Caves of the Mendip Hills The caves are recorded in the Mendip Cave Registry and Archive. The caves which are easily accessible to the public are at Cheddar Gorge and Wookey Hole, but the vast majority of the caves require specialist equipment and knowledge. Many of the caves are gated and operate leader systems in an attempt to reduce the damage caused when the caves are visited. Local caving groups organise trips and continue to discover new caverns. Some estimates put the number of cavers active on the Mendip Hills over a busy weekend at more than 500. Attempts made in the Mendip Hills to
Cheddar Gorge gorge are owned by The National Trust. Every year both of the gorge's owners contribute funds towards the clearance of scrub bush and trees from the area. Most of the commercial visitor activity in the gorge is on the Longleat-owned south side, including access to the two main commercial show caves and the visitor centre, which is operated by Longleat-owned company "Cheddar Gorge and Caves Ltd" under director Hugh Cornwell. Due to the fact that tourist numbers have dropped through the show caves from 400,000 a year in the 1980s to 150,000, in 2013 Ceawlin Thynn, Viscount Weymouth who runs