Andrew Swift April.qxp_Layout 1 26/03/2021 18:33 Page 1
Towpath of the Old Canal
Midford Valley walk Andrew Swift suggests a walk through the Midford Valley south of Bath, a delight at any time of year but especially so in early spring when the woods are carpeted in celandines and wild garlic
O
ur route through the Midford Valley takes in the towpath of the long-abandoned Somersetshire Coal Canal as well as the trackbed of the Camerton & Limpley Stoke Railway, which opened in 1910 to serve a new colliery at Dunkerton. The colliery only survived until 1925, after which the line saw little traffic, although it did have a glorious swansong in 1952 when it was used to film The Titfield Thunderbolt, one of the best-loved Ealing Comedies. The walk starts outside the White Hart in Widcombe (BA2 6AA; ST755642). From here, head up Widcombe Hill and after 300m – just past Widcombe Crescent – turn right along Church Street. When you come to the church of St Thomas à Becket, take the lane to the left of it, carry on past the gates to Prior Park and at the end turn left through a kissing gate (KG) and head uphill. At the top of the field, go through the KG straight ahead and carry on uphill over rough ground in the same direction. At the top, turn to take in the view before going through another KG and turning right alongside railings (ST766634). After passing a gate, follow the track as it heads uphill, and, when you come to another track, bear right 66 THeBATHMagazine
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alongside a large playing field. When the track forks, bear left to follow the fence alongside the field and at the end turn right along a broad path. (ST766629). At the road, cross the zebra crossing and carry straight on along Shaft Road. Carry on as the road heads downhill and after 700m, when you come to a bench with a view, turn right down a steep path – with hazardous little steps (ST771622). At the bottom, carry straight on along the road, follow it as it bears left and, just past the Wheelwright’s Arms, turn right down Mill Lane. After 100m, you pass Monkton Combe’s lock-up, where those who imbibed too freely in the local hostelries were once confined to sober up. Some 50m further on, two metal gateposts flanking a garage on the left are all that survives of Monkton Combe station, which doubled as Titfield in the film. Continue down a footpath on the right, passing the old mill on your left. After crossing the mill race, follow a path between fences and over the Midford Brook, before turning right through a KG to follow a field track alongside the brook (ST774617). After 400m, continue through a gateway, where a spring issuing from a bank on the left
has created something of a quagmire. A little further on, the track forks. The official route curves left uphill, while an unofficial route heads right to the abutments of a bridge that once carried the railway across the brook. A scramble up the embankment here leads onto the trackbed, which can be followed for a short distance before a breach in the embankment leaves no choice but to scramble down and bear left to rejoin the official route. Whichever option you take, the way is likely to be muddy, and, after going through a KG, the track drops steeply down to where railway sleepers have been laid across boggy ground. Beyond this lies another KG, where the mud lies thick. Once through the next KG mud gives way to grass – if only for a while. As you near the end of the field, look over to your right to see on the horizon Midford Castle, built around 1775. Continue through a KG and follow a lane leading downhill (ST764609). At the main road, turn right through Midford, past the remains of a railway viaduct. After crossing the brook, turn right, following a public footpath sign which, after 100m leads onto a wooded track along what looks like the trackbed of another railway but is in fact the former towpath of the Somersetshire Coal Canal (ST761608).
