The Strawberry Line route heading towards Shepton Mallet has been given a £30,000 boost to make it easier for walkers, cyclists and visitors to use. The grant from the Mendip Hills National Landscape management team has funded access improvements, new signage, route promotion and work to make sections of the path more usable.

The active travel route currently runs uninterrupted from Yatton railway station to Labourham Way in Cheddar, but the long-term plan is for it to reach Collett Park in Shepton Mallet. For Shepton and Wells readers, the project is part of a wider push to improve rural routes through the Mendip Hills and better connect local communities without relying on the car.

The Strawberry Line Society has been working with Somerset Council and local landowners to deliver the remaining sections of the path. Somerset Council announced in early April that £730,000 would be provided towards the Strawberry Line and other rural routes over the next two years.

A significant section of the Strawberry Line passes through the Mendip Hills, closely following the route of the former Cheddar Valley railway line. The railway closed in the mid-1960s as part of the Beeching cuts, but its trackbed has since become the backbone of one of Somerset's best-known walking and cycling routes.

The £30,000 Mendip Hills National Landscape grant has supported improved signage along the path and promotion of the route, including links to other parts of the Mendip Hills. It has also funded repairs and upgrades to improve access for people with restricted mobility, engagement with local schools, and new interpretation boards with maps at key access points.

The early school work has focused on King's Academy in Cheddar, part of the Wessex Learning Trust. The wider ambition is to make the route easier to understand, easier to use and more welcoming for people who may previously have found parts of it difficult to access.

Mick Fletcher, chairman of the Strawberry Line Society, said: "The access for all funding has helped the Strawberry Line advance considerably this year. It has enabled us to make it easier and safer to use the path and encouraged a wider group of users to explore the countryside including many who may have struggled before.

"The grant has supported our volunteers and enabled us to upgrade our tools to low-carbon rechargeable power tools, and communications to the wider public has also helped hugely. We now have a membership of 450, and in the region 110 active volunteers, covering over 29 miles. I'd like to thank them all personally for delivering this project."

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The Mendip Hills is one of 46 national landscapes across the UK, having originally been designated as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty in 1972. The local management team says the Strawberry Line is exactly the kind of community-led project the funding is designed to support.

Jim Hardcastle, manager of the Mendip Hills National Landscape team, said: "I'm really pleased we've now got the funds from Defra to support important initiatives like the Strawberry Line. It's such a success story for the area, made even more impressive by the fact that so much of it is community-driven.

"We can see how the money has made a real difference and look forward to supporting the Society with a similar grant this year as well."

More information about the Strawberry Line, including volunteering and financial support, is available from the Strawberry Line Society.

Original reporting: Daniel Mumby/LDRS

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