Attached is a presentation from the Strawberry Line Greenway Project (2MB)
The grid references for this new section are as follow:
- East end: Ebbor Lane, Easton, ST 51348 47827
- West end: Erlon Lane (bridleway), Easton, ST 50812 48123
The distance is about half a mile, but this gets the trail under the busy A371.
The east end of the new section is about 1½ miles from the existing section of trail that starts at Wookey station site (goods shed extant) and leads to the edge of Wells. Currently, I am unaware of any date for the Easton-Wookey section. The trail from Wookey station (ST 53171 46295) starts on the trackbed but veers off on reaching the edge of the urban area. The trackbed can be regained at ST 54283 45784, where the A39 and then A371 occupy it. There is a good pavement alongside the road (ca. 1 mile) which, on the east side of the city, connects at ST 55007 45037 with the recently-extended trail to Dulcote (ca. 2½ miles), which ends at ST 56562 44109 outside Dulcote Quarry, now occupied by Charlie Bigham’s new food factory. In the Dulcote area, the old railway provides another safe crossing for walkers and cyclists under the busy A371. (The path may now extend a bit further than Charlie Bigham’s, but I have not been out to check.)
The west end of the new section connects with an existing trail (on or adjacent to the trackbed) which leads to Lodge Hill station, which served Westbury-sub-Mendip. This trail joins a footpath just before the station, which it follows to join Station Road at ST 50036 48458. Turn left for the station site, where station building – long used as an activity centre – has been demolished, although the goods shed remains.
The new section through Easton and on to Lodge Hill station provide a continuous walk or cycle ride of ca. 1 mile long.
The website of the Strawberry Line Society is https://www.thestrawberryline.org.uk/. This is well worth visiting, because – with the help of local authorities – the society really is ‘joining up the dots’. Zoomable maps are available at https://www.thestrawberryline.org.uk/visit. ‘All routes are wheelchair-friendly, with a hard all-weather surface and shallow gradients. The single exception to this is a fairly steep lane (Racurium Cottage) at Axbridge.’
None of these new trail sections appear yet on any Ordnance Survey map, either online or in printed form.
(Jeff Vinter)