Cheddar Valley line

Cheddar Valley line
Overview
OwnerBritish Rail
History
Opened1858
Closed1963
Technical
Track gauge1,435 mm (4 ft 8+12 in)
Old gauge7 ft 14 in (2,140 mm)
Route map

Yatton
Congresbury
Sandford and Banwell
Winscombe
Axbridge
Cheddar
Draycott
Lodge Hill
Wookey
Wells (Tucker Street)
Wells (Priory Road)
Wells East Somerset
Shepton Mallet (High Street)
Mendip Vale East Somerset Railway
Merryfield Lane East Somerset Railway
Cranmore West East Somerset Railway
Cranmore East Somerset Railway
Wanstrow
Witham

The Cheddar Valley line was a railway line in Somerset, England, running between Yatton and Witham. It was opened in parts: the first section connecting Shepton Mallet to Witham, later extended to Wells, was built by the East Somerset Railway from 1858. Later the Bristol and Exeter Railway built their branch line from Yatton to Wells, but the two lines were prevented for a time from joining up. Eventually the gap was closed, and the line became a simple through line, operated by the Great Western Railway.

The line became known as The Strawberry Line because of the volume of locally-grown strawberries that it carried. It closed in 1963. Sections of the former trackbed have been opened as the Strawberry Line Trail, which runs from Yatton to Cheddar. The southern section operates as a heritage railway using the name East Somerset Railway.