I've wanted to visit Wookey Hole Caves ever since Christmas Day 1986, when I received Doctor Who: Revenge of the Cybermen on video. Starring Tom Baker as the Doctor, the story was part-filmed in the famous show caves, which stood in for Voga - "the legendary planet of gold". And while the "gold" that littered the caves in the story was nothing more than the product of the BBC's design department, plenty of real-life treasures have been discovered in Wookey Hole Caves over the years.
Formed over millions of years, as rainwater percolated through the sedimentary rocks, Wookey Hole Caves and the area surrounding it has been home to humans and animals for the past 50,000 years. Discoveries made here have included prehistoric remains, stone age tools, iron age artefacts, roman coins and pottery, and a 1,000-year-old skeleton.
Although the remains, which were discovered by Herbert E Balch who led excavations there in the first half of the 20th century, belong to a man aged 25-35, they are often claimed to be the bones of the legendary Witch of Wookey Hole who is said to have lived in the caves at the same time.
Esta historia es de la edición October 2023 de Best of British.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 8500 revistas y periódicos.
Ya eres suscriptor ? Conectar
Esta historia es de la edición October 2023 de Best of British.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 8500 revistas y periódicos.
Ya eres suscriptor? Conectar
"A Personal Stab of Shock and Horror"
Chris Hallam looks back on the British reaction to President Kennedy's assassination
A BUILDING BONANZA
Claire Saul samples some of the entries in a new publication from the National Trust
ON TARGET
Russell Cook browses through 50 years of a publishing phenomenon
The Rise and Fall of Poole Pottery
Steve Annandale charts the history of what was, by the 1990s, Dorset's most significant tourist attraction
DOCTOR HO-HO!
Robert Ross takes a swift spin through some of the comedy stars who have stumbled into the Tardis
The Three Ronnies
Martin Handley celebrates the talents of a trio of composers
A RARE OLD SCRAMBLE
Colin Allan has fond memories of tuning in to Grandstand to watch scrambling on winter afternoons in the sport's golden age of the 1960s
THE ULTIMATE RESPONSE
Roger Harvey nominates a sculpture in his native Newcastle as the most poignant and powerful memorial to duty and heroism
POSTCARD FROM CHESHIRE
Bob Barton finds out about subsidence, timber-framed buildings, boat lifts, waterways and Lewis Carroll, taking it all with a pinch of salt
OVER HERE
Michael Foley looks back at how the people of East Anglia reacted to the American \"invasion\" during World War Two that saw the building of dozens of airfields