Two historic Somerset viaducts to be given new lease of life

The Ham Wood Viaduct north of Shepton Mallet is part of the new route

Two historic viaducts will be a given a new lease of life after plans for a new active travel route were approved.

Somerset Council has granted permission for the scheme which will aim to encourage people across the district to walk or cycle to work and school.

The route will largely follow the path of the disused Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway line which closed as part of the Beeching cuts in the mid-1960s.

A target opening date for the route will be announced in due course.

The route will run through the Windsor Hill Tunnel

The route will start at the Ham Wood viaduct in Croscombe and run through the Windsor Hill tunnel before passing over Ham Lane and Forum Lane.

People will then cross the Bath Road viaduct, taking them above the B3136 Bath Road, before ending their journey at a new junction with the A37 Kilver Street Hill.

Once permissions and further funding have been secured, campaigners hope that the route can be extended, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

Volunteers working on the Windsor Hill active travel route near Shepton Mallet

The plans were approved by Somerset Council's planning committee on Tuesday.

Jane Nicklin, of Shepton Mallet Town Council said: "This is a really useful addition to the local community and beyond that it's going to encourage tourism and other villages to link up with our town."

The route is intended to form part of the Somerset Circle, a 76-mile (122km) traffic-free circuit which would link to the north Somerset coast.

Two new sections of the Strawberry Line - which will also form part of the Somerset Circle - were opened in Shepton Mallet in March, with work currently under way on further extensions in Easton and Dulcote.