Discover

The 'Cheddar Valley line' was a railway line that ran from Yatton railway station through Wells, Cheddar, Shepton Mallet to Witham in England.

Contents

History

Stations

The Railway Walk

Furture plans

External links

History

At the time, there were a large number of railway companies operating and this, in part, led to the line being built in several sections. The first section built was the East Somerset Railway from Witham to Shepton Mallet, opening on 9 November 1858. The line was extended to Wells, opening on 1 March 1862. This extended line was bought by the Great Western Railway in 1874.
Meanwhile, Yatton was under the control of the Bristol and Exeter Railway, who opened the branch through to Cheddar on 3 August 1869. This was extended to Wells on 5 April 1870, meeting the line from Witham. The combined line moved from broad gauge to standard gauge in 1875. The Bristol and Exeter was acquired by the GWR in 1876, thus allowing an integrated service to run from Yatton through to Witham, which became the standard service for this line. The line was single-track for most of the journey between Yatton and Wells, apart from the junction at Congresbury.
The prime motivation for the line to Cheddar and Draycott was to provide transport for strawberries, and Cheddar cheese. This led to its nickname the ''Strawberry Line''. The pub opposite the station in Draycott is now called ''The Strawberry Special''
On 4 December 1901, the Wrington Vale Light Railway opened a branch from Congresbury to Blagdon. This survived until 14 September 1931 for passenger traffic, and 1 November 1950 for goods traffic.
The Cheddar Valley line survived until the Beeching Axe. Towards the end of its life, there were so few passengers that diesel railcars were sometimes used. The Cheddar branch closed to passengers on 9 September 1963 and to goods in 1964.

Stations

★ Yatton

★ Congresbury

★
★ ''Wrington Vale Light Railway'':

★
★
★ Wrington

★
★
★ Langford

★
★
★ Burrington

★
★
★ Blagdon

★ Sandford & Banwell

★ Winscombe

★ Axbridge

★ Cheddar

★ Draycott

★ Lodge Hill, serving Westbury-sub-Mendip (Not named ''Westbury'' to avoid confusion with the larger Westbury, Wiltshire)

★ Wookey

★ Wells (GWR, later Tucker Street, later simply ''Wells'')

★ Wells (S&D, later Priory Road)

★ Shepton Mallet (High Street)

★ Cranmore

★ Wanstrow

★ Witham

The Railway Walk

Today, the line between Yatton and Winscombe exists as the ''Strawberry Line'' railway walk.
The path starts at Yatton railway station and is in good condition most of the way to Congresbury, although it is neccessary to follow a farm track near Congresbury as the railway bridge over the River Yeo has been demolished. The platyforms of the former station here remain, as do houses built for railway workers.
From Congresbury to Sandford the the footpath narrows considerably and is prone to mud. The track bed around Sandford has been built on, and so the footpath temporarily joins roads. In this case, however, the buildings and platforms were preseved by the owners of the site Sandford Stone, however this business has failed and the site will soon be redevloped as housing.
The footpath through Winscombe is in good condition, and the site of the former station is now the ''Millennium Green''. The platforms have been preserved and seats provided.
After Winscombe, the line continues as a cycle path. Shute Shelve Tunnel is accessible, the surface tarmaced but unlit. The track bed around Axbridge is now the A371 bypass, but the station building, goods shed and station master's house are all used for various purposes. The Strawberry Line path goes through the town itself
The railway track is regained opposite St Michael's Nursing Home and is in good condition through to Cheddar, with a picnic spot overlooking the reservoir.

Furture plans

There are plans by the local councils and the Cheddar Valley Railway Walk Society to extend the footpath along the line from Cheddar all the way to Wells. In places the old railway has been built on, but the plan is to follow the line as close as possible.
At the other end of the walk, a feasibility study has been mooted which would see the walk extended from Yatton to Clevedon along the former Clevedon branch line. Again parts of the line have been built on and station buildings no longer exist.

External links

★ Cheddar Valley Railway Walk Society