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Stop Line Way

Back to the Future and WWII

The 5 mile Ilminster to Chard stretch of the historic Stop Line Way has just received a major makeover thanks to a Lottery grant.

A detailed map and leaflet to the walk, which includes details of new interpretation boards and historical sites of interest have been developed.

Download your Stop Line Way Leaflet...

Background to the Stop Line Way

The lottery money has been used to enhance the historical content of the walk and involved a group of volunteers from Ilminster, Donyatt, Knowle St Giles and Chard working together to design a heritage project linking their communities.

The result is the reconstruction of a railway halt and platform (complete with statue of evacuee), new interpretation boards that tell the history of this line, including the story of the evacuation of schoolchildren from the cities to the villages in 1939, as well as explain what wildlife can bee seen in the area.

The Stop Line Way is a long distance walking and cycling route that is being developed by Sustrans in association with local authority partners.

It partly follows the 'Taunton Stop Line' built by the Army in 1940 to contain any Nazi German invasion of the South West, with the defences running from Burnham on Sea on the Bristol Channel to Seaton on the South Coast. Canals, railways and rivers were made into a continuous anti-tank obstacle with road blocks and 380 concrete pill boxes.

As part of the heritage project the World War Two defences have been cleared along the Chard to Ilminster stretch for people to see. Walkers can now view many Army Pill Boxes, as well as anti tank concrete posts known as Dragons Teeth.

This five mile section is a perfect day walk that can be done as a linear route due to the regular bus service between the two towns.