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00:00Good morning, people of Somerset. It's Daniel Mumby, your local democracy reporter here,
00:05and you join me on the southern edge of Cheddar on a glorious Saturday morning in April. And
00:09for the next 30 minutes or so, depending on how far we get, we're going to be walking
00:13the section of the Strawberry Line through this excellent village on the edge of the
00:16Mendip Hills. We're going to be talking about the history of the route. We're going to be
00:19talking about the future of walking and cycling in this part of Somerset and various attempts
00:23to get government funding to make improvements. If you have any questions or comments over
00:28the course of this video, please pop them in the comments section, and we'll get to
00:31as many of them as we possibly can. Just to point out, we are on a section which is near
00:37the end of the Strawberry Line, near Old Bridge Lane in Cheddar. We are walking over one of
00:42the old railway bridges at the moment. And the Strawberry Line itself doesn't technically
00:48end or begin, depending on which direction you're travelling in, until we get to Station
00:53Road near Kings of Wessex Academy. This whole stretch that we're walking on at the moment
00:57is part of a possible upgrade. As you can see, there's already walk and cycle lanes
01:01in place, but there's been talk of extending the Strawberry Line in this direction past
01:06Kings of Wessex Academy, which we'll be passing in a few minutes. In the early part of last
01:11year, there was a bid to the government's levelling up fund, jointly between Cheddar
01:16High Bridge and Shepton Mallet, intending to, in part, upgrade this section of the route
01:21to make it a lot easier for people to engage in active travel. And, as you can see, it's
01:27been kept in pretty good condition. That bid, unfortunately, was not successful. Under the
01:31new Somerset Council, there may be a third round levelling up funding bid, which may
01:35bring in more money for the area, but of course, now we've got one unitary. Everywhere in Somerset
01:40is competing for the same pot of money, so we'll see how far up the pecking order Cheddar
01:45ends up being. If you've never heard of the Strawberry Line, let me give you a little
01:49bit of background to it. Back before the infamous Beeching Cuts of the mid-1960s, this
01:55area that we're walking on now was once part of the Somerset and Dorset Railway, or Dorset
02:01and Somerset Railway, depending on how you choose to call it. And it was known as the
02:05Strawberry Line because it was famous for taking strawberries from this part of the
02:11Mendip area all the way to London. And the line survived in one form or another, running
02:16all the way to Bournemouth until the Beeching Cuts of the mid-60s. It wasn't always the
02:20most reliable line. In fact, by the 40s it had earned the nickname of the Slow and Dirty.
02:26And as you can see, although a lot of evidence of a railway being here has gone, the area
02:32is still relatively flat or small inclines to give you an idea of what was here in the
02:38past. You may have seen our previous few Facebook Lives looking at the Stop Line Way near Ilminster,
02:44another former railway line which was cut back under the infamous Dr Beeching. And it's
02:48great to see so many of these routes re-appropriated for walking and cycling. A lot of them have
02:53been kept up through the hard work of volunteers like those at the Strawberry Line. And hopefully
02:59over the next 15 to 20 minutes and maybe more, depending on how far we get, because we are
03:03taking it at a leisurely pace today, you'll get an idea of how this route can be transformed
03:10over the course of the next few years. Just to give you a bit more background as we take
03:15in this stretch of the walk, the £19.3 million levelling up fund bid that came into the government
03:21was not just focused around active travel across Cheddar, Highbridge and Shepton Mallet.
03:25There was a lot of work put in by Mendip District Council, which now no longer exists, and by
03:31Cessmore District Council, to see if there was a way to improve walking and cycling areas
03:37near the gorge and out towards that area. Now that was an area we're not going to get to today.
03:44And the bid, unfortunately, like I say, was not successful. Wells MP James Heapy, whose
03:48constituency we find ourselves in, he said that the plans were unimaginative and he was
03:53not surprised when the bid was ultimately unsuccessful. It is relatively quiet for a
03:58Saturday in this glorious weather. Of course, we're still before 12 o'clock. There's quite
04:03a few people with dogs and cycles about and hopefully that will fill up as we go on.
04:07Once we get past the Kings of Wessex stretch that you can see in front of me, obviously
04:12still closed for the Easter holiday, so no risk of us intruding on anything, we will
04:17have to go along a stretch of road down towards the Travis Perkins hub, so there may be some
04:21background traffic noise. I will try and keep my voice as loud as possible with this very
04:27directional microphone and we'll just see how we go. If we don't get the whole stretch
04:30today, it's not the end of the world, but this is designed to show you the area of the
04:34Strawberry Line as it exists and this area that we're currently on, which could be improved
04:38in the years ahead if there is money and the demand. If you've only just joined us on the
04:44stream, it's Daniel Mumby here, your local democracy reporter here for Somerset Live.
04:47We're walking along the section of active travel route in the heart of Cheddar, past
04:52the Kings of Wessex Academy on our left hand side. And this is an area where the Strawberry
04:57Line active travel route which runs all the way eventually to Shepton Mallet, we're hoping
05:03that that will be extended and upgraded along this little stretch on which we are walking.
05:09And we're just going to ensure that we give these people up ahead a little bit of space,
05:14we're just going to hang back for the sake of not intruding. It is an absolutely glorious
05:22day here in Somerset. Let me know in the comments if you're out and about today enjoying the
05:26last bit of the Easter holidays. And the path does narrow a little, so again, we'll
05:32just have our wits about us as we head past the school.
05:36Like I say, quite a few people out with their dogs today, lots of different footpaths and
05:49cycle paths which all interconnect. And much like our previous Facebook Lives, every single
05:59step that we take on these live streams that we're doing every weekend is part of the Somerset
06:05Public Rights of Way network, so everywhere I'm walking, you can walk for absolutely free.
06:11And isn't that a wonderful luxury, especially in weather as glorious as this?
06:17So like I say, we're now heading round the side of Kings of Wessex Academy. As you can
06:22see, it's quite a bit narrower than the initial stretch we're on. There's no segregation exactly
06:28between walkers and cyclists, and as you can see, land is at a premium. And that is one
06:33of the obstacles with delivering new active travel infrastructure. Department for Transport
06:39guidance about exactly how much space needs to be provided is quite strict, and that means
06:46particularly in built-up areas like this, where space is at a premium, it's very difficult to get
06:51things up to the required standard. But hope springs eternal, and we hope, even with the
06:57recent budget announcements of how much active travel funding is going to be available for the
07:01next 12 months, we hope that at least some of it will find its way to Somerset, and possibly to
07:07this part of Somerset. Thank you very much for all of your contributions so far as we head into
07:12a shady section. As you can see, the school's nice and quiet at the moment, so no risk of
07:18intruding on anything that we shouldn't be. And again, we are going quite down a narrow section
07:27here, but thank you for bearing with us. Hopefully when we get to Station Road itself, the traffic
07:36won't be quite so deafening. We drove into Cheddar about 20 minutes ago, and it was a little
07:42congested getting into the Sainsbury's car park, and you have to have your wits about you for the
07:47areas that don't have pavements, which is something I should have researched a lot more in coming to
07:52this part of our wonderful county. And you might just be able to see in the distance there, we are
07:59right in the shadow of the Mendip Hills. Cheddar is technically outside the Mendip Hills area of
08:04outstanding natural beauty, but because it's right on the fringes, any new development, including
08:09something that we might pass on our route, does have to meet quite strict standards in terms of
08:13environmental impact and ensuring that the character of Cheddar is maintained for future
08:19generations. You can probably start to hear a rumble or two of cars and diesel engines, which
08:25means we're heading towards Station Road as we round this little substation, and hopefully it
08:32won't be too long before we get past Station Road and Wedmore Road into the current terminus of this
08:41stretch of the Strawberry Line. If you live in Cheddar, of course, you can follow the stretch,
08:45which we're going to explore, hopefully in a few minutes time, all the way uninterrupted to Yatton
08:51and Clevedon. It technically finishes at Yatton Railway Station, and there are aspirations to
08:58extend it even further than that, and we will put links in the description to the areas elsewhere
09:08on the line which have already been enhanced, including the new section in Shepton Mallet,
09:14which opened about a month or so ago, and the little stretch in Westbury-sub-Mendis, a few
09:19miles to the east of here, which was opened by Roswyke over the Christmas New Year period,
09:25in which we Facebook-lived back in January. And like I say, if you want more information on any
09:31of the areas that we've covered, just drop them in the comments. I would do my best to respond in
09:36real time, but if I fail to do so, I'll ensure that those are picked up after the weekend, and
09:43we'll get the information to you that we need. Like I say, the pavement is quite narrow here. We
09:48don't have a dedicated cycle route on this area, so we're just going to have to be a little careful
09:53as we head towards the War Memorial, where we'll be heading left, and ensure that this really has
10:00enough space on the pavement. Cheddar, of course, is technically a large village. It has the feeling
10:08sometimes of a town, but it is technically still a village, whereas Axbridge, just up the road,
10:13is much smaller than Cheddar, but it's technically a town. The vagaries of our curious English system
10:20of government, and who would change it. So we're just passing the War Memorial on our right now,
10:27as we head down towards the existing terminus of the Strawberry Line. You can see the sign there
10:34for National Cycle Route 26, which is the official designation of the Strawberry Line. That's
10:38technically where our journey, if we were doing the Strawberry Line proper, would have to begin,
10:44but I've decided to start at the southern end, looking at the aspirational bit, which could be
10:48extended in the years ahead. Like I say, we're hoping for another levelling up fund bid to be
10:55submitted before the end of this year. We'd probably get a decision on that from the government early
10:59in 2024. Obviously, it depends on whether there's a general election before that time, and I'm sure
11:06you will all have your opinions on whether or not that's a good idea, and when it would be best to
11:11call it. But let's try and leave party politics out of this, and just talk about the kind of
11:17infrastructure issues which affect you all, regardless of who you vote for. And you can see
11:21here, as we walk along this little residential area, by all these parked cars, how narrow it
11:27is. We're able to get pedestrians and dogs moving in one direction, but if you have a wheelchair or
11:33a mobility scooter or a pushchair, it can be rather treacherous at times. If you've only just joined
11:42me, as the clouds come over a little, my name is Daniel Mumby. I am your local democracy reporter
11:48for Somerset Live. We are walking the Strawberry Line in Cheddar. Technically, we are walking the
11:55future section of the Strawberry Line in Cheddar, hopefully as a result of active travel funding,
12:00which is being explored and bid for at the moment. The whole area that we're walking up on will
12:05become more of a low-traffic neighbourhood, with designated cycle lanes, just allowing more people
12:11to get out of their cars for short journeys, in particular those of less than two miles, and
12:15explore Cheddar on foot or by bicycle without any fear for their safety. And that's a lot of what
12:22active travel is about. It's not just about taking cars off the road, it's about encouraging people
12:29to feel safer in healthier forms of transport. They get healthier, which puts less pressure on
12:35our already stretched health services. Ultimately, everybody benefits. Now, you can see those blue
12:44signs in front of us, if you've got very good eyes, as we pass the Cheddar Recycling Centre on
12:49our left. A few people turning in after their spring cleaning, I imagine. And this next section
12:55is going to be a little tricky. So we're going to cross this junction here, and then we'll be
13:00heading up on the right to pick up Route 26 and the Strawberry Line as it currently stands. Thank
13:10you very much for all your participation so far. This video will end up being posted and retained
13:15on our Facebook page, and any comments that we don't get round to answering today will be explored
13:24in due course. There will be a full article coming up on the Somerset Live site probably early next
13:32week. I'm just going to pause here for a second and make sure that we are heading in the right
13:37direction. I'm pretty sure that we are, but you can never be too careful. It is a really warm day
13:43here in Cheddar. I'm slightly regretting having a hoodie on, but better safe than sorry, I suppose.
13:49And yes, we are in the right direction. We are following the signs to Axe Bridge, and once these
13:56cars have passed, we shall make our way across this road and head up past these industrial units
14:03towards the rest of the Strawberry Line. I could really do with a bowl of strawberries on a day
14:10like this. Maybe that will be my reward. The stretch that we're aiming to walk today is about
14:14two kilometres. Apologies if you are more of an imperial mindset. There and back it's four
14:22kilometres, which is around two and a half miles, maybe three miles, and it is the perfect weather
14:26to get out and explore parts of our county that otherwise would be a little hidden away.
14:33And that's one of the reasons why I'm doing these regular streams, is actually getting out in the
14:37places that we report on day in, day out, seeing them in the flesh, or the concrete as the case may
14:42be, and just getting more of a feel of how widely these are used, how important they are to the
14:48community, and just celebrating what we have on our doorstep. So really glad that you can enjoy
14:58my company today, and it's a wonderful opportunity to explore this wonderful stretch. Just to get
15:05back a bit, I mentioned in the build-up to this a couple of new sections of the Strawberry Line
15:10recently opened to the east of us. Mendip District Council, in one of its final actions before being
15:16abolished, opened a new stretch linking the Tadley Acres and Collett Park area of Shepton Mallet
15:23to the Townsend Retail Park, where the big Tesco's is, and that in itself will eventually link up
15:31to a further section on Ridge Lane, which leads out following the old track bed towards Dulkett.
15:37And there are rumours, yet to be completely confirmed, as we just pull in to let these
15:43cyclists come up this way, there are rumours of another 300 metres or so near the Dulkett
15:51Quarry, where Charlie Bingham of course is based. We're hoping, that's about all right,
16:00we're hoping that that area will be extended as well, and eventually Wells and Shepton Mallet
16:05will be completely joined, so you won't have to use the busy and often dangerous A371 to get from
16:13A to B. And frankly, on a day like this, why would you want to drive when you can walk or cycle?
16:18It's absolutely blistering heat, blue skies, and the paths have been well maintained.
16:28The new Unitary Authority is working with a partner called Greenways and Cycle Routes,
16:34looking at low-cost ways to open up active travel across the former
16:39Mendip and into the former Sedgmore district, which we're technically in now.
16:46And if you go to the section out at Westbury sub-Mendip, between Station Road and Erland Lane
16:52there, that's been specifically designed to have a low-cost material, using land that's been leased
17:03from local farmers on a, I believe, 150-year lease, but we will get that double-checked as
17:08we let this jugger come past. So Greenways and Cycle Routes have been looking at ways to
17:19secure paths like this section of the Strawberry Line for other active travel communities without
17:26simply having to tarmac over. Obviously tarmac is a lot more expensive. If you visited the Meads
17:32Eco Park in Bridgewater or saw my live stream earlier in the year looking at that, you'll get
17:37an idea of the kind of surface. It's perfectly safe, it fits in with national government guidelines, so
17:42everyone's safe and happy, and to be honest, this kind of surface looks a lot more pleasant and
17:47organic than just a strip of bitumen. And this section of the Strawberry Line here, again, it's
17:53a little narrower than we might expect, and we've got a little plaque up ahead which we'll zoom in on,
17:59but it's rather nice to sort of weave in and out of these houses, and eventually we will pass
18:05out of the north of Cheddar and see, hopefully, a bit of the reservoir. And there's just a little
18:11plaque from the Strawberry Line and the Somerset Community Foundation looking at
18:17the initiation of this stretch of the line in the mid-80s, and we will ensure that is reflected
18:22in the article as well. So that's where we're going. It's a nice flat surface, as you'd expect
18:30from a lot of which used to be track bed. I don't have a map in my head of exactly
18:37how far it follows the railway through Cheddar. Obviously, if you've walked the stop line way near
18:43Ilminster or Chard where you've got the raised embankments on either side, that's a bit of a
18:47giveaway. This is a little more subtle, but it's no less charming. And it is a pleasure, like I say,
18:53to be out here in Cheddar, in the shadow of the Mendip Hills, on a glorious Saturday in April,
19:00to explore it in more depth. And I appreciate your company as you come along for the ride.
19:05If you haven't just joined us, you've come at a pretty good time, actually. It's Daniel Mumby
19:10here, your local democracy reporter for Somerset Live. We're walking the Strawberry Line in Cheddar.
19:15We started off down on Old Bridge Lane, not far from Cheddar Football Club, exploring an aspirational
19:22part of the line where there's already a cycling route of sorts, but it's not technically part of
19:27this active travel route. And now we're on National Cycle Route 26 itself, heading north through
19:37Cheddar up towards the reservoir. And hopefully we will get all the way to Axe Bridge and the A371.
19:45And as I've pointed out before with these routes, one of the nice things about exploring these kinds
19:49of traffic-free corridors, obviously we've got the housing on our right-hand side, so we know that
19:55we're roughly close to civilization, but it is so quiet up here, if you can put up with me rambling
20:01so much. There's a little bit of birdsong in the air, it's very still, and you wouldn't think that
20:08we were just skirting around one of the largest villages in Somerset. And we'll shortly be passing
20:15under what I believe is Lower New Road, so you'll get a sense of exactly where we are in relation
20:22to the town. And as we head north towards Axe Bridge, we'll be skirting past a lot of the new
20:27developments, including the Mendip View site being delivered by Bloor, and the Oak Park site currently
20:34being constructed by Taylor Wimpey. Large amount of housing has been allocated to Cheddar for the
20:41next 10 years, a lot of which is already under construction, and because Cheddar is one of the
20:46areas in Somerset which is not hampered by the phosphates crisis, which we've discussed on
20:52previous streams, housing is able to come on stream here, no pun intended, much quicker.
20:59Hopefully, if that housing has to happen, it will mean more funding for routes like this.
21:08And the longer I go on this route, the more I'm really craving that bowl of strawberries.
21:13You know, it's not too far from tennis season, and we've got the ashes coming up and it'll be
21:17Wimbledon before we know it, so maybe I should start on those strawberries early,
21:21if I don't get hit in the face by a bird first.
21:23Again, if you have any comments or questions, feel free to drop them in the comments. One thing I did
21:33want to get to just quickly, Tom Dando responded to my tweet about this live stream, asking about
21:41the aspirations for linking up the Strawberry Line beyond Shepton Mallet, going down through
21:46Evercreech, and how it would link up with other active travel routes such as the Rail-to-Trail
21:50scheme, which is focusing on the area around Wincanton and Brewton. The Strawberry Line
21:56gave me a statement on that saying it's not part of their official aspirations to go
22:01into Evercreech. As with a lot of these things, it depends not only on the funding available,
22:05but also having the volunteers to scope these routes out as we head under one of the old railway
22:12bridges. Imagining smoke filling the area in the age of steam, and we're now coming to a little bit
22:21more of a rural stretch, heading towards the Mendip Hills themselves. So beyond Evercreech, we don't
22:28know. The Rail-to-Trail project is very much its own separate entity, and the new Somerset Council
22:35has various projects which it's working on, not just in Shedder, but across the county to try and
22:41get more people walking and cycling. And we'll put as many details of those as we can in the
22:46article without overwhelming you. Just let this gentleman go past so we don't interfere.
22:59It's good to see people out and using the line.
23:04And it's definitely the day for a walk, a cycle, or a run, whether you live in Shedder or not. Like I
23:10say, if you're out exploring your own section of the rights-of-way network, whether you're on your
23:15bike, on your walking, whether you've got the dog with you, please let me know what you're up to,
23:20and you might just get a shout out here on Somerset Live.
23:28So we've passed under Lower New Road, and we are gradually bending round westward, still heading
23:37in an orderly direction, but heading away from the edge of the town with the new developments,
23:41and towards the jewel in Shedder's Crown, which is of course the reservoir. We won't necessarily
23:48get too close to the resi itself. I imagine it's jam-packed with people messing about in boats,
23:57or just walking around the edge for fun, because of course there is a perimeter path
24:00around the reservoir, so you can explore that at your leisure.
24:04If you've only just joined us, my name is Daniel Mumby, I am your local democracy reporter here
24:10in Somerset, and I am walking the Strawberry Line through Shedder. We've passed under Lower New Road,
24:16we're following the old Somerset and Dorset Railway Line route that once brought strawberries
24:21from the heart of Somerset to the Hungry Tables in London, up until Dr Beeching decided it wasn't
24:29worth it, and as you can see a lot of the track bed has now been re-appropriated as an active
24:36travel route, and if you saw the beginning of this stream, we looked at the section near Kings
24:41of Wessex Academy, which could be enhanced, allowing the line to be extended. It's worth
24:47pointing out of course that the Strawberry Line forms a crucial part of what's known as the
24:51Somerset Circle, which is a series of walking and cycling routes which will eventually link up,
24:56providing an unbroken traffic-free 76-mile round circle, as opposed to any other kind of circle,
25:04which will link Bristol, Bath, the Mendip Hills, Shedder, Shepton Mallet, and there may even be a
25:10little branch off towards Froome as part of the Missing Links project that's going on there,
25:15which we may report on in a few weeks time, depending on how they're getting on.
25:18And again, it's designed not just as a leisure facility to have a little walk on if you happen
25:25to live there, or you fancy getting out and seeing a part of Somerset you've never explored before,
25:29but it's also about giving people who commute locally the option to use healthier forms of
25:38transport, getting people out of their cars, reducing congestion in our towns and villages,
25:44and us all getting healthier in the process, if nothing else, because when there's too much
25:47pollution, we're not breathing in so much pollution. And you can see how well-maintained
25:54this section has been, there's no real mud on the stretch, there's a few puddles here and there,
25:59and these new houses which have been springing up on our right have all got
26:05different ways to access it as well, including a little ramp leading up there.
26:09They've thought of everything.
26:11We'll probably just pause at the top of this little incline here, as we get our first look
26:17across in the direction of the reservoir, just to really put the area into context. It's
26:22just one of those places where, unless you've made an effort to visit, a lot of the time you
26:27would sort of know of it, but not know exactly how it all lies. And sure enough, we will give you
26:33a view of the reservoir as we stop here for a bit, past these goalposts, and allow these people
26:39to walk by. It truly is a sight to behold. You can see a few people walking on the edge,
26:45someone with a speedboat of some kind, just chugging along there. And as we pan across to
26:52there, you can see the new developments which have been worked on over the last
26:58few years or so. A lot of new housing in this part of Cheddar. In fact, if you go beyond that escarpment
27:04in the Mendip Hills towards the quarries, there's talk of another 100 houses on the
27:09former Yew Valley site, which is somewhere in those hills. We have been rolling now for about 20 minutes
27:16and we've come a decent length. I think we'll probably just go a little bit further, just to
27:20the end of this bend, and then we may well be able to get a view of the reservoir.
27:29But we'll see how busy things are.
27:34Just going to hold fast a second, there's a few more people coming down.
27:38It's great to be able to do these live streams, but the last thing we want to do is to put
27:41people in danger. This is a path for everyone, not just those of us with iPhones.
27:49And we'll let this gentleman come through as well.
27:52Again, hopefully these new houses will will blend into their landscape a little more. Obviously,
27:56the colours are a little stark, but a few years of weathering and they'll be just dandy.
28:06Okay, we are back on the road, or off the road as the case may be, because again you can hear
28:14a faint murmur of traffic in the background as we have the reservoir on our left. But otherwise,
28:20it feels like pretty much open countryside. The rugby and football club's facilities,
28:27skate park, is not too far from here. They got planning permission for a pump track a couple
28:31of years ago. And it's just great to see so many people taking advantage of these.
28:49Yeah, we're not getting too close, we don't want to intrude on people's privacy.
28:53And it's just wonderful to have this route available for whatever purpose you like.
29:02If you've only just joined us, you're more than welcome. My name is Daniel Mumby, I'm your local
29:08democracy reporter for Somerset Live. We're walking on the Strawberry Line in Cheddar. We're coming
29:13towards the northern edge of the town now. Axe Bridge is about a mile or two ahead of us. We're
29:18not going to get all that way today, I don't think, but we'll see how we go. And we're walking the
29:23Strawberry Line because we're talking about this amazing active travel route which currently runs
29:30uninterrupted from this stretch in Cheddar, where we crossed over to the Traverse Perkins site,
29:37all the way up to Yatton railway station. And there are little stretches between Cheddar and
29:43Shepton Mallet via Wells which have been opened up. We're hoping that all of those little remaining
29:48links will be sorted in the years to come as more money becomes available. And the continual drive
29:55to get cars off our roads and to get everyone healthier, because we're all living longer,
30:03hopefully that will drive completing this Strawberry Line. We're going to just
30:08quickly cross over this lane and give you an idea of exactly where we are and where we've come.
30:14So we started off in this section here, past the Kings of Wessex, and we have walked
30:22all the way to Holwell Lane here. Like I said, the route does eventually lead
30:28through the town of Axbridge and up towards Winscombe and Yatton into the North Somerset
30:33Territory. We're not going to get that far today. We're probably going to go another few hundred
30:37yards and we will stop, I think, around that bend in the road there. And hopefully that will be a
30:44good opportunity for you to explore a further stretch yourself. I don't want to take up too
30:50much time of your day, but it is extraordinary to have the Mendham Hills right in front of us
30:57in all their unspoiled glory. An area of outstanding natural beauty in Somerset,
31:04protected from development by international law. By national law, I should say. Probably
31:08international law as well. And if you live in this part of Somerset, you are truly blessed
31:13to have this on your doorstep. If nothing else, there is a limit to the sprawl that
31:19can so often take over our towns and villages. It's nice to be hemmed in a little and
31:24see the countryside. I'm just going to pick up the pace ever so slightly.
31:31Like I said, we have a lot of dog walkers and cyclists who use this route. We've bumped into
31:36a few of them today. In fact, there's another cyclist coming down, so I might just have to
31:40get it into a single file. Give them as much space and warning as possible and try not to
31:46prang myself on any of these brambles in the process. We're sort of heading towards the limit
31:54of what I believe is the Hellyer's View development. I will double check that for you. 60-odd homes.
32:06And we are able to stand side by side again.
32:12Again, we're heading right towards the edge of Cheddar now. A lot of the Oak Park development
32:16is over on the other side of the village, so well shielded. But by providing links through
32:25neighbouring estates, those new residents will be able to access the Swabrie line
32:30in all its glory in the years and decades to come. And like I say, if there is a third round
32:36bid to the government's levelling up fund, hopefully by the end of this calendar year,
32:40with a result in the following year, general election notwithstanding,
32:44hopefully more of these kinds of routes can be opened up and enhanced so that current and
32:51future generations across Somerset can enjoy them and experience them firsthand.
33:00One thing I will point out, tying back to our conversation about the Westbury sub-Mendip
33:05stretch. Thank you, Chantelle, for your comment. Let us know what you're up to this weekend.
33:11One of the things that we should talk about is the fact that a lot of these paths are permissive
33:16paths. That is, they are land that is owned by local landowners, whether it's house builders or
33:22farmers or other third parties, rather than the local authority or the National Trust or anything
33:27like that. And a lot of these paths exist because of long-term leases from the landowners saying,
33:33yes, by all means, walk on it, cycle on it, plant trees and bushes and all that kind of stuff.
33:39Plant trees and bushes alongside of it, just take care of it. And that's why the Westbury
33:46sub-Mendip stretch has been able to be created. And that's why we are able to walk on stretches
33:51like this without fear of committing trespass. We're just going to go a little further up to
33:58around this bend on the right, which will take us further into the Mendip Hills. But the reservoir
34:05looks so gorgeous today that I think that's a good place to finish. And we will see how long
34:12it takes us to head back. And like I say, once this video is finished later today, I will post
34:17links in the description to the various other routes within the Strawberry Line that we've
34:22referenced, the route to Streps and Mallet, the Westbury route, talking about the levelling up
34:26fund bids from a year ago, and also looking at the other efforts in Mendip or the former Mendip area
34:35to extend these areas. So we'll just pause here as we pan across to the reservoir and our journey's
34:45end. Like I say, the path does go on quite a bit further to Axe Bridge, but I think this is a good
34:49place to finish where it's relatively quiet. And what a wonderful view on which to conclude things.
34:55Thank you very much for your company today. I've been Daniel Munby from Somerset Live
34:59and thank you for joining me on the Strawberry Line.