When I was a kid we took a little holiday down to Somerset to visit Cheddar Gorge. At the time my Dad was driving an Isuzu Trooper, this was a 4x4 flavoured vehicle. We loaded up the car and set off in the general direction of Somerset.

Now, forgive me for not being too descriptive, but I can't remember much of the journey there, other than that I had my designated seat behind my Mother, who was in the passenger seat. My Brother was stationed behind my Father, who was operating the vehicle. My Sister, who was very young at the time, was sat smack bang in the middle of my Brother and I. In those days we needed to be separated during car journeys because of the fighting and bickering and getting my arse kicked severely that would likely ensue.

At some point during the journey we stopped at this place called Wookey Hole, which is like a scaled down version of the Cheddar Gorge and Caves. There was some story about the hole being associated with witches and their ilk. It was quite an enjoyable experience, and after this we made our way to Weston-super-Mare. This is a dreary seaside town, the type of place where the nostalgia hangs in the air like a particularly strong fart. The faded glory of yesteryear is imbued in every square inch of asphalt, in every brick of every building. It was a thoroughly depressing place back then, and I can't imagine that time has looked favourably upon Weston-super-Mare.

My Father became rather lost and disorientated behind the wheel. We had ended up on this coastal road that took us out of the town and towards the most despicable place on Earth: Wales. The signs along the side of the road warned us that we were approaching toll booths, so my Father decided to turn back the way that we had travelled from. The only way to do this was to turn off onto a muddy bank and perform a U-turn.

So we did. As soon as the car hit the wet mud, my Dad kicked it into 4WD mode. This worked a right treat, and it was also the first time we had experienced all wheel action. My Brother, in particular, was very excited by what we had just witnessed. We were back on the main road, heading into Weston-super-Mare now, all thanks to the 4 wheel drive U-turn of absolute fury. "Who wants to do that again?" asked my Dad. "Me! Me! Me!" came the response from my Brother. To be honest, I could have taken it or left it, I just wanted to get to the Cheddar Gorge and Caves. But anyway, it was decided that we were going to take a second off-road detour.

A short distance along, we found an almost identical off-road section, snaking amongst some large trees. The cliffs were to our right now, downhill from the muddy banks and the tree lined road. We turned off from the road and onto the wet mud once again. And once again my Dad moved through the gears into 4WD mode. The car breached the crest of the muddy bank and then suddenly became stuck in the mud. My Dad tried desperately to get some purchase on the boggy ground, but to no avail. Without warning, the car began to slide downhill, towards the cliff edge. Well, we were actually heading for one of the trees. The car would not deviate from it's predetermined course, and we braced ourselves for impact.

The driver's side of the car smashed into the tree, sending shards of glass inward towards us, the passengers. My Dad was showered in a hail of glass and metal fragments, as was my Brother. Me, being on the other side of the car, did not experience any glass injuries, but somehow my nose had started to bleed. You can imagine how this must have looked to my Sister, who had just witnessed her Dad and eldest Brother get covered in glass and who were subsequently bleeding as a result.

After the initial shock had subsided, we checked to see if everyone was ok. My Dad had some rather nasty cuts on his right arm and hand, but he seemed alright considering the circumstances. We drove into town and bought some polythene sheets and duct tape to fix up the windows for the drive home. We never got to see Cheddar Gorge and Caves, but we were gifted with a lasting impression of Weston-super-Mare as being a rather unlucky place to visit.

Here is a picture of the crash site. As you can see, it is visible from space: