Cycling the Strawberry Line

We’ve been promising to do this for a while. It was a bright crisp autumnal Sunday and we decided today’s the day.

The 10-mile cycle route from Yatton to Cheddar is part of Route 26 of the National Cycle Network, restored by Sustrans. It takes in a variety of landscapes from the flat marshes and cider apple orchards around Yatton, steep wooded valleys and a tunnel through the Mendips, to historic Axbridge and the spectacular Cheddar Gorge.

It is well-surfaced and mainly flat except for a small section at Axbridge Hill, where the cycleway joins a steep byway.

The Strawberry Line takes its name from the produce this former railway line carried from the strawberry fields of Cheddar. The line was well used for nearly a century until its closure in 1965 and since then a wealth of wildlife habitats have been allowed to flourish. Volunteers from the Cheddar Valley Railway Walk Society began converting the line into a walking and cycling route in 1983.

 

Axbridge is a small town in Somerset, in the Sedgemoor district on the River Axe, once a river port and valued for its wool production. Axbridge can trace its history even further back to the time of King Alfred when it was one of 30 places fortified to defend Wessex against the Vikings. Its prosperous past is reflected in the quality of the buildings in Axbridge, particularly the fine 13th century St John’s Church which is the oldest to survive, dating back to 1245.

It also boasts the wonderful Almshouse Tearooms housed in the converted 15^th century Almshouse where you are sure of a really friendly welcome.

 

 







 
Returning to Yatton the station houses the community Strawberry Cafe.- scrummy meals (esp. If your veggie :) and a wonderful cup of tea at the end of an energetic cycle.