Cheddar Valley line

Cheddar Valley line
Overview
Owner	British Rail
History
Opened	1858
Closed	1963
Technical
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in)
Old gauge	7 ft 1⁄4 in (2,140 mm)
Route map Legend Bristol–Exeter line Bristol Temple Meads Yatton Clevedon branch line to Clevedon Bristol–Exeter line to Taunton Congresbury Wrington Vale Light Railway to Blagdon Sandford and Banwell Winscombe Axbridge Cheddar Draycott Lodge Hill Wookey Wells (Tucker Street) Somerset & Dorset Joint Railway to Glastonbury and Street Wells (Priory Road) Wells East Somerset Shepton Mallet (High Street) Somerset & Dorset Joint Railway to Bournemouth & Bath Green Park Mendip Vale Merryfield Lane Cranmore West Cranmore Merehead Quarry Wanstrow Heart of Wessex Line to Weymouth Witham Heart of Wessex Line to Bristol Temple Meads

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.