Wells and Shepton Mallet are one step closer to a car-free connection following the opening of the latest section of the Strawberry Line off-road route for pedestrians and cyclists.

The Strawberry Line currently runs uninterrupted between Yatton railway station and Station Road in Cheddar, and will eventually stretch all the way to the eastern edge of Shepton Mallet.

Numerous short extensions have recently been delivered over the last two years, with Greenway and Cycle Routes working with local contractors and armies of willing volunteers to close the gap between different settlements near the Mendip Hills national landscape (formerly area of outstanding natural beauty, or AONB).

The newest section of the route is now open to the public, comprising around one kilometre of path between Charlie Bingham's Quarry Kitchen on the eastern edge of Wells and Churchill Batch Lane near Croscombe.

The Strawberry Line takes its name from the nickname of the former Cheddar Valley railway line, which ran from Yatton to Witham Junction railway station, just outside Shepton Mallet.

The railway line once transported strawberries from the Cheddar area to markets as far afield as London and Birmingham – but it closed in the mid-1960s as part of the infamous Beeching cuts.

Volunteers have been working hard since the mid-1980s to secure various sections for safe public access, following the former trackbed wherever possible.

This latest extension builds on the Wells to Dulcote section of the route, which was opened to the public in March 2022 and provides a traffic-free route away from the busy A371 between Somerset's smallest city and Charlie Bingham, a major employer in the area.

The Local Democracy Reporting Services was given a tour of the new Dulcote extension by Richard Jones, a trustee of the Strawberry Line Society and the volunteer coordinator for this section of the route.

He said: "This disused trackbed is being slowly turned into a multi-user path for walkers, wheelchair users, cyclists, mobility scooters and horses – anyone that is classed as a vulnerable user.

"It's a flat, all-ability surface, and the hope is to connect up Shepton Mallet, Wells and Cheddar via a safe, beautiful route."

The delivery of this 'missing link' between Wells and Shepton Mallet builds on other small sections which have recently been delivered, including two short sections on either way (which opened in March 2023) and the section between Westbury-sub-Mendip and Easton (which was completed in September 2023).

By providing a safe route away from the A371, Mr Jones hopes it will encourage more people to walk, cycle and wheel for business and leisure – and make it easier for children to learn how to ride a bike in the first place.

He said: "I've cycled on the A371 between Shepton Mallet and Wells, and unless you're very confident, it is basically no good.

"It's certainly not the place to learn how to cycle. I have children myself, and where do you start them off with all these dangerous roads everywhere – where is the 'cycling nursery', if you will? Where can you gain confidence whatever your age?

"The Strawberry Line is perfect for this. But even once you have your confidence, you don't want to cycling on busy roads with blind corners and lorries going 50mph with unexpected bottlenecks.

"You want to be on a safe surface like this, with good gradients throughout."

From the entrance to Charlie Bingham (including a new pedestrian crossing), the newest section meanders east, forming an attractive corridor between Dulcote Quarry and the Dulcote household waste recycling centre.

From there, the route continues on a short distance with gentle inclines up to its current terminus at Churchill Batch Lane, following the former trackbed as much as possible.

Like other multi-user paths delivered in rural areas or small Somerset towns (such as those being delivered as part of the Glastonbury town deal), the Strawberry Line is being constructed using compacted stone dust on a coarse stone base, with locally sourced materials and construction being handled by M. P. & K. M. Golding, a family firm based in Rodney Stoke between Cheddar and Wells.

This method is far cheaper per kilometre than the Tarmac-based raised kerb cycle lines you'd typically see in larger towns and cities – and it allows the path to blend in with the landscape to create a more welcoming atmosphere.

Mr Jones said: "The surface can be used all year around, even in the depths of winter.

"I have many people come up to me and say: 'I can't walk my dog anywhere in the winter – except the Strawberry Line'. These are people who don't have the confidence to climb over stiles or walk through muddy fields.

"On the whole, we go for a permissive path – we will design the route with the landowner, they will be involved every step of the way, there will be a lease agreement and they will be compensated as best we can.

"There are a few landowners who would rather sell, and if that's what they want, that's what we will do. But the landowners lead, and we oblige.

"We want to avoid the compulsory purchase route – that is a terrible way to proceed, and it's the perfect way to alienate the community and the landowners.

"Somerset Council has been very supportive. There were a few issues to resolve with the delivery of the path, but the attitude has always been positive."

The volunteers had originally hoped that the Dulcote extension would be opened in time for the Easter holidays.

However, progress was held up by a very wet winter, and only being able to work on the stretch near the recycling centre on the one day a week when the facility was closed.

In addition to delivering a safe active travel route, this new section also serves a valuable wildlife corridor – with volunteers ensuring that whatever maintenance they do to keep the path clear is not needlessly disruptive.

Mr Jones said: "Ever since I've been working on these paths, wildlife has been a primary concern.

"We maintain it in such a way that wildlife can use it. Butterflies especially like it because they need sunlight – I once followed a brimstone butterfly all the way from Dulcote to Wells."

By being community-led, the Strawberry Line is not only cheaper to deliver than a conventional cycle route but also a far more democratic operation.

Mr Jones: "Often what happens with a project like this is the council takes the lead, they build it and then they walk away, and the public are left with a path that slowly overgrows.

"With the Strawberry Line, it's best in the community. We've been trying to get the extension through to Shepton Mallet for more than 20 years now, and politicians have come on board subsequently, which I think is the right way around – it's more of a direct democracy."

Around 30,000 people a year use the original Westbury-sub-Mendip section of the Strawberry Line which opened before Christmas 2022 – around 80 journeys per day.

This rose to around 50,000 a year after the section to Easton was finished in September 2023 – around 137 people per day who would otherwise need to get in their cars to drive the short distance between the village.

Mr Jones said the full impact of this latest section would not be appreciated until the final link to Shepton Mallet had been put in place.

He said: "With this section, it's a slightly different prospect because we're not joining up villages, and so it will be a different clientele – until it joins up all the way to Shepton Mallet, and then I think this path will go crazy with the numbers.

"I know from Charlie Bingham themselves that quite a few of their workers now use the path coming from Wells – but they said most of their workforce lives in Shepton Mallet, so once it opens up all the way it will be life-changing."

From the new section's end at Churchill Batch Lane, cyclists using electric bicycles can get up the steep hill to access The George Inn and other facilities in the centre of Croscombe, while hikers can walk the loop around the top of Dulcote.

At the Shepton Mallet end of the route, a short section of around 110 metres is now open between The Sidings and Kent Lane, linking up with the existing section towards Collett Park.

Mr Jones said: "We're hoping that you'll be able to get to the recreation ground from the centre of Shepton Mallet through a new bridge, which will be put in over the Pilton road before Christmas.

"Once National Highways puts in the path under Stump Cross Bridge [at the other end of the West Shepton leg], we'll have another 700 metres ready to go very soon."

To get involved as a volunteer on the Strawberry Line, or for more information about the route, visit www.thestrawberryline.org.uk.