10 years of the Cheddar Village web site

The 1st June 2014 marks the 10th anniversary of the launch of this web site, and the webmaster Martin Kay has been reflecting on how it has developed over the years.

He begins “The site started initially as a simple resource for accommodation providers, with all local B&Bs and campsites listed in one place, and as time moved on, other pages such as useful local links, transport, and things to do and see, were added in to make it more of a properly-maintained and holistic local community site covering all bases. Previously no such site existed, which for a place as important as Cheddar seemed wrong.”

The Cheddar Village web site, first edition, 2004

Martin points out that whilst the parish council has a web site, it only covers the routine business of the council and the Parish Clerk would not have the time or resources to run a web portal of the type that cheddarvillage has become. He notes “Cheddar is an internationally known name yet surprisingly many people - particularly from overseas - discover the site, not previously being aware of the associations between the village, the gorge, and the cheese. I believe cheddarvillage was one of the country’s earliest examples of what have now become known as “hyperlocal web sites” - that is, sites with a narrow geographical focus that cover the interests of its residents and visitors.

“The first edition of the site, as shown above, was developed in a time long before social media was even a thing, and Twitter and Facebook had not arrived on the scene. As social media grew in importance, so did the availability of plug-in and add-on features that enabled the site to echo local press coverage, provide live flat-shares, job and property listings and many other information feeds from other organisations. The site has no news-gathering function of its own so will rarely be the place to discover breaking news, but does try to curate stories which really matter to Cheddar residents and to South-West rural communities in general.

“The site’s own Twitter feed @cheddarvillage began in 2009, has now sent over 4000 tweets and has approaching 1000 followers. Since 2006 the site has also operated the Cheddar Village weather station on the Weather Underground network, providing up-to-date information on weather conditions and a weather webcam image, which has been well used by local walkers, cavers, and climbers.

“The initial editions of the site were somewhat laborious to maintain so three years ago the site was transferred to the WordPress platform which makes it much easier to hop in and out and make changes and updates at a moment’s notice. The site has always been a non-profit enterprise, with hosting and maintenance costs paid for by local advertising, and the site is especially keen to support the small trader and local business.

“Awareness of the site has grown by word of mouth over the years and more and more advertisers are now coming on board. It’s not only businesses that are getting involved, but other local groups such as Rotary, Lions, and My Cheddar, have all made use of the site to promote community events.

As for the future, Martin hopes to continue maintaining and improving the site for years to come. He says “I’m sure that more new web technologies and changes in society will keep coming along, that the site will need to connect with. A list of local places to hire a self-driving Google car perhaps? Or maybe when we run out of fossil fuels, a schedule of whose solar panels are powering the village today!”

Finances are tight so no birthday cake or lavish celebrations are planned for the anniversary but Martin says “he might treat himself to a Somerset cream tea from one of our excellent local cafés”.