Two Tunnels News Page

A new link path for Bath and North East Somerset

News of developments

May 24th

Two Tunnels Route Ride/Walk Sat 24th May 2008

An opportunity to walk or cycle the route of the proposed Sustrans Two Tunnels Greenway Path, along the route of the historic former Somerset and Dorset Railway. Hosted by members of the Two Tunnels Committee. Meet at the start of the path, at the entrance to Bellotts Road, close to the Royal Oak Pub on the Lower Bristol Road at 10am. Access to Combe Down Tunnel is unfortunately not possible for the time being.

We aim to reach our destination for lunch at the Hope and Anchor Pub in Midford by around 1pm. There is a bus service from Midford which returns to Bath, for those who may choose to walk the route instead of cycle.

May 8th

Planning permission for the core of the route has finally come through, with conditions that are practical and which will not hinder the building of the route. There's still some way to go - and all the work on the ground to come, but this is a big step forward for the Two Tunnels Greenway. Thanks to everyone who wrote in support.

March 10th

Work began on the Two Tunnels Greenway this morning, with local authority contractors clearing undergrowth in Linear Park in advance of the main bird nesting season to facilitate work on Devonshire Tunnel's northern portal in the summer. This does not involve complete clearance of all greenery in Linear Park - the path will fit between the existing borders with room to spare. The deep excavation at Devonshire Tunnel will involve cutting back brambles and some trees and will be (temporarily) disfiguring to the nature of Linear Park, but does not involve wholesale removal of the trees that characterise this part of the route.

Also, a Sustrans bridge engineer visited Tucking Mill viaduct to assess the structure for repairs to its parapets. This visit made use of a steel plate access hatch fabricated in the basement of the Raven PH and installed in an opening made for it in the viaduct's block wall.

March 2nd

The provisional date for the Lyncombe Vale workcamp is March 15th. We'll have updates on this shortly. Various other progress has been made, including landing a further grant of £40,000 towards restoration of one of our engineering works. More on that soon as well. Other work continues to move forward - this week, Tucking Mill Viaduct is to be assessed for repair to its parapets among other things. The current work on the south side of the route in Lyncombe Vale is not in connection with the Two Tunnels path - it's actually Wessex Water carrying out a repair and upgrade of a sewer that runs through the vale.

February 4th

We have a presentation on the Two Tunnels route at the Bath Royal Literary and Scientific Institution on February 13th, 7.30pm, admission £2/£1 (guests/members and students) Address: 16-18 Queen Square, Bath, BA1 2HN

January 8th

We still have a funding gap, but Connect2's scale of funding is very positive for the route, and while the route's planning permission is conditional on the outcome of environmental research that's currently underway, the Steering Group has already met, and in the words of our new project manager:

'Route construction starts today.'

Various immediate tasks concerning agreements, paperwork, project planning, and even groundwork can begin in advance of the final planning permission being granted (and without prejudicing the outcome of the environmental work which includes the bat habitat surveys).

We're delighted that in stepping down from his rôle of chief executive of Sustrans, John Grimshaw has taken on the task of project manager for the Two Tunnels route.

Plan 'A' will currently see the core of the route complete within two years, though this is subject to further evaluation. Significant milestones may include work to much of Linear Park during summer 2008, along with excavation of the buried portal of Devonshire Tunnel, a task which will benefit from dry weather. The limited access to the route implies that after work to Linear Park is more complete, contractors will need to gain access to the Lyncombe Vale section by working through Devonshire Tunnel, completing the route back from the north portal of Combe Down Tunnel in the up direction, before shifting their base southwards, and working down towards Tucking Mill from the same point.

December 16th

Sustrans has landed their Connect2 lottery bid, putting £50 million funding into 79 link routes for walkers and cyclists across the UK - including the Two Tunnels route!

November 30th

We have conditional planning permission for the core of the route! We were also worried that the project's planning permission would be constrained by crippling conditions but in the event the scheme has been passed with an entirely reasonable set of those ...

November 19th

'Last Mile' - the campaign beer, should be in the Raven this week. More info.

Connect2 is now one of only four final bids for the Big Lottery fund of £50 million

Help it to win by texting 'Connect2' to 80010! More on the Big Lottery Fund's dedicated site ...

Connect2 awareness day - 27th September

Event page from that second memorable open day is here: it now contains TV news footage from the day, courtesy of ITV.

Planning Committee date

is likely to be 31st October.

'Two Tunnels walk/ride 21st July - and the 'Strawberry Line' path celebration

For the 'Two Tunnels route' ride, we'll meet at ten am at the start of the path close to the Royal Oak public house on the Lower Bristol Road. The weather will have improved by then, but things are likely to be wet, so do wear good footwear. We'll divide the group into those on cycles and those on foot - all welcome.

Strawberry Line opening celebration postponed from 21st July - we're advised that this event has been postponed owing to weather conditions and forecast. We'll carry news of the new date as soon as its available.

July 17th: images

More images from the day's walks through Combe Down Tunnel

July 11th: panoramic view

This is a wide angle view of Bath from Bathwick Hill. The route's visual impact will be low key at the best of times, let alone from this distance, so its path has been marked appropriately by a trail of 'Steam' ...

July 6th: Picnic at Tunnel Gulch

And through Combe Down Tunnel we went - something that deserves its own page.

June 18th: The Two Tunnels project receives a visit from National Lottery officials

This visit in no way represents 'National Lottery' endorsement of the project - the people in question are familiarising themselves with the Sustrans 'Connect2' lottery bid, and will also be visiting the other competing bids. Their interest in the 'Two Tunnels' route was as an exemplar for the 70 or so 'Connect2' projects.

The highlight for everyone was probably not the two days of talks in a conference room in the city ... but would have been the brief visit to the route itself and an opportunity to put on hard hats - a walk from the site of the Monksdale Road bridge to Devonshire Tunnel, then up across Wellsway and the steep descent to Lyncombe Vale, where there was just time to scramble onto the trackbed at Watery Bottom viaduct and walk to Combe Down tunnel, open for the occasion, the group being met by representatives from its owners, Wessex Water, who had walked through from Horsecombe Vale (encountering much mist in the sealed lower end, but the monitoring equipment they carried revealed no concerns about air quality).

Impressions of the tunnel itself? Apart from the darkness ...

The party walked around a third of its length, a length which is more or less dry (towards the southern end is always a bit drippy, the group was told). It's not a simple structure: inside, the approaches to the portal has battered walls (in the 'Sloping' sense rather than 'Damaged) - then, perhaps at the point that the tunnel finishes its curve, this changes to a run of more 'Traditional' shaped tunnel - with a couple of interruptions where something else has been needed and either a collar of thicker brickwork occurs, or at another point, the tunnel widens to 'Double track appearance' for a few yards. Eventually though, the brick lining becomes intermittent - the tunnel runs through bare limestone that is self supporting.

The lasting impression, and this is just as well for our proposed use, was that the structure was in such good condition, with little evidence even of previous repairs. Both the lined sections and the transitions appeared well executed and tidy.

June: status of the planning application

We now understand that this will be determined in September - allowing more time for consideration and consultation. The application has received many messages of support, and a number of considered objections, which themselves have been valuable, as they've allowed the design of the path to be improved - especially to meet needs for privacy. Meanwhile it's not too late to comment on the application - here's more info. We've updated the web site with a renewed list of supporting councillors.

May: status of the planning application

The application may be determined in a July planning committee meeting. It's very likely that a decision will be conditional on the outcome of a bat survey on Devonshire Tunnel - this needs survey for the presence of hibernating bats which awaits the winter of 2006-7 (having been scheduled for 2005-6 some particularly witty health and safety conditions delayed progress until said bats awoke from hibernation)

Though the stated time for public submissions has passed, if you'd like to write to the planning officer in support your views will still certainly be counted at any time before the application is decided and it will be helpful if you do write. Reference number and address can be found here

March 24th

The first 2007 route ride

March

We reached several key points in the development of this idea - here's a link to more info.

January 25th 2007

Sustrans has launched the Connect2 web site!

'Connect2' is a bid for a lottery grant which will enable Sustrans to build many linking paths nationwide: these will make it easier for individuals to make a choice to travel sustainability. These paths will bridge gaps in the network, both between and within communities.

We're delighted that the Two Tunnels project has been 'longlisted' as one of 400 'Connect2' projects, and may benefit should Sustrans be successful. This is a great step forward both for us and for Bath and North East Somerset: it is one of 2 chances that the area will have to benefit from Connect2.

First, the Two Tunnels project must be shortlisted into a list of around 70 projects to be carried forward by Sustrans, after which Sustrans themselves must be successful with the lottery grant application, which is to be decided by a vote on TV.

Please act now and pledge your support for the Two Tunnels project - visit the project's Connect 2 page and use the form you'll find there.

January 13th 2007

Read the minutes of the December Sustrans/Bathnes/Two Tunnels committee meeting. There's lots buried in there to do with the path's development, likely timescales, the impending planning application, and a July proposed date for a 'Combe Down Tunnel open day'.

November 17th 2006

An encouraging 15 individuals have joined our mailing list in the last 7 days. If you're one of them, welcome! Another 25 and we'll number 200.

November 16th 2006

Our redesigned and reprinted leaflets are back with us and will be available from the usual places, including Bath libraries in the city centre and at Moorland Road.

November 10th 2006

An autumn surprise: Tucking Mill Viaduct has received additional security fencing - and the deck has been cleared of the tree growth that threatened the integrity of the structure. This work hasn't been taken quite far enough, as the exterior brick cladding still has several saplings sprouting from it that will also have to be removed, along with the remaining ivy - this will require a cherry picker to be brought to site for access to them. While this work is as yet unrelated to the path, the condition of Tucking Mill viaduct was one of the spurs to the present campaign and it is good to see its condition given some recognition. The structure already looks much better as a result of this work. Two more images and larger versions of this one at the end of the gallery page.

Devonshire Tunnel Access

If you're exploring the line please respect the fact that Devonshire Tunnel is private property for the time being - the owners have agreed to transfer it from railway ownership to either Sustrans or Bath and North East Somerset Council at the appropriate time.

Autumn Newsletter

There's been plenty going on.

Threat to Kennet and Avon Canal?

See the following web site about the BWB cuts ... with suggestions as to actions that you can take to reverse this decision.

Two Tunnels working group - 6th September Meeting

The working group is the joint meeting between ourselves, Bath and North East Somerset Council and Sustrans.

Progress from the 6th September meeting has been reported in the Bath Chronicle, and here are the meeting's minutes.

Also in the offing: an unusual image of Lyncombe Vale taken from a house in Greenway Lane in the nineteen forties shows the length of our proposed path between Watery Bottom Viaduct and Combe Down Tunnel. No train, but an enigmatic wisp of steam from the site of the portal. We hope to have this image on the web site shortly.

Watch this space

Sustrans and Bath and North East Somerset Council are between them thrashing out the method and small print surrounding producing a specification of what needs to be done to open the path. The convolution in that sentence is intentionally descriptive, but done it will be! We've the second of our meetings between the three bodies at the start of September, expect an update on progress here around ¾ of the way through this month ...

One potential source of funds to build the path is of course the national lottery. Sustrans already has an application in progress which will hopefully fund raise for a wide variety of assets - titled Connect2 (PDF from Sustrans). The Two Tunnels path will be the sort of link that qualifies as a candidate. Connect2 has been successful in clearing a series of hurdles. The final stage will comprise a television audience vote in October 2007 ...

Working party route inspection, August 1st

This wasn't a campaigning event, rather it was a working party for people tasked with inspecting the route of the path for issues and opportunities. On the left, John Grimshaw, the founder of Sustrans, illustrates the 1:50 gradient of the original railway as the route climbs while crossing the surviving bridge over Brunel's London to Bristol Line. Sustrans has already negotiated successfully for the future path to use this bridge. The working party was well supported by the partner organisations: representatives from those walked the entire proposed route from north to south:

• Bath and North East Somerset Council sent four officers including the project coordinator for the Colliers Way, and the Council's footpaths and cycling officer.
• Three Bath and North East Somerset councillors walked with us.
• There were two representatives from Sustrans, including the founder and director, John Grimshaw, who joined us to make a further inspection of the Linear Park section of the proposal, and brought news that Sustrans expects to have negotiated use of the bridge over the Great Western Main Line for the path.
• Also present in an informal capacity was a representative from the British Rail Board (Residuary) Ltd, the owners of Devonshire Tunnel.

The day started alongside the traffic on the Lower Bristol Road, with a quick examination of the opportunities for joining the Two Tunnels path with the existing Bath to Bristol path, and also to the forthcoming Western Riverside development.

As well as enthusiasm that the path should be built sooner rather than later, we met with an understandable apprehension that its construction would spoil the tranquillity and rural appearance of the Linear Park - the part of the path that is very much a small piece of countryside in an urban setting. Our position on this is that Linear Park completely justifies thoughtful, unobtrusive design and careful choice of materials - to ensure that its nature and appearance remains much as it is - the gains will include far better access to the path and also along it once access is gained. If however, it is decided at the planning permission stage that the proposals would not be an improvement, we won't be campaigning for it! We're looking for the path to make an improvement to current facilities, not to spoil them.

After inspecting the site of Devonshire Tunnel's buried portal, and before John Grimshaw left for another engagement, we were able to discuss timescales with him, his feeling is that the path is realistically achievable in three years.

The majority then continued onward to cross the delights of the Wellsway in the only rain shower of the day. We were then able to inspect secluded Lyncombe Vale, before leaving the path again to climb Combe Down via the very steep Fox Hill.

The final section via Tucking Mill to Midford provides a contrasting and characteristically rural set of challenges compared to the stretch within the city, but these are not insuperable even if some have very recently appeared. Tucking Mill viaduct's condition clearly indicates that early action to protect its integrity would pay dividends in terms of the amount of restoration work that it will need.

The walk concluded with a brisk canter onto the NCN 24, through the Hope and Anchor pub, with a brief stop for refreshments and onto the one o'clock bus back to Bath. Early feedback suggests that the walk has been a very useful familiarisation exercise for the people who will work to bring the path into being.

Combe Down Tunnel: Proposed Open Day September 9th

This event was organised by the Mendip Main Line Project and it is cancelled for the time being - as access to the tunnel is not currently acceptable to the owners, Wessex Water, who have given various grounds for refusal. Some may remember the extraordinary scale of the first of these open days, when Wessex Water gave their backing to the publicity, and the charities benefitted in proportion. We don't believe that this has implications for the path's success and are working to reverse this policy for a future event as the publicity generated would benefit all.

News from the new mailing list

A month after changing to the new provider, almost a third of people from the 'Google' list have now transferred to the new Yahoogroup mailing list - you might think that doesn't sound good, but that's actually a better conversion than others I've seen, and it's already enough for the people on the new list to be able to do good work in support of the path.

A number of people have opted for the new 'Special notices only' mail delivery option as well, which vindicates the decision to move the list. We're plotting the numbers on a chart and will soon have a projection for when numbers for the new list will overtake the old one.

We are of course aiming for rather more supporters than the Google Group holds. If you've not done so, please join the new list - we now have better instructions for this. If you get stuck, just ask for help using the mail link at the bottom of this web page.

On the topic of the path itself, this week we've secured valuable support and help in negotiating a better interface between the 'Two Tunnels' path and the proposed western riverside development in Bath.

News for supporters: News from the path

Our supporters group has now broken the '250 barrier' which is really good news. In order to improve mail delivery options for members we've moved the supporters mailing list to a 'Yahoogroup' - which will allow members greater control over the posts that they receive. If you've not switched yet, it's not too late, how to switch to the new list.

The programmed closure of the path on the 'Two Tunnels' route north of Midford has come to an end. However the public right of way has become very overgrown, having been closed for the peak of the growing season. We've asked Wessex Water to organise some path clearance works to compensate.

Article in the Somerset Guardian

The paper for the week of June 22nd carries news of our progress with the two tunnels path - available on their web site but please read it in glorious print if possible.

Two Tunnels Working Group

To progress the path, we've formed a working group comprising ourselves, Bath and North East Somerset Council, and Sustrans. This working group met for the first time on June 12th to plan for the path. Here's a link to the minutes of this meeting. (pdf, 45kb). The Sustrans representative, Mark Tucker, remarked that while Sustrans worked on many paths in the UK, ours was exceptional, because to have a community-based group actively promoting a path was most unusual.

People on bikes/people on foot

Our campaign exposes what is a bit of a national issue for shared use paths: conflict between different user groups, particularly people on cycles and people on foot.

People local to the path experience:

• A very well used canal towpath that's also a Sustrans route
• An riverside Sustrans path of inadequate width on which the vegetation is largely unmanaged proactively.

Key to this issue may be an improvement in resources to care for these paths and to ensure that they are of good design - this resourcing is a concern that's coming through strongly from the Two Tunnels group membership - these paths are a success and deserve more provision. This issue, locally, would be greatly eased by use of appropriate path design and maintenance, and also user education where necessary - with a bit of consideration of the needs of others this really need not cause upset ...

The Creation of Linear Park

We're currently researching this. Linear Park was formed at a time when Bath was full of debate concerning transport issues (so nothing's changed there). At that time a major news focus was the proposed large scale road system for through traffic, including a tunnel beneath the city centre. If carried out, this would have given us a very different city today, with areas such as Walcot Street playing host not to buildings and people, but the infrastructure taking traffic supposedly through the city - and beneath the very centre. The present day Charlotte Street car park is a shadow of this tunnels scheme - it's on the site of what would have been the west portal of the road tunnel beneath the centre, while the east portal would have been formed at the break in ground levels at the Paragon's retaining wall on the north side of Walcot Street.

Less notice was taken of a decision by Bath City Council taken around the 10th February 1972 to proceed with conversion of the old railway line through Oldfield Park into a 'Linear Park' at a cost of around £41000 - having first bought the land from British Rail for £3. The work included partial levelling of embankments and filling of cuttings, burial of the north portal of Devonshire Tunnel, sealing of the south portal, and of one end of Combe Down, and unfortunately, demolition of two of the bridges taking the line over Dartmouth Avenue and Monksdale Road, and has given us today's Linear Park. We'll hopefully be able to offer photos of the work in progress. Reactions to this proposal included an observation from a student campaign group at the University of Bath that this would hamper use of the railway's path as a through route.

Originally planned for April 1972, we believe that the work was carried out in Spring 1973. We'd be happy to receive further information and recollections though.

Newsletter

Here's a newsletter for spring 2006 with an update on current progress.

Retrospective

In March we achieved an undertaking from SUSTRANS to work with B&NES to put this path on the firm footing that it deserves - and it's now included on SUSTRANS's online map. For our part, we will work with individuals and groups to ensure that the resulting path is well supported by both users and the communities which are its neighbours. To this end, at this stage you can help by signing up to our mailing list - no matter where you live!

Meanwhile, should you explore the route south of Combe Down Tunnel this spring, you'll find changes afoot - much of the route, usually a footpath, is disrupted while a new water supply pipe is be installed between Tucking Mill and Midford courtesy of Wessex Water - which means that the surface at Midford Station laid by SUSTRANS less than a year ago has not had a long and uneventful life! Expect to find footpaths diverted etc etc

March 5th and 6th

Our first public outing. Here's a gallery. With Green Park Station hosting a steam loco from the line to mark the 40th anniversary of its closing, the committee staffed an information stand beneath the station canopy - and at times had a queue of people lined up to find out more about the path. Over two days, we handed out probably 1600 of our new full colour 3-fold leaflet, collected well over 500 signatures of support from individuals of all ages, met and spoke with many people

• former train crew on the line
• those who own land adjoining it
• people who travelled as passengers
• people who simply stood at the ends of their gardens and waved at the trains
• people who cycle/walk/run/can't climb stiles
• and finally, supporters of the path, several of whom stayed to help staff the stand!

Julian Peters, the son of Ivo Peters, famous as a photographer of the line, called in for a brief chat about our proposal - and we continued to strengthen our links with those from the rail restoration project at Midsomer Norton.

March 3rd 2006

A historic meeting with the leaders of both SUSTRANS and B&NES 40 years after the line closed has ignited the prospects for reopening it as a path. In a two hour meeting on the trackbed itself, all parties mapped out the basics of what will be needed for a successful reopening - something that will give the line's structures a long term future. These major players left this meeting with the idea of setting out to plan for the path within weeks not years.

We agreed that it would be best to proceed as a three way partnership:

• B&NES, as the local authority, will have input into planning the path to meet several requirements that they have to improve the local environment for Bath residents and meet planning needs.
• Sustrans as the path builders. Both parties to work on funding issues - funding will not be met from B&NES (overstretched) capital budget, as the path is well placed to attract funding from other sources.
• The 'Two Tunnels Group' to build relationships with the local community in order to ensure the path is a safe and beneficial environment for its users. This role would include building links with other local groups who have an interest in the line

Legitimate concerns of landowners and neighbours need to be addressed. In Lyncombe Vale in particular, we expect that shifting the railway land's status from that of 'Derelict land' to 'Asset: shared path for the community' will go a long way to combatting fly-tipping, and the vandalism from which this stretch occasionally suffers.

| Top | Home Page |