A traffic-free path from the Mendips to the sea. The “Strawberry Line” was the nickname of the Cheddar Valley Line, a Great Western Railway branch line that ran from Witham Junction to Yatton via Shepton Mallet, Wells and Cheddar until the late 1960s.
Since the 1980s, the route has been in the process of being transformed, step by step, into a beautiful greenway through North and Mid-Somerset. The path will be suitable for walkers, cyclists, wheelchair users, mobility scooters, and on some sections, equestrians. Once completed, the Strawberry Line path will run from Shepton Mallet to Clevedon, incorporating the Cheddar Valley Line trackbed wherever possible, as well as much of the disused Clevedon branch line. More than half of the route is already open and yours to explore. Over two miles of brand-new path have been built in the last two years alone, and there is every chance that most of the route will be finished in the near future. Volunteers of the Strawberry Line Society continue to work in partnership with landowners and local councils to maintain the existing path as well as deliver new sections. If you’d like to support us, do consider joining us, or donate.
Find the perfect section for your day out.
For a long, continuous route that takes in the North Somerset Levels and the Mendip Hills AONB, head for the 10-mile Yatton-Cheddar stretch of the Strawberry Line. The 2-mile section from Wells to Dulcote offers ancient woodland and spectacular hillside views of Wells Cathedral. Fledgling sections at Westbury-sub-Mendip and Shepton Mallet tantalise the active traveller with a vision of a kinder, greener future. All routes are wheelchair-friendly, with a hard all-weather surface and shallow gradients. The single exception to this is a fairly steep lane (Racurium Cottage) at Axbridge.
