One of our long-standing aspirations has been to reopen the former railway line between Newbury and Didcot as a cycle route. It was back in 2005 that we first started our original feasibility study where we walked the route to see if it would be feasible and started putting our plans in place.
The section between Hermitage and Hampstead Norreys is the easiest section to convert, since the former railway line is still largely in tact and hasn’t been built on, except where the M4 motorway cuts through it.
Over the last few years, we have engaged with a wide range of stakeholders, including West Berkshire Council, local landowners and parish councillors, and we have secured widespread support for the project.
Working with West Berkshire Council, we managed to attract funding from Highways England, which was actively looking for projects to reduce the severance effect of its motorway network and improve access for walkers, cyclists and equestrians. This scheme ticked all of their boxes and so they offered for their contractor Kier to undertake the works.
It has been a long, slow process to secure all the relevant landowner permissions, inspect bridges, carry out ecology surveys and undertake clearance work, but we are delighted that construction work is well-underway.
The aim is to achieve a 2.5m wide path wherever possible, using a crushed aggregate surface with timber edging and underlain with an impermeable membrane to prevent weeds from growing through the surface. The path itself respects its rural setting, both in terms of its materials and its alignment, meandering through the trees to create a pleasing, informal look.
The path is forced to deviate away from the disused railway line to pass under the M4 motorway. Here, it drops down to a widened shared use footway / cycleway alongside the B4009 for a short distance before rejoining the railway line on the other side.The section between the motorway and Hermitage is already complete and gives a flavour of how the rest of the route will look and feel.
The path is not yet open and is still very much a live construction site with heavy machinery in operation, but we are hopeful that the ribbon-cutting ceremony will be just a few short weeks away. Special thanks go to Alan Langley and Josh Kerry who have been instrumental in getting all the relevant parties on board and securing the funding to help make this pipe dream a reality.
Once complete, we will seek to maintain the momentum and extend the route towards Newbury. Although this section will be more challenging, due to the amount of development that has taken place on and around the former rail line, we have already undertaken the initial feasibility work and are confident that route can be achieved, so watch this space!