The tour ends back in the pub for a tasting that takes us from single-variety ciders through toffee-appley Rascal to the heady flavours of 458, blending numerous varieties. Fruit-bowed trees are casting long shadows in the orchard by the time we arrive there are crisp, bittersweet apples, pungent oak barrels and the rumble of lorries unloading the harvest. The bus back to Weston stops by the village of SandfordвЂ™s gourmet Railway Inn, meeting point for tours of Thatchers (ВЈ12pp). Selection of Cheddar cheeses on sale in a store at Cheddar Gorge. Afterwards, I visit the Cheddar Gorge Cheese company, which made them (admission ВЈ2), and watch the afternoonвЂ™s whey-draining, curd-chopping and turning вЂ“ вЂњcheddaringвЂќ вЂ“ before taking some strong cheese straws up the 274 steps of JacobвЂ™s Ladder for a picnic at Pulpit rock. In one cavern, huge cloth-bound rounds of cheese are maturing. I walk beside the swollen River Yeo and, alone, through ancient, dripping caves (online adult ticket ВЈ16.95, 5-15s ВЈ12.70). The autumnal gorge is quieter than in tourist-choked summer. Next morning, I catch the 126 bus from Marine Parade through the misty Mendip hills to Cheddar Gorge (rover ticket ВЈ7).

As I walk to the Old Thatched Cottage for supper with a friend who lives locally, the wet beach glows in the setting sun like molten lava. It was the first hotel built by Sanditon-style speculators when the town became a seaside resort. The early-19th-century Royal Hotel in Weston, where IвЂ™m staying, also takes guests back in time, with wrought-iron balustrades, striped wallpaper and sunset-facing lounges. Opened in 1912, it is one of the worldвЂ™s oldest continually running cinemas: its layers of history include a shrapnel-scarred exterior, red-and-gold tin panelling and a vintage cafe. On the way back to Weston, I stop off at ClevedonвЂ™s time capsule-like Curzon. Photograph: David Porter Fine Images/Alamy вЂњI know itвЂ™s ambitious - no one has ever made an RPG where every single sword is decorative - but weвЂ™re gonna be the first.вЂќДЄt press time, BlauвЂ™s day had been further ruined when he entered a new castle area in DragonвЂ™s War adjourned with decorative swords on every wall.Steep Holm Island in the Bristol Channel. вЂњWe have been kicking this idea around for a sequel to DragonвЂ™s War where every single sword is decorative,вЂќ Adams said. Just because video games are a uniquely interactive medium doesnвЂ™t mean that we need to take advantage of that interactivity.вЂќД«ridgette Adams, an ambitious young designer working at the same studio as Billson, shares his views and actually wishes to expand on them in future titles. I mean, I guess having the sword itself as an in-game item would be a cool reward, too, but the sense of recognizing a reference is even better. вЂњItвЂ™s kind of a reward for the discerning player.

вЂњThe sword is a callback to the pre-rendered cutscene that plays if you leave the game sitting on the title screen for too long,вЂќ Billson said. Jeremy Billson, lead designer of DragonвЂ™s War, insisted the sword does, in fact, serve a purpose. So I look it up and itвЂ™s just window dressing! Like why the fuck would you go to the trouble of making such a cool looking sword and putting it in a prominent place and then not let me pick it up or even have a quest associated with it? Truly psychotic shit.вЂќ вЂњBut when I go to interact with it, there is no prompt. вЂњSo there I am on a forgotten battlefield, way out on the edge of the map, and right there on top of a hill spotlighted by the sun is the coolest fucking sword I have ever seen,вЂќ said Blau, who dreams of being the вЂsickest-looking paladinвЂ™ in the game. AMERICAN FORK, Utah - DragonвЂ™s War player Kenny Blau was devastated last night when a badass sword actually turned out to be part of the scenery.

Cool scenery