£730,000 set aside to finish key rural Somerset cycle routes
Rural routes get a long-awaited lift as council backs cycling and walking links
Up to £730,000 will be set aside over the next two years to help complete walking and cycling routes across rural Somerset.
Somerset Council ratified its local transport plan in mid-March, which included a commitment to delivering walking and cycling improvements over the next five years using funding from Active Travel England and housing developments.
Due to the constraints around government grants, the majority of these schemes will be focussed around urban parts of the county – with “almost no money” being set aside for rural areas.
The council has now announced that £730,000 will be set aside over the next two years to help deliver active travel projects in rural areas, focused around the Strawberry Line and the wider Somerset Circle.
When completed, the Somerset Circle would provide a 76-mile traffic-free circuit which would link the north Somerset coast (including Weston-super-Mare and Clevedon), Bristol, Bath, the Mendip Hills and Shepton Mallet.
More than two-thirds of the route is currently in place, including the Bristol and Bath Railway Path, the Two Tunnels Greenway in Bath and the Colliers Way to Radstock (which also continues on a spur out towards Frome).
The Strawberry Line forms a key component of the Circle, running uninterrupted from Yatton railway station to Labourham Way in Cheddar, and will eventually reach all the way to Collett Park in Shepton Mallet.
Lucy Bath, the council’s lead officer for infrastructure and transport planning, said that without this funding it would be “extremely difficult and expensive” to deliver additional improvements in rural areas.
She said in her written report: “Both routes are key aspirations for the council and its local transport plan, delivering improved access to active travel options and increasing local connectivity in rural Somerset.”
The funding will be awarded to registered charity Greenways and Cycle Routes, which has been working since 2016 to deliver new rural active travel links.
In addition to new sections of the Strawberry Line, the organisation has helped to deliver the Windsor Hill Greenway north of Shepton Mallet and new paths across Glastonbury as part of the Robert Richards initiative within the £23.6m Glastonbury town deal.
Ms Bath continued: “Greenways and Cycle Routes was established to help local groups develop walking and cycle routes for the local community, and uses a mixture their own professional experience, local contractors and vast numbers of volunteers to enable quick, high quality infrastructure delivery.
“It has an excellent local network with close relationships with the Strawberry Line Society, the Friends of Windsor Hill Tunnels and other volunteer and community organisations with an interest in active travel.
“By funding Greenways and Cycle Routes, the council can provide flexibility in
delivering short and longer-term rural active travel infrastructure in the former Mendip area, unlocking routes that would otherwise be difficult to deliver.
“It will provide exceptional value and will benefit local communities by improving connectivity and providing access to both active travel and leisure.
“It will also support local business through their use at the construction stage and after by encouraging visitors to the area.”
Of the £730,000 being allocated within the council’s capital programme, £472,070 will come from grants from the Department for Transport (DfT), with the remaining £257,930 being re-purposed from the planned A39 bypass between Aschott and Walton (which was scrapped in February 2023).
Mick Fletcher, chairman of the Strawberry Line Society, said the news was “very exciting” and “should enable a big step forward”.
He added: “We can’t be too specific about the exact route we intend to take for the remaining sections until all landowners have signed on the dotted line.
“However, it is clear where the gaps are: Shepton Mallet to Wells, Wells to Easton, Westbury-sub-Mendip to Rodney Stoke, and Draycott to Cheddar.
“We are not dogmatic about sticking to the railway track, although where it is possible that has obvious advantages.
“Around Shepton Mallet, we are keen to improve links to the Somerset Circle.”
The Strawberry Line Society has been pushing the Historic Railways Estate (HRE – part of National Highways) to open up an arch of Stump Cross Bridge under Ridge Road, enabling path users to pass safely underneath the busy road on their way towards Wells.
Following public criticism of HRE’s lack of progress in mid-February, Mr Fletcher said that “things have started to move forward sensibly” on this particular project.
The funding announced comes mere weeks before the inaugural Somerset Circle Discovery Ride, which will see dozens of cyclists riding the entire Somerset Circle Route over two days on April 18 and 19.
The ride intends to promote the Somerset Circle Route (of which the Strawberry Line forms a key component), encouraging further public use and pushing for the remaining sections to be delivered.
For more information, including how to take part, visit www.greenwaysandcycleroutes.org/2026/03/17/inaugural-somerset-circle-discovery-ride-on-18-19th-april-2026 or email [email protected].
A spokesperson for Greenways and Cycle Routes said: “A small group of dedicated riders will depart Bath Abbey heading to Midsomer Norton and then Shepton Mallet, before passing along the Strawberry Line on the afternoon of April 18, passing through Wells before stopping in Cheddar overnight.
“The riders will then continue on the morning of April 18 to Clevedon via Yatton, and then onwards towards Bristol to complete the Somerset Circle back to Bath Abbey.
“There will be a chance for the public, Strawberry Line volunteers, supporters, and members to meet the riders at various stops over the two days, where the Strawberry Line Society will be present to welcome the riders.”