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00:00it's
00:02a
00:24It's quite like a big group photograph if that's possible
00:26Definitely
00:28well first of all can i say you are all live on somerset live so give us a cheer
00:34okay um it's daniel mumby your local democracy reporter joining live here on the through
00:41missing links we're going to organize a group photo and then take a little stroll
00:44so if everyone could just uh i think gather around richard in uh sort of high order wherever
00:50possible with the mayor at the front
00:51just to put this into context for those just joining us here on somerset live
01:11we're out here in great elm about to explore the resurfaced missing link
01:16and uh we're just going to get a couple of quick photographs using my other phone
01:20and then we'll take a stroll and hopefully have a chat to richard and some of the other willing
01:24volunteers okay if anyone else wants to be in the photograph here if you could just take your
01:28positions i can get roughly all of you in from here
01:30gentlemen could you squeeze in a little bit please
01:38okay everybody look this way please
01:47everybody look this way at the back
01:51okay everyone smiling
01:54okay and one more after three everyone shout through missing links ready one two three
02:02splendid thank you very much
02:06it's a little more chaotic than i imagined i didn't expect there'd be so many people but that's a great sign
02:30we're just going to see if we can grab a chat with mr akroyd
02:33member of the free missing links to uh to talk us through what's been achieved here and then hopefully we'll be able to take a stroll
02:39down towards the great end of things where things link up with the collier's way
02:44this is part of national cycle route 24 which goes all the way to radstock
02:48and will eventually
02:49be
02:50a safe car free link all the way through for room and out the other side
02:54i'm just going to see if i can uh grab richard and see if we can grab a try
02:59can we have a quick chat richard if that's okay
03:01i'll have a quick chat with uh with your chairman
03:05yep jeff's more than welcome to as well
03:08you want to come on as well jeff that's great
03:19rich lovely to see you again it seemed
03:23it seems i think it's about 18 months since we we last appeared on live stream together thank you
03:28for joining us today just for people who are tuning in just now missed the last bit of that presentation
03:33now it's my fault for being a bit late couldn't find somewhere to park um just talk people through
03:38what's today is all about and how proud you are that this is finally open to the public
03:42okay well this is uh you'll have to speak up a bit because of the crowd
03:45this this started in 2015 when we started this stretch
03:49and jeff was one of the main prime movers of that
03:53uh we have about 120 odd people who came out for that first weekend
03:57and they cleared head high brambles twigs branches trees all you name it
04:05and that carried on for several years really clearing all the old railway things
04:10tons and tons of railway line railway sleepers
04:14and that's taken us to now which is 10 years later
04:17uh lots of land ownership deals and battles and you know promises and then disappointments
04:24network rail helped out at the end and we finally managed about two years ago
04:30to put the land deal package together properly so we were able to clear it all the way through
04:35and then this year we've been able to raise the money through various sources
04:38so yeah
04:39yeah so this whole section uh to great elm has been tarmacked through crowdfunding of just
04:46over 20 000 pounds you raised in the end wasn't it
04:48fantastic so just talk us through why that was needed on this stretch because we live streamed
04:59here i think it was back in the autumn of last year when you hadn't quite yet launched that but
05:04tell us about why that this improvement is necessary
05:06we had some funding for a minute district council i think it was about 30 000 pounds
05:10we got 5 000 pounds for somewhere else recycling to get to get to some money
05:13so that was and we had some funds so we had about 50 grand let's say
05:17that we could spend on this but it wasn't enough
05:20to put the final surface on because tarmac is really expensive
05:23yeah
05:24and so we had a uh a donor mysterious uh anonymous donor who said
05:30i will match fund anything you can raise up to 50 000
05:33so that gave us the ability then to say look we can match fund anything you can give us up to 50 000
05:38that unlocked some funding from active travel england via stress grants also unlocked some money from sport england
05:46and we thought if we did the crowd funder we could also then get people involved and they could feel part of it
05:52and the crowd funder was a massive success so uh that was 27 000 was match funded
05:58from donors we had a couple of really big donations from various people
06:03so we were i can't remember what the final total is
06:06this cost us almost 940 000 pounds
06:11wow
06:12uh but we have ended up that was less than we thought
06:15we have actually ended up with a small amount of money still in the kitty
06:18so we're looking to be able to extend this
06:21yeah and just on that in terms of the future
06:24my understanding is there's one more northern missing link to fill in before you've got an unbroken route to frome
06:30and then there's the southern link out towards longley
06:32what stage are both of those projects at
06:34so the northern link uh there are plans
06:37lines with network rarely the main landowner uh it's pretty difficult to get some decisions out
06:43but discussions are ongoing let's say so that's a possibility but will require a lot of funding
06:49because that's how many bridges three bridges and two bridges on the tunnel
06:52so it sounds complicated but it is doable
06:54we believe that uh and then to the south of frome that's slightly less complicated
06:59there are two landowners involved
07:01and part of that is already built
07:03uh so the next stage for me is to go and talk to
07:07to get to make contact again in network as well
07:09and with the landowners for south
07:11so if you gave if i was putting money on this and a betting person which i'm not
07:16but i would say you're more likely to see the south of frome than before this next show for you
07:21okay well that's brilliant i mean we uh we're going to take a wander down
07:25whilst uh you guys are celebrating your achievement
07:27yeah let's let's hear from jeff a little bit before we head over
07:33what was my reason
07:35a stupidity i think
07:38because it's been uh it's been overwhelming uh involvement for many years
07:44uh until i conned richard here into taking it on
07:47and that's why i've made an angry no doubt
07:51your words not mine
07:53but it's uh i mean it is just getting people out and about
07:58and having the exercise and how it's in the
08:00in safety
08:01although it's like a fast road
08:03which i'm in fact it's like on the road
08:05yeah i'm stuck on the road to myself
08:07but i understand that for many people
08:10cycling on the road seems too dangerous
08:13and too difficult
08:14yeah i think that's a fantastic testament to what routes like this are all about and
08:22the turnout speaks for itself in terms of how much of a difference this will make to local people doesn't it
08:26yes we find we find the reaction uh quite overwhelming sometimes
08:31as richard said
08:33it gave us the confidence to know that people interested in the field
08:36to go ahead of that
08:38fantastic
08:39jeff richard thank you very much for your time
08:41it's like
08:41no pleasure
08:43right we're going to take a little wander down
08:45whilst everyone's having having a celebratory drink
08:47we'll catch up again later if we have the chance
08:48but we're going to show you now
08:50the whole stretch
08:52of this path that has been resurfaced
08:54at a cost as richard said of 140 000 pounds as we make our way
08:58through the crowd a lot more people than i anticipated being here but now
09:03as the noise dies away we'll be able to show you the section that has been
09:07resurfaced like i say 140 000 pounds that was raised through
09:11crowdfunding online matched by anonymous donors working with the generous landowners
09:16because this is a permissive path running alongside the old freight railway line
09:20and we will end up in around about 10 50 minutes because it's about a one kilometer stretch
09:26near the railway bridge at great elm where it joins up with national cycle route 24
09:32the collier's way heading up to radstock
09:35now if you didn't see our live stream last year if you uh
09:39haven't been following the through missing links project in detail
09:43let's uh just give you a little bit of information so
09:47the through missing links project spearheaded by jeff and richard who we spoke to a few minutes ago
09:52is designed to provide safer off-road walking and cycling connections
09:58not just through the center of frome following that national cycle network
10:02but also the villages nearby including hapsford
10:06great elm and the villages to the south on the routes of longlead
10:10and they have been working since 2015 so nearly 10 years in full
10:16to create those missing links
10:20raising money through contributions from local councils
10:24housing developers and local residents
10:27to provide those links in the chain to prevent people
10:31having to reduce the risk of people having to drive
10:33having to cycle and walk
10:35on narrow country lanes which often have no pavements
10:38can be very treacherous especially in wet weather lots of blind bends
10:42we are as well in the
10:44not far from the center of many of somerset's quarrying operations so there are lots of
10:49hgvs that rumble around these roads from time to time
10:52along with farm vehicles of course
10:53so it's all about creating that infrastructure
10:57to make it safer for ordinary people whether they are
11:00tour to britain wannabes
11:03or mere rookies or people like me
11:06who used to cycle a lot but haven't in a number of years
11:08and i have to say
11:09judging by the quality of the surface that i'm pounding now
11:12if i was wanting to get back on a bike this would be a fantastic route
11:17to get back in the saddle on i have to say it's
11:20it's smooth wide tarmac there's still a nice barrier
11:24separating it from the surrounding farmland and the railway line
11:28all the hedgerow and planting has been retained as much as possible
11:31obviously this surface is relatively new but it will bed in as it weathers
11:36and it's very smooth so you don't have to worry about
11:39punctures or getting stones in your shoes or anything like that
11:43no twisted ankles here so this section that we're on now
11:49is missing link two which stretches from the link to the collier's way
11:56which eventually runs all the way into radstock itself
12:00out to where we started on elliott's lane
12:03and a lot of it runs alongside the former railway line
12:07which is still occasionally used by freight but
12:10it's certainly a lot quieter than it would have been a hundred years ago
12:13and there are two other sections of the missing links
12:19on the northern side of froome which are currently in place
12:22one of which we explored about 18 months ago which runs
12:26from the northern part of the town centre near the welsh mill area
12:30up to the main railway line or one of the other parts of this railway line
12:35i should correct myself i say
12:36and the other part is elsewhere along the northern edge that links up with it
12:42the missing section in the northern side of froome
12:46dubbed missing link four or phase four
12:49will link up that phase three
12:52to this section here and it involves
12:55navigating a number of complex crossings over the railway
13:02a number of bridges and some sharp bends and the terrain isn't all flat
13:05here it's relatively smooth in terms of the incline
13:11i stand out of breath because i'm out of shape
13:14but uh you could easily navigate this even in a mobility scooter
13:20it has to meet the government's active travel design guide known as the lt 120
13:25part of which means if you've been following these streams for a while
13:29you can't have a gradient of more than one in 20
13:32because otherwise you can't get a mobility scooter up
13:35and if you can't get a mobility scooter up there
13:37you're in breach of the equality act
13:39so as richard said
13:43there are discussions ongoing with network rail
13:47who own a lot of the land around this area unsurprisingly
13:50given how close to the line we are
13:51to allow permissive access for that phase four
13:56and we should point out that this is a permissive path
14:01it's done often on long-term leasing much like the strawberry line
14:05at the discretion of the landowners
14:07so the onus is very much on
14:09you can use it but take care of it
14:13don't damage it
14:13don't vandalize it
14:15take home any rubbish
14:16pick up after your dogs
14:17all the rest of it
14:18we're just going to pause here
14:21because the surfaced section of the path
14:24that's being done under this crowdfunding
14:25carries on over the former railway bridge
14:29and links up with collier's way
14:31we'll be going that way in a second
14:33but i will just point out
14:34there is a subsidiary link
14:36which bends down the hill
14:38and links up with the great elm habsford area
14:42through that little gate at the bottom
14:44that's where we started last time
14:45on the other side of the bridge actually
14:47you often get people parking their cars there
14:49now i'm aware
14:51that there are some cyclists coming up behind us
14:55from the party
14:56that we joined at the start
14:58and i'm just going to keep over close to this side
15:01so that we don't get in their way
15:02this is a shared use path of course
15:05it's open for everyone
15:06i don't actually know where the horses are allowed on here
15:09i should have checked that with richard
15:10but one way or another
15:13it's great to see
15:14a big turnout for this
15:16and hopefully it will get a lot of use
15:17if the strawberry line
15:19rural sections near
15:21wells and cheddar
15:23are anything to go by
15:24the number of people using it
15:26should exceed all expectations
15:27and hopefully if you're seeing this for the first time
15:29this new smooth surface
15:31which will
15:32eventually blend in nicely
15:34with the surrounding vegetation
15:35in the countryside
15:36hopefully it will inspire you
15:38particularly on a glorious day like today
15:41to get out and explore it
15:43whether on foot
15:43or by bicycle
15:45just let these people go past
15:50hey
15:54if you haven't just joined me here
15:58it's daniel mumby
16:00your local democracy reporter
16:01we're talking about the
16:02frome's missing links project
16:03we are walking the newly relayed
16:07upgraded stretch
16:08between elliott's lane
16:11and the railway bridge
16:12at great elm
16:13hello there
16:15we had a little ceremony
16:17at the other end of the path
16:18and now everyone's
16:19taking it in their stride
16:21and enjoying it
16:22in this wonderful
16:22spring weather
16:24so much blossom still on the trees
16:25so we've talked about
16:27the northern section
16:28and the remaining
16:30parcels of land
16:32that need to
16:32be negotiated
16:34with access
16:35and obviously
16:36a fair amount of
16:37grant funding
16:38will be needed
16:39or more crowdfunding
16:40to deliver that
16:41the southern section
16:43which richard mentioned
16:45comes out
16:48in the keyford area
16:49not far from where
16:51david wilson homes
16:53are currently building out
16:54the francis field site
16:55it emerges from that area
16:57in the town centre
16:58comes out
16:58south eastwards
16:59and the main problem
17:01with that at the moment
17:02is that you cannot
17:04safely cross
17:05the A361
17:07which is the busy road
17:09around the edge of Froome
17:10we'll just
17:11pause quickly
17:12to show you
17:13how far up we are
17:14and then we'll carry on
17:16until we get to the
17:19confluence with the
17:21Cullier's Way
17:21there is a
17:24another pedestrian path
17:26which you can set down
17:26there
17:27if you want to take
17:28a little shortcut
17:28but we're going to
17:30carry on
17:30so that's southern link
17:32again
17:34there will be some
17:35negotiations with
17:35network rail
17:36because that's near
17:37the main line
17:37rail services
17:39operated by GWR
17:40there's also the
17:42question of maybe
17:43needing to
17:44lease or purchase
17:45some land
17:46from Somerset
17:48council
17:48because the A361
17:49is owned by them
17:51it's their
17:52responsibility to
17:53manage
17:53unlike the A36
17:55nearby
17:55which is actually
17:56the responsibility
17:56of national highways
17:57just as the A303
17:59and the M5
18:00is
18:00because it's
18:01the main road
18:02connecting Bath
18:02to Froome
18:03it's of strategic
18:04importance
18:04so all of that
18:06is to come
18:06in the future
18:07but for now
18:09we are
18:11delighted
18:12to be here
18:12exploring
18:15this newly
18:16upgraded section
18:17I remember when I
18:18was here last year
18:19and all of this
18:20was just
18:20rough
18:21loose stone
18:22chippings
18:22rather like the
18:24old ballast stone
18:26that you can see
18:27on the edge here
18:28and like I say
18:30the edges of the
18:31path and the
18:31colour will
18:32eventually
18:32weather
18:34there'll be some
18:34vegetation
18:35growing near the
18:36sides of it
18:37try and keep
18:37nature at bay
18:38it's very difficult
18:39so it will feel
18:41much more of a
18:42natural blended
18:44addition to the
18:45countryside
18:45and if I
18:48wasn't
18:49yappering on
18:49it is so
18:51you would be
18:53able to tell
18:53how peaceful
18:54it is out
18:54here
18:55there's still
18:56so much
18:57birdsong
18:58the trees
19:00are shielding
19:01us from a lot
19:01of the noise
19:02and there's
19:03plenty of room
19:04for people to
19:05pass in both
19:06directions
19:06under the
19:07DFT guidelines
19:08the path has
19:09to be three
19:09metres wide
19:10so that you
19:12can have
19:12people moving
19:13in each
19:14direction
19:14without running
19:16into trouble
19:16one of the
19:18problems that we
19:18often have
19:19with the
19:20urban cycle
19:21routes being
19:22delivered in
19:23Somerset is
19:24there isn't
19:24often enough
19:24room to
19:26deliver those
19:27in a way
19:27that's legally
19:27binding
19:28without either
19:29taking huge
19:31amounts of
19:31room away
19:32from motorists
19:32and turning
19:33every street
19:33into a one
19:34way or
19:35without causing
19:38issues for
19:38local businesses
19:39but here
19:40using
19:41essentially
19:42former railway
19:43land
19:43which you
19:45could easily
19:46tell us by
19:46looking at
19:46how straight
19:47it is and
19:47how high up
19:48we are
19:48not to mention
19:49the bridge
19:50that we just
19:50crossed
19:51it's relatively
19:52straightforward
19:53to achieve
19:53those kinds
19:57of requirements
19:58and that
19:59specification
19:59if you only
20:02just join me
20:03it's Daniel
20:04Mumby here
20:05your local
20:05democracy
20:06reporter
20:06we're in
20:07the fringes
20:08of Froome
20:09talking about
20:10the Froome's
20:10missing links
20:11project
20:11this long
20:13running
20:13or decade
20:14long now
20:14I should
20:14we say
20:15walking and
20:16cycling project
20:17designed to
20:18provide safe
20:19car free
20:21walking and
20:21cycling links
20:22between Froome
20:24and the
20:24neighbouring
20:24villages
20:25linking up
20:26the last
20:27little bit
20:28with the
20:30national cycle
20:30network
20:31route 24
20:31which is
20:31managed by
20:32Sustrans
20:33and ensuring
20:35that people
20:36who want
20:37to access
20:37Froome's
20:38many vibrant
20:40amenities
20:40and indeed
20:42get to school
20:43get to work
20:43all the rest
20:44of it
20:44can do so
20:45without having
20:47to indulge
20:48in endless
20:48short
20:50congested
20:50car journeys
20:51causing pollution
20:52and loads
20:53of health
20:54problems
20:54and like I
20:58say this
20:58section is
20:58relatively
21:00sheltered so
21:00even if you
21:01were cycling
21:02this in a
21:03thunderstorm
21:03you'd be
21:04okay for
21:05at least a
21:05short part
21:05I don't
21:07recommend
21:07cycling in
21:08a thunderstorm
21:09but if
21:10there's no
21:11other way to
21:11get home I
21:11guess you'd
21:12have to
21:12all right
21:16we've just
21:16got a little
21:16bit further
21:17there's a
21:18section that
21:19bends around
21:20to the left
21:20just up ahead
21:21where this
21:23route the
21:24missing link
21:25formally joins
21:26on to
21:27Collier's Way
21:28which is as
21:30I say part
21:30of NCN
21:32Route 24
21:32runs all the
21:34way to
21:34Radstock in
21:35that direction
21:35and snakes
21:38its way into
21:39Froome from
21:40the western
21:40side and
21:41that section
21:42of the route
21:42follows up
21:44with a lot
21:45of the
21:45implemented
21:46measures
21:47delivered as
21:48part of the
21:49Froome
21:49Safer School
21:50Streets
21:50strategy which
21:51is ongoing
21:52at the moment
21:52that has
21:56implemented
21:56numerous
21:57changes to
21:59the roads
21:59around four
22:00Froome schools
22:00in the western
22:01side of the
22:01town the
22:02Oakfield area
22:02in particular
22:0320 mile an hour
22:04speed limits
22:05traffic calming
22:06measures roads
22:07being closed at
22:08certain times of
22:08the day and
22:10Froome Town
22:10Council is
22:11currently consulting
22:11on the future
22:12of that we'll
22:13pop a link in
22:14the description
22:14after the
22:15broadcast is
22:16finished so
22:18you can have
22:18your say on
22:19the matter we'll
22:19just step to
22:20this side so
22:22we don't get
22:23run over by
22:24these kind
22:25gentlemen
22:25so just to
22:40again put this
22:40into context if
22:41you carry on
22:42following that
22:44gentleman in the
22:44high viz going
22:45slowly but steadily
22:46up the hill you
22:48will eventually end
22:48up through the
22:49village of
22:50Kilmerston and
22:51into the centre
22:52of Radstock not
22:54far from the
22:55colliery museum if
22:56my memory serves
22:57alternatively if
22:58you go on these
23:00spurs you can
23:00either go back
23:01the way we
23:01came it leads
23:03you out near
23:03Hapsford or you
23:05can go down the
23:06hill and under
23:07the railway bridge
23:08and pick up the
23:08roads from there
23:09anyway I hope this
23:11has been informative
23:12and interesting I
23:13know that we got
23:13there just after
23:14the press
23:15presentations had
23:16started that's
23:17entirely on me but
23:18hopefully the
23:19information that
23:20Richard and Jeff
23:20gave you and
23:21what I have
23:22subsequently relayed
23:23was informative
23:23if you missed any
23:25part of this live
23:25stream it will be
23:26available for the
23:27next 30 days if
23:28you want a hard
23:28copy we'll make
23:29that available after
23:30that and I shall
23:31be back for another
23:32live stream probably
23:33next Saturday at the
23:34moment it's looking
23:35like we're in
23:35Burnham-on-Sea but
23:37keep an eye on my
23:37social media pages
23:38including at
23:39Daniel Mumby on
23:40Twitter and
23:41Daniel Mumby at
23:42Blue Sky if you
23:43want more information
23:44and just keep an eye
23:45on that in the
23:46meantime from the
23:47newly relayed
23:48Froome's Missing
23:49Links Phase 2
23:50this is Daniel Mumby
23:51your local democracy
23:52reporter wishing you
23:53a fantastic rest of
23:54the weekend and come
23:55and check this out if
23:56you can because it's
23:57amazing bye for now