Andrew Swift takes us on a four-mile circular walk along a dramatic section of an old trackbed near Shepton Mallet, through deep valleys, ancient woods, spectacular views and a town steeped in history.
Length of walk: Four miles
Accessibility: Extreme care is needed on rough and slippery tracks, especially those heading downhill.
Map: OS Explorer 142
Andrew Swift’s books on walking in around Bath can be found atLength of walk: Four miles
Accessibility: Extreme care is needed on rough and slippery tracks, especially those heading downhill.
Map: OS Explorer 142
Andrew Swift’s books on walking in around Bath can be found at www.akemanpress.com
T he Somerset & Dorset Railway, which linked Bath Green Park with Bournemouth, closed 60 years ago, in March 1966. Since then, much of the trackbed has been converted to shared-use paths, most notably south of Bath, where the Two Tunnels Greenway links the city with Midford. South of Midford, more of the former trackbed continues to be opened up, most recently near Shepton Mallet, high in the Mendips.
This wild and spectacular stretch of line features in this month’s walk, bookended by an exploration of the woods and valleys around Shepton Mallet and some of the hidden corners of this historic town.
Shepton Mallet lies some 20 miles south-west of Bath, and you can get to the starting point either by bus or car.
By bus, take the 174 service (which runs hourly) from Bath Bus Station and get off at the Great Ostry stop (ST618437).
By car, as you approach Shepton Mallet from the north along the A37, turn right towards the town centre along the B3136. Carry on for three-quarters of a mile, and, after the road swings right uphill, turn left to leave your car in Great Ostry long-stay car park.
However you get there, walk up the main road a little way to a roundabout and cross to the right to head along Commercial Road. The imposing building you can see across the road is the former Anglo Bavarian Brewery, built in 1864, enlarged in 1872 and closed in 1921.
After crossing the end of Pike Lane, the pavement narrows to pass the lodge of Priory House. A little further on, turn down steps by Pembroke Cottages. At the bottom, carry straight on for 25m before turning left through a kissing gate (KG) to follow a path alongside the River Sheppey. Modest it may be, but the waters of this fledgling river drove the cloth mills which made Shepton rich.
After passing the Old Sluice House, carry on into the hamlet of Bowlish. Old Bowlish House, at the end, is one of several grand houses built in and around Shepton in the 17th and 18th centuries by wealthy clothiers.
Turn right uphill past more fine buildings, beyond which the road steepens to a high-banked lane. At the top, as you emerge into the open (with a couple of farm gates on the right), turn left to follow a footpath sign up a green lane, known – appropriately – as Rubble Lane (ST612443).
After 700m, when you come to a lane, turn right for 25m before turning left through a KG and following a track along the right-hand edge of a field. Here you are over 200m above sea level and, on a clear day, the views westward to Glastonbury Tor and beyond are spectacular.
When you reach the far corner of the field, follow an East Mendip Waymark down a rough, steep and muddy track into Ham Woods (ST613451). At the bottom, when the track forks, bear left (if you come to a wide tarmac track, you have come too far and need to retrace your steps).
The track continues downhill through a tumbled landscape threaded by a stream, with a railway embankment towering above. When the track forks again, turn right to carry on along the valley. Ham Wood Viaduct – the start of our trackbed walk – comes into view ahead. There are two ways to climb up to it. For the first, turn up a rough track on the right immediately after passing the viaduct and follow it as it climbs steeply uphill. For a gentler ascent, continue for a few metres and, when you come to an East Mendip Waymark, follow it uphill. At the top, go through a KG, turn right through a field (where there may be cattle) and go through another KG at the end.
Whichever option you take, you emerge onto the trackbed at the north end of the viaduct, where a shelter with a bench has recently been erected (ST609454).
As you turn right across the viaduct to start heading back to Shepton, you can look down into the narrow valley of shattered trees you have just climbed out of. This section of the line had a gradient of 1 in 50, one of the steepest on any British main line. Northbound expresses needed to be double headed but still had to work flat out to get over the summit at Masbury, another two miles away.
On the far side of the viaduct, there were sidings on both sides of the line serving extensive quarries. Beyond them a long tunnel leads through Windsor Hill, on the far side of which the path narrows as you come to a lane. Only an abutment of the bridge that crossed it survives – with SAD 78 painted on it, indicating it was the 78th structure along the line, counting from Bath.
Continue along the trackbed for another 600m, until the way ahead – across Bath Road Viaduct – is blocked (ST620443). Although there are plans to provide access over the viaduct, for now you need to climb up a bank on the right and go through a KG. Carry on to another KG and, once through it, head down a steep and muddy path with steps to a road.
This is Cowl Street, the old way into Shepton from the north, and some of the buildings along it are very old indeed. The former Unitarian Chapel on your right, for example, dates from 1696. Cowl Street is also spanned by two of Shepton’s many bridges. Behind you is Bath Road Viaduct, while the bridge ahead was built in 1856 to provide access to a mortuary chapel.
Turn right along Cowl Street. At the end, after passing Longridge House, where the Duke of Monmouth stayed in June 1685, turn left along Longbridge. This is the heart of the clothier’s district, a mixture of weavers’ cottages and mill owners’ houses.
Carry on under Waterloo Road, built in 1826 to carry the new road from the north which you crossed – either by car or bus – earlier. As you continue under a footbridge, the Sheppey burbles along on your left. At the end of the lane, you come to Leg Square, once home to several more mill owners. Not all of them, it seems, got on. If you look over at the side road running uphill directly opposite, you will see a rough rubblestone wall adjoining the house on the left. This was a ‘spite wall’, built by the owner of the property next door to block the view – not the sort of neighbourly gesture you’d be likely to get planning permission for these days.
Continue straight on, taking the right fork uphill past a former factory chimney. This leads past the imposing north entrance to the prison, closed in 2013 but still open for guided tours and cell sleepovers. A little further on, turn right between high walls and take the next right by the main gate of the prison. After another 100m, when the lane curves right, carry straight on along a footpath leading past the churchyard.
At the end, pass through a modern archway, head to the left of the 15th-century market cross, and go down a narrow lane to the left of the Royal Mail enquiry office. This leads past a row of seven three-storey weavers’ houses dating from around 1650, beyond which is Great Ostry car park. If you came by bus, continue along the lane as it curves round to the road and cross over to find the stop for Bath.
Andrew Swift’s books on walking in around Bath can be found at www.akemanpress.com