UK: Cheddar Gorge - Why Tacky?
Jul 21st, 2006, 06:32 AM
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UK: Cheddar Gorge - Why Tacky?
In a recent post about Europe's tackiest things several Brits piped up by putting the Cheddar Gorge right up there as amongst Europe's cheesiest places.
I've been traveling around Britain annually since 1969 and thought i knew most famous places but never heard of the Cheddar Gorge or why it is tacky - i assume near the entrance there is a parade of souvenir shops, ice cream trucks, etc. but really have no idea.
Someone please enlighten me about the Cheddar Gorge and not just why some may call it tacky but is it worth going out of my way for - can you walk thru it, drive, boat, etc.
thanks in advance.
I've been traveling around Britain annually since 1969 and thought i knew most famous places but never heard of the Cheddar Gorge or why it is tacky - i assume near the entrance there is a parade of souvenir shops, ice cream trucks, etc. but really have no idea.
Someone please enlighten me about the Cheddar Gorge and not just why some may call it tacky but is it worth going out of my way for - can you walk thru it, drive, boat, etc.
thanks in advance.
Jul 21st, 2006, 06:34 AM
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Jul 21st, 2006, 06:46 AM
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thanks Ira - the site gives me a picture of what's there and the gorge looks great and the caves look to be extensive and interesting. But i didn't see, of course on the site why it's tacky but now have an idea if it's a mass 'family' attraction like others in UK with a plethora of 'cheesy' stuff at the entrance perhaps.
Jul 21st, 2006, 11:38 AM
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exactly my sentiments - that's why i want to learn more about the perceived tackiness - it may be the deciding factor whether i go there or not. Sometimes tacky is indeed a lot of fun, at least for me.
Jul 21st, 2006, 11:55 AM
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I agree Dukey - now that it has been mentioned as a well-known sight in Britain i have to go there just to see it and what it is - the same reason i went to the Bronte moors last year and Haworth, which i found delightful but could also be considered tacky in the parade of souvenir shops, etc. lining what would have been a neat old stone-built High Street.
Deborah
Jul 21st, 2006, 08:51 PM
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It's the crap
ubstance ratio.
The Cheddar Gorge is a pleasant phenomenon: a sudden bit of mild drama along a road which before and after is standard Cotswold-fringe undulating greenery (or at least it was back in the days when England was green and we had rain).
In the era before you could get to the Alps from Bristol for about 2p (before adding on the Ryanair "let's make a profit" supplement) it must have been very dramatic: now it looks a bit like some other generation's idea of spectacle, but...)
To drive into it you have to go through this picket line of shops which are pretty low on the tackiness rating by most standards. But rural Britain has few similar yuk strips, so it strikes us as pretty nasty.
I'd have thought, even for hardcore tackomaniacs, Cheddar wouldn't quite whelm. But the Gorge looks a bit mimsy these days as well, so it's the sheer quantity of tack relative to the limited interest of the attraction that strikes an odd note.
Good thing is, you're handy for places like Wells, or the Street Outlet Centre (now there's tack). Also for Glastonbury, where the juxtaposition of conventional English banks with acres of New Age lunacy (most doing specials on divining rods or Better Witchcraft manuals) creates a whole new world of tack.
Of course Glastonbury's been at it longer. It's no coincidence its monks discovered King Arthur's grave there only a year or two after Canterbury overtook its share of the inbound pilgrim market by creating the Beckett industry.
ubstance ratio.The Cheddar Gorge is a pleasant phenomenon: a sudden bit of mild drama along a road which before and after is standard Cotswold-fringe undulating greenery (or at least it was back in the days when England was green and we had rain).
In the era before you could get to the Alps from Bristol for about 2p (before adding on the Ryanair "let's make a profit" supplement) it must have been very dramatic: now it looks a bit like some other generation's idea of spectacle, but...)
To drive into it you have to go through this picket line of shops which are pretty low on the tackiness rating by most standards. But rural Britain has few similar yuk strips, so it strikes us as pretty nasty.
I'd have thought, even for hardcore tackomaniacs, Cheddar wouldn't quite whelm. But the Gorge looks a bit mimsy these days as well, so it's the sheer quantity of tack relative to the limited interest of the attraction that strikes an odd note.
Good thing is, you're handy for places like Wells, or the Street Outlet Centre (now there's tack). Also for Glastonbury, where the juxtaposition of conventional English banks with acres of New Age lunacy (most doing specials on divining rods or Better Witchcraft manuals) creates a whole new world of tack.
Of course Glastonbury's been at it longer. It's no coincidence its monks discovered King Arthur's grave there only a year or two after Canterbury overtook its share of the inbound pilgrim market by creating the Beckett industry.
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