soup and sandwiches while looking back across the gorge towards the areas where I had started at the beginning of the day.

Even though it was late and beginning to get dark, I could still see people walking along the top paths and occasional flashes from cameras. I’d definitely made the right decision not to stay on that side.

As I was setting up the bivvi, I was in a constant battle with the wind, which kept picking up the fabric and throwing it into nearby bushes before I had the chance to peg it down properly.

When I arrived home, I checked the overnight wind speeds around Cheddar Gorge and they had reached roughly 25–30 mph (40–48 km/h). This turned out to be a good test for the Nortent Skjul.

I recently wrote a full long-term review of the Nortent Skjul after using it across different UK conditions.

The wind continued battering the bivvi throughout the night. The fabric constantly flapped as the gusts found a way through the scrub around me. It was pretty noisy and definitely made it harder to fall asleep.

Later during the night, I unzipped the top to look out across the gorge, but it quickly became obvious that it wasn’t a good idea as the flap kept getting flipped around by the wind.

In the morning, the wind still hadn’t died down, and I had to find a sheltered spot for the stove in order to boil some water for coffee.

Once the coffee was finished and everything packed away, it was a short quiet walk back down towards the town of Cheddar and where I had parked. It was nice to finally be out of the wind after listening to it hammering the bivvi all night.

Even with the rough conditions, it had been a brilliant trip. I’d picked a great day with very few people around and finally got to fully explore both sides of Cheddar Gorge after the many years of looking at it on maps.

I had hoped to take home some local Cheddar cheese, but it was still early and all the shops were closed.

The gorge is a different type of landscape to what I’ve explored before, and one I’d love to return to again.

A Gentle Encouragement

If you have any questions, feel free to get in touch via social media or the contact page.

I appreciate you taking the time to read this, and I’d genuinely like to hear your thoughts – good or bad.

Thanks again,
Dan