Work has begun to deliver an improved Active Travel route to a popular Somerset heritage railway line from one of the neighbouring villages.

The Somerset and Dorset Railway Heritage Trust has been running heritage services since 1996 on a small section of track running south of Midsomer Norton towards the nearby village of Chilcompton, says the Somerset County Gazette.

Chilcompton residents wishing to reach Midsomer Norton on foot currently have to navigate steep steps up from Fry’s Well onto the former trackbed and then follow a narrow public right up to Tunnel Lane before continuing further north into the town.

But this journey could get much easier by Christmas after Greenways and Cycle Routes began work on a new, wider ‘greenway’ which could eventually run all the way from the village to the heritage railway line.

The first phase of what has been dubbed the ‘Chilcompton and Norton Radstock Greenway’ will cover 800 metres, running between Fry’s Well and Tunnel Lane and largely following the route of the existing public right of way.

Work officially got under way in early-September, with details being published on laminated flyers posted near the Chilcompton end of the route.

(Picture: Walk Wheel Cycle Trust)