It’s open! Frome’s Missing Links are very happy to announce that a newly created stretch of active travel path at Weylands is now fully surfaced and open to the public. This additional 500m of path will eventually form part of the ‘missing links’ to Great Elm and the NCN24 Colliers Way and will connect active travellers to the proposed 70 mile Somerset Circle of pathways.
Our contractors Connor Construction, with the help of Missing Link volunteers and hauliers Aggregate Industries, have done a super job despite wet and muddy conditions throughout. The result is a top quality, tarmac path for use by people of all ages and abilities. In total, it’s now possible to walk, cycle or ride from the Cheese and Grain to the end of the path and back, an impressive 4km or so of traffic-free travel.
Once again we had sterling support from Mrs. Angela Yeoman’s team and our landowners whom we cannot thank enough for their continued support.
The newly paved section extends the existing riverside path as far as the poplar woods below Selwood Lodge, with the hope that eventually we can go even further to finish what is now only a 1.5km missing gap between Frome and Great Elm.
In other news, Frome’s Missing Links volunteers have also opened up a 1.3km path from the Colliers Way at Buckland Bridge as far as Elliots Lane. A temporary surface made up of old railway ballast, which is quite rudimentary at the moment, makes for a lovely walk or gravel bike cycle way. We hope to put a better surface on next year, when funds allow. Meanwhile, this section of the missing links can now be walked, or ridden, and there are rest areas for picnics with lovely views. We’ll have further updates on this section in due course.
Finally, none of this comes easily. Many hours of research and work goes into everything that we do and almost all of it is done on a voluntary basis. While we re-use as much material as we possibly can we do need more money to make this happen. We are extremely grateful to members of the public who continue to contribute in so many ways. However, the current work was only made possible because Mendip District Council gave us a £30,000 grant and we matched that amount from our own funds. The next sections will need at least this amount again and very probably much more. So, if anyone out there has deep pockets or knows of any grant funding bodies or opportunities we’d love to hear from you!
Rich Ackroyd
Chair
Frome’s Missing Links