Bristol and Bath Railway Path
The Bristol and Bath Railway Path is a 15-mile (24 km) off-road cycleway that forms part of National Cycle Network National Cycle Route 4. The path consists of a 3-metre (9.8 ft) wide tarmacked surface, and was used for 2.4 million trips in 2007, increasing by 10% per year.[1]
The cycleway was built by the cycling charity Sustrans between 1979 and 1986. Sustrans leased a five-mile stretch of this route, near Saltford, with the help of the then Avon County Council, and using volunteer effort turned it into their first cycleway.
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[edit] Route
The path follows the route of the Midland Railway Mangotsfield and Bath Branch Line from Lawrence Hill in central Bristol to Newbridge in Bath, which was closed during the Beeching Axe of the 1960s, in favour of the more direct former Great Western Railway between the cities. The route passes from Bristol towards Bath through the urban suburbs of Easton, Fishponds, and Staple Hill, then the villages of Mangotsfield, Warmley, Bitton and Saltford before ending at Newbridge in Bath.
[edit] Bristol end
The path starts at Trinity Street, Lawrence Hill. 51°27′22″N 2°34′30″W / 51.456104°N 2.575019°W
[edit] Clay Bottom
A housing development at Clay Bottom (near the B4469) has encroached onto the original alignment of the railway, the cycleway diverts around several houses at this point causing a blind corner. These houses would be in the way of any future use of this section as a guided busway or rail use.
[edit] Staple Hill
3.2 miles from the Bristol End, the path reaches Staple Hill station. On the one remaining platform there is a modern sculptured seat. The path rises up level with the platform, and then drops back down to the track bed.
A short distance from the station is the entrance to Staple Hill Tunnel, a 0.3-mile-long tunnel under Staple Hill. The west end of the tunnel is located at 51°28′45″N 2°30′41″W / 51.4792°N 2.51126°W, and the east end is located at 51°28′44″N 2°30′16″W / 51.4789°N 2.50439°W.
The path takes up less than half the width of the tunnel, with the rest of the floor uneven rocks. The tunnel is lit all year-round, and despite the warning signs, 24 hours a day. The roof leaks in places, giving the appearance of rain, often when outside it is dry.
[edit] Mangotsfield station
Mangotsfield railway station 51°28′33″N 2°28′59″W / 51.4757°N 2.4830°W was a station on the Midland Railway Bristol and Gloucester main line. The station was the junction for the Mangotsfield and Bath Branch Line that led to Bath Green Park railway station. Originally it had six platforms.
The disused Bristol and Gloucester route to Yate now provides a spur from the railway path northwest to the Bristol ring road cycle path and Emersons Green.
The remaining island platforms have railway related sculptures between them, some depicting waiting passengers. One notable sculpture was that of a suitcase,[2] supposedly belonging to one of the passengers at that station. However, this unexpectedly disappeared from the station in the summer of 2008.[3]
[edit] Avon ring road
From 1999 to July 2001, South Gloucestershire Council built a new section of the A4174 Avon ring road, along part of the railway path. Whilst the work was being undertaken the path was diverted away from the route of the old railway line. A new section of path was added around the ring road which increases the length of the railway path by 200 yards. The new section includes two bridges, several tight corners, a hill (although South Gloucestershire Council describes it as a 'barely perceptible gradient'), and two cattle grids.
[edit] Warmley station
The station platform at Warmley contains a cafe, serving refreshments 7 days a week from Easter to September, weekends September to Easter as well as public toilets.[4]
[edit] Avon Valley Railway
Between Avon Riverside and Oldland Common railway stations, the path shares its route with the heritage Avon Valley Railway. Along the two mile shared section, the path crosses the railway line at two level crossings. There has been opposition to the Avon Valley Railway expanding their line demonstrated by the painting of graffiti along the path where it runs parallel with the line.
The railway's cafe at Bitton railway station is open all year round to users of the path.
[edit] Bath end
The end of the path is at the Brassmill Lane trading estate in Bath. 51°23′08″N 2°24′02″W / 51.385498°N 2.400456°W The west Bath river side path continues from there to the city centre of Bath.
[edit] Guided busway proposal
In January 2008, a plan was revealed by the West of England Partnership to turn sections of the path between Emersons Green and Bristol City Centre into a Guided Busway.[5] Sustrans have announced that they will oppose these plans, claiming that they are the "right idea, wrong route".[1]
A petition against this proposal on Bristol City Council's website gained over 7900 signatures within the first month.[6] A website was set up by a group opposed to the plans.[7] In a council meeting on 1 April, plans for the busway were put on hold, but the council refused to completely rule out using the path for a busway at a later date.[8]
[edit] References
- ^ a b http://www.sustrans.org.uk/webfiles/general/letter_23january.pdf
- ^ "In Pictures - Railway path: Mangotsfield". http://www.bbc.co.uk/bristol/content/image_galleries/babrp_mangotsfield_gallery.shtml?5
- ^ "Suitcase gone!". Blogspot. http://napalmhaze.blogspot.com/2008/07/suitcase-gone.html.
- ^ Map - Warmley
- ^ http://www.thisisbristol.co.uk/displayNode.jsp?nodeId=145365&command=displayContent&sourceNode=145191&contentPK=19590097&folderPk=83726&pNodeId=144922
- ^ Bristol Petitioning
- ^ Save the Railway Path | The campaign to save the Bristol to Bath cycle path from being turned into a bus-lane
- ^ "Cities' rapid bus scheme shelved". BBC News. 2008-04-02. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/bristol/7326059.stm. Retrieved 2008-04-02.
[edit] External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Bristol and Bath Railway Path |
- Bristol & Bath Railway Path official website
- Sustrans, 2002. The Official Guide to the National Cycle Network. 2nd ed. Italy: Canile & Turin. ISBN 1-901389-35-9. Relevant section reproduced here
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