Draycott Sleights

Draycott is a village in Somerset, England, neighbouring the village of Cheddar on the southern edge of the Mendip Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. It is now the larger village in the civil parish of Rodney Stoke.

The Perch (grid reference ST480532) is a 72.1 hectare (178.2 acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest close to Cheddar Gorge in the Mendip Hills, Somerset, England. It received SSSI notification in 1990. This site is important because it supports populations of nationally rare and scarce plants, together with grassland and woodland habitats which are nationally restricted in distribution.The site is located on the south side of the Mendip Hills occupying a position on a steep-sided ridge which runs north to south. The underlying rocks are almost entirely carboniferous limestone with a small amount of Triassic dolomitic conglomerate.The nationally rare purple gromwell (Lithospermum purpurocaeruleum) and the nationally scarce Ivy Broomrape (Orobanche hederae) also occur. Three species of orchid occur in these grassland areas: the Green-winged Orchid (Orchis morio), the pyramidal orchid (Anacamptis pyramidalis) and the Autumn Ladies'-tresses (Spiranthes spiralis). Two nationally rare plants, the Cheddar pink (Dianthus gratianopolitanus) and the Cheddar bedstraw (Galium fleurotii) are found on this site, as are two nationally scarce species: the rock stonecrop (Sedum forsterianum) and the spring cinquefoil (Potentilla tabernaemontani).This variety of habitats ensures that a wide range of fauna occurs on the site. In total 22 species of mammal have been recorded including a strong population of dormouse (Muscardinus avellanarius) and five species of bat, including the Greater Horseshoe bat (Rhinolophus ferrumequinum) and Lesser Horseshoe bat (Rhinolophus hipposideros) which use the site for feeding. One small roost of lesser horseshoe bats is known. Both species of horseshoe bat are nationally rare. Thirty species of birds are known to breed within this site and at least 23 species of butterfly breed here.

Kingdown and Middledown (grid reference ST480532) is a 5.7 hectare (14.1 acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest near Cheddar in the Mendip Hills, Somerset, notified in 1991. This site, which is in two parts, is situated on the plateau of the Mendip Hills and supports populations of two nationally rare plant species. Kingdown is at the end of a dry valley where Carboniferous Limestone outcrops as a small cliff, opposite which is a small disused limestone quarry. Covering some of the rock outcrops are clumps of Cheddar Pink (Dianthus gratianopolitanus), which is a nationally rare species. The nationally scarce species Soft-leaved Sedge (Carex montana) and Cheddar Bedstraw (Galium fleurotii) are also found here.

Westbury Camp is a univallate Iron Age hill fort in the Mendip Hills in Somerset, England. The hill fort is situated in the parish of Rodney Stoke, approximately 1 mile (1.6 km) north-east of the village of Draycott and 1.5 miles (2.4 km) north-west of Westbury-sub-Mendip. The camp is largely situated in a hill slope. The north east defences have largely been destroyed by small quarries over the years. The narrow top of the hill bank suggests that it may have been surmounted by a dry stone wall. Along part of the east side of the camp there are traces of a berm between the bank and the outer ditch and at the western angle shallow quarry pits occur internally and externally set back from the 'rampart'.

Rodney Stoke (grid reference ST492507) is a 69.6 hectare (172.0 acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest, just north of the village of Rodney Stoke in the Mendip Hills, Somerset, notified in 1957. Part of the site is a national nature reserve and part a Nature Conservation Review Woodland site. This site supports a mosaic of ancient semi-natural broadleaved woodland, scrub and species-rich unimproved grassland. Rodney Stoke occupies steep south west facing slopes of the Mendip Hills. The underlying rock types belong to the dolomitic conglomerate facies of the Triassic, and to the Carboniferous Limestone series. The latter are restricted to the woodlands Big Stoke and Little Stoke, which along with Calve's Plot Wood are ancient woodland sites. Big Stoke and Little Stoke were almost entirely clear-felled during World War I. Two nationally rare plants occur at Rodney Stoke: purple gromwell (Lithospermum purpurocaeruleum) and the endemic whitebeam (Sorbus anglica). The site supports a diverse fauna. Badgers (Meles meles) are common and two or three setts are occupied each year. Noctule bats (Nyctalus noctula) and pipistrelle bats (Pipistrellus pipistrellus) roost in Big Stoke. Breeding birds include buzzard (Buteo buteo) and spotted flycatcher (Muscicapa striata). Small enclosures and tall hedges provide sheltered conditions that are ideal for many species of invertebrate. Butterflies are well represented with marbled white (Melanargia galathea), purple hairstreak (Quercusia quercus), brown argus (Aricia agestis) and grayling (Hipparchia semele).

Draycott railway station was a station on the Bristol and Exeter Railway's Cheddar Valley line in Draycott, Somerset. The station was opened with the extension of the broad gauge line from Cheddar to Wells in April 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. The Yatton to Witham line closed to passengers in 1963, though goods traffic passed through to Cheddar until 1969. Draycott station, one of the smaller stations on the line, is now in residential use and still boasts many of the original Bristol and Exeter Railway features.

Rodney Stoke is a small village and civil parish, located at grid reference ST486501, 5 miles north-west of Wells, in the English county of Somerset. The village is on the A371 between Draycott and Westbury-sub-Mendip. The parish includes the larger village of Draycott. South of the A371 the parish includes an area of the Somerset Levels, extending to the River Axe. North of the A371 the southern slopes of the Mendip Hills rise to an area of the parish on the Mendip plateau. The parish is therefore an area of high biodiversity supporting local rare species of plants and animal life.

Reservoir Hole is a cave in Cheddar Gorge in Somerset, southwest England. It contains what is believed to be the largest chamber yet found under the Mendip Hills. The cave was first dug out in 1951 by members of Wessex Cave Club, and further progress was made in 1965 when "Moonmilk Chamber" was reached with the use of blasting. "Grand Gallery" was discovered in 1969, "Topless Aven" in 1970 and "Golgotha Rift" in 1973.In September 2012, after four years' work clearing a 100 metres (330 ft) long passage, a group of diggers broke into a new chamber which was found to be 30 metres (98 ft) high and 60 metres (200 ft) long. Prior to the discovery, the largest void under the Mendip Hills was thought to be "Main Chamber" in GB Cave, which is 23 metres (75 ft) high. Before the find in 2012, the cave was already noted for a number of fine formations, and the newly discovered chamber, which has been named “The Frozen Deep”, contains pure-white pillars 5 metres (16 ft) tall, as well as many stalagmites and stalactites.The possibility of a connection between Reservoir Hole and Gough's Cave, one of the show caves in Cheddar Gorge, has been raised, as the two caves are in close proximity. The stream in Reservoir Hole emerges only a short distance down Cheddar Gorge.

Cheddar Ales is an independent, artisanal brewery located in the village of Cheddar in Somerset, England, which produces a range of regular and seasonal beers. Its owner and head brewer, Jem Ham, previously worked 15 years at another local brewery before going out on his own.

Gough's Cave ( GOF) is located in Cheddar Gorge on the Mendip Hills, in Cheddar, Somerset, England. The cave is 115 m (377 ft) deep and is 3.405 km (2.12 mi) long, and contains a variety of large chambers and rock formations. It contains the Cheddar Yeo, the largest underground river system in Britain.

Cheddar Gorge is a limestone gorge in the Mendip Hills, near the village of Cheddar, Somerset, England. The gorge is the site of the Cheddar show caves, where Britain's oldest complete human skeleton, Cheddar Man, estimated to be 9,000 years old, was found in 1903. Older remains from the Upper Late Palaeolithic era (12,000–13,000 years ago) have been found. The caves, produced by the activity of an underground river, contain stalactites and stalagmites. The gorge is part of a Site of Special Scientific Interest called Cheddar Complex.Cheddar Gorge, including the caves and other attractions, has become a tourist destination. In a 2005 poll of Radio Times readers, following its appearance on the television programme Seven Natural Wonders (2005), Cheddar Gorge was named as the second greatest natural wonder in Britain, surpassed only by Dan yr Ogof caves. The gorge attracts about 500,000 visitors per year.

Fairlands Middle School is a coeducational middle school with roughly 522 pupils aged between 9 and 13 in 2012, located in Cheddar, Somerset, England. The school, which was established in 1976, is a middle-deemed-secondary school, meaning that it takes pupils of secondary school age while providing both Key Stage 2 and Key Stage 3 education. Fairlands is part of the Cheddar Valley Community Learning Partnership, a three-tier education system which comprises nine first schools, two middle schools and one secondary school. Pupils enter Fairlands from first schools in Cheddar and the nearby villages of Draycott, Shipham and Axbridge. In year 9 pupils move to The Kings of Wessex Academy, also in Cheddar.