Let us cross that bridge.

I am going to hand you over to a follower of this blog who’s keen to see a lovely old railway structure brought back into use.

Gary Charman parted company with his racing bike back in 2016, coming down Weston Lane Hill, and was lucky to survive. Back on his feet, he started jogging instead, ignoring his surgeon’s advice after an unrelated ankle replacement.

But he told me he longed to get back on a bike and back out into the countryside.

 So bought a second-hand mountain bike the other week and did the two tunnels toward Radstock. I got to Wellow & was forced off the track, up Bulls Hill. Not sure where I was going, I looked behind me to see this Victorian engineering marvel that is Wellow viaduct looming large, towering above me, and I just thought, magnificent! 

Then, thinking, did I miss the turning? I flagged a friendly girl on a 4-wheel off-roader who said: “No, go up the road about a mile, just out of Wellow, turn left”.

But what about the viaduct?

“No, up & left, but that turning is closed for some work that was supposed to take four weeks is now four months with no end date. You have to chug up almost to the Circle Hospital, take a left, then go back down and head to Shoscombe. The old track bed re-starts on the other side, on to Radstock”. 

I started digging & found that the viaduct is part of the British Railways Residuary Body (BRB), whose role is to hold /dispose of the old railway land & structures & maintain those bits in between; they still hold.

Digging further, it transpires that Wellow Trekking Centre bought a bit of the track bed next to that magnificent engineering structure, then more recently applied to B&NES in 2025 for Planning consent for some barn-like houses on part of the yard. (See plan)

The planners could or would not see that Cycle Route 25, with a bit of common sense coupled with Section 106 powers, could have reserved a route through the back of the development by moving one of the proposed houses next to the bridge abutment down & forward to connect the bridge, which is maintained presumably at great cost, but not used, preserved as a bit of rural public sculpture maintained by the BRB in perpetuity, no doubt at great cost.

I think the planner’s words in granting this development were “the old track bed is not listed or reserved, so carry on”.

Maybe I am missing something, but Sustrans, the planning Authority & National Highways, who are responsible for this viaduct – Bridge 22- on behalf of the old BRB estate & who are notorious for trying to erase these assets, must be guilty of a lack of imagination, because no doubt they would have been statutory consultees and could have absorbed this formidable asset within the walking cycle network.

Or was the aim that everyone forced off the cycle path, look up and admire the sheer brilliance of the structure from underneath rather than sail across it, like Tucking Mill, without giving a second thought to the sheer brilliance of the engineers & navvies who delivered so much in the quantum leap from riparian into & through the Industrial Revolution?

I understand that the south ( right abutment) of the viaduct does not currently lead anywhere, but points across fields. I could not see the original route on maps & plans from internet searches, except that Wellow signal box is a private residence and a bridge removed further along contains a house built into the abutment arches. 

If nothing else, the extension would allow public use as a viewing platform across the Wellow Valley, particularly as the Viaduct is a historical structure maintained at cost to the public purse. I also understand why National Highways would want to keep it cordoned off, but here is an opportunity to give it life & the extra cost of people usage “maintenance” has surely to be a marginal addition 

I understand that a reserved matters application for the Trekking Centre was approved this year, so I still believe it’s worth a question on the loss of this opportunity.”

Following on from this email, Gary came back to me with the results of some further research.

Here below is a definition of the Wellow railway viaduct, its owners & their responsibilities. Apparently, it would appear to be transitioning away from National Highways back to the new “Great British Railways” portfolio.

 What is most interesting and intriguing is the last paragraph (below): 

Future Alignment & repurposing.

That is precisely what was coincidentally in the back of my mind when I saw the bridge. Unfortunately, as I mentioned, neither National Highways, B&NES Council, nor B&NES Planning, nor SUSTRANS, nor any other of the great & good thought that RESERVING a link as part of granting consent formed the basis of what these organisations stand for.

Especially the ability to link it together for public use & enjoyment rather than an isolated monolithic structure that is inaccessible but is required to be preserved at taxpayers’ expense.

Bridge No. 22 at Wellow (historically known as the Wellow Viaduct, which once carried the Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway over Ford Road) is owned by the Department for Transport (DfT) and managed on its behalf by National Highways (formerly Highways England) as part of the Historical Railways Estate (HRE)

The Historical Railways Estate (HRE) is a collection of over 3,100 disused railway bridges, tunnels, viaducts, and land parcels across Great Britain. These structures originate from closed historic lines, primarily those shuttered during the 1963 Beeching cuts. They are owned by the Department for Transport (DfT) and managed on its behalf by National Highways—though custody is currently in the process of transferring to a new state body, Great British Railways (GBR).

The HRE’s responsibility for Bridge 22 at Littleton Lane, Wellow (managed under the Bath and North East Somerset council region) involves the following:

1. Structural Maintenance & Public Safety

As the custodian of the structure, the HRE is legally required to inspect, maintain, and structurally preserve the asset. For Bridge 22 in Wellow—a legacy asset from the historic Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway line—this responsibility includes managing essential engineering works. For instance, the HRE contracted extensive bridge repair works at this site requiring a road closure on Littleton Lane.

2. Local Heritage Stewardship

Because the remaining abutments of the bridge form an unlisted building of merit within the Wellow Conservation Area, the HRE must manage the site with due regard to its historical character and impact on the village landscape.

3. Future Alignment and Repurposing

A major element of the HRE’s oversight involves evaluating the structure for potential greenways, active travel links, or heritage rail extensions. While National Highways previously faced heavy criticism from preservation groups for infilling structures with concrete rather than saving them, the ongoing shift of the estate to Great British Railways aims to encourage the adaptive reuse of structures like Bridge 22 for public benefit.

Thanks to those who have read this far. You must like cycling and/or abandoned rail structures! So what do others think?

Thanks for your work on this Gary.