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00:00Greetings people of Somerset. Good afternoon. It's Daniel Mumby, your local democracy reporter,
00:06a little later than expected. We are in the village of Easton, a few miles outside Wales,
00:12in the shadow of the Mendip Hills. It is a cloudy, drizzly, blustery day, and we are here
00:19for the opening of a new section of the Strawberry Line active travel route, stretching all the way
00:24to the neighbouring village of Westbury-sub-Mendip. I was hoping to bring you coverage of the opening
00:28ceremony, which is being held just in front of us there in Easton Village Hall, but unfortunately the
00:34mobile signal out here in the sticks is a little patchy. However, you have not missed the best bit,
00:39because now that the line is officially open, we are going to be walking all the way to
00:44Westbury-sub-Mendip in the next 20 minutes or so, and during that time, as I have to shout
00:50over the microphone, I hope to give you more details about this new stretch which is open.
00:55So, to give you a bit of background, if you've never heard of the Strawberry Line,
01:00the Strawberry Line currently stretches uninterrupted all the way from Yutton railway
01:04station in North Somerset through to the southern edge of Cheddar, but there are several sections
01:10which are in place on the route all the way to Shepton Mallet. There is a section at the eastern
01:16edge of Wales heading out to Dulkards, there is a section heading towards Shepton Mallet from Ridge
01:22Road, and there is this section here with the Mendip Hills just to our north, which is intended
01:28to take pedestrians, cyclists, people with mobility scooters away from the busy and often dangerous
01:35E371 which runs between Cheddar and Wales. It's one of the busiest roads in this part of rural
01:41Somerset, it has a terrible accident record, and a lot of it has no pavements. I'm having to shout
01:47because there are crosswinds blowing right across the microphone. Thank you in advance for bearing
01:52with me, and if you have any questions about the information that I'm relaying, please just drop
01:57them in the comments. I will get to as many of them as I can in real time, and the rest I will
02:02respond to once this is posted permanently on the Somerset Life Facebook page. So, the Strawberry
02:08Line will eventually be completed, hopefully in a few years' time. Greenways and Cycle Group, which
02:13is a registered charity, has been working first with Mendip Council and now Somerset Council
02:19to fill in the missing links. It's one of many missing links projects which are going on
02:23surrounding active travel in Somerset. We've reported on three missing links in the past,
02:28we'll be doing a Facebook Live with them next weekend from the new structure there that they're
02:32working on. There is the Windsor Hill Viaduct project at Shepton Mallet, which got planning
02:36permission less than two weeks ago, and should be delivered within the next few months. And
02:42there is this, the new section of the Strawberry Line which runs from Westbury sub-Mendip where
02:48we're heading to the village of Easton where we're going, and eventually it will link all the way to
02:53the Haybridge area of Wales and link up with the existing sections of the path which run right
02:57through the city centre. And it's called the Strawberry Line because we are walking, more or
03:04less, on the old track bed of the Cheddar Valley Railway which transported strawberries from the
03:10Mendips all the way to London. They were some of the most prized strawberries in the land, all the
03:16way up until the Beeching Cuts closed this line in the mid-60s. Now I say we're roughly on the track
03:22bed. One of the issues with delivering permissive paths like this, with multiple different people
03:28using it, is that it relies on the consent of landowners to allow the paths to be built across
03:34their land. A lot of these areas are not existing public footpaths or other rights of way,
03:40but they will of course be listed on future maps. Jane, you're joining me at the eastern end of the
03:46new stretch. We are walking from Easton, about three miles out of Wales, if my geography's not
03:53too hazy, and we're walking towards Westbury sub-Mendip now which will hopefully take us about
03:5820 minutes. So we are roughly following the railway line and I had the pleasure of walking this in the
04:05other direction before the ribbon-cutting ceremony that unfortunately we couldn't bring
04:09you due to tech issues. However there are certain sections where the former railway line runs
04:16behind people's gardens and is in their ownership and for one reason or another they didn't want
04:20people walking and cycling behind it. In fact you can see a little cutting there where the railway
04:25would have once run and it's currently someone's back garden with plenty of vegetation in there.
04:30So there have been lots of efforts to secure permissive permission, maybe purchase a little
04:36bit of land here or there to ensure that the path is three miles wide. That meets the Department
04:43for Transport's LTN 120 regulations regarding how wide active travel paths have to be
04:49and therefore this is now a fully fledged multi-user path. Now we are passing, or just about
04:59to pass, under the A371 and if you've ever seen the live streams that we've done of other former
05:06railway routes including the stop line way near my neck of the woods in Chardon Ilminster, being
05:11in a deep cutting like this far below the surface of the road and in the shadow of these huge hills,
05:17an area of outstanding natural beauty of course protected by British law, just imagine that
05:24less than two generations ago, or just over two generations ago, there would have been steam and
05:28diesel locomotives pouring back and forth in this direction day and night and now they are cycle
05:35paths and footpaths so that people like me can explore more parts of Somerset and get in better
05:42shape whilst we're doing it. There are people using electric bicycles as well as conventional means of
05:47transportation and this bridge here was, I was talking to former Mendip council leader, now
05:55Somerset councillor, Ros Wyke in whose division this all stands, and this former railway bridge,
06:00there was a big political battle in 2018 to stop it being infilled with concrete. It's been
06:05reinforced as you can see to prop up the original stone and brickwork but there was a big fight to
06:14avoid it being filled in and as a result of that there is a clear path all the way from Westbury
06:20sub Mendip through to Easton and vice versa and like I say hopefully this will eventually run
06:26all the way uninterrupted from Yatton to Shepton Mallet, something you could easily cycle in a day,
06:32whether you could walk it in a day depends on how fit you are. I myself am not as fit but I'll
06:37make you this little deal, if it gets finished in the next five years I will walk the whole stretch
06:43in a day for charity. If you've only just joined me it's Daniel Mumby, you're slightly unfit but
06:50an optimistic local democracy reporter. We're on the new section of the Strawberry Line, we're
06:55walking from Easton to Westbury sub Mendip, we're in the heart of the Mendip Hills about halfway
07:00between Wells and Cheddar and we have been at the opening ceremony of the Strawberry Line.
07:05Like I said earlier we couldn't bring you the opening ceremony itself at Easton Village Hall,
07:10we had some technical difficulties even with mobile roaming on, there's just not enough data in
07:15these hills to handle this kind of stream but now that we're heading out of the village for
07:19some reason the data is picking up and therefore quite a lot of you in fact are able to join me on
07:25this historic journey. Now I should just point out this little section that we have here is on a very
07:33slight gradient, you can see that the land we're on here is far below the road level so that we are
07:40away from both the noise and the fumes of the traffic, no risk of getting hit by any cars.
07:44There are strict regulations in place as to how steep a path like this can be to allow people with
07:51mobility scooters to go on it, it has to be a maximum of a 1 in 20 gradient. Unfortunately
07:57they've managed to achieve that here, they've managed to achieve that with money that was
08:02bequeathed to Greenways and Cycle Routes by Mendip District Council just before it was abolished
08:09and that has allowed this multi-user path to be created in a very short space of time. Work only
08:15started on this back in June and it's now middle of September which is a great turnaround. It should
08:20also be pointed out that this has been constructed by a local company MP&KM Golding including this
08:26bridge with old concrete railway sleepers in it and you can see some of the people who have
08:31contributed funding immortalized on that sleepers and because of the permissive path nature of this
08:37route, this bridge will allow the farmers who work either side here in order to continue working
08:45on their land. I apologize Ryan for the signal, we are doing the best we can but we're not exactly in
08:50the middle of Taunton at the moment, we are making the most we can. Just to put it in perspective,
08:55this is Erlan Lane that leads back up to the A371, this is where the new section that has
09:02just opened finishes and we are now heading onto the Westbury sub-Mendip section which opened
09:09just before Christmas and you might have caught one of my earliest Facebook Lives where we walked
09:14along this stretch with Ros Wyke, then the Chair of Mendip District Council and Mick Fletcher, the
09:22Chairman of the Strawberry Line Association. We did a Facebook Live of that back in January
09:28and I will link to that in the description so you can see how much has changed. I don't think
09:32we got through the whole Westbury section on that particular occasion but you're getting a very good
09:37flavour nonetheless. Let's just talk a little bit about the quality of the surfacing here with
09:46this multi-user path. When you say cycle route to people you normally expect tarmac, particularly
09:52that sort of strange reddy brown tarmac that seems to be the done thing for DFT projects
10:01and you may remember on Dunster to Minehead Facebook Live from a few weeks ago
10:07which had that very route. However, so long as you have the right width of path, you can make it out
10:15of a wide range of materials and in fact this stretch is using boulier stone from the Mendip
10:22Hills, ethically sourced of course, and you can see stone pebbles along the side and that has
10:29been compressed onto a harder layer which, with all the walking and cycling on it, will eventually
10:33compact down. It means you won't be washed away in wet weather like this and there are still plenty
10:40of blackberries growing along this side of the route which is very handy if you get peckish.
10:46If you've only just joined me, it's Daniel Munby, your slightly damp local democracy reporter,
10:52but I'm good in spirit. I'm walking on the Strawberry Line. We started our journey
10:57back at Eastbury, sorry Eastbury, at Easton Village Hall in the shadow of the Mendip Hills
11:04area of outstanding natural beauty which is in yonder direction. We are walking along the
11:10Strawberry Line. We have done the new stretch that's just opened between Easton and Erlen Lane
11:16and we are now on the second half of our stint heading to Westbury-sub-Mendip where our stream
11:21will end. Now another section of the Strawberry Line is currently under construction out near
11:29Dolcote Recycling Centre on the eastern edge of Wells. We don't have a precise opening date for
11:34that stretch. We imagine it will be sometime in October or November and there will be a live
11:39stream of that when we get the call that it's ready. It will be made with similar technique to
11:45this using permissive paths on land that has been leased to them by the landowners.
11:53Some of it will of course be in council ownership because it's the recycling centre
11:57but they have to put up all kinds of barricades on that stretch to ensure that
12:01debris from the Dolcote site doesn't interfere with people walking and cycling.
12:08You can just see we're walking past lots of little farms who have very kindly allowed a few metres of
12:14their land between the hedgerow and these new fences which have been put up to be set aside so
12:20that thousands and thousands of people a year, whether you're living in this part of the Mendips
12:26or a visitor to the area, can walk along and take in the natural beauty and get some exercise. It's
12:33not the most beautiful day, I will admit that. It was forecast as overcast. There's a little bit of
12:39drizzle in the air just to soup some but enough to make me nervous about the lens getting wet.
12:45But we will persevere as we head closer towards the buildings on Station Road in Westbury South
12:53Mendip and try in the process not to get run over by any cyclists that are creeping up behind us.
12:59Again you can see certain areas like this where there are gates across the path allowing the
13:05landowners to still access their land and carry out their farming without us pedestrians and
13:12cyclists constantly getting in the way. It is very peaceful out here. When we started at the
13:19other end, before the camera started rolling, we had more than 100 people on bikes, on foot,
13:25with walking poles, one or two on mobility scooters. I think I even saw one horse at this end.
13:31All keen to explore and take in the sight and although the earth banks on this stretch,
13:38certainly on the eastern stretch, look a little bare at the moment, there has been a large amount
13:42of planting including new trees along the whole area so that by next summer, once this is all
13:48bedded down in the winter, it should be a lot more picturesque and a lot more biodiverse. That's the
13:54thing with these projects. Sometimes laying down tarmac in the middle of the countryside
14:00leads people to turn their nose up at a project like this saying how can it improve biodiversity
14:05but if you're using more natural materials like this and adding to the wildlife corridor
14:11it helps the biodiversity of the area and it contributes to the work that the local farmers
14:15are doing to make their practices greener as well. I'm keeping up a decent pace as the signal
14:22just about holds. Thank you for everyone who's persevered for me when we were going
14:26under those bridges and the signal faded out a little but we are heading towards
14:30Westbury-Sub-Mendip. You can see the village is starting to loom in to our screens with the hills
14:38up behind us. Very evocative in the low-lying cloud and a little bit of fog.
14:43Hopefully we won't get completely drenched as we get closer.
14:47If you have only just joined me, don't worry, you haven't missed everything. It's Daniel Mumby,
14:53as ever, your local democracy reporter for the weekly live stream here on Somerset Live.
14:57We are on the Strawberry Line in the shadow of the Mendip Hills. It's a phrase I just love saying
15:04because it is very shadowy today. We started our journey at Easton Village Hall with the new
15:09section being opened. We had a performance by the Wales City Band playing a selection of hits
15:16which I couldn't stream for you. A, because there wasn't great signal at the hall and B,
15:21we would have run into copywriting issues with playing music. So best to play it safe rather
15:26than sorry. But it was an uplifting selection with lots of pomp and circumstance. Rather fitting
15:34after the proms which recently ended. Again, just give you a little view behind as to where we've
15:39been. The majority of this stretch is flat. We are, like I say, on the former Chelly Valley
15:45Railway track bed. We've passed a couple of old railway arches on our route and as a result it's
15:52very easy to navigate even if you're not completely able-bodied. I consider myself
15:58to be able-bodied but I'll admit I'm not in the best of health and I'm finding it very
16:02straightforward indeed. You can just see in the distance over those fields the busy A371
16:11rumbling away. It's pretty busy even at this time. I came in from my home in Shard earlier this
16:19afternoon. I'm just going to pass this group so that we don't interfere with their conversations.
16:31If you are not so able-bodied, like I say, it is a flat stretch. The steepest section near eastern
16:37is one in 20 gradients. So even if you're in a wheelchair you can get up it. There are benches
16:42along the route if you want to take a rest. The wind is definitely getting up now. I'm hoping
16:48that none of the rain that's coming down goes into the microphone or into the lens.
16:52We will just do our best. Stephen, that is a good question. So if you're trying to access
16:58the path from Cheddar, at the moment the path ends south of Kings of Wessex Academy.
17:05There is a holiday park whose name I struggle to remember at the bottom of Station Road there
17:12and you have to go out past the Cheddar car boot site and then you have to either use existing
17:17footpath out near Draycott or get back on the main road. But hopefully in the not too distant future
17:24that section of the path will be joined up as well. At the moment we understand
17:28the Strawberry Line Association is focusing its funding and the funding provided to Greenways
17:33and Cycle Routes on joining up the last gaps between here and Wells and then Wells and Shepton
17:42Mallet. We hope to have some more positive news on both of those before the end of the year,
17:46including, like I say, a live stream from the Dulkett Extension which we're hoping will be
17:52finished by the end of autumn. So plenty more great content to come between now and Christmas
17:57here on Somerset Live. The Cheddar stretch is a longer term priority. We think that landowner
18:04negotiations are a much earlier stage and obviously we don't want to do anything as a news outlet that
18:10could prejudice those discussions. But suffice to say everyone who's on the path today is crossing
18:16their fingers and hoping it won't be too long before the path can move west as well as east.
18:22Well our journey's end is in sight as we come into the eastern edge of the village. You can
18:28see plenty of people milling around. Glad that was a helpful answer, Stephen. I always wonder with
18:33these streams if I'm constantly rabbiting on if I'm making any sense, but clearly I am at least
18:37some of the time. You can see here one of the other old railway arches which is part of Station
18:45Road and the industrial estate behind it. They've created a little wildlife pond with a bench made
18:54out of a couple of old sleepers just behind and this section bends all the way around
19:00on the Station Road itself and that is where our journey will be ending.
19:05After this article, after this stream has ended I should say, we will be putting an article together
19:10early next week talking about the path, looking forward to the new development and there will be
19:17plenty of updates in the months ahead not just about this site but about active travel across
19:21Somerset in general including, we hope, confirmation as to where one and a half million pounds of
19:28central government funding given to Somerset Council by Active Travel England earlier this year
19:34will be spent. We've had unconfirmed reports about it being in the West Somerset area but
19:40nothing on the record as yet. However, as soon as we have something on the record I will let you know.
19:47And there we go, we've reached Station Road. I'll just spin around and show you as the path ends
19:56near the Lodge Hill Business Park and that is where we will call our live stream to a halt.
20:01Like I say, this stream, if you've missed any part of it, will be available on the Somerset
20:05Live Facebook page and there'll be relevant links in the description going forward and a full article
20:11about this fantastic achievement early next week. In the meantime, it's Daniel Mumby from Somerset
20:16Live wishing you a brilliant rest of your weekend and thank you very much for joining me. Bye for now.