BOOK ONLINE:
ACTIVITIES | COURSES | CAMPING | VOUCHER
ALPINE LOUNGE | DOWNLOADS | LOG IN | HELP DESK | FIND US
MENDIP: IT'S EVERYONE'S ADVENTURE
Established in 1987, Mendip Activity Centre is a national activity, education and training provider setting the gold standard in adventure and training.
Our goal is to inspire everyone, everywhere, to make time for adventure.
We do this by working with schools, families, individuals, groups and teams, and aim to inspire as many as possible.
We deliver high-quality and important outdoor education with professionalism and passion through the pillars of Adventure, Learning and Training.
Our values are simple:
Respect Risk: Go safely beyond the comfort zone
Respect Nature: Protect our playground
Respect Choice: Let everyone make their choice
THE MENDIP HILLS
“A WILD LAND READY FOR ADVENTURE”
Our main site is based in the Mendip Hills National Landscape, near Bristol and Weston-super-Mare. The Mendip Hills are one of the South West's most special and diverse landscapes.
The Mendip Hills are renowned for being a stunning landscape of steep slopes and undulating plateau punctuated by spectacular gorges, rocky outcrops and ancient monuments. Wander across our land and you’ll find a thick, ancient woodland full of diverse habitats and rare grasslands, host to beautiful flowers, butterflies, and insects.
This site is now home to an indoor residential centre, three canvas villages and Mendip Basecamp, a family adventure campsite. Our 165-metre snowsports and toboggan slopes are nestled into the hillside, while the rest of our site features one of the largest disc golf courses in the UK and covered, accessible target sports ranges.
Our limestone quarry, Sandford Quarry, is an adventure playground. First quarried over one hundred years ago, it was used by the Home Guard during WWII along with Sandford Levy, an onsite cave. A short drive away is our own private watersports site, Hewish.
Since July 2022, we have raised £19573.61 to the Mendip Hills Fund and to the Mendip Access Adventure Foundation, thanks to the generosity of our visitors donating when booking.
MENDIP'S HISTORY
1987 Having had a life-long passion for Outdoor Pursuits, Jim founded Mendip Outdoor Pursuits and operated from the spare bedroom in a small, terraced house in Yatton. The first client was Redland High School in Bristol.
1988 Jim moved to a larger cottage in Congresbury and Mendip moved too, being promoted to the garage and having use of an old barn nearby to store the kayak trailer in, in return for cutting the elderly owner's lawn from time to time.
1990 Having outgrown the cottage and the garage, the next move was to a large farmhouse, near Banwell, where stables and out-buildings provided much-needed space for the growing business, as well as accommodation for the instructors.
1995 Tim joined Mendip as our first training instructor. Outdoor Instructor Training has been an important part of Mendip's values every since.
2001 Foot and Mouth disease meant that the countryside was practically closed. Our activity sites were inaccessible and we had to think very creatively in order for the business to keep going. Instead of climbing on the rocks, we erected a climbing tower in the farmhouse garden.
2006 After 15 years of sharing the farmhouse with Jim and his family, we moved to our very own location- the Barn in Congresbury. After 20 years of running the company, Jim stepped down and Dave took over.
2012 A new opportunity arrived and we moved to our current site at the Ski Centre in Churchill. A rebrand to become Mendip Activity Centre and a decade of building took place.
2018 Our next big challenge was presented when we took over the old Lyncombe Lodge Hotel. It’s now Mendip Lodge, our residential bunkhouse.
2020 Faced with uncertainty during the coronavirus outbreak, we founded Mendip Basecamp, a family adventure campsite!
2021 After nearly forty years of training instructors, we launched an Accelerated Outdoor Instructor Course, designed to equip instructors with a range of qualifications.
2022 We help to found the Mendip Access Adventure Foundation (MAAF) charity with the goal of making adventurous experiences accessible to all.
2024 Mendip acquire YHA Cheddar in their mission to inspire everyone everywhere to make time for adventure.
