Revisit to Shepton Mallet
Monday 9th October –Shepton Mallet historical walk
Walk Co-ordinators: Nicky & Hazel
We will walk through the older parts of Shepton and then along the old railway track towards the Windsor Hill railway tunnel. This is now open and accessible so we will go to see it. We walk down into Bowlish. During the walk Nicky will point out places of interest and give you some local historic information. The walk is 5 miles long and will be slow through the middle of the town as we stop to look at places.
Parking in the main Commercial Road public carpark in Old Market Road opposite the ambulance station (BA4 5DA). The bad news is that as it is not Christmas so we will have to pay in the carpark. I recommend that we pay for 4 hours £3.60. Please meet in the carpark at 9.30 am to start the walk at 9.45 am. No lunch is booked but those who want to might like to join us for lunch at Dobbies Garden Centre a short drive away.
We start by walking through the Market Square past the church then to Leg Square and on to the prison. Along Garston Street towards Kilver Street where Showerings started business. We will have a short distance walking on the pavement beside the A37 before taking the path to the old railway line. We cannot walk across the big viaduct, so divert off going down to cross Waterloo Road and Cowle Street until we climb back up to pick it up again towards Windsor Hill. This is a short sharp steep climb. We will walk along the newly cleared track to see the old railway tunnels. We take the footpath across Rosamond Green Farm then go down Rubble Lane and very steeply down the lane into Bowlish where we will look at some of the historic houses. We then walk along the footpath by the Sheppey River back into West Shepton.
The walk does involve some street walking and some fairly steep parts up and down. Some tracks may also be muddy and we found some of the paths slippery. No stiles!
Report
Seventeen walkers met in Shepton Mallet for a walk that Nicky had led on several previous occasions, but which she reprised by popular demand. Most of the walkers had not done the walk before and were surprised by just how many lovely buildings there still are in the town. (There are more listed buildings than there are in Wells!)
The day was warm and dry, and contributed to very pleasant walking conditions. We stopped at a wide variety of types of houses in the town, and also the prison, the parish church and several of the buildings connected with the industries associated with Shepton over the years. At each place, Nicky gave us an insight into the location and its history. We also learned of buildings that had been demolished in recent history.
We walked up to the disused Somerset and Dorset railway line and followed it for a while (with short diversions when required) to go through the newly re-opened Windsor Hill tunnel. This has been resurfaced with tarmac and is open all the way to Maesbury where there is a cafe, making it a possibility for a social walk in the future. On our way to the tunnel we saw a group at work on the viaduct, one of whom told us that she was hopeful that the viaduct would reopen to walkers in the not too distant future.
Nicky had started the walk by saying that it was the last time she was going to lead this particular one. I suspect that there will be calls for her to do it again as new members join the group because it was a very interesting and enjoyable walk.
Report by Michelle