People walking and cycling between two growing Somerset towns can now enjoy a much smoother journey after a key local cycle route was given a £140,000 facelift.

The Frome's Missing Links project aims to deliver a new multi-user path from Welshmill Lane, just north of the town centre, to the Colliers Way cycle path in Great Elm, providing an unbroken route between Frome and Radstock.

Phase two of the project, which runs from the Colliers Way terminus to Elliots Lane in Hapsford, was partially implemented in December 2018 – but the surface is currently too "loose and uneven" for horses, bicycles, scooters or wheelchairs.

Following a successful crowdfunding campaign in the autumn of 2024, this section has now been fully resurfaced in smooth Tarmac, providing an easier connection to route 24 of the National Cycle Network (NCN).

The resurfaced section was officially reopened to the public at a well-attended ceremony at the Elliotts Lane end on Saturday morning (April 26), which included appearances by the mayors of Frome and Radstock.

Frome's Missing Links chairman Richard Ackroyd said: "We started this stretch back in 2015. We had about 120-odd people who came out for that first weekend, where we cleared head-high brambles, twigs, branches, trees, you name it.

"That carried on for several years, clearing all the old railway line and sleepers – along with land ownership deals and battles, with Network Rail helping out near the end."

The phase two section runs for around 1.3 kilometres (just under one mile), with pedestrians and cyclists being able to join westbound from either Buckland Road in Great Elm or from the Colliers Way active travel route.

This latter entrance takes pedestrians over the former Buckland railway bridge, with the path running alongside the remaining single-track freight line all the way to Elliots Lane.

When this section was originally constructed in late-2018, volunteers cleared the route of brambles, removed the old railway track and concrete sleepers. levelled the ballast and built steps up the embankment.

Volunteers also installed benches and picnic tables made of railway sleepers along the route, reflecting the route's heritage and giving its users the best view of the surrounding countryside.

The rough surfacing, made of old railway ballast, meant the route is walk-able even in cold or wet weather, but the less able-bodied or those wishing to cycle or wheel their way along face a bumpy ride.

These latest improvements, with the ballast being replaced with smooth Tarmac, will make it easier for people of all abilities to utilise this route to avoid the numerous narrow country lanes between Frome and Radstock.

Geoff Pell from Frome's Missing Links said: "This is all about getting people out and about so they can exercise in safety.

"I cycle on the roads myself, but I understand that for many people that seems too dangerous – and this gives them the safe route that they need."

The Crowdfunder raised more than £27,000 once gift aid has been taken into account – giving the charity some much-needed spare cash to put towards the remaining 'missing links' on either side of the town.

Mr Ackroyd said: "We had some funding from Mendip District Council, around £30,000, along with other grants, so we had about £50,000 that we could spend on this – but it wasn't enough to put the final surface on, because Tarmac is really expensive.

"We had a mysterious, anonymous donor who said: 'I will match fund anything you can raise, up to £50,000'. That unlocked some funding from Active Travel England (via Sustrans) and Sport England, and we did the Crowdfunder so people could get involved and feel part of it – that was a great success.

"This cost us almost £140,000, which is less than we thought – we have ended up with a small amount of money still in the kitty, so we can look to extend this."

Two further phases of the Frome's Missing Links have already been delivered, with phase one (which opened in February 2015) running north from Welshmill Lane for 950 metres, skirting around the Rossett House care home and the town's waste water treatment plant up to Whatcombe Fields Phase three (which was completed in September 2023) runs north from Whatcombe Fields along the river to just south of the railway line.

With work on the Great Elm section now complete, the group can turn its attention to the two remaining 'missing links' – a northern path which will run from Elliots Lane to the railway line and take cycle traffic away from the busy A362, and a southern link from the Edmund Park housing estate under the railway line, which will link up the NCN route 24 towards Longleat.

Mr Ackroyd said: "With the northern link, there are plans lodged with Network Rail, which is the main landowner, and discussions are ongoing.

"That will require a lot of funding because it involves three bridges and a tunnel – it sound complicated, but we believe it's doable.

"The route to the south of Frome is slightly less complicated – there are two landowners involved, and part of that route is already built. So the next stage for me is to go and talk to Network Rail and the other landowner.

"If I was a betting man, which I'm not, I would say you're more likely to see the southern link done before this last northern section."

Frome Missing Links forms part of the wider Somerset Circle project which, when completed, will form a 76-mile traffic-free circuit linking Bristol, Bath, the Mendip Hills and the Somerset Levels.

Around two-thirds of the route is currently complete, with the remaining gaps lying predominantly within the Somerset Council area.

Numerous projects are under way to complete the route, with the Strawberry Line Society working to close the gap between Shepton Mallet and Wells following the delivery of the Dulcote extension and a new bridge over the B3136 West Shepton.

Work is also under way on extending the small section of the route between Westbury-sub-Mendip and Easton, along with a new section through the grounds of Kings Academy in Cheddar (which is expected to be open to the public in the autumn).

In addition, the Friends of Windsor Hill Tunnels are currently progressing a safe route north of Shepton Mallet towards Emborough and Binegar, with an aspiration that the route will eventually link up to Radstock.