Dundas Aqueduct
Designed by John Rennie, this is one of two impressive aqueducts
that cross the River Avon. It is slightly shorter than the
Avoncliffe Viaduct, but more dramatic. There is much to see here -
a stone warehouse, a wharfside crane and a toll office. Nearby is
the start of the Somersetshire Coal Canal which has been restored
as a private mooring. There is a visitor centre here with
refreshment and other facilities and a large car park.
Radstock
Radstock was an industrial, mining community but it was set in
some of the most beautiful Somerset countryside. It was the centre
of the North Somerset Coalfield and the activities associated with
coal mining dominated the town. Two railway companies (with two
separate stations) operated here and their respective tracks
crossed just to the west of the town centre. The resulting level
crossings caused major road congestion for many years. The Somerset
& Dorset Railway ran from Bath’s Green Park Station to
Evercreech Junction and Poole, and the Great Western Railway route
ran from Bristol to Radstock and on to Frome.
The Somerset and Dorset Railway
The S&D Line was an almagam of the Somerset and Dorset
Central Railways. This section of the line (from Evercreech
Junction to Bath) was opened in July 1874 and was closed to
passenger traffic in March 1966. It was affectionately (and perhaps
unfairly) knows as the “Slow and Dirty” line. The railway is best
remembered today for the double-headed Pines Express that brought
passengers from Birmingham to Weymouth on summer Saturdays.
The Radstock to Frome Line
The first railway to reach Radstock was the Wilts, Somerset and
Weymouth Railway’s (later to become the GWR) branch from Frome and
this enabled the company to transport the profitable coal traffic
that had previously relied upon the inadequate Somerset Coal Canal
Tramway. It was originally opened to coal traffic in 1854 and
passengers were first carried in 1875. The line was closed for
passenger traffic with the closure of the Bristol to Frome line in
1959. Sections of the line continued for various goods traffic to
1988. Interestingly, the line was originally constructed to the
broad gauge. The railway from Radstock to Bristol (The Bristol and
North Somerset Railway) was opened in 1873 as a standard gauge
railway and this created a break of gauge at Radstock. This was
obviously very inconvenient and the broad gauge Radstock to Frome
line was narrowed in 1874 and adapted for passenger traffic in
1875.
Coal-mining
Coal-mining in the North Somerset Coalfields has been carried on
for hundreds of years. In the Radstock area, mining was continuous
from 1763 until 1973 - the last collieries to be closed were Lower
Writhlington and Kilmersdon. Little is obvious to the eye now, as
most of the tipping areas (known locally as batches) associated
with coal-mining have been landscaped. It is difficult to believe
that within the pleasant undulating countryside around Radstock
there have been over 50 collieries serviced by tramways, railways
and canals. However, there are a few obvious signs: the batch
(tipping area) of Old Mills Colliery a little to the north-west of
Midsomer Norton is the most obvious one, and the tell-tale ranks of
miners’ cottages clinging to the sides of the hills are
another.
Radstock Museum
The long and fascinating history of mining and life in the North
Somerset Coalfields can be discovered in the museum. The arduous
conditions experienced by miners can be seen in the reconstructed
mine tunnel, and the importance of the contribution of the railways
and the Somerset Coal Canal are explained (tel: 01761 43772)
(web:www.radstockmuseum.co.uk).
Foxcote (Near Shoscombe) Accident on the Somerset & Dorset
Railway
On 7th August 1876 when the 7.10pm relief excursion from
Wimborne to Bath (packed with people) and the 9.15pm from Bath to
Radstock collided, 13 people were killed and 51 injured. The crash
was caused by a number of reasons: it was a busy bank holiday with
over 17 extra trains running that day; neither of the two trains
appeared in the timetable; the down train was very late; and errors
were made by two young telegraph clerks and a young signalman at
the Foxcote.
The Somersetshire Coal Canal
This canal was planned by a group of colliery owners who were
concerned that coal from South Wales could be made available more
cheaply that their own local coal. The canal was planned to join
the Kennet & Avon Canal at Limpley Stoke and from there it
would follow the Midford Brook to Midford and then would fork into
two arms following the Cam Brook to Paulton and the Wellow Brook to
Radstock. Tramroads transported the coal from the collieries to
wharves along the canal. There was not enough money to complete the
southern branch and a mile-long railway was built between Midford
and Twinhoe causing the great inconvenience of switching from canal
to railway and back to canal again. By 1812 this canal was hardly
used and a major length from Radstock to Midford was converted to a
horse-drawn railway. Traffic was at its peak in 1838, but its
success was threatened by the Radstock to Frome Railway from 1854.
Eventually this southern branch was bought by the Somerset and
Dorset Railway to lay their railway line to Bath.
Jack and Jill at Kilmersdon
It is thought that Kilmersdon’s Jack and Jill of the nursery
rhyme, were a 16th century couple who climbed every day to a well
at the top of the hill for water, until one day Jack was hit by a
boulder from a nearby quarry and tumbled down the hill. The Jack
and Jill Millennium project re-discovered a medieval well shaft in
1999 and a new well-head has been built over the 38 feet deep well
shaft.
Little Jack Horner at Mells
The legend is that Richard Whiting the last Abbot of
Glastonbury, at the time of the dissolution hoping to appease Henry
VIII sent his steward Jack Horner to London with a Christmas gift.
This was a pie, in which was hidden the deeds of twelve manors. On
the journey, Jack opened the pie and removed the deeds of Mells
Manor, in the village of Mells. True or not, Thomas Horner took up
residence at the manor shortly after the dissolution and one of his
descendants was still living there in 1975. The story that deeds
were hidden under a pie crust is not as unlikely as it may first
seem, as Highwaymen were common and travellers would hide
their gold, jewels and other valuables. Although Horner’s name was
Thomas, he could have been known as Jack if he was a ‘bit of a
lad’. The church has examples of Arts and Crafts stained glass, and
the village boasts items built by Lutyens, numerous thatched
cottages and the Talbot Inn. Remains of the Fussell’s Ironworks can
be found between Mells and Great Elm.
Quarrying at Great Elm
A notable feature of the landscape between Frome and Radstock
are the quarries (including one of largest man-made holes in
Europe). These quarries supply limestone aggregate across the whole
country. Material from the quarry to the south of Great Elm
is transported by the only remaining active section of the Radstock
to Frome Line. The Colliers Way leaves the line of the railway at
this point and continues to Frome mainly along quiet country
lanes.
Frome
Frome is a town of great charm, with its wealth of beautiful old
buildings, steep streets and friendly, relaxed atmosphere. It has
more listed buildings than any other town in Somerset, many of them
reminders of a rich Wessex industrial history of cloth, agriculture
and country market trading. The cloth industry was started in the
14th century and by the end of the 17th century, it was growing in
importance and Frome was prosperous. Competition from the woollen
towns of the north began the decline of the industry in the 19th
century, although the cloth trade hung on until the 1960s. It is
the biggest of the five Mendip towns and is renowned for its
thriving Arts and Crafts community. It is older than Bath, and its
history dates from AD685, when St Adhelm founded a mission on the
River Frome. The river continues to meander through the town, past
the unique, Grade 1 Listed Blue House. The town has largely escaped
insensitive redevelopment, giving it a legacy of 18th century cloth
merchants' homes and Trinity, one of the country's best examples of
industrial housing from the 1600s. Catherine Hill and Cheap Street
are excellent for shopping and the Frome Museum has exhibitions
showing local industries and artefacts, including the Dorset and
Somerset Canal, Fussell’s Ironworks and local blacksmiths.
