Things you didn't know about... Somerset

Cheddar was a happy fluke

Legend has it that a milk maid stored a bucket of milk in Somerset's Cheddar Caves, and the constant temperature was perfect to turn it into cheese.

In Somerset they bowl at nine pins

The game of skittles, which became tenpin bowling, originated in the county. Most pubs in Somerset still have a skittle alley, where they aim at nine wooden pins instead of 10.

We are the cider drinkers

There are 32 farms in Somerset dedicated to producing the cider associated with the county. The biggest cider plant in the country is located in Shepton Mallet. The name "scrumpy" is said to come from a local word meaning "withered apple".

John Cleese's cheesy Somerset secret

The Monty Python star was born 10 miles from the Somerset village of Cheddar. His father's original surname was Cheese.

Somerset had one of the world's first scientists

Roger Bacon was born in Somerset in 1214 and made dozens of scientific discoveries in areas such as astronomy and maths.

Watch out for the Beast of Exmoor!

Since the 1960s there have been several sightings of the Beast roaming Somerset. It's believed to be a cougar or black panther that escaped from captivity, though by now it's presumably a rather elderly beast.

Somerset's full of hot air

The Somerset Willow Company crammed 50 people into its double-decker hot air balloon basket in 1987. Unsurprisingly, this broke the record for such things.

Somerset, county of letters

Evelyn Waugh, Henry Fielding, William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge all lived in Somerset. Coleridge wrote the Rime of the Ancient Mariner at Nether Stowey, Bridgwater.

King Arthur was here

The legendary monarch is said to be buried in Avalon, the mystical, mythical land around Somerset town Glastonbury.

It's the home of the hobby horse

Minehead, West Somerset, is famous for its Hobby Horse Festival in May. Dancing through the streets, the horse traps strangers and butts them or taps them with its feather, asking for contributions. Anybody who doesn't give money gets whipped by its tail.