On 17th October 2025, the Thrupe Lane Link, Shepton Mallet, was opened by Councillor Ros Wyke and Christopher Somerville (representing the Dinder Estate landowner) in the presence of a large group of supporters, volunteers and key personnel. This vital section links the viaduct in Ham Wood (the subject of previous Greenways work camps) with Thrupe Lane and therefore the minor roads to the north towards Midsomer Norton, Radstock and Bath.
Greenway users can now enjoy a beautiful section of path from Forum Lane to Thrupe Lane, which includes the Windsor Hill tunnel and Ham Viaduct, spanning a distance of approximately 2km.
The following poem was written and delivered by Christopher Somerville:
Ladies and gents, some sixty years have passed
Since this forgotten railway breathed its last;
The Somerset & Dorset’s rural route,
Where ancient engines puffed and belched out soot,
And slowly climbed the trackbed’s gentle bank
To Maesbury, with many a wheeze and clank.
In summer droughts, the grass, as dry as tinder,
Would catch ablaze with every fiery cinder.
In winter, when the Mendip blizzards blow,
Whole trains were buried deep beneath the snow.
This railway holds a thousand stirring stories,
But time takes no account of former glories.
The Beeching Axe chopped all such tales away
And left our line to silence and decay.
The railway died; the birds and bees came back;
Wild flowers and creatures colonised the track.
But all the while, as nature’s stronghold grew,
Walkers and cyclists dreamed of passing through.
This great achievement sprang from mixed-up seeds;
The project had to meet the farmer’s needs.
Plans bit the dust, and tempers nearly blew;
A lot of folk have had to think anew.
At times it seemed we’d never see this day;
But here we are at last – Hip-hip-hooray!
Sean Cowling and John Grimshaw, you’ve been wise.
With flexibility and compromise
You’ve forged a way for all to co-exist –
Cyclist and walker, farmer and naturalist.
For everything you’ve done, great thanks to you,
And here’s to all who made this dream come true!
Greenways and Cycleroutes 