Efforts to create a greenway that connects Bishop’s Lydeard to Cotford St Luke and Norton Fitzwarren are gathering pace as a group of dedicated volunteers seek to build up supporters and reach out to the broader community.

This is the next phase of the Russet Cider Trail, an ambitious plan to create a pathway that will mean everyone from cyclists and walkers to wheelchair users and parents with prams, can enjoy a safe, natural environment that links the villages and enhances wellbeing. It would aim to eventually connect with other similar existing and planned routes to Taunton and Wellington.

The Russet Cider Trail, started after a team got together two years ago and became a registered charity last summer, is not the first to work on plans for the greenway, but they are determined to succeed, and are building the plan step by step.

“We are the latest in a long line of volunteers on a quest to link the communities without using cars or public transport,” said Richard Brooksbank, chair of the group of trustees.

Previous plans and a Somerset Council feasibility study involved solutions such as expanding the A358 to include a cycle path, at a cost of around £13 million, but quite apart from the cost, “as a new charity this did not fit with the vision we had, a greenway for families and all who used it to feel safe away from pollution, noise, and the urban environment.

“We want it to be like the Tarka Trail and the Strawberry Line, and also to benefit wildlife and enhance the environment,” said Richard.

The plan now is for the trail to go near the West Somerset Railway line that runs from Bishop’s Lydeard to Norton Fitzwarren, with a section joining it from Cotford St Luke, and the trustees have been engaging since last year with land owners and stakeholders from farmers to the West Somerset Railway, developers to 40 Commando Royal Marine base.

“There are nine landowners in the 4.5 kilometre stretch between Bishop’s Lydeard to Norton, and the good news is that all are on board or happy to negotiate,” said Richard.

A meeting with them and other representatives, held at the end of June this year, was a great success, he said, and the charity was boosted further with the support of John Grimshaw CBE, founder of the UK's leading sustainable transport charity, Sustrans, who also built the Somerset Strawberry Line greenway.

He surveyed the proposed route and produced a detailed workbook for the Russet Cider Trail, and also met with landowners at the meeting to reassure them on various issues.

Funding will be actively sought in the future from various sources, including public, private, corporate and charitable donations, and government initiatives.

“We are not going to get funding overnight, it will all take years, but if we can do a bit at a time that people can use, that will also raise our credibility and viability,” said Richard.

The charity is at russetcidertrail.org.uk