Axbridge

Axbridge railway station was a station on the Bristol and Exeter Railway's Cheddar Valley line in Axbridge, Somerset. Axbridge was one of the principal stations for the transport of strawberries, which led to the line's alternative name as The Strawberry Line. The station was opened with the broad gauge line to Cheddar in August 1869 as a two-platform station. The railway was extended to Wells in 1870, converted to standard gauge in the mid-1870s and then linked up to the East Somerset Railway to provide through services from Yatton to Witham in 1878. All the railways involved were absorbed into the Great Western Railway in the 1870s. This in turn was nationalised into the Western Region of British Railways on 1 January 1948.

Axbridge Town Hall is a municipal building in The Square in Axbridge, Somerset, England. The building, which is the meeting place of Axbridge Town Council, is a Grade II listed building.

King John's Hunting Lodge is a wool-merchant's house built c. 1460, long after the death of King John in 1216, in Axbridge, a town in the English county of Somerset. It is a jettied timber-frame building of three storeys, occupying a corner plot on the town square. The building has served a variety of purposes with shops on the ground floor and workshops and living quarters on the first and second floors. At one time part of the building was occupied by the King's Head Inn; a sculpture of a king's head, which acted as a sign for the pub, is preserved within and a replica is attached to the outside. The lodge was bequeathed to the National Trust in 1971, and repairs were undertaken to reverse significant deterioration to the building. The house is leased by the National Trust to Axbridge and District Museum Trust, who operate it as a local museum which includes exhibits relating to local geology and history from the Neolithic to World War II. It is a Grade II* listed building.

Axbridge Hill and Fry's Hill (grid reference ST433555) is a 64.8-hectare (160-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest in the Mendip Hills, Somerset, notified in 1990. The hills are above the town of Axbridge, immediately to the east of Shute Shelve Hill. This is a nationally important botanical site, for both vascular and non-vascular plants, situated on the southern escarpment of the Mendip Hills. It also contains a roosting site for two nationally rare species of bat and a wide range of butterfly species. The very thin soils here support populations of one nationally rare species, Cheddar bedstraw (Galium fleurotii) and four nationally scarce species, pale St John's wort (Hypericum montanum), sea storksbill (Erodium maritimum), dwarf mouse-ear (Cerastium pumilum) and spring cinquefoil (Potentilla tabernaemontani). There is a roosting site for greater horseshoe bat (Rhinolophus ferrumequinum) and lesser horseshoe bat R. hipposideros, both of which are nationally rare. Dormice (Muscardinus avellanarius) are found in the woodland. Twenty-five species of butterfly have been recorded and these include: brown argus (Aricia agestis), green hairstreak (Callophrys rubi), dark green fritillary (Argynnis aglaja) and marbled white (Melanargia galathea).

Shute Shelve Cavern is a natural cave system located in Shute Shelve Hill, Somerset, England, above Axbridge in the Mendip Hills not far from Cheddar. The phreatic cave contains fossils of speleothems over 350,000 years old.It was mined for its yellow ochre which was used as a dye in paint making, until the 1920s, which gave it its alternative name of Axbridge Ochre Mine. Access is controlled by the Axbridge Caving Group via a locked gate and completely closed during the bats' roosting season. Chamber 1 has taped areas shows scallops to the right and miners supports and a large geode up to the left. Chamber 2 is a large rift with taped off areas for conservation. Further areas are known as Box Tunnel and Elm Street. Carcass Cave dig is virtually feet away which used a monorail system, ladders and platforms.

Cheddar Reservoir is an artificial reservoir in Somerset, England, operated by Bristol Water. Dating from the 1930s it has a capacity of 1350 million gallons (6,140,000 cubic metres). The reservoir is supplied with water taken from the Cheddar Yeo river in Cheddar Gorge. The inlet grate for the 54 inches (1.4 m) water pipe that is used to transport the water can be seen immediately upstream from the sensory garden in Cheddar Gorge. It lies to the west of the village of Cheddar and south east of the town of Axbridge. Because of this it is sometimes known as Axbridge Reservoir. It is roughly circular in shape, and surrounded by large earth banks which are grazed by sheep.

Cheddar Wood (grid reference ST445552) is an 86.9-hectare (215-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest at Cheddar in the Mendip Hills, Somerset, England, notified in 1967. Cheddar Wood and the smaller Macall's Wood near Cheddar Gorge are what remains of the wood of the Bishops of Bath and Wells in the thirteenth century and of King Edmund the Magnificent's wood in the tenth. It lies on carboniferous limestone with rock showing through the thin topsoils. In 1801 the wood was larger than it is today. During the nineteenth century its lower fringes were grubbed out to make strawberry fields, most of which have reverted to woodland. It was coppiced until 1917.This site comprises a range of habitats which includes ancient and secondary semi-natural broadleaved woodland, unimproved neutral grassland and a mosaic of calcareous grassland and acidic dry dwarf-shrub heath. Two nationally rare plant species are present. Additional interest lies in the invertebrate fauna. Cheddar Wood is one of only a few English stations for starved wood-sedge (Carex depauperata), which grows in the lane along the east side of the wood. The nationally rare purple gromwell (Lithospermum purpurocaeruleum) grows in the lane along the west side of the wood.Butterflies include silver-washed fritillary (Argynnis paphia), dark green fritillary (Argynnis aglaja), pearl-bordered fritillary (Boloria euphrosyne), holly blue (Celastrina argiolus) and brown argus (Aricia agestis). The slug Arion fasciatus, which has a restricted distribution in the south of England, and the soldier beetle Cantharis fusca also occur.The site is managed as two nature reserves by Somerset Wildlife Trust Cheddar Wood Edge which covers 7.1 hectares (18 acres) of old strawberry fields, is now reverting to semi species-rich limestone grassland and scrub with ancient woodland hedges, and Cheddar Wood itself which has restricted access allowed by permit.

Callow Rock quarry is a limestone quarry located in Shipham Gorge between Cheddar and Shipham on the Mendip Hills, Somerset, England. The quarry has been operating since the early 20th century primarily as a Lime quarry producing a quality product of high purity for the chemical industry. It is now operated by Bardon Aggregates. In 1922 a plant was built to make hydrated lime. It also now contains a large concrete production plant. Local residents driving past on Shipham Hill always know to be wary of treacherous driving conditions caused by mud on the road from quarry vehicle wheels.

Sidcot School is a British co-educational private school for boarding and day pupils, associated with the Religious Society of Friends. It is one of seven Quaker schools in England. The school is based in the Mendip Hills near the village of Winscombe, Somerset and caters for children between the ages of 3 and 18. Children aged from 3 to 11 are educated in Sidcot Junior School, which is located on its own site adjacent to the main campus. About 130 of the school's 525 pupils (2010) are in this junior school. In the senior school, nearly half of the 395 pupils are boarders. Over 29 different countries are represented making up 25% of the school. Boarders board in the grounds in one of the 6 boarding houses. The girls' houses are Newcombe, School House Girls and Meadowside, and the boys' are School House Boys and Wing House. Although a Quaker School, pupils come from a variety of different faiths and cultures. All pupils are expected to join in with a short Meeting for Worship every Friday morning instead of assembly. Prior to September 2013, Sidcot school operated a 3 house system named after explorers: Nansen, Shackleton and Rhodes. A new House system was introduced at the beginning of the 2013 Autumn term. There are four houses in the revised house system named after the cardinal points of the compass: North, East, South and West, each house has a colour: Blue, Yellow, Green and Red respectively. The houses are mainly used for sports days and house matches of sport. One of the principal aims behind the new system is to allow greater interaction between students in the Senior and Junior Schools. The introduction of House Assemblies at points in the term facilitates students to work together within their Houses. All staff are aligned to a House and given the opportunity to participate in its life as well as support House events. In addition to its sports centre that houses a 25m pool and equestrian facilities, Sidcot has built a new creative arts block, with extensive drama, art and music facilities, which opened in June 2009. It is open to the public for exhibitions, courses and workshops. Many past pupils and teachers are members of the Sidcotians (Alumni Network).

Winscombe is a large village in the North Somerset unitary district of Somerset, South West England, close to the settlements of Axbridge and Cheddar, on the western edge of the Mendip Hills, 7 miles (11 km) southeast of Weston-super-Mare and 14 miles (23 km) southwest of Bristol. The Parish of Winscombe and Sandford, centred on the Parish Church of Church of St James the Great, includes the villages/hamlets of Barton, Hale, Oakridge, Nye, Sidcot and Woodborough.Winscombe has a few shops and businesses focused in the centre of the village, along Woodborough Road and Sandford Road. There is a doctor's surgery in the village, a vet and two dentists. West of the village is the Max Bog biological Site of Special Scientific Interest.

Winscombe and Sandford is a civil parish in Somerset, England. It includes the villages of Winscombe and Sandford. The parish has a population of 4,546.

Weare is a village and civil parish in Somerset, England, on the River Axe, south of the Mendip Hills. Other settlements in the parish are the village of Lower Weare, the hamlets of Alston Sutton, Brinscombe, and Sparrow Hill, and part of the hamlet of Stone Allerton.