Back in the summer when we had the occasional heat wave in UK ie when it get's above 25 degree centigrade (yes, pathetic I know 😅) I rushed out to do a couple of short walks along a trail called the Strawberry Line. The Strawberry Line dates back to 1869 and is so called because it's a railway line that used to transport the local strawberries to London and across the country. The line eventually closed in the 1960s and in recent years it has been transformed into a walking trail. The current Strawberry Line trail is about 16km, and parts of the old railway track are still being transformed. When that's finished the trail should double in length.
My walk was between the starting point of the Strawberry Line, at a little village called Yatton via Congresbury (pronounced Cons-bry) to Sandford, a total of 8Km. I actually did this in two separate days, the first from Sandford to Congresbury and the second from Yatton to Congresbury.
Yatton to Congresbury
This is the second session I did, but it's logical to write about it first because it's the beginning of the Strawberry Line walk. There's a sign at the beginning of the walk in the shape of a train with a track on it. You'll know you're at the beginning of the Strawberry Line walk when you see this. There's also lots of wildlife on the sign, as well as walkers and cyclists. The great thing about this trail is that it's very accessible to everyone. Plus you can start and end anywhere you like and don't have to walk the sections in sequence.
It's quite hard to imagine that over 100 years ago there used to be a railway track here, delivering locally grown delicious strawberries across the country. When the charity started to transform this into a trail, there was a lot of emphasis to preserve the wildlife and biodiversity here.
The walk goes past ancient marshes and rhynes (pronounced reens). Rhynes are common in this part of England, they are man made trenches dug through lowlands for water to overflow and prevent flooding. Overtime they become like a stream and a haven for wildlife.
Some of the rhynes are quite wide, like this section, I often drive by here, the road is where the house is, Today it's very interesting to see this from another viewpoint.
A bit further on some sheep were resting in the shade under the trees. I told you it was a hot day, even the sheep's thought so.
Towards the end of the walk I passed by a farm. Some parts of the old Strawberry Line is linked up by farmland. I walked past these bales of hay stacked up like a massive wall. Each one was about my height which isn't that difficult, but still, it was tall! I always wonder how the bales are rolled up so neatly, and what happens when it rains ..
Sandford to Congresbury
For the second leg, which I actually did a couple of months before the first leg, I started at a village called Sandford. This is the home of Thatchers Cider, a popular cider brand in the UK. Their headquarters and factory is next to where I started my walk.
From Sandford I would walk towards Yatton, the starting point of the first leg of my walk above. Except I will only be walking half way to Congresbury, the end of my first leg of the walk above.
There are some interesting structures en route, looks like they may be the bridges from the old railway network. Unfortunately I couldn't find any information about them.
Personally I like this section of the Strawberry Line better than the previous. Other than the many pylons, the view is more open and varied. I walked pass some orchards, owned by Thatchers, they grow their own apples to make the cider.
Tunnels built by mother nature is so relaxing
I walk pass another rhyne, part of the vast network here
And I'm back at Congresbury. This section of the rhyne links back to the early section where I said I drive by all the time.
I finished my walk outside a field, the same one that the sheeps were in earlier on. I didn't go inside this time, just passing by outside. Again, it was nice to see a place from a different angle, especially with such a pretty gate.
Next time I'd like to do the other sections of the Strawberry Line, but I need to wait for another heatwave ... next year 😀
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A nice little wander, it reminded me of the Camel Trail a bit further down towards the pointy bit.
Did camels use to wander around there? 😉 I must check it out
Duh, yes they still roam freely on Bodmin Moor, LOL
Looks like a lovely walk 😊
Nice to see the beautiful weather too.
Have a great day!
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It's rare to have nice days in England so we make the most of it
Yes, I know.
Get every little sunshine and vitamin D 😎
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Oh, I thought I was the only one who felt like running away from home when the weather was hot. 😅 Every day in my area it's around 28-32 degrees Celsius.
well, I thought at first you'd be walking around a strawberry field because of the opening title, but then I didn't find any strawberries at all. :)
Thanks for the information. I'm amazed to see those old bridges still standing strong.
Sorry to disappoint you, no strawberries 😉
Sometimes I miss the Asian hot weather, but maybe not all the time, that would be a little too much for me.
😂 Are you serious? Next year? Hahaha... The landscapes are beautiful. When will the bike arrive? That road looks special for cycling.
🥴 Edit... Sorry... Instead of road I should have said trail. 😜
Next year, because I have to wait for you and your bike to arrive, then we can cycle together
🥳😂
Sure!!! How cool would that be! Hahaha... There is a lot of manifestation work to be done with the Universe. 🤣
Manifest robbing a bank.
😁 nutbag! no misdeeds, no... hahaha... besides, something will happen because you bought the caravan so I could have a place to stay in Australia, and now livinguktaiwan is telling me that next year I'm going with her... something is doing the Universe so that I'm going to travel the world.
Please put a rack in your caravan to carry my bike. 🤣
Haha, yeah I was just kidding...there's no money in banks anyway!
I know right? You could bring your bike over, stick it on the bike rack and all would be well! Nice thinking!
🤔... I think I will take my coins to buy a another one there. I will travel light hahaha... just with a backpack and the important and necessary things in it. I really need very few things.
Very beautiful scenery along this converted trail. I really like those stone layed bridges. It's great to see and an old railway converted into a trail.
There is one near me that is a bike trail. I haven't been on it as don't have a bike. Seen pictures of it in a book I own but when it was railway. It's over 60 miles in length, definitely a ride not a walk, haha.
60 miles is still pretty long for cycling, I wonder if that's achievable in a day 🤔
It was nice to do the walk, and the great thing was the scenery was quite varied on the way
I have a co-worker who did it in 6 hours one way. Round-trip I guess could be possible but would be tough. There are different entrance points so someone like me could extend it out to how many days it would take to see it all, haha.
I learned thier are plans of constructing a coast to coast bike trail of abandoned railways. Its called, The Great American Rail-Trail. That makes this trail really seem short and makes me wish I was much younger, haha.
Beautiful shots! As much as I would like them to expand and repair the existing rail network in the US, I like the fact that they are turning a lot of these old lines into walking paths. We have a really nicely maintained one in the city where I grew up. My wife and I walk on it quite frequently.
I imagine repairing the existing railway network can be quite costly unless it can be justified with more usage, otherwise converting them to walking paths aren't such a bad idea either.
The one walking path we have goes just about half the length of our state. It is pretty cool. It runs right along the property of a craft brewery too.
I still can't get over how big places are in America!
It's just crazy!
Nice hike. Gotta catch that sunshine when you can. So the strawberry part is more train related - at first I was think that these were going to be the famous strawberry fields that the Beatles sang about 😂
Ha ha! No strawberries, sorry! There are still some strawberry fields on the other sections of the walk, will have to do those walks next year sometime.
Hermoso río
It looks like an awesome walk @livinguktaiwan! Everything seems so wild! Here in Germany you can practically walk everywhere, no real wilderness..
I think I'm pretty lucky living near the countryside, plenty of walks around
That´s perfect! I am also at the country side... lots of lakes and mountains, but doesn´t really feel wild :D - maybe its just me, because I know the place too well 😅
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A whole 25? 🤔😂
We're not koala land!! If we get over 25, we hit the jackpot that day 😄
Haha, yeah when I was there it was 28 degrees and y'all were dying.
Brits when it's 25 degrees 😂
Haha, yeah, there was a guy on the radio suggesting people put their singlets in the freezer then putting them on to cool down. It was bonkers...although, staying all those B&B's, some really super-old places that were so bloody amazing...but had no air conditioning...tried my patience. I ended up at Tesco to buy a plug in fan just to move the air around. So, I get what it's like for the poms.
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The landscape is beautiful, the contrast between the green of nature and the blue of the sky is very nice. All the photos are great.
That English countryside is so beautiful! The stone bridges, the trees hanging over the road, the green grass, sheep and the rynes to add to it. I am excited for the weather to cool down here so I can get out and walk more. Thanks for sharing your walk with us.
Rail covered so much of your country, narrow gauge to move fruit and veg into London town fresh daily.
Wonderful to walk the old route with you, bird life must be thriving there along with other animals other than sheep.
Watched a documentary series How The Railways Transformed Britain a couple of years ago.