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00:00Good afternoon, people of Somerset. It's Daniel Mumby here, your local democracy reporter,
00:06out for another live stream on a mild Saturday afternoon. Hope you're looking forward to
00:12the Six Nations. Indeed, they started last night, but England and Ireland are playing
00:16today. You join me today just off West Street in the City of Wales, down the back of the
00:22city's new, larger, little superstore. And we are on the newest section, albeit a very
00:28brief part of the Strawberry Line active travel route, which was installed as part
00:34of this major redevelopment. The store itself has been open now for a good couple of days.
00:40What we're going to do for the next 20 minutes or so is, starting on this very brief but
00:45brand new stretch that snakes up to the roundabout here on Priory Road, we're going to walk the
00:52existing section of the Strawberry Line all the way out to the Charlie Bigham food kitchen
00:58campers at Dulcote Quarry, which if you remember back last summer, I think it was back in August
01:04last year, we walked the stretch out from Dulcote to Churchill Batch Lane on the way
01:11to Shepton Mallet. So what we're doing today is demonstrating the newest section that's
01:16open and giving you an idea of what's already here on this growing and much-used active
01:22travel route across the former Mendip area. Just take a quick look behind, you can see
01:28the new store that's now completed. Twice the size of the original supermarket on this
01:32site and I'm sure many Welsh citizens and visitors to the town are very glad that it's
01:40finished. It was an absolute nightmare trying to find a car parking space, as you can probably
01:45see behind me. So for those of you who don't know anything about the Strawberry Line, and
01:50those of you who know this, there's bound to be still a few, even with all the live streams that we have done.
01:54Let me give you a brief pre-see once we've crossed over this roundabout and as per usual with these
02:00live streams, do drop any questions you have in the comments. I'll get to as many of them live
02:05as I can and any that I don't get to, I will endeavour to respond to retrospectively. I should
02:12point out this is one of the busiest roundabouts in Wales, with the A371 East Somerset Way,
02:19which stretches all the way out in that direction, joining the A39 out towards Street and Glastonbury.
02:26It is incredibly busy and that's why cycle routes like this, with wide pavement, are so vital for
02:34the community, allowing people to walk, cycle, push their pushchairs, use mobility scooters or
02:40wheelchairs to get safely around if they don't have a car or if they don't want to use one. So
02:47if you're not familiar with the Strawberry Line, essentially it is one of the longest active travel
02:53routes in Somerset. It currently stretches uninterrupted from Yatton Railway Station in
02:59North Somerset, all the way to Station Road in the heart of Cheddar and the aspiration is for
03:06it eventually to link all the way uninterrupted to Shepton Mallet. The Strawberry Line Society,
03:13which is led by a group of very talented and willing volunteers, have delivered numerous
03:19missing links between Cheddar and Shepton Mallet via Wales in the last few years, with a mixture
03:27of on-road or paved sections like this and off-road more rural sections like the one between Westbury
03:37and Easton, between Wales and Cheddar, that was completed last September. There's an extension
03:44of that that is currently under construction near Easton Village Hall. You can only go a certain way
03:49because negotiations are still ongoing with the landowners, but slowly but surely an uninterrupted
03:57link between Yatton and Shepton Mallet is taking place. We were in Shepton Mallet late last year
04:04when a new bridge was put in place over the busy B3136 West Shepton that links the town to Pilsen
04:12and that has enabled people to visit the sports facilities at the western side of the town,
04:21the playing fields, the skate park and so forth, without having to go the long way around on the
04:26busy roads, the back roads to Wales, and also linking up that area with Collett Park in the
04:34east, which is also in the process of being refurbished. So the section we're on at the
04:40moment is one of the older sections, I say older as in one of the earliest sections to be delivered.
04:46This early part of the journey along the A371 is essentially a shared-use pavement, it's much
04:53wider than your standard fare so that cyclists can pass in two directions and there's still
04:59plenty of room for pedestrians. But as we get beyond that bridge it will start to veer into
05:05the countryside, meandering its way towards Dulcote and then going under the main road for
05:11the last little stretch. So hopefully you'll find it interesting, if nothing else, as a way to explore
05:19this area if you've never had a chance to before. If maybe the next time you find yourself in Wales
05:25for a cup of tea with someone or taking in the town's culture with a cathedral and you want to
05:32burn off some energy afterwards, maybe a little saunter down the Strawberry Line is exactly what
05:37was called for. Just crossing over now through this sheep pen arrangement near the city's
05:46Morrisons. I keep calling Wales a town but it is a city, even though it is smaller than the
05:52nearby town of Froome. It has a city charter, therefore it's a city. It's got nothing to do
05:57with the fact that Wales has a cathedral and is an urban legend. Now the Strawberry Line forms part
06:04of multiple routes on the National Cycle Network. The majority of it forms National Cycle Network
06:12Route 26 and a large section of the route that runs from Yatton through North Somerset, through
06:19Sandford and Winscombe, near the Thatcher's factory and then down into Axe Bridge over the A38 and into
06:30the top of Cheddar, that is Route 26. The section we're on at the moment combines that with National
06:36Cycle Network Route 3, which is a long-distance route that goes all the way down into the southern
06:43part of Somerset, near where I live. If you are feeling particularly ambitious in the summer,
06:50not only could you try all the sections of the Strawberry Line that are currently open,
06:55and I'll go through those in order in a second, but you could also continue on that route, find
07:01yourself on the stop line way down through Ilminster and Chard and eventually end up on the
07:08southern coast right about Seaton-Axmouth Way. Again, we're just going to cross over this housing
07:14estate and that's a handy signpost there that says we've got a mile to go before we get to
07:19Dolcott, so we should be there within the next 15 minutes. So like I say, currently the Strawberry
07:27Line terminates its main uninterrupted section near the Travis Perkins base in Cheddar. I think
07:34it's Travis Perkins, it's near the recycling centre. There was talk at one stage of widening
07:40the existing path that leads down the back of Kings of Wessex Academy and then extending it
07:45out behind the Cheddar car boot market on the road to Draycott. I don't quite know the status of those
07:53plans, but essentially between Station Road in Cheddar and the sections in Westbury, Submendip
08:01and Easton, pedestrians and cyclists have to rely on either quiet back roads or braving the H371.
08:08As you can hear and see from how busy it is, this is a section which is relatively paved and far from
08:15the road, but in Westbury and Easton and Draycott, which are small villages right on the crag of the
08:21Mendip Hills, pavements are often non-existent. There are lots of blind bends and because it's a
08:27main freight route, I wouldn't trust myself going out there on a bicycle in the daytime, let alone
08:34trying to get back home in the dark. And the Strawberry Line is not just a kind of vanity
08:40project because there's a few million quid floating around and people thought, well let's just build a
08:45cycle lane and hope for the best. It is instrumental to improving road safety, keeping pedestrians and
08:52cyclists safe, both near the main roads and taking them away from the main roads and into nature. So,
09:01the Westbury and Easton section, which currently runs from Station Road in Westbury to Easton
09:08Village Hall and then slightly extended past Easton Village Hall for, I'd say about half a
09:14kilometre, that will eventually, if landowners are cooperative, link up with the Haybridge end
09:22of Wales, near the St Cuthbert's Mill, as we head off the A371 and into much quieter environs, that
09:33will link up with the Haybridge area. There is a section of the Strawberry Line that runs down
09:41back of the Priory Road, sorry, Priory Field Housing Development, and you might have seen our
09:46live stream from there a week or so ago, where we were talking about mobility scooters and disabled
09:52access to and from those homes and the Leisure Centre. And from the Leisure Centre, the Strawberry
09:58Line goes on quiet urban streets up to West Street, where we started near the Lidl, and then heads on
10:05the route we're currently on now, out to Dulcet and then beyond to Churchill Batch Lane, and then
10:13there is only one small little gap of about two kilometres at most between Churchill Batch Lane
10:19near Croscombe and the West Shepton Terminus at Stump Cross Bridge. Once they fill in that little
10:28section, the gap between Wells and Shepton Mallet is officially closed and you can cycle and walk
10:33between the two to your heart's content. National Highways are working closely with the Strawberry
10:40Line's volunteers, along with the consultancy team at Greenways and Cycle Routes, which has
10:44been instrumental in bringing this route to reality, to see if they can use the existing
10:50former railway bridge and open it back up to get cyclists under that busy farm road. And we don't
10:59have a timescale for that, but we'll be keeping very close tabs on it, don't you worry. If you've
11:06only just joined me, it's Daniel Mumby, your local democracy reporter, back out on the Strawberry
11:11Line. On the first day of February, it is still pretty cold, but not quite as bitter as it has
11:16been. We're on the Strawberry Line, started from Wells' newly reopened Lidl supermarket, and the
11:24little stretch along the back of West Street that's been delivered as part of that redevelopment,
11:29and now we're heading out on the established stretch, heading out towards Dulcet Quarry and
11:35the Charlie Bigham site. Now, you'll notice the surfacing here is much sort of looser, or at least
11:46finer, than the tarmac that we started on, and that's one of the secrets as to why it's been so
11:52easy to extend the Strawberry Line in sections. If you're building a new active travel route
11:58alongside a main road, such as, for instance, the route between Minehead, Dunster and Carrampton that
12:06we've explored in the past, building it out of tarmac and doing it on the carriageway is incredibly
12:11expensive per metre. However, if you're talking about a more rural route like this, that's a
12:18beautiful sculpture. If you're talking about a rural route like this, where you're dealing with
12:25a former railway track bed, because a lot of the Strawberry Line follows the route of the old
12:31Cheddar Valley Railway that took strawberries between the Mendip Hills and London markets, all
12:38the way up until the beaching cuts of the mid-60s, so you're dealing with a flat track bed that's
12:44already wide enough, it's much cheaper just to use locally sourced ground stone fixed in with
12:51bitumen and other materials. It's not only cheaper to deliver per metre, but it's more environmentally
12:59friendly, and provided you've got a team of volunteers to stay on top of the planting and
13:04the vegetation, you can see where trees have been planted alongside this deep cutting where we are
13:10pounding, where steam trains once would fly across the countryside taking passengers and fruit. So
13:21long as you have a team of volunteers and local contractors who can stay on top of that kind of
13:27maintenance, it really does deliver great value for money. I've explored many different sections
13:36of this active travel route during my time as a local democracy reporter, and one of the things
13:41that always impresses me, it's not just the amount of care that is taken with it, but the way that
13:47the route is, it combines the accessibility to all the different urban areas, but aside from that very
13:56distant rumble of the main road, you would swear now we were in the open countryside. The weather
14:01doesn't perhaps do it huge amounts of justice, but I can imagine when all the trees are in bloom
14:06and you're cycling along here in the summer, it must be a sight to behold. Looks like I'm gonna have to come
14:12back here in better weather, but we're not being rained on, and it's not so cold that my hand is
14:17cramping up, so let's be thankful for that. Like I say, a lot of the bridges that we're passing under,
14:25whether they're pedestrian structures or road infrastructure, originally date back to the time
14:31of the railway, and you know, we hear a lot about accessibility to local services and how Somerset's
14:42road network is in need of such amount of investment, and as much as it is great to have
14:48these routes here, it does make you realise what a different picture we'd be dealing with if all
14:53those railway stations had been left in place. I can understand the financial reasons why they
14:58weren't at the time, but that's certainly a debate that we can have. Good afternoon.
15:04Already encountered quite a few people either having a walk along here or coming along in
15:16bikes. I haven't been knocked down yet by any cyclists. People of Wales, in my experience,
15:20are generally very courteous, so no real risk of danger. And again, aside from that very distant
15:29rumble, I don't know if you're picking it up on the mic very well or not, it doesn't feel like
15:34we're sort of hemmed in in an urban area, like on a canal towpath or something. We've been taken
15:43care of very well. Now, one thing I wanted to raise during this live stream, because we have
15:50explored lots of different active travel projects across Somerset over the last 18 months or so,
15:55not just the Strawberry Line, but the new paths coming in to Glastonbury as part of the Town Deal.
16:02We've looked at the stop line way a little bit, and we'll be doing more on that in the coming
16:07months, looking at the section through the middle of Charle in the Millfield area.
16:11We've talked about the Minehead link that's coming in with
16:16Active Travel England funding. We don't yet have a start date for that.
16:21Just pointing out, like a lot of these routes, the access being maintained for farmers. But if
16:26there is a particular route that is either in your area at the moment, or that you would like to see
16:32promoted, either with what's there at the moment or what you'd like to see, then do get in touch
16:39on social media, because we're always looking for more venues, if you like, for these live stream
16:44experiences. And if nothing else, I hope that it's inspiring you as the nights get shorter,
16:52the weather improves, it encourages you to get outside and enjoy all that Somerset has to offer.
16:59This is as much an experiential vlog as it is a news piece, and I think it's always good to
17:10sort of do these things out and about tangibly, rather than just publishing a map of where they
17:17are and saying, go and look at it for yourselves. If you've only just joined me, it's Daniel Mumby
17:24here, your local democracy reporter. Out in, I say Wells, we are between Wells and Dalkot at the
17:32moment, on the Strawberry Line. We started our journey today from the newly reopened and enlarged
17:40Wells Little Supermarket on West Street, looking at that newest short section of the Strawberry
17:46Line, and we're now on the older section leading out towards Dalkot Quarry and Charlie Bigham.
17:55And this is exploring the part that we didn't get to do when Richard Jones, I believe his name was,
18:01the volunteer coordinator for this side of the Strawberry Line volunteers,
18:07showed us around the Dalkot extension out towards Croscombe.
18:15And as you can see here, the route does meander, following the railway line as much as possible, but
18:25much of the Strawberry Line is not a public right of way as such. It's a permissive path. We are here
18:31at the discretion of the landowners. And one of the reasons that the extension between
18:39Easton and the Haybridge End at the other side of Wells is taking so long
18:44is you always end up with one or two landowners that are a little bit intransigent,
18:49and it's a case of closing the gap around them until they have little choice but to allow access.
18:56Obviously, we want those discussions to be as warm and civil as possible. We're not here to
19:02name and shame any particular landowners. Perish the thought. But I think we all hope that
19:10the longer, complete Strawberry Line materialises sooner rather than later. If nothing else,
19:17if nothing else, because having that full-length route together with the extension as far out as
19:23Clevedon and Weston with the peer-to-peer route that got funding from the central government
19:28levelling up fund, that is a huge boon for Somerset tourism. It's something we can put
19:34on leaflets and websites and maps and encourage more people to come and explore this beautiful area.
19:39Afternoon.
19:45Now, I'm just conscious of, I'm keeping one eye on the road, not because I'm worried about
19:55a car coming careering through those trees, but at some point very soon we'll be passing
20:00underneath the 8371 which runs from here out towards Shepton Mallet, and then the last
20:07little stretch takes us winding through alongside the country lanes coming out at the quarry site.
20:21Unfortunately, there are some helpful signposts to guide us along the way,
20:27just in case you thought he doesn't know what he's doing. If I have made any errors in my
20:32commentary, do drop me a note in the comments. I'm more than happy to clarify that.
20:38When we run an article on this.
20:43So, as you can see,
20:47we are still on National Cycle Network Route 3 that runs on all the way to Glastonbury and beyond,
20:57and we are now going to pass
21:00underneath this former bridge and this existing bridge to continue our journey towards Dalcot.
21:12It's also worth pointing out, as you might have seen from that little roundel on the
21:16signpost there, the Strawberry Line is not just about delivering a cycle route as a standalone
21:23thing. It forms part of the larger Somerset Circle project, which is designed to provide
21:29an unbroken car-free link as we turn and chicane through these boulders, linking Bristol, Bath,
21:39the communities around Wells, Shepton and the Mendate Hills, all the way around
21:45to Cheddar and then back up towards Bristol via Clevedon and Weston. Now, around two-thirds of
21:52that loop is already in place. A lot of the gap, unfortunately, is on the Somerset side.
21:59And in addition to the Strawberry Line work that's been going on,
22:03there are other groups like the Froome's Missing Links team, which has been endeavouring to
22:11complete links through the centre of Froome and out to the surrounding villages,
22:17which lies on National Cycle Network Route 24. There's also the Collier's Way, which links Froome
22:23up to Radstock and the Windsor Hill Tunnels project. Sorry, we're going up a slight incline now.
22:33The Windsor Hill Tunnels project, which is delivering a new path from the A37 at the
22:40eastern edge of Shepton Mallet through the former railway tunnels over two viaducts
22:47and ending up near the small village of Embera, with a view to eventually reaching up to Radstock
22:53as well. So, there are all these different projects at various stages of crystallisation and delivery.
23:03And once they're all finished, they will make such a huge difference, not just to the tourism
23:08offer of Somerset, you know, encouraging people to come and explore the area and put more money
23:15into local businesses, but also to the people who live here already. When I was out
23:24with Richard Jones last August, looking at the
23:29dulcet end of this, he was talking about how many of Charlie Bingham's workforce
23:36come from Wales and Shepton Mallet, and therefore what a huge difference it would make
23:42to have this unbroken route where they don't have to use cars to get to their shifts.
23:50It also means Somerset Council saves a little bit of money because it doesn't have to make
23:57safety upgrades to the A371. I am sounding a little out of breath because we are still climbing.
24:05Fortunately, in line with Department for Transport guidelines, the terrain on here
24:13is relatively gentle. It can be no more than a 1 in 20 slope because that is the steepest you can
24:21get while allowing a mobility scooter to get up here. So, while I might sound out of breath and
24:28unfit, because I am, if you are someone with limited mobility, this is not out of reach for
24:36you. You can see how far we've climbed up in a short space of time. A mobility scooter,
24:43or if you've got strong arms, you can do this in a wheelchair. It will get you up here.
24:50If you've only just joined me, it's Daniel Mumby, your huffing and puffing
24:55local democracy reporter. I'm in no position to blow anyone's house down there.
25:01We are on the Strawberry Line, having started our journey in Wales,
25:07Somerset's smallest city. We are now almost at the edge of the Charlie Bingham
25:16quarry campus here at Dalkot, where this stream will terminate. I said that like I was a railway
25:22conductor. How appropriate. Now, if you've been inspired through seeing me
25:31stamp my way along this route, and you want to get involved with the Strawberry Line,
25:36we will post links in the video and in the resulting articles about how you can get involved.
25:45I know that they're always looking for volunteers to help
25:48with the maintenance of the route, along with the delivery of new stretches. There are
25:52working parties that operate throughout the year, dealing with any damage, any vegetation that needs
26:00clearing, planting new trees and hedgerows, working alongside the local landowners,
26:06and I'm sure they would love to have you on board.
26:08You might just see the lane through the trees there,
26:15and we are coming, once we pass this couple and their dogs, towards the end of our journey.
26:26Just get past them as quickly as I can.
26:28Afternoon.
26:35As you can see here, there's been a little bit of tree surgery going on,
26:40maybe some branches that had fallen on the telegraph lines,
26:46and I'm just going to get past them as quickly as I can.
26:58Like I say, volunteers are part of the lifeblood of keeping this route not only open but fully
27:03functional, so it can provide those economic benefits as well as health and well-being.
27:11If I lived in Wales and I had that on my doorstep, I would walk my dog up and down
27:16it all the time. I'm sure Lupin would absolutely love it. Anyway, we've reached journey's end for
27:24this time at the Charlie Bigham site at Dulcet Quarry. Obviously, we're not going to go into
27:29the compound, A, because it's the weekend, they'll probably be shut, and B, because we don't have
27:33permission to film, but just in front of us here, over this zebra crossing, is the section that
27:40carries on, on the Strawberry Line, all the way out to Churchill Batch Lane, and eventually,
27:47God willing, with the help of National Highways and a few very welcoming landowners, that will
27:53reach all the way out to Shepton Mallet and complete that link between the town and the city.
28:01So there we have it. Thank you very much for your company today on this live stream.
28:05If you missed any part of it, it'll be available indefinitely on our Facebook page once we finish
28:09this broadcast, and join me again on Tuesday when I'll be out at Lingford Park in Taunton
28:14talking about the hundreds of new trees that will be planted all across Somerset's county town
28:20as part of its ongoing effort to combat climate change and make our public green spaces that much
28:25more inviting. In the meantime, it's Daniel Mumby, your local democracy reporter, hoping you have a
28:31brilliant rest of the weekend. I'll see you all again soon, and come on England! Bye for now.