North Somerset Council has announced that construction work has begun on missing sections of the Pier to Pier Way, a £3.1m project to link the seafronts of both towns. The trail, a long-held council ambition, is expected to be used by 70,000 one way trips a year and will form part of Route 33 of the National Cycle Network. The initial work involves building a new river crossing and repurposing existing ones over the Congresbury Yeo and Oldbridge rivers. A 1-mile section of new path, following the former Weston, Clevedon and Portishead Railway, will connect to quiet lanes either side while a replica of Wick St Lawrence Station Halt is planned to be included as a gateway feature for the cycleway. The attractive new route cuts around 4 miles from the current road route between Weston and Clevedon. It will help walkers, cyclists and horse-riders avoid longer and busier routes including sections of the A370 and J21 of the M5. (North Somerset Council; James Winstanley)