Shownotes
Join Dan Merrett (Manager) and Lucy Bartlett (Community Projects Officer) from Bathscape as they transport presenter Pommy Harmar by electric bike along two disused railway tracks across the Bathscape.
We start in Saltford on the Bristol to Bath Railway Path, which follows the route of the Midland Railway Mangotsfield and Bath branch line, which was closed during the Beeching Axe of the 1960s.
We meet Colin Maggs, a railway historian and the author of more than 100 books about British Railways. He was awarded an MBE in 1993 for services to railway history and an honorary MA from the University of Bath in 1995. He is joined by Mike Beale, Secretary Bath Railway Society who' can trace back four generations of railway workers in his family.
We explore the two tunnels which form part of the Dorset and Somerset Line and meet Karl Baxter a runner competing in the gruelling ultramarathon 200 mile race called simply 'The Tunnel'. Every year around 45 men and women try to run backwards and forwards through the dark mile-long tunnel 200 times. In 2024, only 7 completed the race within the mandatory 55 hours.
Credits
Music: Audionautix
Produced by Pommy Harmar
Links
Bath Railway Society - www.bathrailwaysociety.co.uk
The Railway and Historical Railway Society - Dorset and Somerset line 150th Anniversary Commemoriative Walk with Mike Beale
The Tunnel - 200 mile Ultramarathon Race in Combe Down Tunnel
Tucking Mill Resevoir - Visitor information
Sustrans - Bristol to Bath Railway Path
Sustrans - Two Tunnels Circuit
Two Tunnels Greenway - www.twotunnels.org.uk
Bath and North East Somerset Council - Linear Park