The Two Tunnels Greenway is a

shared use path A shared-use path, mixed-use path or multi-use pathway is a path which is 'designed to accommodate the movement of pedestrians and cyclists'. Examples of shared-use paths include sidewalks designated as shared-use, bridleways and rail trails. ...

for walking and cycling in

Bath, Somerset Bath () is a city in the Bath and North East Somerset unitary area in the county of Somerset, England, known for and named after its Roman-built baths. At the 2021 Census, the population was 101,557. Bath is in the valley of the River Avon, ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

. The route links

National Cycle Route 24 National Cycle Route 24, otherwise known as the ''Colliers Way'' currently runs from Dundas Aqueduct to Frome via Radstock, although it is intended to provide a continuous cycle route from Bristol and South Wales to Southampton and Portsmouth. ...

south of Bath with

National Cycle Route 4 Between these, the route runs through Reading, Bath, Bristol, Newport, Swansea and St David's. Within Wales, sections of the route follow branches of the Celtic Trail cycle route. Route The total length of the path is 443.6 miles and takes an ...

in the town centre, and is designated as National Cycle Route 244.

Route

The route follows the disused railway trackbed of the

Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway The Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway, also known as the S&D, SDJR or S&DJR, was an English railway line connecting Bath (in north-east Somerset) and Bournemouth (now in south-east Dorset but then in Hampshire), with a branch from Evercreec ...

from East Twerton through the Bath suburb of Oldfield Park to the

Devonshire Tunnel Devonshire Tunnel is on the closed Somerset & Dorset Joint Railway main line, between Midford and Bath Green Park railway stations, below high ground and the southern suburbs of Bath, England, emerging below the northern slopes of Combe Down ...

. It emerges into Lyncombe Vale before entering the

Combe Down Tunnel Combe Down Tunnel is on the now-closed Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway main line, between Midford and Bath Green Park railway station, below high ground and the southern suburbs of Bath, England, emerging below the southern slopes of Combe D ...

, and then coming out to cross Tucking Mill Viaduct at

Tucking Mill Tucking Mill is a small hamlet within the parish of Monkton Combe, Somerset, England. It lies on Midford Brook and was a key point on the now disused Somerset Coal Canal. It is at the southern end of the Two Tunnels Greenway which follows the ...

into

Midford Midford is a village approximately south-south-east of Bath, Somerset, England. Although relatively small, it extends over 2 counties (Wiltshire and Somerset), is part of two unitary authorities (Wiltshire and Bath and North East Somerset) and i ...

. The new route links

in Bath and

, south of the city.

History

NCN24, crossing

viaduct, at the south end of the 'Two Tunnels' route, opened in 2005. Sustainable transport charity

Sustrans Sustrans is a United Kingdom-based walking, wheeling and cycling charity, and the custodian of the National Cycle Network. Its flagship project is the National Cycle Network, which has created of signed cycle routes throughout the United K ...

has met with success with its bid for National Lottery funding to start construction of the route. A 'Two Tunnels Steering Group' was established, consisting of the Two Tunnels group,

Bath and North East Somerset Bath and North East Somerset (B&NES) is a unitary authority district in England. Bath and North East Somerset Council was created on 1 April 1996 following the abolition of the county of Avon. It is part of the ceremonial county of Somerset. ...

Council and Sustrans, to ensure the route's successful development. In June 2009 the major structures were surveyed in preparation for their transfer into the ownership of the local authority from Wessex Water, but the costs of refurbishing the Tunnels exceeded the total project budget then estimated to be £1.9M, with £1M coming from Sustrans. Subsequently, it was agreed that Sustrans should take ownership of the tunnels and be responsible for their refurbishment. Work began in March 2010 with the excavation of the then-buried western portal of the Devonshire Tunnel, and the project was completed and opened on 6 April 2013. In July 2010, Wessex Water transferred the care of the Devonshire and Combe Down tunnels to Sustrans. Development plans were said to include the installation of motion-sensitive lighting, mobile phone coverage and

CCTV Closed-circuit television (CCTV), also known as video surveillance, is the use of video cameras to transmit a signal to a specific place, on a limited set of monitors. It differs from broadcast television in that the signal is not openly ...

within the tunnels, though at the time the Greenway opened, no plans existed for mobile phone coverage in the tunnels. The Combe Down tunnel reopened on 6 April 2013.

References

External links

Official website
*

{{NCN Footpaths in Somerset Cycleways in England Rail trails in England Combe Down Transport in Bath, Somerset

Route

History

See also

References

External links