May 2021 – Kingham, Oxfordshire, Bourton-on-the-Water, Gloucestershire.

It has been reported that a group is commissioning Sustrans to investigate using the former Kingham to Bourton line as a recreational trail. First though, they have to raise funding for a Sustrans feasibility study. They claim the disused rail line ‘is flat, relatively undeveloped, usefully sited and travels through beautiful countryside’, which could be said of many such trackbeds. The thinking is to join Bourton-on-the-Water and Stow on the Wold, with Kingham Railway Station and 10 from there on to Oxford, London, Worcester and Birmingham. Whilst the potential environmental and employment gains are immense, the full project would need the backing and agreement of numerous stakeholders, including landowners, and parish, district and county councils. The first stage then, is to identify the costs, benefits, hurdles and opportunities – hence the feasibility study. (spacehive.com; Paul Stewart; Chris Parker)